26 April 2019 - - US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company X4 Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: XFOR) has appointed E. Lynne Kelley, M.D., FACS, as the company's chief medical officer, the company said.

Kelley brings more than a decade of experience driving clinical development and global expansion of novel pharmaceutical products at both emerging and established life sciences companies. Kelley is a Board Certified General and Vascular Surgeon.

Before joining X4, Kelley was CMO of Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company Histogenics Corp. (NASDAQ: HSGX), where she led the development of restorative cell therapies to replace damaged cartilage and oversaw the completion of a Phase 3 clinical trial and regulatory submission for the company's lead program.

Kelley previously served as CMO of Senseonics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SENS) and held leadership positions in clinical development roles at global companies such as Becton, Dickinson and Company, Kimberly-Clark Corp., and Boston Scientific Corp.

Kelley received her medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School and her bachelor's degree in biology from Boston University. Kelley is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and has authored numerous articles for peer-reviewed publications.

She trained at Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, and was a practicing surgeon at Yale University.

Kelley was named Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and was awarded an NIH research grant at Harvard and the Marco Polo Fellowship studying at Hospital Henri Mondor of the University Paris Hospital System.

X4 Pharmaceuticals is developing novel therapeutics designed to improve immune cell trafficking to treat rare diseases, including primary immunodeficiencies and certain cancers.

X4's oral small molecule drug candidates antagonize the CXCR4 pathway, which plays a central role in immune surveillance.

The company's most advanced product candidate, mavorixafor (X4P-001), is expected to commence a global Phase 3 pivotal trial in patients with WHIM syndrome, a rare genetic, primary immunodeficiency disease, in 2Q19 and is currently also under investigation in a Phase 2a clinical trial in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

X4 was founded and is led by a team with extensive product development and commercialization expertise, including several former members of the Genzyme leadership team, and is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.