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May 21
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Amphista Therapeutics appoints leading protein degradation pioneer, Ian Churcher as CSO

By Amphista Therapeutics, Press Release, Private Companies
Press Release.

 

Glasgow, Scotland, 21 May 2020 – Amphista Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company creating first-in-class cancer therapeutics that harness the body’s natural processes to remove disease causing proteins selectively and efficiently, today announced the appointment of Dr Ian Churcher as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO).

Amphista’s CEO Dr Nicola Thompson said,

“I’m delighted to welcome Ian to the team. As an internationally recognised leader in the field of targeted protein degradation (TPD) as a therapeutic modality, Ian’s scientific leadership will be a tremendous addition to the Amphista team as we progress our TPD pipeline to the clinic. Ian’s appointment so soon after last month’s $7.5m Series A financing signals Amphista’s determination to deliver on its vision to create a world-leading protein degradation company delivering ground-breaking new medicines in areas of high patient need.”

Ian commented on his appointment,

“I’ve long sought out novel approaches to address traditionally undruggable targets in areas of high patient need. Amphista has a unique approach to targeted protein degradation and Nicola has quickly built a high-quality team. I’m excited by the opportunity to help Amphista develop its novel platform further and rapidly advance its lead projects into the clinic. As Amphista’s approach is very different to existing targeted degradation approaches, it offers significant potential to address a wide range of targets to ultimately help patients across many hard to treat diseases.”

Between 2012-2017, Ian led the Protein Degradation Discovery Performance Unit at GSK where, in collaboration with Professors Craig Crews and Alessio Ciulli, they pioneered the use of VHL-dependent PROTACs, culminating in landmark publications. Ian has also led teams developing drug discovery technologies and advancing medicines across multiple therapy areas during an R&D career at Merck & GSK. More recently, Ian led research at biotechnology companies aiming to change the way drug R&D is carried out, including as SVP Drug Discovery at BenevolentAI. There, working closely with machine learning and data science experts, he advanced a portfolio of programmes and helped develop novel AI-led methods for target identification and chemical optimisation. Ian holds an MA and D.Phil. in Chemistry from the University of Oxford where he was also Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemistry.

Amphista’s TPD small molecules instruct cells to degrade disease-causing target proteins directly, giving a clear therapeutic advantage over simple target inhibition. Specifically, Amphista’s platform is independent of traditional E3 ubiquitin ligases used by the field, potentially expanding the available target scope of TPD approaches and should overcome recently identified PROTAC® resistance mechanisms.

–    Ends   –

Media contacts:

Amphista Therapeutics
CEO NicolaThompson
+447464974714
nicki@amphista.com

Scius Communications
Katja Stout
+447789435990
katja@sciuscommunications.com

About Amphista Therapeutics

Amphista Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company creating first-in-class therapeutics that help harness the body’s natural processes to selectively and efficiently degrade and remove disease causing proteins. The company’s pipeline of novel small molecules that cause targeted protein degradation (TPD) is focused on challenging diseases including cancer. Amphista is a spin-out of renowned TPD expert Professor Alessio Ciulli’s labs at the University of Dundee, and is based in BioCity Glasgow, Scotland. The company is funded by leading life science investors including Advent Life Sciences, the European Investment Fund, the Scottish Investment Bank, and BioMotiv. For more information, visit http://www.amphista.com/

May 13
Love0

Artax Biopharma Appoints Joseph Lobacki as Chief Executive Officer, Announces Expanded Management Team

By Artax Biopharma, Press Release, Private Companies
Press Release.

 

Autoimmune Disease Company Hires Life Science Industry Experts to Lead Company
Through Next Stage into Human Clinical Studies with Novel Oral Small Molecule AX-158

Cambridge, MA, May 13, 2020 – Artax Biopharma, Inc., a biotechnology company
focused on transforming autoimmune disease treatment, announces their
expanded management team, being led by newly appointed Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) Joseph Lobacki. Comprised of immunology industry leaders and scientists,
the team represents deep expertise in drug discovery, development and
collaborations from some of the world’s most prestigious institutions.

Artax Biopharma is poised to enter clinical trials with the small molecule AX-
158, a novel approach to treat multiple autoimmune diseases without causing the
immune suppression commonly associated with current autoimmune disease
therapies.

Joseph Lobacki assumes the helm of Artax Biopharma after more than three
decades of leadership including research, development, and commercial
experience in executive roles across large and small biopharmaceutical companies,
including Sanofi Genzyme, Medivation, Verastem, and Micromet. The former CEO,
Damia Tormo, will continue as a member of the Board of Directors and we thank
Dr. Tormo for his years of work in founding and building Artax.

“We are thrilled to have such a strategic and experienced leader as Joseph
Lobacki steering Artax from our new US headquarters at this seminal time,”

stated Artax Biopharma’s Executive Chairman of the Board Alan Walts, Ph.D.

“His deep experience will prove invaluable as Artax’s first oral agent to treat autoimmune
disease prepares to enters the clinic.”

The Artax Biopharma management team includes Joseph Lobacki, CEO; Chris
VanDeusen, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer (CSO); Richard P. Polisson, M.D., MHSc,Chief Medical Officer (CMO); Karen LaRochelle, MBA, Chief Business Officer (CBO), and Andres Gagete, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer, (COO).

