Pioneering cell therapy leader will direct Stemson’s efforts to develop the first iPSC-derived cell therapy to treat hair loss
SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#stemson—Stemson Therapeutics, a private biotechnology company developing an iPSC-derived autologous cell therapy to regenerate healthy hair follicles, announced today that Kevin D’Amour, a veteran cell therapy development expert, has joined Stemson as Chief Scientific Officer. Kevin brings two decades of stem cell-derived cell therapy development experience to the Stemson team.
“We are delighted to have Kevin join our team and bring his extensive experience in cell therapy development,” said Geoff Hamilton, Stemson’s Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer. “He is a pioneer in the field of differentiating stem cells to yield therapeutically relevant cells to treat degenerative diseases. His addition will complement and bolster our world class R&D organization and accelerate our mission to develop a breakthrough hair follicle regeneration cell therapy.”
“I am excited and honored to join the Stemson team,” said Kevin. “Stemson’s approach to replace lost hair with de novo follicles has tremendous promise and has the potential to bring true hair replacement therapy to a very large patient population. The company has progressed significantly in the past year and I look forward to working with Stemson’s talented team to rapidly advance the program toward the clinic.”
Kevin D’Amour, PhD, was at ViaCyte from 2002 until 2021 and served as the company’s Chief Scientific Officer from 2011 – 2021. At ViaCyte, he led the development of the first stem cell-derived cell therapies designed to replace pancreatic beta cells for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. Under Kevin’s leadership, ViaCyte took three cell therapy products into the clinic. ViaCyte was acquired by Vertex in 2022. After his time at ViaCyte, Kevin was Chief Scientific Officer of Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics where he focused on developing cell therapies using mRNA-based cell engineering technology. Kevin is co-author of high-profile publications in renowned scientific journals and an inventor on over 100 patents in the field of stem cells, cell engineering, and cell therapy.
Kevin earned his PhD in Biology from the University of California, San Diego.
About Stemson Therapeutics
Stemson Therapeutics is a pre-clinical stage cell therapy company founded in 2018 with a mission to cure hair loss by leveraging the regenerative power of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. Based on the breakthrough innovation by Stemson Therapeutics co-founder, Dr. Alexey Terskikh, Stemson uses iPSC to regenerate the critical cells required to grow hair and which are damaged or depleted in patients suffering from hair loss. The iPSC-derived cells are used to grow de novo hair follicles, offering a new supply of hair to treat people suffering from various forms of Alopecia. Today, there are no available treatments capable of growing new hair follicles. Stemson’s world class team of scientists, advisors and collaborators are passionate about delivering a scientifically based, clinically tested cure for hair loss to the millions of hair loss sufferers who seek help for their hair loss condition. Stemson Therapeutics is headquartered in San Diego, CA. For more information, please visit www.stemson.com.
Contacts
Stemson Therapeutics
Amy Caterina
amy@stemsontx.com