– Company advances NT-0167 as first development candidate from a
broad platform of NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors –
– Appoints Don Nicholson as Board Chairman and Kevin Lee as
Independent Director –
CAMBRIDGE, England & BOSTON & SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–NodThera, a biotechnology company developing a new class of medicines
that inhibit the NLRP3 inflammasome to treat chronic inflammation, today
announced that it has advanced its lead development candidate, NT-0167,
into pre-IND testing as it prepares to advance to the clinic.
The company also announced that it has strengthened its Board of
Directors with the addition of two industry leaders with deep experience
developing novel treatments targeting compelling new areas of biology.
Don Nicholson, Ph.D., former Chief Executive Officer of Nimbus
Therapeutics, has joined the Board as Chairman, and Kevin Lee, Ph.D.,
Chief Executive Officer of Bicycle Therapeutics, has joined as an
Independent Director.
“The field of NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors is expanding rapidly, with
new insights highlighting the role of innate immunity in driving the
chronic inflammation that is at the root of a wide range of serious
diseases,” said Adam Keeney, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive
Officer of NodThera. “The progression of our first development candidate
represents an important milestone as we advance rapidly toward the
clinic. We are thrilled to welcome Don and Kevin to the Board and
believe their strategic insights and deep experience in pioneering novel
treatments across multiple disease areas will help us to build a truly
transformational therapeutics company.”
NodThera is enhancing current understanding of innate immunity and the
NLRP3 inflammasome’s role in chronic inflammation to develop a leading
platform of small molecule therapeutics. The company has made
significant progress over the past two years in shaping the
second-generation chemistry platform that builds on the innovation of
NT-0167.
Don Nicholson, Ph.D., joins the NodThera Board as Chairman after most
recently serving as Chief Executive Officer of Nimbus Therapeutics. He
previously spent 25 years at Merck, where he held strategic, leadership
and operational roles across diverse therapeutic areas including
inflammation, immunology and neuroscience. Dr. Nicholson began his
career at Merck Frosst in Montreal as a Senior Research Biologist and
held positions of increasing responsibility, including Vice President
and Site Head of the Merck Neurosciences Research site in San Diego,
Vice President of Immunology and Infectious Diseases and Vice President
and Worldwide Discovery Head for the Bone, Respiratory, Immunology and
Endocrine franchise in New Jersey. Dr. Nicholson is also a member of the
Board of Directors of Kymera Therapeutics and Generation Bio and serves
as Chair of the Board of Jnana Therapeutics.
“I am excited to join the Board of NodThera at a time of growing
awareness about the therapeutic potential of NLRP3 inflammasome
inhibitors and am impressed by the company’s tremendous progress in
developing an approach capable of fully exploiting this opportunity,”
said Dr. Nicholson. “NodThera’s differentiated knowledge and expertise
position the company to push the field into new frontiers.”
Kevin Lee, Ph.D., MBA, has served as Chief Executive Officer of Bicycle
Therapeutics since 2015. He previously served as Senior Vice President
and Chief Scientific Officer of the Rare Disease Research Unit at
Pfizer, where he led more than 20 novel research and development
programs and oversaw strategy for rare diseases and gene therapy. Prior
to joining Pfizer, Dr. Lee worked at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), where he led
epigenetics research and formed multiple strategic commercial and
academic partnerships. Earlier in his career, he lectured at Warwick
University Medical School and founded Cambridge Biotechnology (acquired
by Biovitrum) and Neurosolutions.
About NodThera
NodThera is a biotechnology company
developing a new class of potent and highly selective NLRP3 inflammasome
inhibitors for the treatment of diseases driven by chronic inflammation.
Led by an experienced management team, NodThera is leveraging new
insights into NLRP3 biochemistry to build a platform of highly
differentiated small molecule NLRP3 inhibitors. The company’s investors
include Sofinnova Partners, 5AM Ventures, Epidarex Capital and F-Prime
Capital Partners. NodThera was founded in 2016 and maintains offices in
Cambridge, UK, Seattle, WA and Boston, MA. For more information please
visit www.nodthera.com.
About NLRP3 inhibitors
The NLRP3 inflammasome regulates the
release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in response to “danger signals,”
including the presence of foreign or endogenous molecules that signal
infection, tissue damage or metabolic imbalances. Chronic inflammation
driven by improper activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome has been
implicated in a wide array of diseases, including fibrotic,
autoinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as certain
cancers. Small molecules that selectively inhibit NLRP3 have
well-understood potential to address improper activation and treat
chronic inflammation at the source, without broadly suppressing the
immune system.
Contacts
Max Stendahl
Ten Bridge Communications
(508) 277-8117
max@tenbridgecommunications.com