Menu
Read original article at Business Wire
October 21, 2020 4:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — (Business Wire) — Circle Pharma, Inc., a macrocycle drug discovery and development company focused on intractable cancer targets, has appointed Prof. Alan Ashworth, PhD, FRS and Bruce Stillman, PhD, FRS to its Scientific Advisory Board.
Prof. Ashworth is the President of the University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology / Oncology at UCSF and Sr. Vice President for Cancer Services with USCF Health. He previously served as the Chief Executive of the Institute of Cancer Research in London.
Dr. Stillman is the President and CEO of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in New York. He previously served as the Director of the NCI-designated CSHL Cancer Center.
Prof. Ashworth and Dr. Stillman join 2019 Nobel Laureate William G. Kaelin Jr. , MD, of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, on the Circle Scientific Advisory Board.
Prof. Ashworth is a translational biologist whose research is focused on understanding tumor genetics to develop improvements in the treatment and care of cancer patients. He contributed to the identification of the BRCA2 breast cancer susceptibility gene and the development of PARP inhibitors for cancer treatment. Prof. Ashworth is an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences and the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and a Fellow of the Royal Society. His work has been recognized with awards including the European Society of Medical Oncology Lifetime Achievement Award, the Drexel Prize in Cancer Biology, the Basser Global Prize, the Meyenburg Foundation Cancer Research Award, the David T. Workman Memorial Award of the Samuel Waxman Cancer Center and the Genetics Society Medal.
Dr. Stillman is a biochemist and cancer researcher who has made seminal discoveries related to the eukaryotic DNA replication cycle, including the discovery of the Origin Recognition Complex (ORC), a key protein that initiates the process of making chromosomes competent for duplication. His work has provided insights into the complexity of cell replication and has implications for understanding genomic instability and tumor heterogeneity in cancer. Dr. Stillman is an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Australian Academy of Science, a Fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He has received multiple awards including the Alfred P Sloan Prize from the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, the Basic Science Award from the Society of Surgical Oncology, the Herbert Tabor Research Award, the Canada Gairdner International Award, the Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics and the Order of Australia.
“We are delighted that Alan and Bruce are joining our growing SAB. Their expertise brings a deep understanding of complex cancer biology and the Circle team is very much looking forward to their guidance as we pursue our goals to develop new cancer therapeutics” said David J. Earp, J.D., Ph.D., Circle’s President and CEO.
About Circle Pharma, Inc.
Circle is developing a new paradigm for macrocycle drug discovery based on rational design and synthetic chemistry. Circle’s technology facilitates the design and synthesis of intrinsically cell-permeable macrocycles that can address both intra- and extra-cellular therapeutic targets, and can be delivered by oral administration. Circle’s macrocycle development platform is applicable across a wide range of serious diseases; the company is initially focusing its development efforts on intracellular protein-protein interactions that are key drivers in cancer. Its lead programs target cyclins A and E, which are part of the regulatory machinery that controls the progression of cells through the cell growth and division cycle. Inhibition of Cyclin A has been shown to be synthetically lethal in cancers driven by mutations in the Rb pathway. Cyclin E upregulation is associated with resistance to drugs that target cdk4/6 activity and is also found across several cancer types.
More information: www.circlepharma.com
Contacts
Eleanor Lim: 650.825.4099
info@circlepharma.com
Source: Circle Pharma, Inc.
Read original article at Business Wire
July 20, 2020 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — (Business Wire) — Circle Pharma, Inc. has appointed Rajinder Singh, PhD as its Chief Science Officer. Dr. Singh will oversee Circle’s scientific work to develop macrocycle therapeutics against intractable cancer targets.
Dr. Singh has 25 years of experience in drug discovery and development, spanning small molecules, peptides and peptoids. He most recently served as Senior Vice President of Research and Pharmaceutics at ChemoCentryx and earlier in his career had senior roles at Rigel, Inc. and Chiron. He was awarded a doctorate in Organic chemistry from the University of Oxford where he studied under Prof. Sir Jack Baldwin, and subsequently undertook a postdoctoral research fellowship at Eli Lilly & Company.
