CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — February 14, 2019 — Nimbus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company applying deep computational expertise throughout drug discovery and development, today announced the appointment of Peter Tummino, Ph.D., to Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Tummino brings to Nimbus over 25 years of experience in drug discovery across a range of therapeutic areas, most recently in his role as Vice President and Global Head of Lead Discovery at Janssen.

“Peter has an impressive track record of success in discovering and developing new medicines for patients, and we are thrilled to welcome him to our team. He has successfully built and led diverse teams of scientists, and has deep experience applying computational and other technologies across the R&D spectrum,” said Jeb Keiper, M.S., M.B.A., President and Chief Executive Officer at Nimbus. “Peter will help us write the next chapter of Nimbus, as we drive our Tyk2 inhibitor toward the clinic for autoimmune diseases and as we expand both the depth and breadth of our portfolio of programs across highly sought-after targets in metabolic disease, cancer and immune-inflammatory disorders.”

“I’m excited to dive in and get to work alongside Nimbus’ fantastic team of scientists and collaborators, with their remarkable history of successfully applying computational approaches to discover novel medicines and to advance these medicines to patients,” said Dr. Tummino. “I look forward to continuing this momentum and furthering our efforts into exciting new areas of medicine.”

Prior to Nimbus, Dr. Tummino was Vice President and Global Head of Lead Discovery in Discovery Sciences at Janssen, the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals Group. Dr. Tummino led multiple aspects of discovery operations with teams located in Europe and both coasts of the U.S., working across all five therapeutic areas at Janssen. Prior to joining Janssen in 2014, he held multiple leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline, including Head of Biology for the Cancer Epigenetics Discovery Performance Unit, where his team progressed first-in-class epigenetic agents into oncology clinical trials against multiple novel targets. Earlier in his GSK tenure, Dr. Tummino contributed to the discovery and progression of multiple clinical candidates, including dabrafenib (BRAF inhibitor) and trametinib (MEK inhibitor) which were approved for multiple oncology indications. During this time, Dr. Tummino also co-led the novel target selection effort for GSK Oncology.

Dr. Tummino received his Ph.D. from the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan in 1992. Following completion of a postdoctoral fellowship at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis, Dr. Tummino held positions of increasing responsibility at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis, AstraZeneca, and Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Tummino has published 77 peer-reviewed journal articles with greater than 9000 citations.

About Nimbus Therapeutics

Nimbus Therapeutics is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA). Nimbus is pioneering the application of highly-advanced computational technologies to the design and development of novel treatments for substantial and underserved human diseases. The company’s focus on metabolic diseases, cancer and immune-inflammatory disorders reflects the mechanistic relationship between these disorders, and Nimbus’ ability to rapidly tackle well validated targets as well as those that have proven intractable to others. The company’s LLC/subsidiary architecture enables diverse and synergistic partnerships to deliver breakthrough medicines. To learn more, please visit www.nimbustx.com.

Media Contact

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

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — January 3, 2019 — Nimbus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company applying deep computational expertise throughout drug discovery and development, today announced the promotion of Holly Whittemore, C.P.A., to Chief Financial Officer and Abbas Kazimi to Vice President of Business Development.  Additionally, the company announced the appointment of Alan Collis, Ph.D., to lead the Tyrosine Kinase 2 (Tyk2) Program which will be submitting an IND later this year.

“Holly and Abbas have been integral to Nimbus’ successful achievements over the years, and we are excited to welcome them to their new roles,” said Jeb Keiper, M.S., M.B.A., Nimbus’ President and Chief Executive Officer. “We expect the coming year to be a pivotal one for Nimbus as we progress toward our next clinical program, and we welcome Alan’s deep experience and expertise to shepherd Tyk2 to the clinic in partnership with Annie Chen, M.D., our Chief Medical Officer. With these leadership promotions and addition, we’re ensuring we are soundly positioned for continued growth and success.”

