The current Sana Biotechnology CSO, whose groups helped steer approvals of bimekizumab and secukinumab, will advise the Hong Kong–listed antibody developer on its immunology pipeline.
Harbour BioMed has recruited a scientist who helped deliver three of the past decade's biggest immunology drugs, bimekizumab, secukinumab, and fingolimod, to advise on its antibody pipeline, the company announced on June 11.
The move places Dr. Dhavalkumar Patel, currently Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Sana Biotechnology, in a Scientific Advisory Board seat at the Hong Kong–listed company (HKEX: 02142). It is an advisory role rather than an operating one, and the press release does not disclose the scope, cadence, or compensation attached to it.
Patel's résumé is anchored by two long stints running research at large-cap immunology players. As EVP and CSO of UCB, his teams contributed to the approvals of bimekizumab (marketed as Bimzelx), rozanolixizumab (Rystiggo) and zilucoplan (Zilbrysq), according to the company statement. Before UCB, he spent a decade at Novartis, most recently as Head of Research at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) Europe, where his groups contributed to the approvals of secukinumab (Cosentyx) and fingolimod (Gilenya).
He joined Sana in 2024, per the release. The announcement did not characterize Sana's current status or address Patel's reasons for taking on an external advisory seat while still holding the CSO post there, and no third-party biotech trade press or analyst note accompanied the materials reviewed.
The advisory role lands at a biopharmaceutical company that describes itself as focused on novel antibody therapeutics across immunology, oncology and other disease areas, with operations split across Cambridge, Massachusetts, Rotterdam, and Shanghai. The release frames Patel as bringing "over two decades" of therapeutic innovation spanning industry and academia.
That pedigree is what makes the appointment mildly notable on its own. A research chief whose groups are credited with approvals across two distinct immunology franchises and a sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor modulator is the kind of advisor immunology teams benchmark against, and his presence on a Scientific Advisory Board is a signal of which platforms have earned that level of external validation. Harbour BioMed's own description of its remit, novel antibody therapeutics in immunology and oncology, lines up directly with the disease areas where Patel has shipped approved drugs.
The unanswered question is what Patel is being asked to advise on. The release does not name a specific Harbour BioMed program, modality focus, or therapeutic-area emphasis tied to the appointment, leaving readers to infer that the engagement is broad rather than tied to a particular asset or near-term milestone. Independent confirmation of any disclosed mandate, equity component, or other Scientific Advisory Board additions was not included in the materials reviewed, so the read-through for now is a credibility signal: a global antibody developer has secured the time of a scientist whose groups helped clear some of the most commercially consequential immunology approvals of the past fifteen years.