Proclara Biosciences, Inc.

– EKZ-102 is in IND-enabling development for the treatment of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases, with a first-in-human clinical study planned for 2025 – Company welcomes new executive and Board appointments CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA I December 10, 2024 I Eikonizo Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing disease-modifying therapies to improve the lives of people impacted by neurodegenerative and cardiorenal diseases announced today that it has secured an undisclosed equity investment from Novo Nordisk through its Science2Medicine iNNvest initiative . In addition to supporting the development of Eikonizo’s lead candidate, EKZ-102, a potential first-in-class, oral, CNS-penetrant, highly selective histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) inhibitor, the Novo Nordisk investment will also enable the advancement of novel Eikonizo HDAC6 inhibitors as potential disease-modifying therapeutics for cardiorenal disease. “I look forward to working with the Eikonizo team as they advance EKZ-102 into clinical studies. The program fits well with the company’s mission to bring disease-modifying therapies to help people living with neurodegenerative and cardiorenal diseases.” Concurrent with its investment, Miriam Frieden, Novo Nordisk’s Corporate Vice President of Early Innovation, Outreach and Alliances will join Eikonizo’s Board of Directors as a non-voting observer and Professor Bill Haynes, Scientific Corporate Vice President, Global Drug Discovery, Novo Nordisk, will join Eikonizo’s Scientific Advisory Board. “We are very proud to support promising early-stage companies like Eikonizo with its novel approach to HDAC6 inhibition as potential treatments for people living with serious chronic diseases,” said Miriam Frieden. “EKZ-102 is a highly selective, uniquely CNS-penetrant HDAC6 inhibitor with strong potential to be a first-in-class, disease-modifying therapy for ALS and other indications. This investment by Novo Nordisk through its iNNvest program will help accelerate EKZ-102 toward clinical proof of concept with a first-in-human clinical study planned in 2025,” said Rick Lundberg, President and CEO of Eikonizo. “We are equally excited to welcome several new team members with extensive industry experience, who will be instrumental in progressing EKZ-102 to clinical proof of concept and realizing the broad potential of our approach to HDAC6 inhibition for serious neurodegenerative and cardiorenal diseases.” Eikonizo also announced key additions to strengthen its leadership with the appointment of Thomas E. Hughes, PhD, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Navitor Pharmaceuticals, to its Board of Directors, as well as Richard A. Fisher, PhD, as Chief Scientific Officer, Jim Luterman, PhD, as Executive Vice President of Development and Jon Graves, CPA as Vice President, Finance and Controller. “Eikonizo has established a compelling path forward for their novel HDAC6 inhibitors, and I’m honored to join the board at such a transformative time for the company,” said Tom Hughes. “I look forward to working with the Eikonizo team as they advance EKZ-102 into clinical studies. The program fits well with the company’s mission to bring disease-modifying therapies to help people living with neurodegenerative and cardiorenal diseases.” Thomas E. Hughes, PhD has over 30 years of industry experience in the development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products, currently serving as Chairperson and CEO of Navitor Pharmaceuticals and previously leading Zafgen as President and CEO as well as Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to Zafgen, Dr. Hughes held several positions at Novartis including Global Head of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Therapeutic Area at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. Dr. Hughes currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Totus Medicines and is a member of scientific and strategic advisory boards including Ambrosia Biosciences and Broadview Ventures. He holds a PhD in nutritional biochemistry from Tufts University, an M.S. in zoology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University and a B.A. in biology from Franklin and Marshall College. Rich Fisher, PhD, brings over 40 years of biotech scientific leadership experience to Eikonizo, including serving as CSO at LuMind IDSC, Vigil Neuroscience, Proclara Biosciences and Ikano Therapeutics, SVP of R&D at GlycoFi, VP of Research at UCB Pharma and CytoMed, and Director, Molecular Biology at Biogen. Rich received his BA in zoology and PhD in microbiology and molecular genetics from the University of Iowa and UI College of Medicine, respectively, after which he was an American Cancer Society Fellow during his postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago. Rich’s drug discovery and research experience covers multiple therapeutic areas and modalities. Jim Luterman, PhD brings over 25 years of biotech program leadership experience to Eikonizo, including serving as SVP and Head of Early-stage Development and Partnering at Enzyvant, EVP of R&D at OvaScience, Program Executive and Early Development Team Leader at Shire HGT, Program Leader at CombinatoRx and Manager of New Product Commercialization at Biogen Idec. Before joining industry, Jim was a Senior Analyst at Decision Resources and a Research Assistant at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He received his BA in Biology and Psychology from Bucknell University, his PhD in Molecular Neuroscience from Rutgers University and conducted his postdoctoral fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Jon Graves, CPA brings over 20 years of biopharma finance leadership experience to Eikonizo, including serving as VP of Finance at OncXerna Therapeutics, VP of Financial Operations at Corindus Vascular Robotics, Controller, North America at Sobi, Controller at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Finance Manager at Epix Pharmaceuticals and Senior Auditor at Arthur Andersen. Jon received his BS in Accounting at Providence College and is a licensed CPA. About EKZ-102 Eikonizo’s lead development candidate, EKZ-102, is a first-in-class, oral, small molecule HDAC6 inhibitor with the distinctive combination of high potency, selectivity and CNS penetrance necessary to protect neuronal function while minimizing potential off-target side effects to achieve a favorable safety and tolerability profile. EKZ-102 is in IND-enabling development for the treatment of ALS with planned expansion to other neurodegenerative disorders. About Eikonizo Therapeutics Eikonizo is developing novel, disease-modifying small molecule therapeutics targeting histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) to improve the lives of people impacted by neurodegenerative and cardiorenal diseases. Our dual mechanism approach to HDAC6 inhibition is designed to synergistically target key drivers of neurodegenerative and cardiorenal disease biology. SOURCE: Eikonizo Therapeutics

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- NeuroPhage Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has been invited to participate in the world's first G8 Dementia Summit. The G8 Summit is hosted by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and will be attended by G8 Health Ministers, pharmaceutical company leaders, innovators, technology pioneers, breakthrough researchers and investors. The Summit will explore the coordination of efforts to shape an effective international solution to dementia, a condition that affects over 35 million people worldwide, including looking for effective therapies to slow dementia's impact. The G8 Dementia Summit will take place in London, UK, on December 11, 2013. "We applaud this groundbreaking initiative that the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary have undertaken to bring together leaders from government, research and finance to focus on addressing the enormous health and economic burden that dementia has on patients and families around the world," said Jonathan Solomon, President and Chief Executive Officer of NeuroPhage. "Dementia has proved to be a challenging indication to treat, as the biology behind the various conditions is complex. We are honored to take part in this ambitious international effort in hopes to create a greater collaborative approach worldwide to better achieve our common goals of treating and preventing dementia." About NeuroPhage NeuroPhage Pharmaceuticals has fusion-protein drug candidates in development for neurodegenerative diseases, many of which cause progressive mental deterioration and dementia. NeuroPhage's technology is based on a General Amyloid Interaction Motif (GAIM) that simultaneously targets multiple misfolded proteins or amyloids central to many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. In addition to targeting multiple misfolded pathological proteins, this unique disease-modifying approach recognizes early amyloid assemblies and existing protein aggregates to maximize potential therapeutic effect. NeuroPhage is initially developing candidates to treat Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, where a number of different misfolded proteins are present and their interactions can exacerbate disease progression. SOURCE NeuroPhage Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Help employers find you! Check out all the jobs and post your resume.