“I am excited to lead these incredibly talented and experienced professionals
in our Cambridge location as we fulfill the Artax mission to make our treatments
available as quickly as possible to patients who suffer from autoimmune diseases.
This team possesses the critical knowledge and experience to progress our novel
immunomodulator into clinical development and to drive this important mission
forward,”

added Mr. Lobacki.

Prior to Artax, Mr. Lobacki most recently served as Executive Vice President
and Chief Commercial Officer for Verastem, Inc.; Chief Operating Officer of Finch
Therapeutics Group, and Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Council Member
of Medivation, where he led a period of strong revenue growth for prostate cancer
treatment Xtandi®. Mr. Lobacki also held previous roles as Senior Vice President
and Chief Commercial Officer of Micromet, Inc., and Senior Vice President and
General Manager at Genzyme Corporation. Mr. Lobacki served as a director of
Celator Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals) and is currently on the
Boards of Sutro Biopharma and Artax Biopharma.

As CSO, Dr. VanDeusen will lead Artax’s scientific, research and translational
areas. Dr. VanDeusen brings more than 15 years of biopharmaceutical experience
and extensive expertise in drug discovery and development. He is also an inventor
and key contributor to multiple preclinical development compounds. Previously,
Dr. VanDeusen headed the chemistry division and was a global project team leader
within Tissue Protection and Repair at Sanofi Genzyme.
Dr. Polisson, in his role as Artax’s CMO, will direct the company’s clinical
development strategy. With 30 years of clinical and translational research
experience, Dr. Polisson joins Artax from the Sanofi Genzyme Research and
Development Center where he was Senior Vice President and Translational
Medicine Head directing discovery and translational medicine efforts across
multiple therapeutic areas. Previously, Dr. Polisson served as Associate Professor
of Medicine, Arthritis Unit Clinical Director at Massachusetts General Hospital and
Harvard Medical School.

As Chief Business Officer, Karen LaRochelle, MBA will lead all partner- and
investor-related interactions. With more than 25 years of biopharmaceutical
strategy and collaborations experience, her expertise in mergers & acquisitions
includes a deep history transacting for biotech companies, with several
transactions exceeding $1 billion. Prior to Artax, Ms. LaRochelle was Chief Business
Officer of PsiOxus Therapeutics. Previously in her career, Ms. LaRochelle spent
nearly 20 years with Bristol-Myers Squibb focused on strategy and transactions.

Dr. Gagete, as Artax’s COO, is currently coordinating research &
development and operations for Artax. Dr. Gagete has more than a decade of
experience in the biotech and academic sectors and was previously the Innovation
Director for Bioncotech Therapeutics.

About Immunomodulation

A healthy immune system eliminates harmful foreign pathogens, while being
tolerant of self-tissues and organs. When the immune system malfunctions, cells
(T Cells) attack self-tissues and organs, causing autoimmune disease. Current
autoimmune disease therapies suppress the immune system, helping to minimize
these self-attacks, but also raise susceptibility to harmful foreign pathogens.
Immunomodulation, the process in which the immune system reduces self-attacks
while properly reacting to fight foreign pathogens, holds great potential for
autoimmune disease.

About Artax-158

AX-158 is a first-in-class, oral small molecule, preclinical immunomodulating
agent in development for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. AX-158 employs
a novel mechanism of action that selectively modulates, or adjusts, T cell responses
that play a critical role in immune system function. By selectively inhibiting Nck, a
protein, AX-158 selectively modulates self-directed T Cell activation which is a
cause of autoimmune disease. Importantly, AX-158 is not immunosuppressive and
does not impact the immune system’s ability to mount a strong response to foreign
pathogens and infections. Further, AX-158’s ability to modulate T cell responses
allows the possibility to broadly target several autoimmune diseases, therefore
potentially transforming autoimmune disease treatment.

About Artax Biopharma

Artax Biopharma is a biotechnology company transforming autoimmune
disease treatment. Artax is a life science industry leader in autoimmune disease
immunomodulation science, developing an innovative small molecule approach to
treat autoimmune disease that modulates the immune system to both treat
autoimmune disease and allow the body to fight foreign pathogens. The company
is examining a first-in-class oral immunomodulating agent as a new way to treat
multiple autoimmune diseases without causing the immune suppression
commonly associated with currently available autoimmune disease therapies. For
more information, please visit www.artaxbiopharma.com.

Contacts:
Karen LaRochelle, MBA
Chief Business Officer
Artax Biopharma
klarochelle@artaxbiopharma.com

Media:
Linda Phelan Dyson, MPH
+1 973-986-5873
ldyson@artaxbiopharma.com

Apr 23
Love0

Nalu Medical, Inc. Appoints New Chief Executive Officer: Earl R. Fender Joins as President & CEO

By Nalu Medical, Press Release, Private Companies
Press Release.

 

CARLSBAD, Calif. (PRWEB) April 23, 2020

Nalu Medical, Inc. (“Nalu”), a global medical device company that provides miniaturized, battery-free implantable solutions for the treatment of chronic pain in Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) and Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS), announced today that Earl R. Fender has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Fender succeeds Keegan Harper, who has stepped down as CEO but will remain as Chairman of the Board.

“We are very excited to welcome Earl Fender to the Nalu team,”

said Mr. Harper.