Ms. Whittemore brings to the role of Chief Financial Officer more than 20 years of experience in accounting and finance. Since joining Nimbus in 2009 as one of the company’s first hires, Ms. Whittemore has held the roles of Vice President and Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations. Prior to joining Nimbus, she was Director of Finance at Atlas Venture, where she worked with the U.S. and E.U. Operations Groups. Ms. Whittemore started her career at Coopers & Lybrand, where she spent seven years in the audit practice working with companies in the technology, manufacturing, international and not-for-profit sectors. She is a Certified Public Accountant, and she received her B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia.

As Vice President of Business Development, Abbas Kazimi will be responsible for corporate development, partnerships and collaborations, and he will also join Nimbus’ leadership team. Mr. Kazimi joined Nimbus in 2014 as Director of Business Development. In that role he drove several of the company’s key transactions, including the licensing agreement with Genentech in 2015, the sale of Nimbus’ clinical NASH program to Gilead in 2016, and the strategic immunology alliance with Celgene announced in 2017. Prior to joining Nimbus, Mr. Kazimi spent a decade in planning and executing strategic transactions for life sciences clients with industry partners and financial investors across the globe, most recently at Extera Partners, LLC. He earned his M.A. from Harvard University and his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Collis started with Nimbus in October 2018 and brings extensive experience in preclinical and early development.  Dr. Collis most recently led preclinical functions for Forma Therapeutics and held significant leadership roles in drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) and medicinal chemistry in the large pharma settings of Novartis, Aventis, Rhone Poulenc and Pfizer.  He earned his Ph.D. and B.Sc. from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.

About Nimbus Therapeutics

Nimbus Therapeutics is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA). Nimbus is pioneering the application of highly-advanced computational technologies to the design and development of novel treatments for substantial and underserved human diseases. The company’s focus on metabolic diseases, cancer and immune-inflammatory disorders reflects the mechanistic relationship between these disorders, and Nimbus’ ability to rapidly tackle well validated targets as well as those that have proven intractable to others. The company’s LLC/subsidiary architecture enables diverse and synergistic partnerships to deliver breakthrough medicines. To learn more, please visit www.nimbustx.com.

Media Contact

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

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• Mr. Keiper has led the financial and business operations of the company for the last four years, and previously has led R&D groups through clinical and early development operations
• Donald Nicholson, Ph.D., moves on to other opportunities as part of a planned transition

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — October 4, 2018 — Nimbus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company applying deep computational chemistry expertise throughout drug discovery and development, has named Jeb Keiper, M.S., M.B.A., President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Keiper succeeds Donald Nicholson, Ph.D., and will lead the company forward as it progresses multiple programs toward clinical development.

“After over four years of building Nimbus and this exceptional team, the company is now poised to start the next chapter of developing important medicines for patients with autoimmune disease, cancer, and metabolic diseases,” said Donald Nicholson, Ph.D. “In its next phase of growth, Nimbus will be led by a CEO with intimate knowledge of the company and a track record of successful leadership. Jeb’s deep business expertise and leadership experience made him an ideal partner to me and a logical successor. I am very much looking forward to starting the next entrepreneurial chapter of my career, and I am confident that Nimbus, the science and our employees are in great hands.”

Mr. Keiper joined Nimbus in 2014 and initially served as Nimbus’ Chief Business Officer, and along with Dr. Nicholson, set the strategic direction of the company. In the ensuing four years, Nimbus brought in over $775 million of partnership and financing into the company, including the Series B financing in March 2015, the sale of Nimbus’ clinical NASH program to Gilead in May 2016 for $400 million upfront, the strategic immunology alliance with Celgene announced in October 2017, and a round of private expansion capital in 2018.  Mr. Keiper was also appointed Chief Financial Officer in 2017.

Prior to Nimbus, Mr. Keiper was VP of Business Development at GSK Oncology and spent a decade at GlaxoSmithKline in various BD leadership roles. He led the oncology portion of the $16 billion GSK-Novartis transaction announced in April 2014.  In 20 years of industry experience, starting as a bench chemist at Pfizer R&D and working in various roles from consulting at McKinsey to business development at TransForm Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Keiper has a track record of leading teams of talented scientists and managers to achieve stretch objectives, including advancing new medicines into clinical development, filing NDAs, and constructing transformative deals and financings.