“We are delighted to have Raj join the Circle team.” said David J. Earp, J.D., Ph.D., Circle’s President and CEO. “Raj brings deep experience in therapeutics research and development across chemistry, biology, pharmacology and pharmaceutics. He has built and led teams that have advanced multiple programs from discovery through pre-clinical optimization, and from Phase 1 to pivotal clinical studies. Raj is one of the inventors of Syk kinase inhibitor Tavalisse (fostamatinib) and most recently has supported the NDA submission for C5aR inhibitor avacopan. I am very much looking forward to working with Raj to bring Circle’s therapies to patients.”
“We would also like to express our deep appreciation to Dr. David Spellmeyer, who has served as Circle’s interim CSO since October 2017. With David’s scientific guidance and leadership, we have significantly advanced our macrocycle drug discovery platform and our cyclin programs. David will continue as an advisor to Circle, focusing on informatics and computational chemistry.”
About Circle Pharma, Inc.
Circle is developing a new paradigm for macrocycle drug discovery based on rational design and synthetic chemistry. Circle’s technology facilitates the design and synthesis of intrinsically cell-permeable macrocycles that can address both intra- and extra-cellular therapeutic targets, and can be delivered by oral administration. Circle’s macrocycle development platform is applicable across a wide range of serious diseases; the company is initially focusing its development efforts on intracellular protein-protein interactions that are key drivers in cancer. Its lead programs target cyclins A and E, which are part of the regulatory machinery that controls the progression of cells through the cell growth and division cycle. Inhibition of Cyclin A has been shown to be synthetically lethal in cancers driven by mutations in the Rb pathway. Cyclin E upregulation is associated with resistance to drugs that target cdk4/6 activity and is also found across several cancer types.
More information: www.circlepharma.com
Contact: info@circlepharma.com
Read original article at Business Wire
May 27, 2020 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Circle Pharma, Inc., a macrocycle drug discovery and development company focused on intractable cancer targets, has appointed William G. Kaelin Jr. MD as Chair of its Scientific Advisory Board and Science Advisor to its Board of Directors.
Dr. Kaelin is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and a professor of medicine at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. He was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine along with Sir Peter Ratcliffe and Prof. Greg Semenza for discovering how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability. This work led to an understanding of the role of Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF) proteins in von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL) and other cancers. Dr. Kaelin has been widely recognized for his contributions to cancer biology, and has received awards including the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences from Rockefeller University and the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Kaelin’s research focuses on the function of tumor suppressor proteins, such as pRb, pVHL and p53, with a goal of uncovering new approaches to treating cancer. Discoveries in Dr. Kaelin’s laboratory on the interactions between proteins in the Rb pathway and cyclins underlie Circle’s work to develop macrocycles that modulate cyclin function as cancer therapeutics.
“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Kaelin as our lead science advisor. His deep expertise in cancer biology and world-renowned reputation for scientific excellence will be of great value to Circle as we pursue our goals to develop new cancer therapeutics,” said David J. Earp, J.D., Ph.D., Circle’s President and CEO.
About Circle Pharma, Inc.
Circle is developing a new paradigm for macrocycle drug discovery based on rational design and synthetic chemistry. Circle’s technology facilitates the design and synthesis of intrinsically cell-permeable macrocycles that can address both intra- and extra-cellular therapeutic targets, and can be delivered by oral administration. Circle’s macrocycle development platform is applicable across a wide range of serious diseases; the company is initially focusing its development efforts on intracellular protein-protein interactions that are key drivers in cancer. Its lead program targets cyclins A and E, which are part of the regulatory machinery that controls the progression of cells through the cell growth and division cycle. Inhibiting cyclins A and E has been shown to be synthetically lethal in cancers that carry mutations causing dysregulation of the Rb pathway.
More information: www.circlepharma.com
Contacts
David Earp
info@circlepharma.com
March 17, 2020
South San Francisco, CA, March 17, 2020, — Circle Pharma, Inc., a macrocycle drug discovery and development company focused on intractable cancer targets, today announced that it has raised $45 million in a Series B financing.
