OMass Therapeutics Expands Development Team with Key Appointments in US and UK and Announces the Nomination of Clinical Candidate Against MC2
01 Octubre 2024 - 1:30AM
PRESS RELEASE
OMass Therapeutics Expands Development
Team with Key Appointments in US and UK and Announces the
Nomination of Clinical Candidate Against MC2
Oxford, United Kingdom – 1 October 2024
– OMass Therapeutics (‘OMass’ or ‘the Company’), a
biotechnology company identifying medicines against highly
validated target ecosystems such as membrane proteins or
intracellular complexes, today announces the candidate nomination
of its lead program targeting the melanocortin-2 (MC2) receptor and
key appointments to support its progress towards becoming a
clinical-stage company.
Over the last year, OMass has made significant
progress in advancing its pipeline and has selected its first
clinical candidate targeting the MC2 receptor, a GPCR for the
adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). The focus of the program has
been to increase the receptor residency time to make OMass’
antagonists resistant to competition by the endogenous ligand. This
can allow all patients suffering from conditions related to ACTH
excess, including congenital adrenal hyperplasia and Cushing’s
syndrome, to be treated. The long residence time is expected to
avoid loss of efficacy in the face of rising ACTH levels due to
reductions in glucocorticoid supplementation for CAH or progression
of Cushing’s Syndrome.
To support the advancement of OMass’ pipeline,
OMass has expanded its development team. Based in the USA, Dr Steve
Griffen joins as Vice President of Clinical Development and Angela
Hecyk joins as Director of Clinical Operations. Based in the UK,
Stuart Hadley has been appointed as Senior Director of Chemistry
Manufacture and Controls (CMC). The new appointments add critical
expertise in clinical development and manufacturing:
- Steve is an endocrinologist with
more than 25 years’ experience in basic and clinical research and
drug development. He has previously served as Vice President,
Clinical Development at MBX Biosciences following his role as the
Medical Lead for Integrated Care for Sanofi developing devices and
software to assist people managing their diabetes. Prior to that,
he served as Senior Vice President, Research for the non-profit
organization JDRF and Type 1 Diabetes Full Development Team leader
for dapagliflozin at Bristol-Myers Squibb, after having served as
Exploratory Development Team leader for metabolic assets taking
multiple assets into first-in-human studies. Steve holds an AB in
Physiology and an MA in Endocrinology from the University of
California, Berkeley and completed his medical doctorate at the
Medical College of Wisconsin.
- Angela is a global clinical
operations professional with over 16 years of experience in
clinical research across all stages of clinical development to
post-approval, including significant contributions to programs in
rare pediatric diseases and four FDA-approved therapies. She joins
OMass after holding positions at several growing small to mid-sized
biotech and pharmaceutical companies, including MBX Biosciences,
Taysha Gene Therapies, Ayala Pharma, Phathom Pharmaceuticals, and
Astellas Pharma. Prior to this, she oversaw clinical trials in
islet cell transplantation at Northwestern University and was a
study monitor for ICON. Angela holds a BS in Natural Sciences,
Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- Stuart has over 25 years'
experience in drug development and operations working across all
disciplines of CMC and supply chain management. He joins OMass from
F2G Ltd, where he was Senior Director CMC, leading the CMC program
for Olorofim to launch readiness. Prior to that he held multiple
CMC and supply chain roles over a 20-year period with AstraZeneca,
starting his career there as a graduate analytical chemist, having
completed his BSc (Hons) in Chemistry with Pharmaceutical and
Forensic Science at the University of Bradford.
Ros Deegan, Chief Executive Officer at
OMass Therapeutics, commented: “Nomination of our first
clinical candidate represents a key milestone for the company. I am
delighted to welcome Steve, Angela and Stuart to the OMass team.
They bring extensive experience, and I have no doubt that they will
prove to be invaluable additions as we progress our MC2 program to
the clinic.”
Steve Griffen, Vice President of
Clinical Development at OMass Therapeutics, added: “I’m
very excited by the opportunity to join OMass at such a pivotal
time for the company. I look forward to working closely with Ros,
Stuart, Angela and the rest of the OMass team in advancing our
pipeline of small molecule drug candidates.”
-ENDS-
For further information, please contact:
OMass Therapeutics |
ICR Consilium |
Rosamond Deegan, Chief Executive OfficerPhone: +44 (0) 1235
527589Email: ros.deegan@omass.com |
Sue Charles / Suki Virji / Kumail WaljeePhone: +44 (0)20 3709 5700
Email: omass@icrhealthcare.com |
About OMass Therapeutics
OMass Therapeutics is a biotechnology company discovering
medicines against highly-validated target ecosystems, such as
membrane proteins or intracellular complexes.
OdyssION™, OMass’ unique drug discovery platform, comprises
next-generation native mass spectrometry with novel biochemistry
techniques and custom chemistry to interrogate not just a drug
target, but also the interaction of the target with its native
ecosystem, separate from the confounding complexity of the cell.
This unique approach results in cell-system fidelity with cell-free
precision.
OMass is advancing a pipeline of small molecule therapeutics in
rare diseases and immunological conditions. Its lead programme is a
best-in-class MC2 (melanocortin-2) receptor antagonist for the
treatment of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) and Cushing’s
Syndrome. The focus of the program has been to increase receptor
residency time to make OMass’ antagonists resistant to competition
by the endogenous ligand, thereby avoiding loss of efficacy in the
face of rising adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels due to
reductions in glucocorticoid supplementation for CAH or progression
of Cushing’s Syndrome.
Headquartered in Oxford, UK, OMass has raised over $160M (£129M)
from a top-tier international investor syndicate including Syncona,
Oxford Science Enterprises, GV, Northpond Ventures, Sanofi Ventures
and British Patient Capital.
To learn more, please visit www.omass.com.
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