Paul Peter Tak, MD PhD FMedSci is President, CEO, and Board Director of Candel Therapeutics (Needham, MA).
He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals (~600 publications, H-index 142 [Google Scholar], >85,000 citations), received numerous awards, has been elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and was recognized by PharmaVOICE100 (100 most inspiring people in life sciences) in 2021. His academic team has pioneered preclinical and clinical research on the role of the vagus nerve in chronic inflammation. He was the international Principal Investigator for the first clinical trial testing vagus nerve stimulation in rheumatoid arthritis. This work has provided a platform from which to explore bioelectronics as a therapeutic approach in autoimmune disease.
At GlaxoSmithKline he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Immunology Officer, and Global Development Leader (2011-2018). In his role as Global Head of a cluster of Therapy Area Units at GSK (Dermatology, ImmunoInflammation, Infectious Disease, and Oncology), he oversaw the creation of a portfolio of new medicines, including anti-CCL17 antibody, gepotidacin, belimumab sc (approved in 2017 [Benlysta® sc]), mafodotin (approved in 2020 [Blenrep®]), cabotegravir/rilpivirine (approved in 2021 [Cabenuva®]), and tapinarof (acquired by Dermavant Sciences; approved in 2022 [VTAMAR®]). He was the Chair of the Scientific Review Board, the governing body accountable for the scientific assessment of GSK’s R&D portfolio. He is also the founder of GSK’s Immunology Network, a collaboration between GSK and leading academics.