The financing was led by The Column Group, with participation by Nextech Invest. All investors from the prior round – ShangPharma, LifeForce Capital, and the Berkeley Catalyst Fund – joined the financing.
In conjunction with the financing, Peter Svennilson, founder and managing partner of The Column Group, and Thilo Schroeder, Ph.D., partner at Nextech Invest were appointed to the board. John Josey, Ph.D., formerly President and CEO of Peloton Therapeutics, was appointed to the board as Chairman.
Proceeds from the investment will be used to advance Circle’s work to develop inhibitors of Cyclin A and Cyclin E, and to expand the company’s pipeline.
“We are delighted to have these premier life science investors supporting our Series B financing” said David J. Earp, J.D., Ph.D., Circle’s President and CEO. “With this strong backing, we will expand our team, drive our cyclin targeted programs towards the clinic, and apply our macrocycle platform to additional intractable targets.”
Circle’s new board appointments:
Peter Svennilson is the founder and managing partner of The Column Group. He was the chairman of Aragon Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Johnson & Johnson) and Seragon Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Roche / Genentech) and was a board director of Gritstone Oncology, NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Immune Design and Constellation Pharmaceuticals. He is currently a board director of ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Ribon Therapeutics and Carmot Therapeutics.
Thilo Schroeder, Ph.D., is a partner at Nextech Invest, a Zurich-based oncology-focused investment firm. He previously served on the board of Peloton Therapeutics (acquired by Merck) and Blueprint Medicines. He is currently a board director at IDEAYA Biosciences, Revolution Medicines, PMV Pharma, Silverback Therapeutics and a board observer at Black Diamond Therapeutics.
John Josey, Ph.D., served as the President, Chief Executive Officer, and member of the Board of Directors at Peloton Therapeutics from 2013 until its acquisition by Merck in 2019. From 2011 to 2013, he was President and Chief Scientific Officer at Peloton, and from 1998 to 2011, Vice President of Discovery Chemistry at Array Pharma.
The continuing members of Circle’s board of directors are Walter H. Moos, Ph.D., CEO of ShangPharma Innovation and Managing Director of Pandect Bioventures, Matthew P. Jacobson, Ph.D., Circle Pharma co-founder, chair of the department of pharmaceutical chemistry at U.C. San Francisco and also co-founder of Global Blood Therapeutics, Relay Therapeutics and Cedilla Therapeutics, and David J. Earp, J.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Circle Pharma.
About Circle Pharma, Inc.
Circle is developing a new paradigm for macrocycle drug discovery based on rational design and synthetic chemistry. Circle’s technology facilitates the design and synthesis of intrinsically cell-permeable macrocycles that can address both intra- and extra-cellular therapeutic targets, and can be delivered by oral administration. Circle’s macrocycle development platform is applicable across a wide range of serious diseases; the company is initially focusing its development efforts on intracellular protein-protein interactions that are key drivers in cancer. Its lead program targets cyclins A and E, which are part of the regulatory machinery that controls the progression of cells through the cell growth and division cycle. Inhibiting cyclins A and E has been shown to be synthetically lethal in cancers that carry mutations causing dysregulation of the Rb pathway.
More information: www.circlepharma.com
Contact: info@circlepharma.com
Read original article at Business Wire
Read original article at Business Wire
October 8, 2019
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Circle Pharma, Inc. is delighted to congratulate Dr. Kaelin, on having been jointly awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with co-recipients Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe of Oxford University and Dr. Gregg L. Semenza of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The prize was awarded for their work on discovering how cells detect and respond to changes in oxygen availability, a process that is key to the survival of many cancers.
Dr. Kaelin is a professor in the Department of Medicine at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Dr. Kaelin is also an advisor to Circle Pharma.
In separate work, Dr. Kaelin and his colleagues at Dana Farber Cancer Institute identified cyclins A and E as potential targets for disrupting the growth of certain cancers. Their studies with peptide tool compounds showed that inhibiting these targets can selectively kill cancers that are dysregulated in the Rb pathway, in a process known as synthetic lethality. With guidance from Dr. Kaelin, Circle is developing macrocycles that inhibit cyclins A and E as potential new cancer therapies.