“I cannot think of a stronger person to lead Nalu as it enters its full commercialization and growth phase than Earl. He brings over 30 years of successful experience in building and leading medical technology companies. For the last 12-years, he worked in the chronic pain space as the CEO of Vertiflex, Inc., which was acquired by Boston Scientific in June 2019. He brings a wealth of experience in building industry-leading, high growth companies and I am excited to have him join the Nalu team.”

“I am very excited and proud to join Nalu’s illustrious team who has developed such differentiated technology to positively impact the lives of patients in the U.S. and abroad,”

said Mr. Fender.

“The uniquely miniaturized, battery-free and easily upgradable Nalu implantable pulse generator system will help expand patient acceptance in both spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation.”

“We are very excited to welcome Earl Fender to the Nalu team. I cannot think of a stronger person to lead Nalu as it enters its full commercialization and growth phase than Earl. He brings over 30 years of successful experience in building and leading medical technology companies.”

Mr. Fender added,

“The Board thanks Keegan for his years of dedicated service to Nalu since founding the Company in 2014. As Nalu’s co-founder and CEO, Keegan built a strong team, developed a sophisticated product in record time, launched a successful first in human study in Australia, received FDA clearance in SCS and PNS, received CE mark approval, and completed a successful limited clinical launch in the U.S. We look forward to his continued leadership as Nalu’s Chairman.”

About the Nalu Neurostimulation System
The Nalu neurostimulation system is a battery-free, micro-implantable pulse generator (iPG) currently cleared by the FDA for both Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) and Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS) for mitigating chronic pain. The system is highly capable and easily upgradeable, providing a menu of therapy options. To learn more, please visit http://www.nalumed.com.

About Nalu Medical
Nalu Medical, Inc. is a privately held early-stage medical device start-up company based in Carlsbad, California. The team of seasoned entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists are developing the next generation of medical devices to address a number of poorly treated clinical conditions. Nalu Medical’s vision is to modernize and enhance medical device technology to improve people’s lives.

Apr 20
Love0

Zikani Therapeutics Completes Series A-1 Funding

By Press Release
Press Release.

 

Company Poised to Advance its TURBO-ZMTM Technology Platform to Develop Novel Ribosome Modulators to Treat Rare Nonsense Mutations

 

WATERTOWN, MA – APRIL 20, 2020 – Zikani Therapeutics, a company dedicated to leveraging its unique TURBO-ZM platform to develop novel ribosome modulating agents (RMAs) for the treatment of rare, nonsense mutation-driven diseases, today announced the close of a $7.5 million Series A-1 financing. Advent Life Sciences, Gurnet Point Capital and Roche Venture Fund supported the funding.

“We’re pleased to support Zikani as an emerging company that is using the strength of its science and a refined strategy to develop novel ribosome modulators for rare diseases caused by nonsense mutations,”

said Raj Parekh of Advent Life Sciences.

Zikani will use the proceeds to advance its current nonsense mutation readthrough programs from lead optimization to candidate selection. The company has demonstrated positive, pre-clinical data in multiple disease areas, including: APC mutant colon cancer,  familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), class 1 cystic fibrosis, and recessive dystrophic and junctional epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB and JEB).

“Zikani has generated promising data that validates its TURBO-ZMTM platform and addresses a completely unmet need in oncology therapeutics: restoring expression of a major tumor suppressor gene,”

said Keith Flaherty, M.D., Director of Clinical Research at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and a senior advisor to Zikani.

Ribosomal RNAs form the translation machinery that generates function proteins from genetic sequencies. Ribosome modulation provides a therapeutic approach to addressing a number of diseases, but the development of disease-specific ribosome modulators has been a challenge. Zikani’s proprietary platform TURBO-ZMTM allows rapid synthesis of novel RMAs that can be optimized to target the human ribosome in a disease specific manner.

“We’re highly encouraged by the data we’ve generated to date and are working rapidly to advance compounds into pre-clinical development. This financing, particularly in this volatile financial market, is a vote of confidence for our promising technology platform. As we look ahead, our focus is to maximize the funding and take the steps necessary to generate greater recognition for RMAs and form collaborations with partners that will benefit from our scientific platform,”

said Sumit Aggarwal, President and CEO, Zikani Therapeutics.

About Zikani Therapeutics

Zikani Therapeutics is an emerging leader in the science of ribosome modulation, leveraging its innovative TURBO-ZMTM chemistry technology platform to develop novel Ribosome Modulating Agents (RMAs) as therapeutics for people with limited treatment options. Zikani’s TURBO-ZMTM platform allows rapid synthesis of novel compounds that can be optimized to modulate the ribosome in a disease specific manner. As the company evolves its focus from early-stage to clinical-stage research, Zikani is actively moving into pre-clinical development to target select rare diseases including inherited diseases and cancers caused by nonsense mutations. For more information, visit zikani.com.

Contact

Outcomes Communication Group
Laureen Cassidy
laureen@outcomescg.com

Apr 17
Love0

Highlight Therapeutics announces name change from Bioncotech and launch of new website

By Highlight Therapeutics, Press Release, Private Companies
Press Release.

 

Madrid,  Spain –April 17,  2020:Highlight Therapeutics, a  clinical-stagebio pharmaceutical  company developing RNA-based therapies against cancer, announces that  it has changed its name  from Bioncotech with immediate effect. The company has launched a new corporate website, www.highlighttherapeutics.com, and related rebranding.

