Myricx Bio Appoints Dr Chris Martin, Biotech Entrepreneur and ADC Pioneer, as Chairman of its Board of Directors
November 15 2023 - 3:00AM
Myricx Bio (‘Myricx’), a UK biotech company focused on the
discovery and development of a completely novel class of
antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) payloads based on
N-Myristoyltransferase inhibition (NMTi), today announces the
appointment of Dr Chris Martin as independent Chairman to its Board
of Directors. Dr Martin is a renowned biotech company founder,
director and entrepreneur, and a pioneer and leader in the ADC
space.
Dr Martin was instrumental in co-founding ADC Therapeutics
(NYSE: ADCT) in Jan 2012 and served as its CEO since inception
until May 2022. Under his leadership, ADC Therapeutics grew from a
private biotech start-up to a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listed
leader in the field of ADCs with products on the global market.
Chris previously co-founded and led two other biotech companies:
Spirogen Ltd, an innovator of ADC payload technology, which was
acquired by MedImmune, now part of AstraZeneca; and Sciona, Inc. a
provider of personalised gene-based health and nutrition analyses.
Alongside his role as Chairman of Myricx, he is also Chairman of
the Board of Tokamak Energy Ltd, and Tagworks Pharmaceuticals BV,
and a Director on the Board of Osivax SAS.
Dr Martin succeeds Prof Roberto Solari, co-founder of Myricx who
is stepping down from the board but will remain closely involved as
a consultant to the company contributing his extensive drug
discovery experience and knowledge.
A Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and a
Sainsbury Management Fellow, Dr Martin holds a bachelor’s degree in
chemical engineering from Aston University, a DPhil in Engineering
Science from the University of Oxford, and an MBA from IMD Business
School.
Dr Robin Carr, Myricx CEO and Board Director,
said, “We are thrilled that Chris has joined our Board and
taken on the role of Chairman. He brings first-hand experience of
successfully building biotech companies, and his wealth of insights
and know-how in the ADC industry are unrivalled. Chris successfully
translated ADC technology from the lab bench and discovery stages
to regulatory approved commercial products reaching cancer patients
across global markets. As we are building out our pipeline of
differentiated NMTi-ADCs and progressively expanding our
preclinical activities towards clinical development, Chris’s
experience and guidance will be invaluable.
“I would also like to thank Roberto for his excellent
contribution to the company most recently as executive chair, and
we look forward to his continued active involvement as a consultant
and collaborator.”
Dr Chris Martin, Chairman of Myricx,
said: “There is a compelling clinical need for new
ADC payloads with the potential to expand ADC’s therapeutic window,
and I am really impressed with Myricx’s novel NMTi payload
platform, which has demonstrated a highly differentiated profile
over standard payload classes. The platform has the potential to
generate proprietary first-in-class NMTi-ADCs and the company’s
lead candidates have shown positive preclinical data including
superb efficacy, and good tolerability across different cancer
targets. It is an incredibly exciting time to join the Myricx board
and I look forward to working closely with its talented team, board
and investors, bringing my experience of partnering ADC payloads
with pharma from Spirogen and developing in house ADCs to market
from ADC Therapeutics.”
To support the progression of its preclinical pipeline towards
the clinic for difficult to treat solid tumours, Myricx has also
recently strengthened its leadership team by appointing Dr
Francesca Zammarchi, a cancer biology and ADC expert, as CSO and Dr
Robert McLeod, a specialist in ADC clinical development, to the
newly created position of VP Clinical Development.
Myricx is a spin-out from two of the UK’s leading biomedical
research organisations: Imperial College London and the Francis
Crick Institute; founded to develop drugs based on the unique
insights into NMT biology made by its co-founders Professors Ed
Tate and Roberto Solari, with seed financing from Sofinnova
Partners and Brandon Capital.
Notes to Editors:
About Myricx Bio -
www.myricxbio.com
Myricx Bio (“Myricx”) is a UK biotech company
focused on the discovery and development of a completely novel
class of payloads for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), based on
inhibitors of N-myristoyltransferases (NMT) for the treatment of
cancer.
NMT is an enzyme that adds a specific lipid
modification to a number of protein targets key to cancer cell
survival. Myricx is advancing a pipeline of ADCs to address serious
unmet needs in oncology based on its NMT inhibitor (NMTi) payload
chemistry platform and has demonstrated excellent preclinical
efficacy and safety across multiple solid tumour associated
antigens and cancer cell types.
Based in London, Myricx is a spin out from
Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute with
investment from Sofinnova Partners and Brandon Capital
Partners.
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For further information please
contact
At the CompanyDr Robin Carr,
CEO, Myricx Bio, info@myricxbio.com
Media
Enquiries Sue Charles, Charles Consultants,
sue@charles-consultants.com, +44 (0)7986 726585
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7faef46e-4cfd-402f-883e-b0611d957a8c
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