“Jeb has been a critical component of the success at Nimbus over the last four years, and we are confident that he will lead the company into the future and its continued successful development of the pipeline,” said Nimbus’ Chairman and co-founder Bruce Booth, D.Phil. “We thank Don for his passion and leadership in driving the accomplishments Nimbus has achieved to date and have immense respect for him as a scientist and a leader.  I look forward to working with him on future innovative opportunities.”

“Nimbus has pioneered new ways of discovering and developing important medicines for patients leveraging a globally distributed, virtually-enabled operating model,” said Mr. Keiper. “Our success has challenged and reformed decades-old dogma on how to develop new small molecule medicines, and has been reflected in our partnerships with Gilead, Celgene, and Genentech. As we enter the next chapter, our ambition and business strategy remain the same: to continue innovating with computational methodologies for creating and advancing new medicines, and to couple those with cutting-edge discoveries in the mechanistic underpinnings of human disease.”

About Nimbus Therapeutics

Nimbus Therapeutics is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA). Nimbus is pioneering the application of highly-advanced computational technologies to the design and development of novel treatments for substantial and underserved human diseases. The company’s focus on metabolic diseases, cancer and immune-inflammatory disorders reflects the mechanistic relationship between these disorders, and Nimbus’ ability to rapidly tackle well validated targets as well as those that have proven intractable to others. The company’s LLC/subsidiary architecture enables diverse and synergistic partnerships to deliver breakthrough medicines. To learn more, please visit www.nimbustx.com.

Media Contact

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

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – July 9, 2018 – Nimbus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company applying deep computational chemistry expertise throughout drug discovery and development, today announced that Adrian Ray, Ph.D., has joined the company as the Senior Vice President of Discovery Biology. Dr. Ray joins Nimbus from Gilead Sciences, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in research and development over the past 15 years, serving most recently as the Senior Director of Clinical Research.

At Nimbus, Dr. Ray will leverage an increasingly diversified set of discovery and development capabilities and help to advance a growing number of pipeline programs centered around the interrelated targets affecting metabolic disease, oncology and immunology.

“Adrian is an outstanding addition to our already world-class team, who will strengthen our capabilities in discovery science rooted in cutting-edge biology and human genetics,” said Don Nicholson, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer at Nimbus. “Adrian is a capable leader in target discovery throughout the metabolic-oncology-immunology target space, and in the translation of these discoveries into effective clinical development strategies. We’re thrilled to have him.”

Dr. Ray holds a doctorate in pharmacology from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree in molecular, cellular and developmental biology from University of California, Santa Cruz. He has authored over 100 publications and is listed as an inventor on 27 U.S.-granted patents.

About Nimbus Therapeutics

Nimbus Therapeutics is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA). Nimbus is pioneering the application of highly-advanced computational technologies to the design and development of novel treatments for substantial and underserved human diseases. The company’s focus on metabolic diseases, cancer and immune-inflammatory disorders reflects the mechanistic relationship between these disorders, and Nimbus’ ability to rapidly tackle well validated targets as well as those that have proven intractable to others. The company’s LLC/subsidiary architecture enables diverse and synergistic partnerships to deliver breakthrough medicines. To learn more, please visit www.nimbustx.com.

Media Contact

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

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# # #

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – June 5, 2018 – Nimbus Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company applying deep computational expertise throughout drug discovery and development, today announced that it has raised $65 million in new capital to accelerate the company’s pipeline progress and fuel its expansion into new high-value targets aimed at overlapping biological mechanisms in immunology, oncology and metabolic disease.  Each of the company’s current investors participated in the financing, including Atlas Venture, SR One, Lilly Ventures, Bill Gates, Pfizer Venture Investments, Lightstone Ventures, and Schrödinger.  Bruce Booth, Partner of Atlas Venture, Board Chair and co-founder of Nimbus noted, “this round of investment reflects the existing syndicate’s strong and enthusiastic support for Nimbus’ proven management team and exciting new programs.”

