LAVA Therapeutics N.V. announced the appointments of James Noble and Jay Backstrom, M.D., M.P.H., as non-executive directors to its board of directors. The Company also announced that Erik van den Berg, co-founder of LAVA and chief executive officer of AM-Pharma, Joël J.P. Jean-Mairet, Ph.D., managing partner and co-founder of Ysios Capital, and Nanna Lüneborg, Ph.D., general partner of Forbion, are stepping down from the board following the conclusion of the annual general meeting held on, June 15. Mr. Noble most recently served as chief executive officer of Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc until 2019 after co-founding it in 2008; he remains on the board.

Prior, Mr. Noble was chief executive officer of Immunocore, which he also co-founded. Mr. Noble has also served as a non-executive board director for publicly traded life science companies, including as deputy chairman of GW Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Jazz Pharmaceuticals in 2021. Currently, Mr. Noble is chairman of Orexo AB, Sutura Therapeutics and Celleron Therapeutics.

Mr. Noble received an M.A. from the University of Oxford. Dr. Backstrom most recently served as executive vice president, research and development, at Acceleron Pharma through its acquisition by Merck in 2021. Previously, Dr. Backstrom was chief medical officer and head of regulatory affairs for Celgene Corporation, where he was instrumental in bringing REBLOZYL®, co-developed by Celgene and Acceleron, through to regulatory approval.

Prior, he worked as vice president of clinical research and development, myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia, as well as chief medical officer, through the completion of the Bristol Myers Squibb-Celgene merger in 2019. Dr. Backstrom now serves as a non-executive board director of Autolus Therapeutics, Be Biopharma and Disc Medicine. He earned his M.D. and completed medical training at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, and he received a Master's in public health from the Saint Louis University School of Public Health.