- Members include Nobel laureate James P. Allison, Padmanee Sharma, Taha Merghoub, and Kingston Mills, who are all globally renowned experts in cancer immunotherapy and translational cancer immunology
- LIfT BioSciences’ lead IMAN-based drug candidate is a groundbreaking next-generation immunotherapy designed to treat patients with treatment-resistant cancers
London, May 07, 2026 – LIfT BioSciences (‘LIfT’ or ‘the Company’) today announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), appointing a distinguished group of globally-recognised experts in cancer immunotherapy and immunology. The SAB includes Nobel laureate James P. Allison, PhD; Padmanee Sharma, MD, PhD; Taha Merghoub, PhD; and Kingston Mills, PhD. Collectively, the SAB brings deep expertise across clinical and translational research and the development and commercialisation of blockbuster oncology therapies. They will provide strategic and scientific guidance as LIfT advances its lead Immuno-Modulatory Alpha Neutrophil (IMAN) programme toward first-in-human studies in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and cervical cancer.
“Our Scientific Advisory Board, comprising renowned oncology experts, provides a clear strategic advantage at a pivotal moment as LIfT advances its lead IMAN programme toward the clinic,” said Dr. Bo Rode Hansen, interim Chief Executive Officer at LIfT BioSciences. “Their collective expertise will be instrumental in sharpening our clinical approach and maximising the full therapeutic potential of IMANs in cancer immunotherapy. Having also received positive feedback from the Irish regulatory agency on our integrated development plan, LIfT will draw on the SAB members’ expertise as we rapidly advance our lead programme, expand our early-stage pipeline, and deliver on our mission to bring innovative therapies to patients.”
Based on preclinical data generated to date, the Company’s proprietary, therapeutically-optimised neutrophils, IMANs, have demonstrated the potential to infiltrate solid tumours and reactivate anti-tumour immunity in patients who have exhausted standard treatments. LIfT recently completed the formation of a consortium with the University of Galway and Hooke Bio to conduct an investigator-initiated, first-in-human clinical trial in Ireland to evaluate the safety and feasibility of its lead IMAN candidate in a patient population with a high unmet medical need for treatment-resistant HNSCC and cervical cancer. The consortium led by LIfT is funded by a €12 million grant awarded by Ireland’s Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF). The Company has also successfully completed a Scientific Advice meeting with the Irish regulatory agency, HPRA. The agency’s feedback allows LIfT to finalise its overall manufacturing strategy and design of its clinical study to be conducted in Ireland.
“The participation from such an esteemed group of experts from the field of immunotherapy speaks to the potential of our IMAN platform to transform how we activate both the innate and adaptive immune systems by harnessing neutrophils, the body’s first responders, to fight cancer,” said Dr. Mark Exley, Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman of LIfT BioSciences’ Scientific Advisory Board. “I look forward to working with my fellow SAB members and leveraging their insights, as we seek to unlock the untapped potential of our platform and deliver a new class of cancer therapies to patients.”
“I am excited to be part of the Scientific Advisory Board at LIfT BioSciences. The IMAN platform represents a compelling approach to harness neutrophils, powerful yet under explored drivers of anti-tumor immunity, to overcome resistance and expand immunotherapy to more patients,” added Taha Merghoub, PhD, Deputy Director of the Meyer Cancer Center, Margaret and Herman Sokol Professor of Oncology Research, Professor of Pharmacology, and Professor of Immunology Research in Medicine, and Co-Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Weill Cornell Medicine.
The members of the Scientific Advisory Board are:
James P. Allison, PhD
Dr. Allison is a Nobel laureate and a pioneer in cancer immunotherapy, recognised globally for establishing immune checkpoint blockade as a transformative cancer treatment. His groundbreaking discovery that CTLA-4 acts as an inhibitory checkpoint on T cells led to the development of ipilimumab, the first approved immune checkpoint inhibitor. For this work, he was co-awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Dr. Allison is Regental Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology, the Olga Keith Wiess Distinguished University Chair for Cancer Research, Executive Director of the Immunotherapy Platform, and Director of the James P. Allison Institute at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Allison’s current research focuses on next-generation immune checkpoint therapies and new strategies to harness the immune system to eradicate cancer. He holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from The University of Texas at Austin.
Padmanee Sharma, MD, PhD
Dr. Sharma is an internationally recognised physician-scientist in cancer immunotherapy and has led pioneering work to understand the mechanisms of response and resistance to immune checkpoint therapy. She conducted the first neoadjuvant trial of immune checkpoint therapy and has contributed to the clinical development and FDA-approval of nivolumab-based therapies in bladder and kidney cancers. Her work has been recognised with awards including the William B. Coley Award in Tumor Immunology and the Emil Frei III Award for Excellence in Translational Research. Dr. Sharma is Associate Vice President of Immunobiology and Professor of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology, and Director of Scientific Programmes for the James P. Allison Institute at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She holds an MD and a PhD from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine.
Taha Merghoub, PhD
Dr. Merghoub is a leader in translational cancer immunology and is recognised for his work on mechanisms of tumour resistance to immunotherapy and the role of innate immune cells, including his pioneering work on neutrophils in anti-tumour responses. His research focuses on developing and advancing immune-based cancer therapies and bridging fundamental immunobiology with clinical application. This work has advanced multiple immunotherapy strategies through highly collaborative efforts across leading academic, clinical and industry partners. Dr. Merghoub is Deputy Director of the Meyer Cancer Center, Margaret and Herman Sokol Professor of Oncology Research, Professor of Pharmacology, and Professor of Immunology Research in Medicine, and Co-Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Weill Cornell Medicine. He holds a PhD and an MS degree in Applied Biology and Genetics, with highest distinction, from the University of Paris, France.
Kingston Mills, PhD
Dr. Mills is an award-winning immunologist in T cell biology, known for his work on immune responses in infection and autoimmunity with broad applications in immunotherapy. He leads an active research programme supported by major European and national research funding bodies and has co-founded multiple biotechnology companies focused on developing immunotherapies for inflammatory diseases and cancer, including Opsona Therapeutics, TriMod Therapeutics, and Parvalis Therapeutics. Dr. Mills is Adjunct Professor of Experimental Immunology, former Academic Director of the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (2019-2025) and Personal Chair in Immunology at Trinity College Dublin. He holds a PhD in Immunology from Trinity College Dublin.
About LIfT BioSciences
LIfT BioSciences is pioneering a new class of immunotherapy for hard-to-treat cancers based on allogeneic Immuno-Modulatory Alpha Neutrophils (IMANs)®. Our proprietary, long-lived IMANs harness neutrophils’ innate tumour-homing and infiltrating attributes, combined with their ability to directly kill cancer cells and safely orchestrate broader immune responses, offering a powerful and antigen-agnostic treatment option to overcome cancer resistance mechanisms, like suppressive tumour environment and immune evasion. Backed by deep neutrophil biology expertise and a scalable manufacturing process, LIfT’s platform represents a one-of-a-kind opportunity to reshape medicine and drive forward a pipeline of new therapeutics with major impact for patients.
Disclosure
Dr. Allison and Dr. Sharma receive compensation and equity as members of LIfT’s SAB, and this financial relationship has been disclosed to MD Anderson’s Conflict of Interest Committee in accordance with institutional policy.
For more information, please contact:
LIfT BioSciences
Bo Rode Hansen
Email: info@LIfTBioSciences.com
Media enquiries
Trophic Communications
Jacob Verghese
Phone: +49 151 7441 6179
Email: LIfT@trophic.eu
