PRESS RELEASE
OMass Therapeutics Expands Development Team with Key Appointments in US and UK and Announces the Nomination of Clinical Candidate Against MC2
Oxford, United Kingdom - 1 October 2024 - OMass Therapeutics ('OMass' or 'the Company'), a biotechnology company identifying medicines against highly validated target ecosystems such as membrane proteins or intracellular complexes, today announces the candidate nomination of its lead program targeting the melanocortin-2 (MC2) receptor and key appointments to support its progress towards becoming a clinical-stage company.
Over the last year, OMass has made significant progress in advancing its pipeline and has selected its first clinical candidate targeting the MC2 receptor, a GPCR for the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). The focus of the program has been to increase the receptor residency time to make OMass' antagonists resistant to competition by the endogenous ligand. This can allow all patients suffering from conditions related to ACTH excess, including congenital adrenal hyperplasia and Cushing's syndrome, to be treated. The long residence time is expected to avoid loss of efficacy in the face of rising ACTH levels due to reductions in glucocorticoid supplementation for CAH or progression of Cushing's Syndrome.
To support the advancement of OMass' pipeline, OMass has expanded its development team. Based in the USA, Dr Steve Griffen joins as Vice President of Clinical Development and Angela Hecyk joins as Director of Clinical Operations. Based in the UK, Stuart Hadley has been appointed as Senior Director of Chemistry Manufacture and Controls (CMC). The new appointments add critical expertise in clinical development and manufacturing:
- Steve is an endocrinologist with more than 25 years' experience in basic and clinical research and drug development. He has previously served as Vice President, Clinical Development at MBX Biosciences following his role as the Medical Lead for Integrated Care for Sanofi developing devices and software to assist people managing their diabetes. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President, Research for the non-profit organization JDRF and Type 1 Diabetes Full Development Team leader for dapagliflozin at Bristol-Myers Squibb, after having served as Exploratory Development Team leader for metabolic assets taking multiple assets into first-in-human studies. Steve holds an AB in Physiology and an MA in Endocrinology from the University of California, Berkeley and completed his medical doctorate at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
- Angela is a global clinical operations professional with over 16 years of experience in clinical research across all stages of clinical development to post-approval, including significant contributions to programs in rare pediatric diseases and four FDA-approved therapies. She joins OMass after holding positions at several growing small to mid-sized biotech and pharmaceutical companies, including MBX Biosciences, Taysha Gene Therapies, Ayala Pharma, Phathom Pharmaceuticals, and Astellas Pharma. Prior to this, she oversaw clinical trials in islet cell transplantation at Northwestern University and was a study monitor for ICON. Angela holds a BS in Natural Sciences, Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- Stuart has over 25 years' experience in drug development and operations working across all disciplines of CMC and supply chain management. He joins OMass from F2G Ltd, where he was Senior Director CMC, leading the CMC program for Olorofim to launch readiness. Prior to that he held multiple CMC and supply chain roles over a 20-year period with AstraZeneca, starting his career there as a graduate analytical chemist, having completed his BSc (Hons) in Chemistry with Pharmaceutical and Forensic Science at the University of Bradford.
Steve Griffen, Vice President of Clinical Development at OMass Therapeutics, added: "I'm very excited by the opportunity to join OMass at such a pivotal time for the company. I look forward to working closely with Ros, Stuart, Angela and the rest of the OMass team in advancing our pipeline of small molecule drug candidates.”
-ENDS-
For further information, please contact:
| OMass Therapeutics | ICR Consilium |
| Rosamond Deegan, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: +44 (0) 1235 527589 Email: [email protected] | Sue Charles / Suki Virji / Kumail Waljee
Phone: +44 (0)20 3709 5700 Email: [email protected] |
OMass Therapeutics is a biotechnology company discovering medicines against highly-validated target ecosystems, such as membrane proteins or intracellular complexes.
OdyssION™, OMass' unique drug discovery platform, comprises next-generation native mass spectrometry with novel biochemistry techniques and custom chemistry to interrogate not just a drug target, but also the interaction of the target with its native ecosystem, separate from the confounding complexity of the cell. This unique approach results in cell-system fidelity with cell-free precision.
OMass is advancing a pipeline of small molecule therapeutics in rare diseases and immunological conditions. Its lead programme is a best-in-class MC2 (melanocortin-2) receptor antagonist for the treatment of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) and Cushing's Syndrome. The focus of the program has been to increase receptor residency time to make OMass' antagonists resistant to competition by the endogenous ligand, thereby avoiding loss of efficacy in the face of rising adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels due to reductions in glucocorticoid supplementation for CAH or progression of Cushing's Syndrome.
Headquartered in Oxford, UK, OMass has raised over $160M (£129M) from a top-tier international investor syndicate including Syncona, Oxford Science Enterprises, GV, Northpond Ventures, Sanofi Ventures and British Patient Capital.
To learn more, please visit www.omass.com. Follow us on LinkedIn and X.
