WATERTOWN, Mass., Sept. 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SQZ Biotechnologies (SQZ), a cell therapy company developing novel treatments for multiple therapeutic areas, today announced the appointment of Lawrence Knopf as the company’s general counsel. Mr. Knopf joins SQZ with a unique perspective on the life sciences industry and an excellent combination of corporate, intellectual property and business expertise.
“We are thrilled to welcome Larry to the SQZ team,” said Armon Sharei, PhD, founder and chief executive officer of SQZ Biotech. “His extensive legal and business development experience in the life sciences industry strengthens our leadership team at this pivotal time for SQZ. Larry will play a key role in ensuring that we execute on our mission to grow into a fully integrated cell therapy company dedicated to enhancing the lives of patients.”
Amy Schulman, chair of the SQZ Biotech board, continued, “Larry’s entrepreneurial spirit and legal background is a perfect fit. With his broad experience supporting companies throughout their growth cycles, we are confident that Larry will help drive SQZ to achieve our strategic milestones.”
Mr. Knopf added, “I am honored to join SQZ at this point in the company’s evolution and look forward to leveraging my experience to support SQZ as the company continues to grow. I‘m eager to work with the team as we develop innovative cell therapies with transformative potential for patients.”
Mr. Knopf has over 30 years of experience in various legal leadership roles in life science companies. Previously, Mr. Knopf served as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Heartware International, Inc., a global leader in cardiac assist devices that was acquired by Medtronic, where he was a key member of the executive leadership team. There he was responsible for all legal matters, including the company’s public reporting and corporate governance, business development and acquisition strategy and negotiations, intellectual property portfolio, healthcare regulatory compliance, reimbursement and government affairs. Prior to Heartware, Mr. Knopf served as senior vice president and deputy general counsel at Boston Scientific Corporation. Previously, Mr. Knopf worked at two large Boston corporate law firms. He received his J.D. from the University of Michigan School of Law and his undergraduate degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and is qualified as a certified public accountant.
About SQZ Biotech
SQZ Biotech is a privately held company creating innovative treatments by transforming cells into sophisticated therapeutics. Using its proprietary platform, SQZ has the unique ability to precision engineer many patient cell types and deliver multiple materials, resulting in powerful, multifunctional cell therapies for a range of diseases with an initial focus on cancer. The first applications for the company leverage SQZ’s ability to generate target-specific immune responses, both in activation for the treatment of solid tumors, and immune tolerance for the treatment of immune reactions and diseases. For more information please visit www.sqzbiotech.com.
SQZ Contact:
Rebecca Cohen
Senior Manager, Corporate Relations
rebecca.cohen@sqzbiotech.com
617-758-8672 ext. 728
Media Contact
Cait Williamson, PhD
LifeSci Public Relations
cait@lifescipublicrelations.com
646-751-4366