Ehime, Japan, January 7, 2026 – Optieum Biotechnologies Inc. (“Optieum”), a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing innovative CAR-T cell therapies, today announced the appointment of Dr. Sheila Singh, M.D., PhD, FRCSC, as Clinical Advisor to guide the company’s clinical development and translational strategy for its lead program, OPTF01, a first-in-class FAPα-targeted CAR-T therapy developed using Optieum’s proprietary Eumbody system. OPTF01 is designed to dismantle the tumor microenvironment (TME), a crucial step for CAR-T to achieve meaningful responses in solid tumors. Glioblastoma was selected as the first clinical indication, recognizing the devastating patient prognosis and the potential for OPTF01 to leverage the distinct FAPα expression pattern found within the glioblastoma environment.
Dr. Singh currently serves as chief pediatric neurosurgeon at McMaster Children’s Hospital, Professor of Surgery and Biochemistry and Division Head of Neurosurgery at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, and is the Founding Director of the Centre for Discovery in Cancer Research (CDCR). Recently, Dr. Singh was appointed as the new Joint Head of the School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences and Head of the Comprehensive Cancer Centre at King’s College London. Her academic position at King’s will be as Professor of Neuro-oncology and Neurosurgery, and she will hold a senior strategic advisory role with Evelina London, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, further expanding her influence and global leadership in neuro-oncology and translational oncology.
Her pioneering research in brain tumor stem cells, together with extensive clinical experience in glioblastoma and advanced clinical trial design, will play a critical role as Optieum prepares for its first-in-human development of OPTF01 in glioblastoma — the program’s first clinical indication.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Sheila Singh to our key clinical advisor,” said Shun Nishioka, Founder and CEO of Optieum Biotechnologies. “Her deep understanding of glioblastoma biology and her translational experience align directly with our vision – transforming OPTF01 from a promising preclinical concept into a clinical reality for one of the most devastating cancers in modern medicine.”
Dr. Singh added,
“Glioblastoma is one of the most heartbreaking diagnoses in medicine. Patients fight with courage, families fight alongside them, and yet our therapies have barely changed in decades. Too many people hear that there are no real options and that is simply not good enough.
What inspires me about OPTF01 is that it doesn’t attempt another incremental improvement. It takes a fundamentally different approach by rewiring the very environment that makes glioblastoma so resistant to treatment. For the first time, we may have a path to give the immune system a real chance inside these tumors.
If we can translate the profound potential of this science to patients and families facing glioblastoma, it will offer a measure of hope and clinical relief that is desperately overdue. I am deeply honored to join Optieum in this mission.”
With this appointment, Optieum further expands its scientific and clinical capabilities to accelerate the development of first-in-class CAR-T therapies.
Optieum’s lead program, OPTF01, targets FAPα, a key antigen widely expressed on cancer-associated fibroblasts that define the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in many solid tumors, while uniquely appearing on both the stroma and a subset of tumor cells in glioblastoma. This enables a dual mechanism: (1) dismantling the stromal barrier that shields tumors from immune attack, and (2) directly eliminating FAPa-positive cells within glioblastoma. By disrupting this barrier and exposing protected cancer cells, OPTF01 is designed to unlock immune infiltration and combination opportunities across a broad range of solid tumors, addressing the critical challenge of solid tumor immuno-oncology, starting with glioblastoma.
Optieum Biotechnologies Inc. is a cutting-edge biotechnology company dedicated to engineering hope for patients through the development of next-generation CAR-T cell therapies. At the heart of Optieum’s innovation is its proprietary Eumbody System, a revolutionary platform that optimizes CAR constructs to unlock the full therapeutic potential of T cells by dynamically harmonizing CAR binding domains. This transformative platform has the potential to redefine CAR-T cell therapy, enabling the development of groundbreaking treatments for challenging diseases. For more information, visit www.optieumbio.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Optieum Biotechnologies