Highlight  Therapeutics  also announced  that  clinical  trials  of  its  lead  product  candidate  BO-112  will  be classified numerically under the umbrella name Spotlight for ease of identification.

BO-112 is a best-in-class RNA-based therapy which has been demonstrated to initiate  a powerful immune response, leveraging a unique multi-target approach to turn ‘cold’ tumors ‘hot’ and therefore visible to the immune  system.It  has  the  potential  to  rescue  patients  who are resistant to current  checkpoint  inhibitor therapy, a very large market opportunity. BO-112 is currently being investigated in a range of clinical trials as  a  monotherapy and  in  combination with  checkpoint  inhibitors by Highlight Therapeutics  and  external collaborators including MSD, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc, and UCLA.

Marisol Quintero, CEO of Highlight Therapeutics, commented:

“BO-112 highlights tumor cells,making them visible to the immune system.Our new identity as Highlight Therapeutics, and the branding of our expanding clinical  trial  program under  the Spotlight banner,  are  a clear representation  of  our  focus  and  the  unique approach we are taking to unlock the potential of checkpoint inhibitors in immunotherapy.

“Highlight Therapeutics has developed an extensive preclinical  package  differentiating BO-112 from other innate immune activators.  We are launching our new name at amajor inflection point in the development of  our  portfolio  as  we  work  to expand  on our initial  findings  and  apply  intratumoral  immunotherapy  to indications where we believe it has the potential to benefit many more patients, including liver metastases and melanoma.”

For more information, please contact:

Highlight Therapeutics S.L- Marisol Quintero, CEO info@highlight.com

Mo PR Advisory – Mo Noonan / Jonathan Birt Tel: +44 (0) 7876 444977/ 07860 361746

Notes to Editors

About Highlight Therapeutics

Highlight, formerly known as Bioncotech Therapeutics S.L, is a private, clinical-stage company dedicated to unlocking the full potential of immuno-oncology. Its lead drug candidate BO-112 is a best-in-class RNA-based therapy which has been demonstrated to initiate a powerful immune response, leveraging aunique multi-target approach to turn ‘cold’ tumors ‘hot’ and therefore visible to the immune system. It has the potential to rescue patients who are resistant to current checkpoint inhibitor therapy, a very large market opportunity. BO-112 is currently being investigated in a range of clinical trials as a monotherapy and in combination with checkpoint  inhibitors.  In addition to in-house  research,  Highlight  Therapeutics  has  a  numberof  external collaborators, including Merck & Co and UCLA.

Apr 17
Love0

Highlight Therapeutics appoints Dr. Carlos Paya as Executive Chairman

By Highlight Therapeutics, Press Release, Private Companies
Press Release.

 

Dr Ralph Weichselbaum, Dr.Antoni Ribas & Michael Docherty appointed to SAB

Company renamed to Highlight Therapeutics

Madrid,  Spain –April  17, 2020: Highlight Therapeutics (“Highlight”), a clinical-stagebio pharmaceutical company developing RNA-based therapies against cancer,announces the appointment of Carlos Paya, MD, PhD,as Executive Chairman with immediate effect.The Company has also significantly expanded its Advisory Board with a number of internationally-renowned scientific and industry leaders.  In line with these changes, the  Company has  been  renamed from Bioncotech Therapeutics  to  Highlight Therapeutics – see separate press release.

Marisol  Quintero, CEO of Highlight, said:

“Dr Paya’s impressive industry experience,  his  track  record  of guiding biotech companies through product development to global launch and his extensive reach with both scientists and investors will all be of great assistance to Highlight at this important point in our development. In  addition,  we have significantly expanded our Advisory  Board with distinguished scientists and  industry specialists of the highest caliber. These key appointments provide Highlight with the broad range of skills and know how to drive our ambition to unlock thepotential of immunotherapy for many more patients.”

Dr. Paya has a distinguished track record of leadership in large-cap pharma and mid-cap biotech and start-up companies, with a focus on strategic execution, pipeline growth, product life cycle management and global product launches, as well as a number of successful public and private fundraises.

He is a director of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and of Fluidigm Corporation. Previously, he was president, chief executive officer and board member of Immune Design Corp., a late-stage immunotherapy company, from  May  2011  until  its  acquisition  by  Merck  &  Co.,  Inc.  in  April  2019.He held  leadership  roles  at Elan Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly and Co. in discovery research and clinical development. Prior to  his  industry roles, Dr.  Paya spent  nearly  a  decade  at  the  Mayo  Clinic-Rochester, including as professor of medicine, immunology and pathology and vice dean of the clinical investigation program.

Dr Paya received his medical and doctorate degrees from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid Medical School, and completed his specialty training in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Immunology at the Mayo Graduate  School of  Medicine.  He was a research scientist in a  post-doctoral  position at Institute Pasteur in Paris and completed the advanced management program at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

The Company’s Scientific Advisory Board has expanded and now comprises:

Ralph R. Weichselbaum MD

  • Professor of Radiation & Cellular OncologyChair, Department of Radiation & Cellular Oncology, University of Chicago
  • Made discoveries in basic signal transduction after ionizing radiation exposure &, in separate studies, discovered that mechanisms of radiation resistance/sensitivity are mediated by cytokine activation in tumors
  • Currently investigating the relationship between radiotherapy & immunotherapy

