Lyell Immunopharma Strengthens Clinical and Commercial Capabilities with Key Board and Executive Appointments
- Strategic strengthening of leadership team with experienced executives in cell therapy and commercial operations
- Company advancing towards pivotal trials for LYL314 therapy, indicating clinical progress
- New CMO brings direct cell therapy development experience and continues clinical practice
- Addition of Board member with specific CAR T-cell therapy commercial launch experience
- Company still in clinical stage without approved products
- Multiple simultaneous leadership changes may cause temporary operational adjustments
- Mark J. Bachleda, PharmD, MBA appointed as independent member of the Board of Directors
- David Shook, MD appointed as Chief Medical Officer, Mark Meltz, JD as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, and Jarrad Aguirre, MD, MBA as Senior Vice-President of Medical Affairs
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: LYEL), a clinical-stage company advancing a pipeline of next-generation CAR T-cell therapies for patients with cancer, today announced the appointment of Mark J. Bachleda, PharmD, MBA as an independent member of the Board of Directors, David Shook, MD as Chief Medical Officer, and Mark Meltz, JD as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. These appointments, along with the appointment earlier in the year of Jarrad Aguirre, MD, MBA as Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs, further strengthen the Company’s clinical and commercial capabilities.
“As Lyell prepares to move forward with two pivotal programs designed to advance LYL314 towards approval for patients with aggressive large B-cell lymphoma, we are delighted to welcome leaders who further strengthen and bring new expertise to our Board of Directors and our Executive Committee,” said Lynn Seely, MD, Lyell’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Collectively, these new leaders have deep cell therapy expertise and highly relevant experience launching new medicines for patients. We look forward to their contributions as we continue to make progress on achieving our mission of bringing next-generation cell therapies to patients with cancer.”
“The addition of Dr. Bachleda to the Lyell Board provides us with experienced commercial leadership, including in cell therapy, at this critical time as Lyell becomes a late-stage clinical company initiating pivotal clinical trials and anticipating a commercial launch of LYL314,” said Rick Klausner, MD, Chairman of the Lyell Board of Directors. “I could not be more pleased with the progress the company is making and am confident that our new executive leaders will ensure operational excellence as we focus on rapidly advancing LYL314, our autologous CD19/CD20 CAR T-cell therapy, to patients.”
Mark J. Bachleda, PharmD, MBA appointed independent member of the Board of Directors
Dr. Bachleda is currently the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Eyconis, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapeutics for eye diseases. He has served in executive leadership roles at Amgen, Juno Therapeutics, and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), and, most recently, he was Chief Commercial Officer at Galera Therapeutics. Prior to joining Galera, he served as Vice President & U.S. Business Unit Head of the CAR T-cell therapy franchise at BMS, a role he held previously at Celgene Corporation before its acquisition by BMS. Prior to this, he was Vice President, Sales & Account Management at Juno when it was acquired by Celgene. His experience includes a 15-year career at Amgen in the U.S. and international roles of increasing responsibility up to Country President & General Manager of Amgen Czech Republic. Earlier in his career, he held positions at Pfizer, Inc., and Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Bachleda is a registered pharmacist and received his PharmD degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in health policy and economics at Thomas Jefferson University and earned MBA degrees from both Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley.
David Shook, MD appointed Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Shook is an early pioneer of cell therapy and remains a practicing pediatric oncologist and transplant physician. Prior to Lyell, Dr. Shook was Chief Medical Officer and Head of Research and Development at Nkarta where he was responsible for leading the clinical development of multiple CAR NK cell product candidates for oncology. Prior to joining Nkarta, Dr. Shook held roles as Medical Director, Pediatric Cellular Therapy at AdventHealth and was Fellowship Director and a Faculty Member at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. While at St. Jude, he conducted multiple first-in-human cell therapy trials, as well as research in the laboratory of Dario Campana, MD, PhD where he co-developed the membrane bound form of interleukin-15. He earned an MD from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a BS from Purdue University.
