Month: May 2020

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – May 29, 2020 – Nimbus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company designing breakthrough medicines through structure-based drug discovery and development, today announced the promotion of Alan Collis, Ph.D., to Senior Vice President, Preclinical Development.

“Alan’s leadership has been integral to the robust progress of Nimbus’ pipeline in recent years, including the successful completion of preclinical development of our Tyk2 allosteric inhibitor, and the generation of promising preclinical data from our HPK1 program, which will be showcased at the AACR Virtual Annual Meeting next month,” said Peter J. Tummino, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Nimbus. “Additionally, Nimbus will soon be announcing new preclinical programs for a number of valuable targets, and we’re excited that this expanded pipeline will continue to benefit from Alan’s broad expertise and leadership.”

“Nimbus’ success is a product not just of our structure-based drug discovery platform, but the powerful combination of that technology with our team’s deep expertise in biopharmaceutical drug development. Alan’s impact at Nimbus perfectly reflects the two successfully coming together,” said Annie C. Chen, M.D., MPH, Chief Medical Officer of Nimbus and President of the company’s Tyk2 subsidiary, Nimbus Lakshmi, Inc. “We heartily congratulate him on this well-deserved promotion.”

Dr. Collis joined Nimbus in 2018 to lead the company’s Tyk2 program, and was appointed Vice President, Preclinical Development, in early 2019. Prior to joining Nimbus, he was Executive Director of DMPK at Forma Therapeutics, in which role he transitioned two projects into Phase II, four through IND, and five through preclinical profiling. Before that, Dr. Collis served as Novartis’ Executive Director of Scientific and Strategic Planning and Global Leader of the Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics group. In that role, he advised on all aspects of project strategy, compound progression, and business planning. Earlier in his career, Dr. Collis held significant leadership roles in medicinal chemistry in the large pharma settings of Aventis, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, and Pfizer.

About Nimbus Therapeutics

Nimbus Therapeutics designs breakthrough medicines. Utilizing its powerful structure-based drug discovery engine, Nimbus designs potent and selective small molecule compounds targeting proteins that are known to be fundamental drivers of pathology in highly prevalent human diseases and which have proven difficult for other drug makers to tackle. The company’s LLC/subsidiary architecture enables diverse and synergistic partnerships to deliver breakthrough medicines. Nimbus is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. www.nimbustx.com

Media Contact

Lisa Raffensperger, (617) 903-8783
Ten Bridge Communications
lisa@tenbridgecommunications.com

 

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Data to be presented at 2020 AACR Annual Meeting show HPK1 inhibition produced robust anti-tumor response in mouse model

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – May 15, 2020 – Nimbus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company designing breakthrough medicines through structure-based drug discovery and development, today announced the identification of an HPK1 inhibitor with highly potent and selective anti-tumor activity in preclinical models. The data will be presented at the AACR Virtual Annual Meeting II, June 22-24, 2020.

HPK1 (hematopoietic progenitor kinase 1) is a highly valued target in immuno-oncology due to its role as a regulator of both T cell and dendritic cell activity. However, a key challenge for development of small molecules acting on HPK1 has been to achieve selectivity against other T cell kinases and MAP4K family members. Nimbus utilized its unique structure-based drug discovery engine to identify multiple potent and selective small molecule inhibitors of HPK1. One of these molecules, advanced to in vivo testing, has high selectivity against T cell-specific kinases and kinases in the MAP4K family and exhibits promising activation of human T cells and B cells. In a mouse syngeneic tumor model, oral administration of the HPK1 inhibitor completely eliminated HPK1’s phosphorylation of the T cell receptor, enhanced inflammatory cytokine production, and demonstrated robust tumor growth inhibition.

“We’re excited to pull back the curtain on Nimbus’ HPK1 program and share some of the progress we’ve made against a target that has evaded so many others’ efforts,” said Jeb Keiper, M.S., MBA, Chief Executive Officer of Nimbus. “Nimbus’ unparalleled expertise in structure-based drug discovery allowed us to chart an entirely new approach to inhibiting HPK1. In addition, we have recently leveraged this approach to generate small molecules against a range of promising new targets, and we look forward to sharing details on these programs in the coming weeks.”

“These data support the potential of our HPK1 inhibitor to alter the tumor microenvironment to halt cancer’s immune evasion, which we think could be a powerful tool in today’s immuno-oncology arsenal,” said Peter Tummino, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Nimbus. “We are advancing this program into IND-enabling studies, with the goal of entering the clinic next year, and ultimately providing a new therapeutic approach to address the large unmet need among patients with cancer.” 

About Nimbus Therapeutics 

Nimbus Therapeutics designs breakthrough medicines. Utilizing its powerful structure-based drug discovery engine, Nimbus designs potent and selective small molecule compounds targeting proteins that are known to be fundamental drivers of pathology in highly prevalent human diseases and which have proven difficult for other drug makers to tackle. The company’s LLC/subsidiary architecture enables diverse and synergistic partnerships to deliver breakthrough medicines. Nimbus is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. www.nimbustx.com

Media Contact

Lisa Raffensperger, (617) 903-8783
Ten Bridge Communications
lisa@tenbridgecommunications.com

 

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