Antoni Ribas MD, PhD

  • Professor of Medicine, Professor of Surgery & Professor of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology at UCLA
  • Director of Tumor Immunology Program at Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Director of Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Center, UCLA
  • Chair of SWOG Melanoma Committee; member of American Society of Clinical Investigation
  • Recipient of AACR Richard & Hinda Rosenthal Award & NCI Outstanding Investigator Award

Michael Doherty

  • Led Global Regulatory Affairs function at Roche & launched first oncology portfolio with a franchise of monoclonal antibodies and targeted medicines
  • Member of the Roche portfolio committee from 2002 to 2016
  • Prior positions: Global Head, Pharma Regulatory Affairs
  • Hoffmann La-Roche Ltd., Basel/Genentech, San Francisco
  • Head Product Development Foundation Medicine

For more information, please contact:

Highlight Therapeutics, Marisol Quintero, CEO info@highlight.com

Mo PR Advisory, Mo Noonan / Jonathan Birt Tel: +44 (0) 7876 444977/ 07860 361746

 

Notes to Editors

About Highlight Therapeutics

Highlight, formerly known as Bioncotech Therapeutics S.L, is a private, clinical-stage company dedicated to unlocking the full potential of immuno-oncology. Itslead drug candidate BO-112 is a best-in-class RNA-based therapy which has been demonstrated to initiate a powerful immune response, leveraging aunique multi-target approach to turn ‘cold’ tumors ‘hot’ and therefore visible to theimmune system. It has the potential to rescue patients who are resistantto current checkpoint inhibitor therapy, a very large market opportunity. BO-112 is currently being investigated in a range of clinical trials as a monotherapy and in combination with checkpoint  inhibitors.  In  addition  to  in-house  research,  Highlight  Therapeutics  has  a  numberof  external collaborators, including Merck & Co and UCLA

Apr 15
Love0

Advent Life Sciences Continues Support of Innovation in Life Sciences with the Launch of Two New Cancer Companies

By Advent Life Sciences, Press Release
Press Release.

 

  • Leads Recent Financings of PIC Therapeutics and Amphista Therapeutics
  • Portfolio Company Arrakis Therapeutics Partners with Roche

London, UK – 15 April 2020 – Advent Life Sciences (‘Advent’) announces the launch of two exciting new cancer companies, PIC Therapeutics Inc (“PIC”) and Amphista Therapeutics Ltd (“Amphista”), and a major partnership between portfolio company Arrakis Therapeutics Inc (“Arrakis”) and Roche. This continues Advent’s long-running investment and support of early-stage innovative biotechnology companies with a paradigm-shifting approach to the discovery of new medicines. Since 2006, Advent-backed companies have obtained regulatory approvals for 14 innovative medicines and medical products, reflecting the calibre and commitment of the founding scientists, clinicians and entrepreneurs that Advent has supported.  In that time, the Advent portfolio has achieved over 20 exits.

Today it was announced that Advent led the close of a $5M Seed investment round in its portfolio company, Boston-based PIC, which focuses on transforming the treatment of cancer though the selective modulation of oncogene translation. PIC was co-founded by Professor Gerhard Wagner of Harvard University and Dr Richard Peters. The company is led by CEO Sun Altbach and Alan Walts, Executive Chairman and Venture Partner at Advent. Belinda Termeer, PIC Board member, also participated in the financing.

Recently two other companies co-founded by Advent, announced success stories; Massachusetts-based Arrakis, pioneering the discovery of a new class of small molecule medicines that directly target RNA, and Glasgow-based Amphista, creating first-in-class cancer therapeutics that harness the body’s natural processes to degrade and selectively remove disease-causing proteins.

Amphista, which Advent spun out of the lab of Alessio Ciulli at the University of Dundee, closed a $7.5 million Series A round. Amphista discovers and designs small molecules that act in a different way from conventional PROTACs® and the company’s initial focus is to apply its insights to the design of anti-cancer agents.

Arrakis announced a strategic collaboration and license agreement with Roche in which Arrakis received a $190 million upfront cash payment, with the potential to achieve payments totalling up to multiple billions of dollars, for the discovery of RNA-targeted small molecule drugs against a broad set of targets. Advent founded Arrakis in October 2015 with Jennifer Petter, Advent Venture Partner Alan Walts, and the late Henri Termeer.

“Advent has a deep and enduring commitment to founding companies with paradigm-changing approaches. It is a privilege to support the scientists, clinicians and entrepreneurs in our companies as they realise important medical breakthroughs. We look forward to similar success at Amphista, Arrakis and PIC”

said Raj Parekh, General Partner at Advent Life Sciences.

Advent Life Sciences Venture Partner, Arrakis co-founder, and PIC Executive Chairman Alan Walts, commented,

“Since its founding in 2015, Arrakis has established a leadership position in the field of small molecule RNA modulation. We are thrilled to see the recently announced partnership with Roche, which will support Arrakis’ mission of transforming drug discovery. PIC Therapeutics is poised to transform the treatment of cancer and we are excited to partner with the PIC team as a lead investor.”

Advent’s highly experienced and diverse team of 16 investment professionals, all of whom are scientifically or clinically qualified, comprises serial entrepreneurs who have founded numerous companies that have discovered important new medicines for a range of unmet needs. The team takes an active role in both founding and supporting its portfolio companies.