Mark Meltz, JD appointed General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Mr. Meltz is an accomplished legal and business executive with more than two decades of experience leading and advising life sciences, technology and emerging growth companies. Prior to joining Lyell, Mr. Meltz was Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Kinnate Biopharma Inc., a clinical stage precision oncology company, through its sale to XOMA Corporation. Before Kinnate, he was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Audentes Therapeutics through its sale to Astellas Pharma. Mr. Meltz also was previously Executive Vice President and Chief Business Development and Legal Officer at PaxVax through its sale to Emergent BioSolutions. Earlier in his career, Mr. Meltz was Associate General Counsel at Biogen and Head of Legal for North America at Novartis in its Vaccines & Diagnostics division. Mr. Meltz has supported multiple commercial launches at PaxVax, Biogen and Novartis. He earned a BA with Departmental Honors in Psychology from Yale University and a JD, Magna Cum Laude, from Boston College Law School.
Jarrad Aguirre, MD, MBA appointed Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs
Dr. Aguirre joined Lyell as Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs in January 2025. Prior to Lyell, Dr. Aguirre was Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Miga Health, a digital health company focused on heart health, through its sale to Bitterroot Bio. Before Miga Health, Dr. Aguirre served in leadership roles at Myovant Sciences, most recently as Head of Corporate Strategy. Dr. Aguirre earned an MD and an MBA from Stanford University, an MPhil in Medical Anthropology from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and a BS in Biology from Yale University.
About Lyell Immunopharma, Inc.
Lyell is a clinical-stage company advancing a pipeline of next-generation CAR T-cell therapies for patients with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. To realize the potential of cell therapy for cancer, Lyell utilizes a suite of technologies to endow CAR T cells with attributes needed to drive durable tumor cytotoxicity and achieve consistent and long-lasting clinical responses, including the ability to resist exhaustion, maintain qualities of durable stemness and function in the hostile tumor microenvironment. To learn more, please visit www.lyell.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements expressed or implied in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the performance of the Company’s additions to its leadership team and Board of Directors, including the anticipated benefits of expanded strength of the Company’s clinical and commercial capabilities; the continued clinical progress and anticipated commercial launch of the LYL314 trials; Lyell’s anticipated progress, business plans, business strategy and clinical trials; Lyell’s advancement of its pipeline, technology platform and research, development and clinical capabilities; the potential clinical benefits and therapeutic potential of Lyell’s product candidates; and other statements that are not historical fact. These statements are based on Lyell’s current plans, objectives, estimates, expectations and intentions, are not guarantees of future performance and inherently involve significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to: the ability to retain the continued service of its key personnel; the complexity of manufacturing cellular therapies, which subjects Lyell to a multitude of manufacturing risks, any of which could substantially increase our costs, delay Lyell’s programs or limit supply of Lyell’s product candidates; the effects of macroeconomic conditions, including the effects of disruption between the U.S. and its trading partners due to tariffs or other policies, any geopolitical instability and actual or perceived changes in interest rates and economic inflation; Lyell’s ability to initiate or progress clinical trials on the anticipated timelines, if at all; Lyell’s limited experience as a company in enrolling and conducting clinical trials, and lack of experience in completing clinical trials; the nonclinical profiles of Lyell’s product candidates or technology not translating in clinical trials; the potential for results from clinical trials to differ from nonclinical, early clinical, preliminary or expected results; significant adverse events, toxicities or other undesirable side effects associated with Lyell’s product candidates; the significant uncertainty associated with Lyell’s product candidates ever receiving any regulatory approvals; Lyell’s ability to obtain, maintain or protect intellectual property rights related to its product candidates; implementation of Lyell’s strategic plans for its business and product candidates; the sufficiency of Lyell’s capital resources and need for additional capital to achieve its goals; and other risks, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors” in Lyell’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 13, 2025. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of this date, and Lyell undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.
Contact:
Ellen Rose
Senior Vice President, Communications and Investor Relations
erose@lyell.com
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