Pathios Therapeutics Ltd.

None Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of significant leadership hirings, firings and retirings across the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Gabrielle Masson and it will be featured here at the end of each week. Veteran Pfizer R&D leader takes a bow After leading Pfizer’s R&D unit through the pandemic, Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., is heading out. The New York pharma giant announced the departure Tuesday, at the same time launching a public search for a successor. “I want to thank Mikael for his incredible contributions, not only to Pfizer and the scientific community but to the millions of patients he has impacted over the years. Mikael is a distinguished scientist, physician, and leader, and his work will undoubtedly leave an important stamp on the legacy of this 175-year-old company,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Ph.D., in a statement.  Dolsten joined Pfizer after the closure of the megamerger with Wyeth in 2009. He advanced up the ranks in R&D, most recently taking on the title of CSO, president, research and development as Pfizer welcomed another company into its stable: Seagen. Story AbbVie's R&D org changes hands AbbVie is changing up the guard of its global R&D organization as Thomas Hudson, M.D., retires. He will be replaced by Roopal Thakkar, M.D. Hudson had been serving as senior vice president, chief scientific officer, global research, having joined AbbVie in 2016 to oversee oncology discovery efforts and early development. He became CSO in 2019. Thakkar, meanwhile, will rise from his role of senior vice president, chief medical officer, global therapeutics to become executive vice president, research and development and chief scientific officer. He joined the company in 2003 and has climbed the clinical development ranks since. Release With fundraise, Flagship welcomes new hires Flagship Pioneering, which just pulled in $3.6 billion through various funds, is adding a new layer of leadership through a number of promotions and executive appointments. Pharma industry veterans Lovisa Afzelius, Ph.D., and Paul Biondi have been promoted to general partner. Afzelius joined the venture creation firm from Pfizer where she led the systems immunology function, while Biondi spent 20 years at Bristol Myers Squibb before jumping to the world of venture capital. The firm also picked up Marcello Damiani from Moderna as senior partner and Gary Pisano, Ph.D., to serve as executive partner and chief strategist, among other executive appointments and hires. Release > David Johnson is the new chief operating officer of Vera Therapeutics. He was previously the chief commercial officer of Global Blood Therapeutics, which was acquired by Pfizer in 2022, from March 2018 to December 2022. He was also previously a leader at Gilead and had an 11-year tenure at GSK. Release > Two execs are out at a struggling biotech. Sanjeev Redkar, Ph.D., Apollomics’ co-founder and president, and Peony Yu, M.D., the biotech’s chief medical officer, are heading for the exit as the company narrows the scope of a key clinical trial. Fierce Biotech > Luc Boblet is joining 4Moving Biotech, a clinical-stage subsidiary of 4P-Pharma specializing in immuno-inflammation and osteoarthritis, as CEO. A former leader of Egle Therapeutics, H-IMMUNE and Pathoquest, Boblet will oversee the development of the biotech’s upcoming phase 2 trials. Release > Inovio is bringing Merck veteran Steven Egge on board as the biotech switches strategies following a phase 3 failure. As chief commercial officer, Egge will help prep for the launch of Inovio’s treatment for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, which the company plans to submit for FDA approval later this year. Fierce Pharma > Sitryx Therapeutics is shaking things up as it shuffles Chief Scientific Officer Iain Kilty, Ph.D., to new roles as CEO and board member. Former CEO Neil Weir will become president and remain on the board. The biotech hopes Kilty’s expertise will be a boon as they move their lead asset toward clinical development. Release > After a Takeda-partnered late-stage epilepsy program flopped, Ovid Therapeutics is looking to extend its cash runway by dropping two execs. Thomas Perone will cease serving as the company’s general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary, while Jason Tardio will stop serving as chief operating officer. Release > ImCheck Therapeutics is bringing Stephan Braun, M.D., Ph.D., aboard as chief medical officer to shepherd the development of their lead monoclonal antibody candidate. Braun previously served as group chief medical officer at CureTeq AG and has also held leadership positions at Basilea, Ipsen, Parexel and Symphogen. Release > Simon Jones is joining Curve Therapeutics as chief financial officer and chief operating officer. He joins from SpyBiotech, where he led finance and operations, and before that was CFO at Karus Therapeutics for almost a decade. Release > Pathios Therapeutics is prepping for the clinic by bringing on Paul Higham as CEO. Higham most recently served as CEO of Valo Therapeutics, which he led from preclinical stage into clinical development. He replaces founding CEO Stuart Hughes, Ph.D., who will be the biotech’s new chief