“The continued support from our world-class investor base is testament to our team’s repeated success in designing and developing promising candidates through our unique combination of massive computational-chemistry horsepower with founding partner, Schrödinger, coupled with additional cutting-edge technologies in structural biology, cryo-EM, and machine learning-augmented ADMET prediction to rapidly advance our pipeline to the clinic,” said Don Nicholson, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer. “We have made substantial progress across our entire portfolio, including inhibitors of Tyk2 (tyrosine kinase 2) and antagonists of STING (stimulator of interferon genes), both under our immunology alliance with Celgene.  Additionally, our wholly owned STING agonist program has generated novel, highly potent, bona fide small molecules with compelling preclinical data.”

“This most recent infusion of capital from our investors, together with proceeds from business development activity, enables Nimbus to remain a privately held LLC organization, which has allowed us to transact multiple deals with world leading partners such as Gilead, Celgene, and Genentech,” said Jeb Keiper, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer. “Nimbus’ success has built a nine-figure balance sheet of resources for the rapid advancement and expansion of our pipeline and technology, which will allow us to develop several other undisclosed target programs forward to the clinic in the next few years.”

About Tyk2 (tyrosine kinase 2)

Tyk2 is an important signal-transduction kinase for key pro-inflammatory cytokine receptors, including IL-23, IL-12 and interferons α and β. As a result, Tyk2 is a key target for the treatment of several challenging auto-immune disorders, including SLE (lupus), Crohn’s disease, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and others. In addition, some cancers, like T-ALL, appear to be driven by Tyk2 hyper-activation and are responsive to Tyk2 inhibition. Nimbus’ Tyk2 program is partnered under the immunology alliance with Celgene.

About STING (STimulator of INterferon Genes)

STING agonism (turning STING “on”) plays a key role in anti-tumor immunity by activation of the innate immune system and induction of the Type-I interferon response, leading to recruitment and activation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes that attack tumor cells. STING agonism provokes anti-tumor responses alone, and in combination with checkpoint inhibitors and cell therapy. Further, STING agonists have been shown to provide benefit in areas of virology, such as efforts to achieve HIV cure.  STING antagonists (turning STING “off”) may have therapeutic potential in Type-I interferonopathies, such as SLE (lupus), where STING drives an exaggerated interferon response. Nimbus’ STING antagonist program is partnered under the immunology alliance with Celgene, while the STING agonist program remains wholly owned by Nimbus.

About Nimbus Therapeutics

Nimbus Therapeutics is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA). Nimbus is pioneering the application of highly-advanced computational technologies to the design and development of novel treatments for substantial and underserved human diseases. The company’s focus on metabolic diseases, cancer and immune-inflammatory disorders reflects the mechanistic relationship between these disorders, and Nimbus’ ability to rapidly tackle well validated targets as well as those that have proven intractable to others. The company’s LLC/subsidiary architecture enables diverse and synergistic partnerships to deliver breakthrough medicines.  To learn more, please visit www.nimbustx.com.

Media Contact

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

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 8, 2018 – Nimbus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company applying deep computational expertise throughout drug discovery and development, announced today that Rosana Kapeller has resigned from the company after more than eight years of success to explore an executive leadership role. Collaboratively with a stellar team of internal and external collaborators Dr. Kapeller played a crucial role in establishing the Nimbus platform, validating the approach and advancing multiple promising programs.  Nimbus has begun a search for her successor.

“As the founding Chief Scientific Officer of Nimbus, Rosana has helped build a successful and thriving biotech company from the ground up, and has been an important part of our success in turning the vision of computational-based drug discovery into reality,” said Donald Nicholson, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer. “Rosana is a top-notch scientist who is uniformly admired by the team at Nimbus and our wide array of corporate and academic partners. She has helped assemble a talented, high caliber drug discovery organization which is larger and more capable than at any time in our history, and the deep experience and talent of our leadership team has enabled a seamless transition.”

“Contributing to the success of Nimbus over these years with the team, Board, and collaborators has been an amazing professional and personal achievement that I will treasure always,” said Dr. Kapeller. “I’m confident that Don and the team will continue to exceed the ambitious goals we set out from when I joined Nimbus eight years ago.”

