Dr. Paul-Peter Tak, MD, PhD - Developing Novel Viral Immunotherapies To Improve Cancer Outcomes

Dr. Paul-Peter Tak, M.D., Ph.D., FMedSci ( https://www.candeltx.com/our-team/paul-peter-tak-m-d-ph-d-fmedsci/ ), is President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Candel Therapeutics, a biotech company developing and commercializing novel viral immunotherapies to induce immunogenic cell death in cancer cells at the site of injection, with a focus on unmasking tumor neo-antigens within an activated microenvironment, leading to a systemic, durable immune response against the tumor, with the potential to change disease outcomes across a variety of indications.

Dr. Tak received his medical degree cum laude from the Free University in Amsterdam and was trained as an internist, rheumatologist and immunologist at Leiden University Medical Center, where he also received his Ph.D.

Dr. Tak has been Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Diego as well as Professor of Medicine and founding Chair of the Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology at the Academic Medical Center/University Medical Center Amsterdam, during this time, where he founded Arthrogen b.v., a biotech company focused on gene therapy.

Dr. Tak has published over 580 papers in peer-reviewed journals, received numerous awards, and been elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (U.K.).

Dr. Tak previously served as Senior Vice President, Chief Immunology Officer, and Global Development Leader at GlaxoSmithKline from 2011 to 2018 where he oversaw a cluster of Therapy Area Units including Dermatology, Immuno-Inflammation, Infectious Disease, and Oncology, where he oversaw the creation of a portfolio of new medicines. He was also the President and CEO of Tempero Pharmaceuticals, which was integrated into GSK in 2015.

From 2018 to 2020, Dr. Tak served as venture partner at Flagship Pioneering and also as President and CEO of Kintai Therapeutics (Senda Biosciences). In addition, he has served as board director of Galvani Bioelectronics, ViiV Healthcare, and Omega Therapeutics. Currently, he is also on the Board of Sitryx Therapeutics (co-founder), Levicept, and Citryll. He is a 2021 PharmaVOICE100 honoree (100 most inspiring people in life sciences).

Dr. Tak has also been a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards of Index Life VI and Medicxi Ventures funds.