scientific officer. Release > Jazz Pharmaceuticals is promoting Samantha Pearce, currently its senior vice president of Europe and international, to chief commercial officer. Pearce served long stints at AstraZeneca and then Celgene before joining Jazz in 2020. Fierce Pharma > Sutro Biopharma is appointing Barbara Leyman, Ph.D., as chief business development officer. Sutro is a clinical-stage oncology company developing ADCs. Leyman most recently served as senior vice president of corporate development at GenEdit and before that was a business development leader at Lyell Immunopharma and Calico Life Sciences. Release > Following Ensho Therapeutics’ acquisition of EA Pharma’s portfolio, Bittoo Kanwar, M.D., former chief medical officer of Telavant (acquired by Roche), is set to become CEO. Ensho Chief Scientific Officer Andy Whitney, Ph.D. is also set to hop aboard, along with Emily Weng as chief data science officer and Suzanne Vyvoda as chief operating officer. Fierce Biotech > Suneet Varma is retiring after 15 years as the commercial president of Pfizer’s oncology unit. Taking the helm will be Tina Deignan, Ph.D., who was most recently a senior vice president leading Novartis’ U.S. oncology business. Deignan previously worked for 15 years at Bristol Myers Squibb, mostly in the oncology division. Fierce Pharma > Lexicon Pharmaceuticals is replacing retiring Lonnel Coats with Mike Exton, Ph.D, to serve as CEO and director. Exton most recently served as the global cardiometabolic therapeutic head at Novartis and spent a total of 14 years at the pharma. Release > Roman Haehn has been appointed chief commercial officer of Mission Bio. A 25-year industry vet, Haehn comes to Mission from Agena Bioscience and previously held leadership roles at Luminex Corporation and Ventana Medical Systems. Release > EveryONE Medicines, a biotech focused on personalized genetic medicine, is appointing Kent Rogers as CEO and Josh Ofman, M.D., as chairman of the board. Rogers previously served as the chief commercial officer for EQRx. Ofman is currently the president of cancer detection company Grail. Release > Aktis Oncology, a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical biotech, is appointing Akos Czibere, M.D., Ph.D., as chief medical officer. Interim CMO Pankaj Bhargava, M.D., will transition to Aktis' scientific advisory board. Czibere most recently held the position of vice president and therapeutic area head of Hematology-Oncology at Pfizer, and prior to that was a vice president at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals. Release > Michel Dahan is the new president and CEO of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals. Company co-founder Leonide Saad, Ph.D., has been named chief scientific officer. Dahan was previously at Akebia Therapeutics for 13 years, where he served as senior vice president and chief operating officer. Release

Founding CEO, Stuart Hughes, Ph.D., to Transition to Chief Scientific Officer and Focus Efforts on Advancing Company's First-of-its-Kind GPR65 Inhibition Approach to Immuno-Oncology Company Continues Active Investor Engagement Following First Close of $25M Series B Financing in Q2 2024; On Target to Enter Clinic by End of Year OXFORD, England, July 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pathios Therapeutics Limited ("Pathios"), a biotech company focused on the development of first-in-class therapies for cancer, today announced the appointment of experienced biotechnology industry executive, Paul G. Higham, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He brings over 20 years of C-level executive biotechnology company experience to Pathios, as the company prepares to enter clinical development with its first-in-class GPR65 antagonist. In conjunction with Mr. Higham's appointment, Pathios' founding CEO, Stuart Hughes, Ph.D., will transition to the role of Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), where he will continue to focus his efforts and deep scientific expertise on the company's first-of-its-kind GPR65 inhibition approach to cancer immunotherapy. This will include playing a key role on the team advancing PTT-4256, the company's lead internally discovered, oral, highly potent, and selective small molecule inhibitor of GPR65, into human clinical trials in advanced solid cancers by the end of 2024. "Following several years of excellent leadership under Stuart, Pathios is preparing to take a critical step forward and enter the clinic with its lead immuno-oncology program. As we transition from a company with preclinical assets to a full-fledged clinical-stage biotech, we will benefit greatly from Paul's deep operational and strategic expertise. We are thrilled to welcome Paul to the Pathios team and look forward to the successes he will drive, including ongoing fundraising efforts focused on completing our Series B round," said Tom McCarthy Ph.D., co-founder and Executive Chair of Pathios. "Importantly, Stuart will now be able to focus the full force of his scientific acumen on helping shepherd the company's unique therapeutic approach through development to unlock significant value for patients and shareholders alike." Paul most recently served as chief executive officer of Valo Therapeutics, an immuno-oncology company developing tumour