About Nimbus Therapeutics

Nimbus Therapeutics is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA). Nimbus is pioneering the application of highly-advanced computational technologies to the design and development of novel treatments for substantial and underserved human diseases. The company’s focus on metabolic diseases, cancer and immune-inflammatory disorders reflects the mechanistic relationship between these disorders, and Nimbus’ ability to rapidly tackle well validated targets as well as those that have proven intractable to others. The company’s LLC/subsidiary architecture enables diverse and synergistic partnerships to deliver breakthrough medicines.  To learn more, please visit www.nimbustx.com.

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Programs in the alliance are focused on Tyk2 and STING antagonist targets, potential drivers of a wide array of autoimmune disorders

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 3, 2017 – Nimbus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company applying deep computational expertise throughout drug discovery and development, announced today the initiation of a long-term strategic alliance with Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) in immunology.

Under the terms of the agreement, Celgene will receive an option to acquire each program in the alliance up through a clinical inflection point. Nimbus will receive an upfront payment and potential downstream milestone payments for each program Celgene chooses to acquire. Nimbus will retain full control of research and development activities for each program prior to the program’s option point. Financial terms will remain undisclosed until Celgene acquires a program.

The Nimbus programs covered under the alliance include a preclinical effort targeting Tyk2 (tyrosine kinase 2), a signal-transduction kinase for key pro-inflammatory cytokine receptors, including IL-23, IL-12 and type-I interferons. Because of its central role in the inflammatory response, Tyk2 is a high-potential target for the treatment of autoimmune disorders including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Crohn’s disease, psoriasis and multiple sclerosis. The alliance also covers Nimbus’ preclinical small-molecule STING (stimulator of interferon genes) antagonist program, which seeks to block the role played by STING in the activation of the innate immune system in lupus and other interferonopathies. Nimbus will continue to own and develop its small-molecule STING agonist program for immuno-oncology, which is not part of the agreement.

“Celgene is committed to the continued growth of our expanding immunology and inflammation pipeline, and believes that the Nimbus immunology programs, including their efforts on Tyk2 and STING antagonists, represent important additions as we work to create the next generation of drug candidates for patients with autoimmune disorders,” said Rupert Vessey, F.R.C.P., D.Phil., Executive Vice President and President, Global Research and Early Development, of Celgene.

Robert Plenge, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President, Research and Early Development, and Head, Inflammation and Immunology Thematic Center of Excellence, of Celgene, added, “We are excited about the potential of the Nimbus immunology targets, which are based on compelling human genetic data. Moreover, Nimbus’ robust in silico-based approach is very promising.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Celgene and its world-renowned inflammation and immunology team to fuel the rapid advancement of these important potential therapeutic programs for patients,” said Donald Nicholson, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Nimbus. “In addition, our agreement with Celgene accelerates our growth as a company back into the clinic, while also expanding the breadth of our pipeline.”

About Nimbus Therapeutics
Nimbus Therapeutics is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA). Nimbus is pioneering the application of highly advanced computational technologies to the design and development of novel treatments for substantial and underserved human diseases. The company’s focus on metabolic diseases, cancer and immune-inflammatory disorders reflects the mechanistic relationship between these disorders and Nimbus’ ability to rapidly tackle well-validated targets, as well as those that have proven intractable to others. The company’s LLC/subsidiary architecture enables diverse and synergistic partnerships to deliver breakthrough medicines. To learn more, please visit www.nimbustx.com.

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WILMINGTON, Mass. & CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 5, 2017 – Nimbus Therapeutics and Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL) today launched a multi-year strategic partnership to advance new programs spanning the disease areas of immunology, metabolic disorders and oncology from the discovery phase through to Investigational New Drug (IND) submission.

The collaboration announced today expands upon the long-standing relationship between Nimbus and Charles River to work on targets of critical importance. Nimbus, a biotechnology company applying deep computational chemistry expertise throughout drug discovery and development, collaborates closely with Charles River as part of its unique outsourcing model to design breakthrough medicines.

The combined team will advance programs through discovery and preclinical development, taking advantage of Charles River’s capabilities from initial hit identification through all aspects of discovery optimization, including medicinal chemistry and pharmacology, and ultimately, into safety testing and IND submission. Under the terms of the agreement, Charles River is eligible to receive potential milestone payments from Nimbus for certain undisclosed program advancements.