“We are thrilled that the pioneering work of Drs. Kaelin, Ratcliffe and Semenza has been recognized with the award of the Nobel Prize and congratulate them on this well-deserved recognition,” said Dr. David J. Earp, Circle’s CEO.
About Circle Pharma, Inc.
Circle is developing a new paradigm for macrocycle drug discovery based on rational design and synthetic chemistry. Circle’s technology facilitates the design and synthesis of intrinsically cell-permeable macrocycles that can address both intra- and extra-cellular therapeutic targets, and can be delivered by oral administration. Circle’s macrocycle development platform is applicable across a wide range of serious diseases; the company is initially focusing its internal development efforts on intracellular protein-protein interactions that are key drivers in cancer. Its lead program targets cyclins A and E, which are part of the regulatory machinery that controls the progression of cells through the cell growth and division cycle. Inhibiting cyclins A and E has been shown to be synthetic lethal in cancers that carry mutations causing dysregulation of the Rb pathway.
Contacts
David J. Earp, JD, PhD., 650.392.0350
info@circlepharma.com
by Richard Stein, M.D., Ph.D.
April 01, 2018
Advantages May Place Peptides Ahead of Small-Molecule Drugs
Peptide therapeutics would seem to occupy a sweet spot between small molecules and biologics. Small molecules, which represent the majority of clinical drugs, preferentially bind hydrophobic pockets or cavities, but targeting them to protein interfaces that are large or shallow, or contain combinations of polar and apolar residues, is challenging.
Biologics, or larger molecules, use more extensive contact areas and can modulate protein–protein interactions extracellularly, but are difficult to deliver into cells.
The difficulties posed by small molecules and biologics could be avoided by peptide therapeutics, which present drug developers with distinct advantages. These include simpler production, lower costs, and superior safety and tolerability. Consequently, some drug developers see peptide therapeutics as an attractive means of reaching targets that are known to be therapeutically relevant but are, as yet, “undruggable.” Peptide therapeutics, however, need to manifest sweet spots of their own.
Read complete article here or at Genengnews
By Michael Fitzhugh
Staff Writer
Circle Pharma Inc., of South San Francisco, said its first collaboration with Pfizer Inc. has led to the identification of a series of bioavailable macrocyclic peptides capable of acting as potent and cell-permeable modulators of CXCR7…
Read article at BioWorld
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.- (BUSINESS WIRE) -Circle Pharma, Inc. today announced that results from its collaborative work with Pfizer Inc. to develop a potent and orally bioavailable macrocycle modulator of the chemokine receptor, CXCR7, have been published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
The goal of the collaboration was to deploy Circle’s rational design platform for macrocycle therapeutics in order to improve the drug-like characteristics of an existing macrocycle compound, and in particular to develop a cell permeable, orally bioavailable compound with enhanced target affinity. As reported in the publication, the collaboration produced a series of permeable and potent derivative macrocycles, including a compound having >500-fold increase in potency (CXCR7 Ki of ~ 9nM versus 2 uM for the starting compound), good cell permeability and 18% oral bioavailability in rats.
Additionally, permeable CXCR7 binding compounds with novel macrocycle backbone scaffolds were discovered through the efforts of the collaboration. This finding was not described in the publication.
“Cell permeability and orally bioavailability have been long-standing and well recognized challenges in the development of macrocycle therapeutics: nearly all synthetic macrocycle compounds in clinical development are against extracellular targets and are delivered by injection,” noted David J. Earp, JD, PhD, Circle’s CEO. “Circle’s rational design approach coupled with efficient, low-cost synthesis uniquely enables us to design cell permeable, bioavailable macrocycles to address therapeutic targets that have been out of reach, including intracellular protein-protein interactions. This is a large target class with significant unmet clinical need.”
“This collaboration successfully achieved its very challenging objective of delivering a potent and orally bioavailable macrocycle targeting CXCR7,” said Spiros Liras, PhD, Vice President, Medicinal Chemistry, Pfizer.
The open-access scientific paper, entitled “Discovery of Potent and Orally Bioavailable Macrocyclic Peptide–Peptoid Hybrid CXCR7 Modulators,” is available at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b01028.
