CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – February 3, 2022 – Nimbus Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company that designs and develops breakthrough medicines through its powerful computational drug discovery engine, today announced the successful generation of multiple, high-resolution protein structures of Werner syndrome helicase (WRN). WRN is a helicase required for DNA replication and repair and a validated target for tumors with microsatellite instability (MSI). Nimbus’ proprietary WRN structures reveal protein motion and provide insights into novel mechanisms of inhibition that have yielded confirmed hits progressing to lead-like chemical matter.
“Our progress in discovery efforts against WRN is a prime demonstration of how Nimbus’ structure-guided approach could enable the identification of both active-site and allosteric inhibitors, even against targets that have historically been challenging to drug,” said Peter Tummino, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Nimbus. “While precedence for pharmacological helicase inhibition is limited, WRN is amenable to structural biology, which provides a strong opportunity to develop agents to treat this important subset of solid tumors.”
In addition to the progress Nimbus has made against WRN helicase, Nimbus announced the expansion of its leadership team in computational chemistry with the appointment of Daniel Price, Ph.D., to the newly created role of Executive Director, Head of Computational Chemistry. In this role, Dr. Price will direct the strategic implementation and expansion of Nimbus’ computational capabilities as part of its structure-based drug discovery approach.
“Nimbus’ computational drug discovery engine is distinguished by its ability to integrate a broad set of computational technologies with world-class capabilities in molecular sciences, including biophysics, biochemistry and structural biology, and a deep expertise in medicinal chemistry,” said Dr. Tummino. “The addition of Dan to our leadership team will further bolster our integration of the most advanced computational tools available with our broad drug discovery and therapeutic area expertise.”
Prior to joining Nimbus, Dr. Price spent over 15 years at GlaxoSmithKline, most recently as Director, Computational Chemistry. During his tenure at GSK, he contributed to the discovery of four clinical-stage drug candidates in four distinct therapy areas. In addition to his expertise in structure-based drug discovery and ligand-based drug discovery, Dr. Price has specialized experience in kinase targeting, cross-domain informatics, and ADME modeling. He earned his Ph.D. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University and his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He completed his postdoctoral research fellowship at the Scripps Research Institute.
“Nimbus is a recognized leader in the field of drug discovery, and I’m excited to continue expanding the company’s capabilities in combining cutting-edge computational technology with deep molecular sciences expertise,” said Dr. Price. “I look forward to working alongside Nimbus’ talented team in advancing the company’s diverse portfolio of potential breakthrough medicines.”
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About Nimbus Therapeutics
Nimbus Therapeutics is a clinical-stage company that designs and develops breakthrough medicines through its powerful and comprehensive computational drug discovery engine. Nimbus’ pipeline is comprised of multiple potent and selective small molecule compounds targeting proteins that are known to be fundamental drivers of pathology in highly prevalent human diseases and have proven difficult for drug makers to tackle. Nimbus is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. To learn more about Nimbus, please visit www.nimbustx.com.