“We expect that our portfolio of discovery and safety assessment expertise, together with Nimbus’ impressive track record in using computational chemistry to accelerate drug discovery, will result in additional speed and scale to their future pipeline,” said James Foster, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Charles River Labs.

Don Nicholson, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Nimbus, added: “Charles River’s broad experience in discovery research across multiple therapeutic areas, as well as background in safety assessment, makes them a highly valued contributor to Nimbus’ drug discovery efforts. We’re looking forward to furthering our collaboration with Charles River as we work together to progress the most promising targets through discovery and preclinical development.”

About Nimbus Therapeutics
Nimbus Therapeutics is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA). With its breakthrough computational chemistry platform, enabled through its privileged partnership with co-founder, Schrödinger, Inc., Nimbus is pioneering the application of computational chemistry to design treatments for substantial and underserved human diseases. The company’s focus on metabolic diseases, cancer and immune-inflammatory disorders reflects the mechanistic relationship between these disorders, and Nimbus’ ability to rapidly tackle well validated targets as well as those that have proven intractable to the approaches taken by others in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, resulting in medicines with high potency, selectivity and other desirable drug-like properties. To learn more, please visit www.nimbustx.com.

About Charles River
Charles River provides essential products and services to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, government agencies and leading academic institutions around the globe accelerate their research and drug development efforts. Our dedicated employees are focused on providing clients with exactly what they need to improve and expedite the discovery, early-stage development and safe manufacture of new therapies for the patients who need them. To learn more about our unique portfolio and breadth of services, visit www.criver.com.

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Jan. 5, 2017 – Nimbus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company applying deep computational chemistry expertise throughout drug discovery and development, today announced that Mark Ashwell, Ph.D., has joined the company as the Head of Chemistry. The appointment further expands Nimbus’ core development capabilities and bolsters the senior leadership team as the company works to advance multiple promising pipeline candidates toward clinical-stage development. As Head of Chemistry, Dr. Ashwell’s responsibilities include maximizing Nimbus’ unique relationship with founding partner Schrödinger while also integrating new technologies and collaborators into Nimbus’ cutting-edge platform and approach to drug discovery, helping to realize Nimbus’ vision of creating breakthroughs by design while tackling tough targets like Tyk2, STING and others in the Nimbus pipeline.

An accomplished R&D leader, Dr. Ashwell served as the long-time Head of Chemistry at ArQule, where he led eight drug candidates from discovery and early development into clinical-stage testing, in cancer and rare diseases. Furthermore, he was an inventor of the ArQule Kinase Inhibition Technology Platform, the company’s discovery engine, which yielded product opportunities that led to productive R&D partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies.

“Mark is a terrific addition to our high-performing team, whose technical expertise and entrepreneurial vision will help drive our continued success discovering and developing novel therapies for some of the most promising targets in drug development,” said Don Nicholson, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer at Nimbus. “Building on the strong foundation laid by our founding Head of Chemistry, Dr. Ron Wester, Mark will work alongside our Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Rosana Kapeller, and Head of Preclinical Research and Early Development, Dr. Wes Westlin, to accelerate our next breakthroughs in discovery.”

Nimbus also announced today that Dr. Wester has assumed the role of senior emeritus advisor and will remain with Nimbus to support Dr. Ashwell. Dr. Wester established the chemistry function at Nimbus and has made strong contributions across the entire portfolio. “Ron has made an indelible mark on our organization, and we are deeply grateful for his valuable, ongoing contributions to the company,” Dr.
Nicholson added.

In addition to his experience at ArQule, Dr. Ashwell has served as a consultant to numerous drug development teams in industry and academia across a wide range of areas that included oncology drug development, medicinal chemistry, structure-based drug discovery and intellectual property creation. Earlier in his career, he worked as a researcher at Wyeth and as an NIH-funded World Health Organization consultant.

Dr. Ashwell holds a doctorate in organic chemistry and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, both from the University of Birmingham in the U.K., and completed two postdoctoral research fellowships. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed research papers and is listed as an inventor on 50 U.S.-granted patents and more than 30 international filings.

