Myricx Pharma Announces Senior Team Expansion with Appointment of CMO, and Heads of Biology and Bioinformatics

  • Zahid Bashir MB BS, MSc joins as Chief Medical Officer, bringing significant clinical haematology and oncology experience, having led the development and launch of innovative medicines including Kite Pharma’s first CAR-T clinical trial
  • Richard Rutter, PhD joins as Head of Biology, with a track record of progressing drugs from inception to the clinic, he brings a breadth of drug discovery and leadership experience
  • Francesco Falciani, PhD joins as Head of Bioinformatics, bringing a wealth of experience on novel computational approaches in systems biology gained from pioneering research across academia and industry

Stevenage, UK, February 22 2022 – Myricx Pharma (‘Myricx’), a drug discovery company focused on developing small molecule inhibitors that selectively target the human N-myristoyltransferases (NMT) in cancer, today announces expansion of its senior team with the appointments of Zahid Bashir as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Richard Rutter as Head of Biology and Francesco Falciani as Head of Bioinformatics.

With an initial focus in multiple oncology indications Myricx is developing a pipeline of novel proprietary inhibitors of human N-myristoyltransferases (NMT). The new appointments reflect the Company’s progress as it advances its lead programmes through preclinical development and IND-enabling studies.

Zahid Bashir, MB BS, MSc is a highly experienced clinical development consultant in the fields of oncology and haematology. He brings over 15 years’ clinical and drug development experience to Myricx. Recognised for his success in planning, leading and executing clinical and drug development programmes for pharma and biotech companies, his relevant responsibilities include Roche, GSK, Kite Pharma, BMS and AstraZeneca. He has gained extensive experience throughout all phases of clinical development and successfully brought multiple novel drugs including cell and gene therapy products to cancer patients. Full bio HERE.

Richard Rutter, PhD is an experienced pharmacologist and drug discovery biologist with over 20 years in the pharma and biotech industries.  He was a Director of Biology at the GlaxoSmithKline Neurodegeneration Research Unit in Singapore and a member of the R&D leadership team managing a portfolio of preclinical programs from early target identification through to candidate nomination. He has also held the role of CSO at Auspherix Ltd and is a co-founder of NRG Therapeutics. Full bio HERE.

Francesco Falciani, PhD is a specialist in developing novel computational approaches in systems biology and the application of these techniques to complex biological systems. He has over 30 years of experience working in both academia and industry. He holds an Honorary Professorship in integrative Systems Biology at the University of Liverpool where until 2021 he served as a Director of the University’s Computational Biology facility. Before establishing his career in academia, Francesco worked at GlaxoWellcome as Bioinformatics Group Leader and was Head of Target Discovery at Lorantis Ltd. Full bio HERE.

Welcoming the new senior team members to the company Roberto Solari, PhD, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder said:

“We are delighted to welcome Zahid, Richard and Francesco to the Myricx leadership team. As we progress our novel NMT inhibitors towards IND enabling studies and expand our proprietary pipeline of targeted cancer therapies for precision medicine their collective skills and experiences will be invaluable in strengthening our clinical development, biology and bioinformatics capabilities.”

Myricx is a start-up from two of the UK’s leading biomedical research organisations and is pursuing NMT inhibition in a variety of indications with an initial focus in oncology. The Company is exploiting novel breakthrough discoveries that are backed up with very high. quality chemistry.  Myricx identified that inhibition of NMT results in specific cancer cell killing via an unexpected and unique mechanism. The Company has discovered that its NMT inhibitors are proving to be highly effective in the treatment of MYC-driven cancer models.

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For Further information, please contact:

At the Company
Dr Roberto Solari, CEO, Myricx Pharma, info@myricxpharma.com

Media Enquiries
Sue Charles, Charles Consultants, sue@charles-consultants.com, +44 (0)7986 726585

Myricx Pharma Announces Board and Executive Appointments

  • Rachael Brake, PhD joins the board as independent non-executive director, bringing significant drug development experience, notably from Takeda, Amgen, Millennium
  • Co-founder Professor Ed Tate transitions from CSO to Chairman of the SAB, remaining as a board director
  • Robin Carr, PhD steps up to CSO from his previous position as CDO

Stevenage, UK, April 20 2021 – Myricx Pharma (‘Myricx’), a drug discovery company focused on developing small molecule inhibitors that selectively target the human
N-myristoyltransferases (NMT) in cancer, today announces expansion of its board with the addition of Rachael Brake, PhD as independent non-executive director, alongside R&D leadership role changes: Robin Carr, PhD, previously Chief Development Officer (CDO) is appointed Chief Scientific Officer (CSO); and Co-founder Professor Ed Tate transitions to Chairman of the scientific advisory board (SAB).

