Kenneth LeClair

As CTO, Ken is responsible for building and managing the Process Development and Manufacturing, Science & Technology teams, developing innovative technologies to keep Lykan at forefront of cell therapy manufacturing, assisting business development to identify and recruit high-quality external partners, and implementing the successful transfer and execution of all cell therapy manufacturing projects at Lykan.

Prior to Lykan, Ken was VP of Technical Development and Manufacturing at TScan Therapeutics and Editas Medicine. Previously, he spent eight years at Novartis transitioning biologic candidates from research into clinical development. Ken was also responsible for the early technical diligence and supply chain development for the CAR-T product, Kymriah®. Kymriah, which has had a dramatic impact on saving lives was jointly developed with the University of Pennsylvania and was the first CAR-T product approved by the FDA.

Ken is from the Boston area and received his Biology A.B. from Bowdoin College, a Ph.D. in Immunobiology from Yale University then did a postdoc at the MIT Center for Cancer Research. Ken was Assistant Professor of Tumor Immunology at Harvard Medical School, then joined a series of small local biotechnology companies doing molecular biology, immunology, and vaccine development projects.