 

–    ENDS  –

Media contacts:

Advent Life Sciences
Laura Lane
+44 7795 469847
pr@adventls.com

Scius Communications
Katja Stout
+44 7789 435990
katja@sciuscommunications.com

About Advent Life Sciences
Advent Life Sciences founds and invests in early- and mid-stage life sciences companies that have a first- or best-in-class approach to unmet medical needs. The investing team consists of experienced professionals, each with extensive scientific, medical and operational experience, a long-standing record of entrepreneurial and investment success in the US and Europe and is particularly focused on supporting entrepreneurs and founders to take innovative new medical entities from concept to approval. The firm invests in a range of sectors within life sciences, principally drug discovery, enabling technologies and med tech, always with an emphasis on innovative, paradigm-changing approaches. Advent Life Sciences has a presence in the UK, US and France.  For more information, please visit www.AdventLS.com

About Arrakis Therapeutics
Arrakis Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery of a new class of medicines that directly target RNA. Arrakis is building a proprietary pipeline of RNA-targeted small molecule (rSM) medicines focused on cancer and genetically validated targets in other disease areas. The company brings together scientific leaders in RNA structure, chemistry and biology, along with a highly experienced management team and the backing of leading life sciences investors. The company is located in Waltham, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.arrakistx.com or engage with them on Twitter @ArrakisTx or on LinkedIn.

About Amphista Therapeutics
Amphista Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company creating first-in-class therapeutics that help harness the body’s naturalprocesses to selectively and efficiently degrade and remove disease causing proteins. The company’s pipeline of novel small molecules that cause targeted protein degradation (TPD) is focused on challenging diseases including cancer. Amphista is a spin-out of renowned TPD expert Professor Alessio Ciulli’s labs at the University of Dundee, and is based in BioCity Glasgow, Scotland. The company is funded by leading life science investors including Advent Life Sciences, the European Investment Fund, the Scottish Investment Bank, and BioMotiv. For more information please visit www.amphista.com

About PIC Therapeutics
PIC Therapeutics is a Boston, MA-based biotechnology company focused on fundamentally changing how we treat cancer by developing a new generation of therapeutics based on the modulation of RNA translation. PIC’s therapeutics target the “master switch” of cancer signaling pathways, selectively blocking oncogene protein production by modulating the Pre-Initiation Complex (PIC) that drives their mRNA translation.  PIC Therapeutics’ selective approach has the potential to simultaneously modulate multiple oncogenic drivers leading to a powerful new generation of cancer-treating therapeutics. PIC is guided by a dedication to improving cancer patient outcomes and to realizing the potential of our technology to their benefit. For more information please visit www.pictherapeutics.com

Apr 15
Love0

PIC Therapeutics Raises $5 Million to Advance Development of Small Molecules That Selectively Modulate eIF4E

By PIC Therapeutics, Press Release, Private Companies
Press Release.

 

Series Seed Equity Round led by Advent Life Sciences

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–PIC Therapeutics (“PIC”), a biotechnology company focused on transforming the treatment of cancer though the selective
modulation of oncogene translation, closed a $5M Series Seed round of preferred equity funding.

The oversubscribed round was led by Advent Life Sciences (“Advent”), and included participation by Belinda Termeer, widow of legendary Genzyme CEO Henri Termeer, as well as several biopharmaceutical industry executives and other individual investors.

PIC Therapeutics was founded based on the extensive research of scientific founder Professor Gerhard Wagner of Harvard University and is led by founding CEO Sun Altbach, a 20+ year life sciences veteran and by Dr. Alan Walts, Executive Chairman and Venture Partner at Advent Life Sciences.PIC is supported by a world-renowned Scientific Advisory Board and Board of Directors.

PIC targets the “master switch” of cancer signaling pathways, blocking oncogene protein production by selectively modulating the Pre-Initiation Complex (PIC), specifically eIF4E – a convergence point driving oncogene RNA translation. PIC Therapeutics’ targeted approach has the potential to simultaneously impact multiple oncogenic drivers leading to a powerful new generation of cancer-treating therapeutics that address drug resistance and tumor heterogeneity, issues that plague many existing treatments.

Sun Altbach, CEO commented,

“This is an important step for PIC as we seek to transform how cancer is treated and therefore make a significant difference in patients’ lives. With this funding in hand we can accelerate our program focusing on allosteric regulation of eIF4E via an innovative drug development platform designed to produce early proof of concept in advance of the clinic.”

Alan Walts, Executive Chairman and Venture Partner at Advent added,

“PIC is a leader in the rapidly advancing field of translational modulation of oncogenes. PIC has developed a best in class portfolio of proprietary small molecule modulators of eIF4E and a comprehensive platform to validate human tumor activity. We are pleased to support their efforts to develop a new class of cancer therapies.”