Rachael Brake, PhD is a molecular and cellular biologist and a highly experienced drug developer across roles in bio/pharma organisations including Amgen, Millennium and, most recently, Takeda Pharmaceuticals where she currently serves as the Head of US Medical Affairs in Oncology. Full bio HERE.

Welcoming Rachael to the board Roberto Solari, PhD, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder said:

“Rachael brings significant pharmaceutical research and development experience to the Board having a successful career focussed on clinical development translating basic research concepts into effective clinical development strategies. This experience will help steer Myricx as we progress our novel NMT inhibitors towards IND enabling studies.”

Robin Carr, PhD CSO, succeeds co-founder Professor Ed Tate PhD who steps back from his executive role in the company to focus on his academic research at Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute. Professor Tate is the world leader in the biology and chemistry of NMT. It was his discoveries of NMT as a novel and emerging drug target for a wide range of oncology and viral indications that lead to the formation of Myricx in 2019. The company maintains collaborations with Imperial College and The Crick, and Professor Tate continues to contribute his expertise as a scientific advisor and chairman of the SAB. He retains his role on the Myricx board of directors.

With over 30 years of experience in drug discovery, Robin is a widely regarded industry veteran and thought leader in innovative/novel drug discovery gained at Glaxo Wellcome, GSK and Astex Therapeutics. See bio HERE.

Commenting on Robin’s change of leadership role to CSO, Dr Solari said:

“During his career Robin has contributed to numerous discovery programs that have progressed into the clinic, two of which went on to become launched drugs within oncology. In addition to his previous responsibilities, Robin also provides scientific leadership, translating our founding discoveries into promising oncology drug candidates.”

Myricx is a start-up from the UK’s leading biomedical research organisations and is pursuing NMT inhibition in a variety of indications with an initial focus in oncology exploiting novel breakthrough discoveries that identified that inhibition of NMT results in specific cancer cell killing via an unexpected and unique mechanism. Myricx has discovered that its NMT inhibitors are proving to be highly effective in the treatment of MYC-driven cancer models. Until now MYC was considered to be undruggable.

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Notes to Editors:

About Myricx Pharma – www.myricxpharma.com

 

Myricx Pharma Ltd (“Myricx”) is a small molecule drug discovery company engaged in developing novel proprietary inhibitors of human N-myristoyltransferases (NMT), with a primary focus in oncology but also exploring potential applications across other diseases.

Myricx operates from the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst facility, UK, and was founded in 2019 based on discoveries made at Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute by its co-founders Prof Ed Tate, Dr Andrew Bell and Dr Roberto Solari. The Company has raised an initial £4.5million in seed investment from Sofinnova Partners and Brandon Capital Partners. Myricx has the rights to key NMT discoveries, and composition-of-matter and use patents of its scientific co-founders through exclusive license agreements with Imperial College London.

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About Myristoylation 

Myristoylation is a lipid modification to a specific group of target proteins in a cell. It involves the attachment of myristic acid, a 14-carbon fatty acid, to a protein’s N-terminal glycine residue. This process is catalysed by the ubiquitous eukaryotic enzyme, N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), which uses myristoyl-coenzyme A (CoA) as a substrate.

Myristoylation is an irreversible change to proteins and plays a vital role in protein–protein interactions, targeting proteins to cytoplasmic and plasma membranes, and regulating cellular signalling pathways in several biological processes. It is also known to be involved in a range of diseases including cancer, inflammatory conditions, epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease.

