Refuge Biotechnologies Inc, a synthetic biology company developing intelligent cell therapeutics for cancer immunotherapy, announced yesterday that it has named Scott Smith as its new director.

Smith brings more than 30 years of biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry experience to the Refuge board of directors. He recently retired from Celgene, where he held multiple positions over a ten-year tenure culminating in an appointment as president and chief operating officer. He earlier held leadership positions in inflammation and immunology, guiding growth of the franchise from 13 people to more than 1,300 worldwide. He oversaw the clinical development, global registration and commercial success of the drug Otezla and worked closely with Juno post acquisition to integrate the capabilities of cellular immunotherapy into Celgene. His prior experience at Pharmacia (acquired by Pfizer) and at Biovail included global responsibility for sales and marketing, creating and executing commercial and business development strategies and contributing to regulatory and clinical development strategies. He also serves on the board of directors of Titan Pharmaceuticals, Triumvira Immunologics and Springbank Pharmaceuticals.

Bing C Wang, PhD, co-founder and chief executive officer of Refuge, said, 'Scott joins our board at an important time in Refuge's growth as our receptor-dCas platform continues to showcase promise in creating a pipeline of next-generation cell therapies for cancer. His expertise in corporate and pipeline development will be valuable as our organisation evaluates the best path forward for the pipeline – both internally and through collaborations with potential partners.'