Sirnaomics Ltd., a biopharmaceutical company, appointed Francois Lebel, chief medical officer. Lebel previously served as senior vice president for preclinical and clinical development since July 2023.

Lebel, a 30-year industry veteran, will oversee the clinical development of Sirnaomics’ lead therapeutic candidate, STP705, for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma in situ, which is  currently in a Phase II clinical trial.

Lebel has broad drug development experience including immuno-oncology and nucleic acid therapeutics. He has held positions with Baxter, Medimmune, and Chiron and has designed and managed international research programs and development organizations. His most recent senior leadership roles include executive vice president for R&D and chief medical officer at Spectrum, where he was responsible for preclinical and clinical development, regulatory affairs, and pharmacovigilance/drug safety.

“With his impressive track record in novel drug product marketing approvals, Dr. Lebel is well suited to lead our pipeline of clinical-stage and pre-clinical RNAi-based treatments through the drug development process,” said Patrick Lu, Founder, Chairman of the Board, Executive Director, President, and CEO of Sirnaomics. “His continued senior leadership at Sirnaomics will enrich our ability to advance several leading candidates for a number of indications through global late-stage product development.”  

Leble said, “I am honored to lead Sirnaomics’ RNAi pipeline through clinical development, building upon my experiences with the Company, and with outside investigators and international regulatory bodies, I hope my experiences of successfully achieving eight product marketing approvals will bring Sirnaomics to the commercial stage.”