Oxford GlycoSciences Plc

Serial Entrepreneurs Dale Pfost and David Weiner Bring Broad Expertise as AxoSim Expands Its Leadership in Human Organoid Technologies Designed to Make Neurological R&D Faster, More Efficient and More SuccessfulNEW ORLEANS, Feb. 28, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AxoSim, Inc., a leader in the development and application of 3D organoid neurodiscovery platforms, today announced that current directors Dale Pfost, PhD, and David Weiner, MD, have been appointed as Co-Chairs of AxoSim’s Board of Directors. Dr. Pfost and Dr. Weiner have decades of experience in building successful biotechnology companies spanning therapeutics, diagnostics and life science tools and technologies. “Our recent acquisition of a third platform technology positions AxoSim for growth, and we are fortunate to have these two talented industry veterans assuming key leadership roles,” said Lowry Curley, PhD, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of AxoSim. “Dale and Dave bring successful track records in building life sciences businesses, with broad and complementary skill sets. Dale’s work in life science tools and venture finance is highly relevant, as is Dave’s expertise in leading neurological drug discovery and clinical development. Both have founded new enterprises, spearheaded major financings, served as CEOs and managed M&A activities. As active participants in the New Orleans healthcare ecosystem, they know us well, and we are delighted to welcome them to the senior team.” Dr. Pfost noted, “AxoSim embodies the entrepreneur’s sweet spot--when market need, technological innovation, timing and team all align. The growing prevalence of neurological diseases places enormous burdens on patients, their families and society. Yet despite billions in investment, neurology R&D continues to disappoint. AxoSim’s transformational approach addresses a key contributor to these failures—the lack of relevant disease models—by providing functional human data from its microphysiological system (MPS) organoid technologies early in the process. AxoSim aims to become an industry leader in helping to deliver urgently needed new drugs and I welcome the opportunity to contribute to its success.” Dr. Pfost has served as CEO of six biotechnology companies, three of which became publicly traded with valuations exceeding $2 billion. Recently, he retired as CEO of Chemomab Therapeutics, after serving as CEO of Lodo Therapeutics until its acquisition. Earlier, he was founding CEO of gene-silencing innovator Acuity Pharmaceuticals, which merged to form OPKO Health. Dr. Pfost was founding CEO of Oxford GlycoSciences and genomics pioneer Orchid BioSciences, and as CEO led cancer company Receptor BioLogix to a successful acquisition. As a student he founded a company acquired by SmithKline Beckman that produced the Biomek, a leading laboratory automation system still in use today. Dr. Pfost was a General Partner at venture capital firm Advent Life Sciences and acting CEO of MicroBiome Therapeutics, which he co-founded. He earned a BS degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a PhD in physics from Brown University. Dr. Pfost is the co-author of 10 scientific papers and an inventor on 10 patents. Dr. Weiner commented, “Having experienced first-hand the unmet patient need in neurology and the frustration of the many failed R&D efforts in the field, I wholeheartedly support AxoSim’s mission of harnessing advances in MPS technologies that allow researchers to obtain functional human data much earlier in the R&D process. This allows researchers to assess investigational drugs in the lab, rather than spending many years and millions of dollars to identify successes or failures in the clinic. Neurology is poised to achieve the type of progress we have recently seen in oncology, and I look forward to working with the AxoSim team to advance this important technology.” David Weiner has 30 years’ experience in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics. He is currently Chief Medical Officer of Swan Therapeutics and a co-founder of Bend Therapeutics. Previously he served in multiple leadership roles in neurology and rare disease-focused biotechnology companies, including Chief Executive Officer of Amathus Therapeutics and Chief Medical Officer at Lumos Pharma, aTyr Pharma and Proteostasis Therapeutics. Earlier in his career, Dr. Weiner held key drug development roles at EMD/Merck Serono and spent a decade in discovery research and clinical development at Acadia Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Weiner received a BA degree cum laude with highest honors from Brandeis University and an MD degree from the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, SUNY Buffalo. He did a post-doctoral fellowship in neuropharmacology at the University of Vermont and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Scholar. Dr. Weiner has co-authored over 30 scientific publications and multiple patents. He serves as a director, consultant and scientific and