BOOST Pharma appoints veteran investor Elaine Jones as chair to steer BT-101 into late-stage trials

New updates have been reported about BOOST Pharma.

BOOST Pharma has named seasoned biopharma investor and board leader Elaine Jones, PhD, as chair of its board of directors, signaling a governance upgrade as the company prepares its lead cell therapy BT-101 for Phase III development in osteogenesis imperfecta. Jones succeeds Ingelise Saunders, who remains on the board, and brings over two decades of venture and strategic experience from roles at Pfizer Ventures and GSK’s SR One, where she led and oversaw investments aligned with major pharma R&D priorities.

For BOOST Pharma, a clinical-stage company focused on off-the-shelf stem cell therapies for rare pediatric skeletal disorders, the appointment is intended to support capital-efficient late-stage execution and potential partnering around BT-101, which has produced early clinical data showing reduced fractures in children with brittle bone disease. BT-101, an allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell therapy with Orphan Drug Designation in both the U.S. and Europe, is positioned as a potential first disease-modifying treatment in a market where current care is purely supportive.

Chief executive Hans Schambye emphasized Jones’s strategic and investment background as critical for navigating the transition to late-stage trials and the company’s next phase of growth, while acknowledging Saunders’s leadership through earlier milestones. Jones highlighted BOOST Pharma’s scientific platform and the clinical and commercial potential of BT-101 as core reasons for her joining, noting the opportunity to create value for patients, partners, and investors in a high-need, underserved indication.

As it enters this new stage, BOOST Pharma plans to engage prospective partners and investors at upcoming sector conferences, including BIO-Europe Spring and LSX World Congress Europe, where Schambye will participate in expert panels. Backed by investors such as Industrifonden, Karolinska Development, and Sound Bioventures, the company is aligning board composition, late-stage clinical planning, and external visibility to advance BT-101 toward pivotal studies and, ultimately, a clear path to market in osteogenesis imperfecta, which affects roughly 1 in 15,000 people worldwide and currently lacks approved disease-modifying therapies.