PIC’s Board of Directors consists of:

  • Alan Walts, PhD, Executive Chairman of the Board; Venture Partner, Advent Life Sciences
  • Sun Altbach, MBA, CEO and President, PIC Therapeutics
  • Richard Peters, MD, PhD, Co-Founder, PIC Therapeutics; CEO Yumanity Therapeutics
  • Belinda Termeer, Termeer Foundation
  • Gerhard Wagner, PhD, Co-Founder, PIC Therapeutics; Elkan Rogers Blout Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School

PIC’s Scientific and Corporate Advisory Board consists of:

  • Keith Flaherty, MD, Director of Clinical Research at the Cancer Center at MGH
  • Jennifer Petter, PhD, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Arrakis Therapeutics
  • Nahum Sonenberg, PhD, Biochemistry Professor and Gilman Cheney Chair, McGill University
  • Yat Sun Or, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Enanta Pharmaceuticals
  • Jan Van Heek, MBA, Board Member, Amarin Corporation and Minerva Neuroscience
  • Gerhard Wagner, PhD, Co-Founder, PIC Therapeutics; Elkan Rogers Blout Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School

 

About PIC Therapeutics

PIC Therapeutics is a Boston, MA-based biotechnology company focused on fundamentally changing how we treat cancer by developing a new generation of therapeutics based on the modulation of RNA translation. PIC’s therapeutics target the “master switch” of cancer signaling pathways, selectively blocking oncogene protein production by modulating the Pre-Initiation Complex (PIC) that drives their mRNA translation. PIC Therapeutics’ selective approach has the potential to simultaneously modulate multiple oncogenic drivers leading to a powerful new generation of cancer-treating therapeutics.

PIC is guided by a dedication to improving cancer patient outcomes and to realizing the potential of our technology to their benefit.

www.pictherapeutics.com

About Advent Life Sciences

Advent Life Sciences founds and invests in early- and mid-stage life sciences companies that have a first- or best-in-class approach to unmet medical needs. The investing team consists of experienced professionals, each with extensive scientific, medical and operational experience, a long-standing record of entrepreneurial and investment success in the US and Europe and is particularly focused on supporting entrepreneurs and founders to take innovative new medical entities from concept to approval. The firm invests in a range of sectors within life sciences, principally drug discovery, enabling technologies and med tech, always with an emphasis on innovative, paradigm-changing approaches. Advent Life Sciences has a presence in the UK, US and France. For more information, please visit

www.AdventLS.com.

Contacts
PIC Therapeutics
Sun Altbach, CEO and President
info@pictherapeutics.com
+1 617-637-378

Apr 08
Love0

Arrakis Therapeutics Enters Strategic Collaboration and License Agreement with Roche for Multi-Target Program Utilizing RNA-Targeted Small Molecule Drug Discovery Platform

By Arrakis Therapeutics, Press Release, Private Companies
Press Release.

 

Arrakis Therapeutics Enters Strategic Collaboration and License Agreement with Roche for Multi-Target Program Utilizing RNA-Targeted Small Molecule Drug Discovery Platform

Arrakis Receives $190 Million Upfront Cash Payment with Potential for Multi-Billion Dollar Future Payments

Waltham, MA – April 8, 2020 – Arrakis Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery of a new class of small molecule medicines that directly target RNA, today announced a strategic collaboration and license agreement with Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) for the discovery of RNA-targeted small molecule (rSM) drugs against a broad set of targets across all of Roche’s research and development areas. Under the terms of the agreement, Arrakis will lead discovery and research activities for each target to a defined point, at which time Roche will have the right to exclusively pursue further preclinical and clinical development. Arrakis will receive an upfront payment of $190 million in cash and may also receive preclinical, clinical, commercial and sales milestone payments and royalties for any resulting products. The aggregate potential value of future payments to Arrakis exceeds several billion dollars, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions being met.

“We are excited to partner with Roche’s strong research and development teams. Together, we share a common vision of accessing new drug targets at the RNA level and thereby discovering novel medicines to treat diseases with high unmet medical need. The collaboration will increase the number of new treatments for patients arising from our proprietary rSM discovery platform,”

said Michael Gilman, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Arrakis.

“In addition to the Roche collaboration, we are further building our capabilities and advancing our wholly-owned rSM programs for diseases unaddressed by today’s medicines.”

“Through our pioneering work in RNA biology, we have built a platform for creating and adapting drug discovery tools that allow us to predict and validate the structure of RNA targets, locate druggable pockets, identify drug-like hits, and conduct medicinal chemistry programs to discover a new class of RNA-targeted medicines optimized for potency, selectivity, and safety. This agreement with Roche underscores the value inherent in our rSM platform and will enable us to continue to make leading discoveries and further scientific contributions in the field,”

said Jennifer C. Petter, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Arrakis.

Arrakis is taking a broad approach, targeting multiple mechanisms across the lifecycle of RNA to establish a new paradigm for small-molecule drug discovery. The company’s discovery platform integrates leading-edge RNA bioinformatic and structural tools, curated chemical libraries, RNA-specific assays, and RNA-guided medicinal chemistry. In addition to collaborating with partners, Arrakis is developing an internal pipeline of rSMs to treat a range of serious illnesses including cancers and other diseases where strongly validated targets and drivers of disease have been identified but have proven challenging with other drug approaches and modalities.

About Arrakis Therapeutics

Arrakis Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery of a new class of medicines that directly target RNA. Arrakis is building a proprietary pipeline of RNA-targeted small molecule (rSM) medicines focused on cancer and genetically validated targets in other disease areas. The company brings together scientific leaders in RNA structure, chemistry and biology, along with a highly experienced management team and the backing of leading life sciences investors. The company is located in Waltham, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.arrakistx.com and engage with us on Twitter @ArrakisTx or on LinkedIn.

###

Investor Contact:
Will O’Connor
212-362-1200
will.oconnor@sternir.com

Media Contact:
Kathryn Morris
914-204-6412
kathryn@theyatesnetwork.com

Apr 07
Love0

Amphista Therapeutics raises $7.5m Series A round to advance targeted protein degradation assets in cancer

By Amphista Therapeutics, Press Release, Private Companies
Press Release.