clinical advisory board member to biotechnology companies and foundations, including the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. AxoSim’s NerveSim®, BrainSim® and microBrain™ platforms use human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to develop 3D biomimetic models of human brains and nerves, also known as microphysiological systems or organoids. With NerveSim®, AxoSim can study whole nerve conduction to support drug discovery efforts in chronic pain, neurotoxicity, and peripheral neuropathy, while BrainSim® includes key brain cell types for the study of myelination-related conditions such as multiple sclerosis. The recent addition of the microBrain™ technology, with its ability to chart electrical activity in the brain, supports research efforts in disorders such as epilepsy, Rett Syndrome and Parkinson’s disease. About AxoSimAxoSim empowers advancements in human neuroscience and is mission-driven to advance 3-D organoid neurodiscovery models, also known as microphysiological systems, with the potential to jumpstart the discovery and development of breakthrough therapies. It partners with biopharma companies to facilitate therapeutic innovation by empowering drug developers to obtain relevant human data early in the R&D process, reducing the time and cost of drug discovery and increasing the probabilities of success. The company’s proprietary drug discovery platforms NerveSim®, BrainSim® and microBrainTM deliver clinically relevant functional data enabling selection of better lead candidates with phenotypically accurate assays. AxoSim's platforms currently have applications in peripheral neuropathy and neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis, seizure disorders, neurotoxicology and other diseases. For more information, visit www.axosim.com. Contacts: AxoSim Corporate AxoSim MediaGina JacksonBarbara LindheimDirector of Special ProjectsBLL Partners for AxoSimGina.jackson@axosim.comBarbara.lindheim@axosim.com954 292-6608917 355-9234 A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9cc75eed-0e97-4523-8f30-60d15acbd62c

ST ANDREWS, Scotland, Jan. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pneumagen, a clinical stage biotech company developing Neumifil, a broad-spectrum antiviral, intranasal drug for the prophylaxis and treatment of viral respiratory tract infections (RTIs), announces the appointment of James Noble as non-executive Chairman of its Board of Directors. James brings over 30 years of industry experience to the Board from both public and private biotech and healthcare companies. He is currently Chairman at Orexo AB, Sutura Therapeutics and Celleron Therapeutics and non-executive director of Nasdaq listed company Lava Therapeutics N.V. He has previously held non-executive roles at several prominent biotech companies including MediGene AG, PowderJect, Oxford GlycoSciences, CuraGen, Advanced Medical Solutions and GW Pharmaceuticals. In 2008, James founded Adaptimmune, a Nasdaq listed T-cell therapy company, where he worked as Chief Executive Officer until 2019 and is currently on the Board. Prior to that, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Immunocore, which he also co-founded. James holds an M.A. degree from the University of Oxford. Douglas Thomson, CEO of Pneumagen, commented, "We are very pleased to welcome James to the Board who brings a wealth of strategic, corporate and financial expertise to Pneumagen. James' considerable experience will be invaluable as we progress our Phase 2 clinical trial with our lead asset, Neumifil. We look forward to leveraging James' global network and deep knowledge of the biotech sector as we continue our commitment to deliver an important new therapy to vulnerable patients at risk from viral RTIs." James Noble added "I am honoured to take on the role as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Pneumagen, a company that has already delivered highly encouraging early clinical data. I look forward to working closely with the company's impressive team and driving forward the strategy to deliver such a potentially important new product for patients at high-risk of viral-induced exacerbations caused by respiratory viruses." About Pneumagen Pneumagen is a clinical- stage biotech company developing Neumifil, its lead product, as an intranasal drug for the prophylaxis and treatment of a broad range of viral respiratory tract infections (RTIs). Neumifil is a novel, engineered multivalent Carbohydrate Binding Molecule (mCBM), which is being developed for the broad-spectrum prevention and treatment of Influenza Virus (IFV), Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and Coronavirus infections including COVID-19. Neumifil acts by directly binding and preventing the entry of the viral pathogens into the host. Neumifil was generated using Pneumagen's proprietary GlycoTarge™ technology that identifies novel mCBMs for further development. In addition to Neumifil, Pneumagen is harnessing its GlycoTarge™ platform to enable the development of a pipeline of therapies targeting other infectious diseases. Pneumagen was established in 2016 as a spin-out from the University of St Andrews in Scotland giving Pneumagen access to world-class scientific expertise and capabilities in viral RTI's specifically related to glycobiology. For further information, please contact: Pneumagen Douglas Thomson, CEO Email: [email protected] MEDiSTRAVA Consulting (Financial PR) Frazer Hall, David Dible, Sandi Greenwood Email: [email protected] +44 (0) 203 928 6900 SOURCE Pneumagen