About Nimbus Therapeutics
Nimbus Therapeutics is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA). With its breakthrough computational chemistry platform, enabled through its privileged partnership with co-founder, Schrödinger, Inc., Nimbus is pioneering the application of computational chemistry to design treatments for substantial and underserved human diseases. The company’s focus on metabolic diseases, cancer and immune-inflammatory disorders reflects the mechanistic relationship between these disorders, and Nimbus’ ability to rapidly tackle well validated targets as well as those that have proven intractable to the approaches taken by others in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Nimbus’ approach results in therapeutic candidates with high potency, selectivity and other desirable drug-like properties. To learn more, please visit www.nimbustx.com.

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Nov. 1, 2016 – Nimbus Therapeutics, a biotech that integrates computational chemistry and other advanced technologies to design breakthrough medicines and transform drug development, today announced that it has received a $200 million milestone payment from Gilead Sciences, Inc., related to Gilead’s allosteric Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase (ACC) inhibitor program with NDI-010976 (now GS-0976) previously acquired from Nimbus.

In April of this year, the companies announced an upfront payment from Gilead of $400 million for the acquisition of Nimbus Apollo, Inc., and another potential $800 million in development-related payments; the milestone announced today represents the first of those additional payments. Nimbus has now received half of the total potential deal value within six months of the acquisition being completed.

“We are thrilled at the rapid progress that Gilead has made in developing the ACC program, which is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials for NASH,” said Don Nicholson, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Nimbus. “As the first prospectively in silico-designed molecule to reach human clinical testing, NDI-010976 is an important validation of our unique computational chemistry approach. We are applying this model to design medicines that have a meaningful impact on the mechanistically interrelated areas of metabolic disease, oncology and immunology.”

Nimbus’ investors and employees have reinvested a significant portion of the proceeds from both the upfront and the first milestone back into Nimbus to further expand its core capabilities and advance a diverse, preclinical pipeline focused on an unrivaled set of promising targets, including Tyk2 allosteric inhibitors; STING (STimulator of INterferon Genes) non-nucleotide agonists for immuno-oncology and antagonists for autoimmune disease; and other currently undisclosed programs.

About NASH

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a serious chronic liver disease caused by excessive fat accumulation in the liver. It affects between five and 10 percent of the adult population in the United States and represents a growing and underserved medical need. A substantial fraction of those affected by NASH will progress to advanced fibrosis (liver scarring) and cirrhosis (over a million Americans), which frequently leads to liver failure and death. End-stage liver disease secondary to NASH is predicted to become the leading cause of liver transplants within the next decade, surpassing chronic hepatitis C and alcoholic liver disease. Currently, there are no approved therapeutics for the treatment of NASH or related fatty-liver diseases, underscoring the need for effective treatments.

About ACC and NDI-010976

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) is an enzyme with two isoforms (ACC1 and ACC2) that is involved in de novo lipogenesis (the synthesis of endogenous fatty acids) and the regulation of beta-oxidation (the process by which fatty acids are broken down at a cellular level). Inhibitors of ACC, therefore, have the potential to prevent production of new lipids within the liver and stimulate their breakdown. In animal models of fatty liver, ACC inhibition reduces hepatic fat content, inflammation and fibrosis (scarring), all of which are important hallmarks of NASH progression. NDI-010976 is a potent, liver-targeted, allosteric inhibitor of both ACC isoforms. NDI-010976 (now GS-0976) is an investigational therapy and has not been proven safe or efficacious.

About Nimbus Therapeutics

Nimbus Therapeutics is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA). With its breakthrough computational chemistry platform, enabled through its privileged partnership with co-founder, Schrödinger, Inc., Nimbus is pioneering the application of computational chemistry to design treatments for substantial and underserved human diseases. The company’s focus on metabolic diseases, cancer and immune-inflammatory disorders reflects the mechanistic relationship between these disorders, and Nimbus’ ability to rapidly tackle well validated targets as well as those that have proven intractable to the approaches taken by others in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, resulting in medicines with high potency, selectivity and other desirable drug-like properties. To learn more, please visit www.nimbustx.com.

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