 

April 7, 2020

  • Amphista’s potent bifunctional small molecules augment targeted protein degradation
  • Investors include Advent Life Sciences, the Scottish Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund and US-based BioMotiv

Glasgow, Scotland, 7 April 2020 – Amphista Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company creating first-in-class cancer therapeutics that harness the body’s natural processes to selectively and efficiently degrade and remove disease causing proteins, today announced the closing of a USD $7.5m Series A round, led by Advent Life Sciences. Seed round funders the Scottish Investment Bank, with backing from the Scottish Growth Scheme, and the European Investment Fund joined the round, along with new investor, US-based life sciences BioMotiv.

Amphista’s CEO Nicola Thompson said,

“This international financing provides Amphista with a firm foundation to underpin a Series B round to progress our oncology pipeline to the clinic. Our vision is to create a leading protein degradation company on the global stage that delivers ground-breaking new medicines to patients in areas of high unmet need.”

Raj Parekh, General Partner at lead investor Advent Life Sciences said,

“We are excited to support Amphista in its next stage of development. The Company has a potentially unique approach to targeted protein degradation when compared with traditional proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC®) platforms. We believe that Amphista has great potential with its differentiated proprietary technology to address traditionally undruggable targets.”

Satish Jindal, CEO of BioMotiv, and newly appointed Amphista Chairman, commented,

“We are a mission-driven accelerator, and we are excited by Amphista’s focus to rapidly produce potent bifunctional small molecules to augment the body’s own processes to remove disease-associated proteins. We see huge potential to accelerate Amphista’s breakthrough technology platform into medicines.”

Amphista’s scientific founder, Professor Alessio Ciulli, based at the University of Dundee, is an internationally renowned expert in the field of targeted protein degradation (TPD).

“Highly specific TPD is a transformative new modality for tackling previously undruggable targets with high therapeutic value.”

said Ciulli.

Amphista’s TPD small molecules instruct the cell to degrade the target directly rather than activating or inhibiting the target protein function. As protein-protein interactions are involved in disease progression, removing the target protein provides a clear therapeutic advantage over simple inhibition. Specifically, Amphista’s platform is independent of traditional E3 ubiquitin ligases used by the field, potentially expanding the available target scope of TPD approaches and should overcome recently identified PROTAC® resistance mechanisms.

Media contacts:

Amphista Therapeutics
CEO NicolaThompson
+447464974714
nicki@amphista.com

Scius Communications
Katja Stout
+447789435990
katja@sciuscommunications.com

About Amphista Therapeutics
Amphista Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company creating first-in-class therapeutics that help harness the body’s natural processes to selectively and efficiently degrade and remove disease causing proteins. The company’s pipeline of novel small molecules that cause targeted protein degradation (TPD) is focused on challenging diseases including cancer. Amphista is a spinout of renowned TPD expert Professor Alessio Ciulli’s labs at the University of Dundee, and is based in BioCity Glasgow, Scotland. The company is funded by leading life science investors including Advent Life Sciences, the European Investment Fund, the Scottish Investment Bank, and BioMotiv. For more information, visit http://www.amphista.com/.

About Advent Life Sciences
Advent Life Sciences founds and invests in early- and mid-stage life sciences companies that have a first- or best-in-class approach to unmet medical needs. The investing team consists of experienced professionals, each with extensive scientific, medical and operational experience, a long-standing record of entrepreneurial and investment success in the US and Europe and is particularly focused on supporting entrepreneurs and founders to take innovative new medical entities from concept to approval. The firm invests in a range of sectors within life sciences, principally drug discovery, enabling technologies and med tech, always with an emphasis on innovative, paradigm-changing approaches. Advent Life Sciences has a presence in the UK, US and France. For more information, please visit AdventLS.com.

About the Scottish Investment Bank
The Scottish Investment Bank (SIB) is the investment arm of Scotland’s national economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise, operating Scotland-wide in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

SIB’s activities support Scotland’s SME funding market to ensure businesses with growth and export potential have adequate access to growth capital and loan funding. It helps ambitious Scottish companies get the right level of funding from the right sources at the right time, through building relationships with both domestic and international investors.

SIB manages a suite of co-investment funds including the Scottish Co-Investment Fund, the Scottish Venture Fund and the Energy Investment Fund on behalf of the Scottish Government. SIB is also an investor in Epidarex Capital’s Life Sciences Fund and administers the Scottish Loan Scheme, with funding secured from the Scottish Government’s Scottish Growth Scheme.

Furthermore, SIB provides funding into LendingCrowd, Scotland’s marketplace lender providing loans to SMEs, and Maven’s Regional Buyout Fund (MBO) that offers financial support for management buyouts (MBOs) and helps existing management teams acquire businesses from their owners so they can continue to flourish.

SIB’s team of financial readiness specialists help companies prepare for new investment and access appropriate finance.

About BioMotiv
https://www.biomotiv.com
BioMotiv is a mission-driven accelerator associated with The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development, a $340 million initiative focused on advancing early stage breakthrough discoveries from research institutions into medicines. Led by a highly accomplished and passionate team of veteran biopharma experts, BioMotiv’s innovative model efficiently aligns resources and capital to select, fund, manage and advance a portfolio of drug development programs.