Tollys appoints head of clinical development

French biotech Tollys today announced the appointment of Dr Amina Zinaï as head of clinical development. Dr Nasser Azli will remain in the role of chief medical officer.

“We are delighted to welcome Amina to our medical team,” said Vincent Charlon, chief executive of Tollys. “Thanks to her expertise in clinical development and in drug candidate evaluation, she will be a real asset in Tollys’ crucial next steps as we prepare to launch initial clinical trials in 2022,” he noted.

The company is developing TL-532, the first synthetic specific agonist of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) cancer immunotherapy.

“The drug candidate developed by Tollys has huge potential in immuno-oncology. I am keen to work with the company’s medical team for the start of Phase I trials of TL-532, in cooperation with Nasser Azli, Tollys’ chief medical officer,” said Dr Zinaï.

With more than 35 years’ experience in clinical development, medical affairs and drug evaluation, Dr Zinaï has amassed a wealth of expertise in hematology and rare diseases while working for various biotechnology companies. Her most recent achievements include her time as project director at Servier, a French pharmaceutical group, where she implemented the strategy for the development of first-in-class allogeneic CAR-T cells in the treatment of hematological malignancies.