For Further information, please contact:

At the Company

Dr Roberto Solari, CEO, Myricx Pharma, info@myricxpharma.com                                                                                                                     

Media Enquiries

Sue Charles, Charles Consultants, sue.charles59@outlook.com, +44 (0)7986 726585

 

Myricx Pharma Launches with £4.5M Financing to Progress its Novel NMT inhibitors in Cancer

  • Start-up from Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute brings together 15 years of world-leading research on N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) and breakthrough discoveries related to its inhibition in cancer
  • Initial financing of £4.5M from venture capital syndicate of experienced life sciences investors, Sofinnova Partners and Brandon Capital Partners
  • Led by a team of world-class scientists and drug developers with a track record of big pharma/biotech and academic successes

Stevenage, UK, November 16, 2020 – Myricx Pharma (‘Myricx’), a drug discovery company focused on developing small molecule inhibitors that selectively target the human N-myristoyltransferases (NMT) in cancer, today unveiled an initial £4.5 million in seed financing from experienced venture investors, Sofinnova Partners and Brandon Capital Partners.

Myricx is a start-up from the UK’s leading biomedical research organisations, Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute. The Company is based on over 15 years of world-leading NMT biology and chemistry research from the laboratories of its co-founders, Professor Ed Tate, Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Andrew Bell, Chemistry Consultant, and Dr Roberto Solari, Chief Executive Officer. Myricx has the rights to key NMT discoveries, and composition-of-matter and use patents of its scientific co-founders through exclusive license agreements with Imperial College London.

The Company is pursuing NMT inhibition in a variety of indications with an initial focus in oncology exploiting novel breakthrough discoveries that identified that inhibition of NMT results in specific cancer cell killing via an unexpected and unique mechanism. Myricx has discovered that its NMT inhibitors are proving to be highly effective in the treatment of MYC-driven cancer models. Until now MYC was considered to be undruggable.

Prof Tate said: “The funding will enable us to advance our breakthrough discoveries in cancer and brings us a step closer to fulfilling our vision of unlocking the potential of N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) as a therapeutic target. It also allows us to develop precision medicines for a range of diseases with unmet medical need.”

Dr Solari added: “Thanks to a supportive government environment, the UK is an outstanding place for life science research and biotech commercialisation. Raising £4.5 million in seed funding is a testament to our breakthrough discoveries and promising future. Brandon Capital’s and Sofinnova Partners’ expertise in growing early stage innovative companies will be of immense value to us and we will benefit from their support and experience.”

Protein myristoylation is crucial for several cellular pathways. Through its systems biology approaches, Myricx has unique insights into the mode of action of NMT inhibitors. Its deep chemistry expertise has identified many novel molecules with exceptionally high potency, selectivity, and attractive drug-like properties. With its initial investment it is prioritising the development of its lead small-molecule inhibitors to build a proprietary pipeline of targeted cancer therapies. 

Professor Nick Jennings, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise) at Imperial, said: “With a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem, Imperial is one of the world’s best and most innovative universities due not only to the quality of our basic research but also our translation and commercialisation. The formation of Myricx represents the culmination of years of research drawing on funding from multiple UK and European funding sources and charities, paired with specialist support from the College’s in-house experts in patenting and commercialisation. I warmly congratulate Prof Tate and Dr Solari on their research breakthroughs, and their achievement in attracting venture funding to enable them to make a real-world impact with their research.”

Dr Veronique Birault, Director of Translation at the Francis Crick Institute, said: “The Crick was established with a goal of being a major multidisciplinary institute for biomedical research where discoveries are translated into real-world benefits for health and the economy. Myricx highlights what can be achieved by embedding university groups in the Crick. Collaboration between Prof Tate’s chemistry laboratory and Dr Dinis Calado’s Immunity and Cancer Laboratory at the Crick has ensured this research benefits from the expertise of different disciplines, accelerating translation. What a fantastic accomplishment from Prof Tate and Dr Solari who have attracted investment to progress the preclinical assets towards first-in-human studies.”

The Myricx co-founders and management team have an outstanding track record in innovative drug discovery and development in pharma and biotech. Prof Tate is an internationally renowned expert in the field of myristoylation and many other protein modification processes. Dr Solari was one of the co-founders of successful UK biotech company, Astex Therapeutics, involved with the founding of Heptares and had a distinguished career at GSK. Dr Bell is one of the world’s leading medicinal chemists, being a co-inventor of Viagra and a contributor to the development of Voriconazole during his time at Pfizer; together these medicines have generated sales in excess of $40 billion. Dr Robin Carr, Chief Development Officer, has over 30 years’ industry experience and is widely regarded as a leader in innovative drug discovery, having launched drugs within oncology.

