Three questions to Hans Schambye, new CEO of BOOST Pharma

Hans T. Schambye MD PhD most recently served as President and CEO of Galecto Inc., guiding the company through major scientific and financial milestones and raising over $500 million in capital. He now steps in as CEO of BOOST Pharma at a critical inflection point, as the company advances BT 101 toward Phase III on the back of compelling Phase I/II data showing more than a 70% reduction in fracture rates for children with osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease.

Hans, there is no cure for OI. No approved treatment. What scientific breakthrough gives you the confidence that BOOST will succeed where others haven’t?

One of the main reasons I was attracted to BOOST was the outstanding effects observed in the prior trials of BT-101, our unique potentially disease-modifying off-the-shelf cell therapy for OI. These patients normally suffer multiple fractures each year, but after treatment with BT-101, we saw a reduction in fracture rates of over 70%, and more than half of patients experienced no fractures in the second year following treatment. This could fundamentally change the treatment paradigm for these patients.

You’ve led private and public companies, in early and late stage, in Europe and the US. What upcoming data and milestones during the coming year are you most excited about?

We have upcoming meetings with both the FDA and EMA – key interactions that will guide BT‑101’s Phase III design and approval pathway. On the manufacturing side, we’re expecting major progress as we scale production with the dual goal of providing material for our Phase 3 study and preparing for market approval. A major milestone is also completing our planned Series A financing, which is intended to cover all activities leading up to approval.

You have over 25 years’ experience as a biotech CEO, founder and executive. What lessons are most relevant for increasing the odds of bringing BT-101 to patients?

You need to do a lot of things right in biotech, but the most important thing is building and guiding a brilliant team that can do high-quality work at a high pace. Small companies with drastically fewer resources need to do the same work on our programs as massive pharma companies, so we need to work smarter and better together. BOOST has a great platform, with top scientists as founders, and we’ve already been able to attract super talent – so I’m confident we can deliver a potentially disease modifying therapy to patients who currently have no approved options.