antigen-coated oncolytic viruses. In this role, he led the company from pre-clinical stage into clinical development. Prior to his tenure with Valo Therapeutics, Paul held the position of CEO at two other immuno-oncology focused companies, Glycotope, and Immatics Biotechnologies. Earlier in his career, he built a strong foundation of strategic and operational expertise in roles that included commercial development at Ark Therapeutics Group, where he established the company's adenovirus gene-based medicine production facilities in Finland, Vice President, commercial development at GSK, and General Manager of Bayer Pharmaceuticals for Sweden and Denmark. "With an exciting first-in-class therapeutic candidate poised for advancement into first-in-human clinical studies and support from a top-tier investor syndicate of Bristol Myers Squibb, Canaan and Brandon Capital, Pathios is exceptionally well positioned for success. I am delighted to have the opportunity to bring my experience and energy to what is already an exceptional leadership team and help advance the exciting GPR65 antagonist approach at Pathios into much-needed additional therapeutic approaches for patients battling cancer," said Mr. Higham. "This is an exciting time for Pathios as we work diligently toward the initiation of clinical trials for PTT-4256. These studies will allow us to begin to test our scientific hypothesis around the therapeutic potential of inhibiting the immunosuppressive activity of GPR65 in patients with cancer, marking a key step forward for the development of this novel approach to immunotherapy," said Dr. Hughes. "I am looking forward to working alongside Paul to advance this science and support him in executing the strategic and operational initiatives that will best position Pathios for long-term success." Pathios is pursuing a novel immuno-oncology approach to the treatment of cancer focused on counteracting the immunosuppressive polarization of immune cells, including tumour associated macrophages (TAMs), that is triggered by an acidic tumour microenvironment (TME). It does so by attacking a ubiquitous cancer immune evasion pathway through the targeting of GPR65, an acid sensing G protein-coupled receptor that has been shown to foster immunosuppressive polarization of immune cells. GPR65 is exclusively expressed on immune cells and is associated with driving the immunosuppressive immune cell phenotype in the TME that prevents immune-mediated killing of cancer cells. Pathios' internal human genetic analysis demonstrates that reductions in GPR65 function are associated with significantly improved survival across a range of solid tumour types, positioning it as a unique immuno-oncology target for therapeutic intervention. Preclinical data for PTT-4256 have demonstrated that the compound possesses excellent drug-like properties and impressive monotherapy anti-tumour activity. In addition to cancer, there are strong genetic associations between GPR65 activity and a variety of other immunologically mediated diseases, offering Pathios the opportunity to expand its research and development into other high-value therapeutic areas with significant unmet need. About Pathios Therapeutics Pathios is a drug discovery and development company focused on translating innovative science into new medicines. Pathios was founded by a team of experienced biotech and pharmaceutical industry professionals, entrepreneurs, and clinicians. The company is focused on developing small molecule inhibitors of the pH-sensing G protein-coupled receptor GPR65 to counteract the GPR65 mediated immunosuppressive polarization of immune cells, including tumour associated macrophages, that is triggered by an acidic tumour microenvironment present in most cancers. To date, Pathios has raised a total of US$58M including support from the leading venture capital firms, Canaan and Brandon Capital, as well as a strategic investment from Bristol Myers Squibb. Pathios is headquartered at the Innovation Centre on Milton Park, a key science precinct south of Oxford, UK, where together with Grey Wolf Therapeutics and ThirtyFiveBio it is part of the unique M:M Bio drug discovery and development ecosystem. For more information, please visit . Contacts: Pathios Therapeutics Tom McCarthy, Executive Chair +44 1235 644 960 info@pathios.com Paul Higham, CEO +44 1235 644 960 info@pathios.com Vida Strategic Partners (on behalf of Pathios Therapeutics) Tim Brons +1 646 319 8981 tbrons@vidasp.com

Pathios Therapeutics日前宣布完成2500万美元的B轮融资，这笔融资包括来自新投资者百时美施贵宝（Bristol Myers Squibb），以及包括Canaan和Brandon Capital在内现有投资者的支持。融资所获得的款项将主要用于支持其潜在“first-in-class”GPR65抑制剂PTT-4256的开发。 Pathios正在研究一种潜在能够逆转酸性肿瘤微环境（TME）所引发免疫细胞（例如，肿瘤相关巨噬细胞）极化而造成免疫抑制现象的新型免疫肿瘤学癌症治疗方法。该公司打算开发靶向一种称为GPR65的酸性感应G蛋白偶联受体来攻击常见的癌症免疫逃逸途径。GPR65已被证明能促进免疫细胞的免疫抑制极化。在2023年美国癌症研究协会（AACR）年会上公布的PTT-4256临床前数据显示，该化合物具有出色的类药物特性和强大的单药抗肿瘤活性。值得一提的是，PTT-4256被证明能有效抵消低pH值（即高酸度）所导致人类和小鼠巨噬细胞极化至免疫抑制状态的作用。 此次融资所得将用于支持Pathios继续开发其GPR65靶向抗癌疗法。该公司预计将在2024年底前将其内部发现的口服GPR65小分子抑制剂PTT-4256推进到晚期实体瘤的人体临床试验。此外，Pathios将利用融资所得扩大其团队，包括高管领导层，以配合其公司继续发展成为临床阶段公司。 参考资料：[1] Pathios Therapeutics Raises $25M in FirstClose of Series B Financing to Advance First-in-Class Immunotherapy Approach into Clinic. Retrieved April 19, 2024 from https://pathiostherapeutics.com/pathios-series-b-bms/ 内容来源于网络，如有侵权，请联系删除。