Vicinitas Therapeutics Appoints Adam Hughes as Chief Scientific Officer
May 02 2024 - 8:00AM
Vicinitas Therapeutics, a biotechnology company advancing a
proprietary targeted protein stabilization platform to develop
novel therapeutics for cancer and genetic disorders, today
announced the appointment of Adam Hughes, Ph.D., as Chief
Scientific Officer. Dr. Hughes previously served as VP of Medicinal
Chemistry at Vicinitas.
“We continue to make notable progress advancing our proprietary
Deubiquitinase Targeting Chimera, or DUBTAC, platform, which is
designed to restore aberrantly degraded proteins and deliver new
therapeutic options to patients with cancer and genetic disorders,”
said Christian Hofmann, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Vicinitas
Therapeutics. “Adam has been an integral part of building the
platform since the founding of the company, and I’m thrilled to now
have him at the helm of our scientific organization as Chief
Scientific Officer. His extensive experience discovering
heterobifunctional molecules and advancing platform-derived
clinical candidates, coupled with his demonstrated leadership
skills, will be critical as we continue to build a discovery
pipeline of differentiated therapeutics.”
Dr. Hughes commented, “The onset and progression of many
diseases, including cancer and monogenic diseases, are often caused
by specific proteins that are abnormally degraded, thus preventing
normal protein function. To date, many of these aberrantly degraded
proteins have been intractable to drug discovery efforts. By
leveraging our DUBTAC platform, we have a unique opportunity to
develop small molecule drugs that can stabilize these proteins to
prevent degradation and restore normal protein function. I’m very
excited to continue contributing to Vicinitas’ mission, now as CSO,
as we work to drug the undruggable and hopefully bring significant
therapeutic benefits to patients.”
With over 23 years of experience in small molecule drug
discovery, Dr. Hughes has been directly responsible for leading
multiple preclinical research programs from inception to clinical
candidate nomination, as well as supporting IND-enabling studies
and filings. Prior to joining Vicinitas, Dr. Hughes served as Head
of Chemistry at Terray Therapeutics and Executive Director of
Medicinal Chemistry at Theravance Biopharma. At Terray, Dr. Hughes
led the Chemistry team, prioritizing and enabling new reactions for
the company’s bead-based DNA-encoded-library platform, optimizing
library hit syntheses and building Medicinal Chemistry
capabilities. In addition, he was part of the management team,
implementing drug discovery initiatives and guiding the platform’s
application towards lead optimization. At Theravance Biopharma, Dr.
Hughes directed new discoveries and nominations of 11 clinical
candidates across a wide range of biological targets and
therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs. He was also
responsible for leading an Exploratory Science R&D effort to
identify and nominate new projects for Theravance’s portfolio.
Dr. Hughes holds his BSc in Chemistry (Henry Forth Prize) from
the University of Nottingham and continued there to complete his
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry under the guidance of Professor Nigel
Simpkins. He completed his academic training after winning one of
four Glaxo Wellcome Fellowships, conducting Post-Doctoral Research
under the guidance of Professor Barry Trost at Stanford University.
He is an author on over 50 publications and patents.
About Vicinitas Therapeutics
Vicinitas Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on
targeted protein stabilizers known as Deubiquitinase Targeting
Chimeras (DUBTACs). The company’s mission is to use this
proprietary technology to solve critical problems in human health
by developing next-generation disease therapies against an entire
class of previously inaccessible disease-causing proteins. Spun out
of technology that was developed through an academic-industry
collaboration between Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research
and researchers at the University of California, Berkeley,
Vicinitas Therapeutics is based in South San Francisco, California.
For more information, visit www.vicinitas.com.
Contact:
Liz MeloneMelone Communications, LLCliz@melonecomm.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/83601553-745c-4192-94a9-06928a67738d