Veteran biotech and pharmaceutical executive will help company increase its growth and international impact SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Standigm Inc. ("Standigm"), the leading workflow artificial intelligence (AI) drug discovery company, today announced the appointment of Chief Business Officer Carl Foster. Based in our U.S. office, Foster will be responsible for expanding strategic partnerships for novel drug target discoveries and first-in-class lead candidate identifications. "Carl has established a reputation for increasing company value. He has significant experience building and growing biotech companies, like Standigm, through creative deal-making," said Jinhan Kim, CEO of Standigm. "We're confident Carl can help us meet our aggressive goals." Foster spent over 30 years working for drug and platform technology companies in various areas including genomics, proteomics and antibodies. Throughout his career, he has built a strong track record of business planning, establishing strategic relationships and financial modeling. Foster began his career with Merck and Co., Inc. where he had spent nine years in business development, marketing, and sales. Most recently, he was executive vice president, business development for Cempra Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, he was CEO of Jurilab, a European-based genomics company. Foster has also held vice president-level positions at Nanogen, King Pharmaceuticals, Oxford GlycoSciences and Praecis Pharmaceuticals. In addition, he was general manager of Intracel BV, a Netherlands-based immunology company and managing director of Ferghana Partners, a New York-based investment banking group. Foster holds an MBA in marketing and an M.S. in biochemistry from the University of Kansas. "Our goal is to shorten the drug discovery process, reduce costs and increase the probability of success by combining the Standigm AI platform with disease-specific data from our strategic partners," said Foster. "I believe combining AI with drug discovery will result in major advances in how we understand diseases and create solutions. Standigm's first-class AI platform is backed by a strong team of biologists, chemists and AI engineers who have collectively created a tremendous opportunity for me. I look forward to helping them build a novel and industry-leading company." To date, Standigm has: Raised approximately $71.2 million in funding from multiple investors, including Pavilion Capital, whose successes in AI drug discovery include Schrödinger and Insilico Medicine. Expanded its operations from the world, opening offices in the U.S. and U.K. in 2021. Established a synthetic research center to improve the efficiency of AI drug discovery. Proven its technology competitiveness with multiple partnership with pharmaceutical companies and research institutions in Asia, the U.S. and Europe, such as SK Chemicals, Hanmi Pharmaceutical and Milner Therapeutics Institute. Established confidential relationships with a European big pharma company, a U.S. biotech company, and a U.S. research institute. Produced strong preclinical opportunities for multiple disease areas, including Parkinson's disease, autism, mitochondrial diseases, and NASH. Collaborated with global companies such as Merck KGaA, Oracle and Deepmatter, to enhance further AI drug discovery capabilities. The Standigm AI platform is used for both drug discovery and repurposing. The latter accelerates time to market and lowers costs because the drugs have either been commercialized or demonstrated some level of stability in clinical trials. About Standigm Standigm is a workflow AI-driven drug discovery company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea and subsidiarized in Cambridge, U.K. and Cambridge, MA. Standigm has proprietary AI platforms encompassing novel target identification to compound design, to generate commercially valuable drug pipelines. Founded in 2015, Standigm has established an early-stage drug discovery workflow AI to generate multiple First-in-Class compounds within average seven months. Pursuing full-stack, AI-driven industrializing drug discovery, Standigm has achieved the automation of molecular design workflow, and the automation effort has been expanding to the whole drug discovery process based on Standigm AI platforms, including Standigm ASK™ for novel target discovery, Standigm BEST™ for novel compound generation and Standigm Insight ™ for novel indication. Learn more at . Katie Morales, PRforStandigm@Bospar.com Company Codes: Korea:285130