Maina Bhaman, Partner at Sofinnova Partners, said: “Myricx has uncovered one of the most promising new areas of biology. Its unique approach to leveraging N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) is pioneering and has the potential to address an untapped target class in humans for the development of precision medicines for cancer and a range of diseases. We look forward to working alongside this outstanding group of innovators, scientists, and investors to realize the full potential of Myricx’s ground-breaking science.”

Dr Stephen Thompson, Managing Partner at Brandon Capital, added: “Dr Solari is a long serving venture partner at our firm. We were excited by the potential of Myricx in a highly exciting field of oncology research and are pleased to back him as CEO and to support the company as it commercialises its world-leading research and discoveries.”

Myricx anticipates advancing its compounds to preclinical and IND enabling development soon and is expanding its R&D team based at the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst facility with medicinal chemistry and clinical development experience.

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Notes to Editors:

About Myricx Pharma – www.myricxpharma.com

Myricx Pharma Ltd (“Myricx”) is a small molecule drug discovery company engaged in developing novel proprietary inhibitors of human N-myristoyltransferases (NMT), with a primary focus in oncology but also exploring potential applications across other diseases.

Myricx operates from the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst facility, UK, and was founded in 2019 based on discoveries made at Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute by its co-founders Prof Ed Tate, Dr Andrew Bell and Dr Roberto Solari. The Company has raised an initial £4.5million in seed investment from Sofinnova Partners and Brandon Capital Partners. Myricx has the rights to key NMT discoveries, and composition-of-matter and use patents of its scientific co-founders through exclusive license agreements with Imperial College London.

Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter

About Myristoylation

Myristoylation is a lipid modification to a specific group of target proteins in a cell. It involves the attachment of myristic acid, a 14-carbon fatty acid, to a protein’s N-terminal glycine residue. This process is catalysed by the ubiquitous eukaryotic enzyme, N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), which uses myristoyl-coenzyme A (CoA) as a substrate.

Myristoylation is an irreversible change to proteins and plays a vital role in protein–protein interactions, targeting proteins to cytoplasmic and plasma membranes, and regulating cellular signalling pathways in several biological processes. It is also known to be involved in a range of diseases including cancer, inflammatory conditions, epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease.

About Imperial College London – www.imperial.ac.uk

College London is one of the world’s leading universities. The College’s 17,000 students and 8,000 staff are expanding the frontiers of knowledge in science, medicine, engineering and business, and translating their discoveries into benefits for our society.

Imperial is the UK’s most international university, according to Times Higher Education, with academic ties to more than 150 countries. Reuters named the College as the UK’s most innovative university because of its exceptional entrepreneurial culture and ties to industry.

About Francis Crick Institute – www.crick.ac.uk

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.

An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King’s College London.

The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a brand new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1,500 scientists and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under a single roof in Europe.

About Sofinnova Partners – www.sofinnovapartners.com

Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm specialized in Life Sciences. Based in Paris, France, with offices in London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of over 40 professionals from all over Europe, the U.S. and Asia. The firm focuses on paradigm-shifting technologies alongside visionary entrepreneurs. Sofinnova Partners invests across the Life Sciences value chain as a lead or cornerstone investor, from very early-stage opportunities to late-stage/public companies. It has backed 500 companies over 48 years, creating market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over €2 billion under management.

About Brandon Capital Partners – www.brandoncapital.com.au

Brandon Capital Partners is a Life Sciences venture capital firm that manages the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF), Australia and New Zealand’s largest life science investment fund. The MRCF is a unique collaboration between major Australian pension funds, the Australian and New Zealand governments, Australian state governments and more than 50 leading medical research institutes and research hospitals. The MRCF supports the development and commercialisation of early-stage biomedical discoveries, providing both capital and expertise to guide the successful development of new therapies. Brandon Capital has offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland and Palo Alto, California.

For Further information, please contact:

At the Company

Dr Roberto Solari, CEO, Myricx Pharma, info@myricxpharma.com                                                                                                                    

Media Enquiries

Sue Charles, Charles Consultants, sue.charles59@outlook.com, +44 (0)7986 726585