Infinitopes Appoints Immuno-Oncology Pioneer Jo Brewer as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) to Advance Therapeutic Pipeline From Clinical to Commercialisation

• Joining Infinitopes as CSO and interim COO, Jo Brewer, PhD, an innovator in the field of immunotherapy, will help sustainably scale the company on its journey through clinical development.
• Expansion of the executive leadership team supports the company’s ambition to grow its AI/ML-powered antigen discovery platform into a therapeutic pipeline.
• Move further strengthens clinical to commercial capability as Infinitopes steers its first vaccine candidate to prevent recurrence in oesophageal cancer through early investigational trial.

OXFORD, England & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Infinitopes, a biotechnology company developing novel and precision immunotherapy, today announces the appointment of Jo Brewer, PhD, as Chief Scientific Officer and interim Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Brewer, a pioneer and recognised industry leader in cancer immunotherapy and cell therapies, has served as a non-executive director (NED) of the company since March 2025, now joining the executive leadership team at a key inflection point in the company’s growth.

The appointment follows the start of the VISTA trial at the end of last year: a first-in-human, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled Phase I/IIa clinical trial of ITOP1, Infinitopes’ leading precision therapeutic vaccine, designed to prevent the recurrence of oesophageal cancer in the first line, neoadjuvant setting; an area where clinical need remains largely unmet.

ITOP1 is a next-generation off-the-shelf cancer vaccine using the company's proprietary vector technology to induce potent T-cell responses in patients suffering from surgically resectable oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC).

With 20 years of experience in advancing therapies from early-stage discovery to commercialisation, Dr. Brewer joins Infinitopes from Adaptimmune, where she was a founding scientist and served as CSO. Jo was instrumental in the development of Tecelra®, the first engineered TCR-T cell therapy for solid tumours to reach the market.

Commenting on her new, permanent, role as CSO at Infinitopes, Jo said:

"This is a really exciting moment in Infinitopes’ innovation journey, where cutting-edge science transitions from lab into the clinical realm. I have always been passionate about shepherding science from 'bench-to-bedside’ and am excited by the ITOP1 product development programme and its potential to revolutionise first line treatment for those living with cancer.

"I am thrilled to join at this critical clinical stage in the company’s development. I’ll be tapping into the full breadth and depth of my experience to build on the critical work of the co-founders Jonathan Kwok, Senthil Chinnakannan and Lian Ni Lee, helping them to drive their vision to the next level.”

Dan Menichella, a seasoned biotech executive who recently took up the position of interim CEO of Infinitopes from his role as NED, added:

“Not only does Jo have hands-on experience successfully transitioning a candidate from concept to market, but she’s also adept at steering growth in scaling organisations in a sustainable way. We’re delighted to have her join us on a permanent basis at this point in our innovation journey.”

Jo Brewer and Dan Menichella’s appointments enable co-founding CEO Dr Jonathan Kwok to transition to Infinitopes’ President & Chief Medical Officer, with a focus on guiding Infinitopes’ strategy and clinical development, leading execution of the VISTA trial and AI business technologies. Together these appointments will help drive the next exciting chapter in Infinitopes’ development story.

In January this year, the company announced the successful extension of its seed financing round, securing an additional $15.4 million to bring the total raised to $35.1 million.

About Jo Brewer

Chief Scientific Officer & Interim Chief Operating Officer

Jo Brewer, PhD, is a recognised industry leader in cancer immunotherapy and cell therapies, with over 20 years of experience bringing cutting-edge treatments from discovery to the clinic.

As a founding scientist at Adaptimmune, Jo played a critical role in the development of multiple cell-based immunotherapies that led to partnerships with Genentech, Galapagos, Astellas and GSK. She has built and led multiple research teams and helped the company scale from a small biotech to 500+ employees, driving innovation across discovery and translational science.

About Infinitopes

Infinitopes Ltd is a clinical stage, integrated cancer biotechnology company supported by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the University of Oxford. The Company combines two world-leading platforms, in precision target discovery and in high-efficiency, vector delivery systems, to develop immunologically durable vaccines against multiple solid tumour indications. A Phase I/IIa trial of the lead vaccine candidate, ITOP1, began in Q4 2025, following UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Clinical Trial Application (CTA) approval. Infinitopes has gathered in-house talent across antigen discovery, immunology, vaccinology, oncology, biomanufacturing, clinical trials and regulation, winning an 'Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway' (ILAP) innovation passport from the MHRA in 2022. Infinitopes has also won two prestigious, maximum size, nondilutive awards from Innovate UK, a Cancer Therapeutics Award (in 2022), and a Future Economy Investor Partnership (in 2023). Since incorporation, the Infinitopes team has raised over $35.1m from sector experts, including Amplify Bio, Cancer Research Horizons, Cancer Research Institute, Kindred Capital, Macmillan Cancer Support, Manta Ray Ventures, Martlet, Meltwind, Octopus Ventures, Saras Capital, Wilbe and the Fundación CRIS Contra el Cáncer, funding its rapid growth from three academic co-founders to a team of 20 full time equivalents. It is now the largest tenant of Oxford University's BioEscalator innovation accelerator. For more information, visit www.infinitopes.com

For further information please contact:

Infinitopes
Tom Weir
Email: tom@infinitopes.com

FINN Partners
Jim Smith
Tel: +44 7854 214426
Email: jim.smith@finnpartners.com