About Macrocyclic Peptides
Macrocyclic peptides have the potential to allow drug developers to address the large proportion of known therapeutic targets (estimated at up to 80%) that are considered undruggable with conventional small molecule or biologic modalities. In particular, there is great interest in developing macrocycles to modulate protein-protein interactions, which play a role in almost all disease conditions, including cancer, fibrosis, inflammation and infection. However, the development of macrocyclic therapeutics has been limited by the need for a greater understanding of how to develop macrocycles with appropriate pharmacokinetics, cell permeability and oral bioavailability. Circle is applying its ability to design potent macrocycles with intrinsic cell permeability and drug-like characteristics to unlock access to challenging, high value therapeutic targets that have been out of reach by other approaches.
About Circle Pharma, Inc.
Circle is developing a new paradigm for macrocycle drug discovery based on rational design and synthetic chemistry. Circle’s technology facilitates the design and synthesis of intrinsically cell-permeable macrocycles that can address both intra- and extra-cellular therapeutic targets, and can be delivered by oral administration. Circle’s macrocycle development platform is applicable across a wide range of serious diseases; the company is initially focusing its internal development efforts on intracellular protein-protein interactions that are key drivers in cancer. Circle’s founders are Prof. Matthew P. Jacobson (Chair of the Dept. of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UC San Francisco and co-founder of Global Blood Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GBT) and Relay Therapeutics) and Prof. R. Scott Lokey (Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UC Santa Cruz and director of the UCSC Chemical Screening Center).
More information: www.circlepharma.com
Circle Pharma, Inc.
Cayla McEwen, 650-392-0363
info@circlepharma.com
Read online article
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – (BUSINESS WIRE) – Circle Pharma, Inc., a developer of macrocycle therapeutics, today announced that David Spellmeyer, PhD, has been appointed as its chief scientific officer.
“His deep experience in rational drug design and discovery is an excellent fit for Circle as we extend our platform for macrocycle discovery and advance our therapeutic pipeline towards the clinic.”
Dr. Spellmeyer brings over 25 years of broad industrial experience to Circle. He previously served as CTO & CIO at Nodality, CSO at Signature BioScience, Research Staff Member at IBM, as well as scientific, quality systems, and leadership roles at other biotechnology companies. David has been involved in more than 20 strategic corporate partnerships, M&A, and joint ventures, as well as several rounds of venture financing.
“We are delighted to welcome David to Circle’s senior leadership,” said David J. Earp, JD, PhD, Circle’s CEO. “His deep experience in rational drug design and discovery is an excellent fit for Circle as we extend our platform for macrocycle discovery and advance our therapeutic pipeline towards the clinic.”
“Circle is at an exciting point in its development. I am thrilled to be joining a company that has built such a promising discovery platform,” said Dr. Spellmeyer. “The combination of rational design and efficient, automated macrocycle synthesis is a new approach to this drug class, and the results so far are highly encouraging.”
Dr. Spellmeyer received his PhD in 1987 from UCLA, and completed his post-doctoral work in pharmaceutical chemistry at UCSF, where he holds an appointment as an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry. David was named as a Fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2009. He joins Circle’s team after working with the company in his role as an Executive-in-Residence at ShangPharma Innovation, an investor in Circle. He continues to advise ShangPharma in an EIR capacity.
About Macrocyclic Peptides
Macrocyclic peptides have the potential to allow drug developers to address the large proportion of known therapeutic targets (estimated at up to 80%) that are considered undruggable with conventional small molecule or biologic modalities. In particular, there is great interest in developing macrocycles to modulate protein-protein interactions, which play a role in almost all disease conditions, including cancer, fibrosis, inflammation and infection. However, the development of macrocyclic therapeutics has been limited by the need for a greater understanding of how to develop macrocycles with appropriate pharmacokinetics, cell permeability and oral bioavailability. Circle is applying its ability to design potent macrocycles with intrinsic cell permeability and drug-like characteristics to unlock access to challenging, high value therapeutic targets that have been out of reach to other approaches.
About Circle Pharma, Inc.
Circle is developing a new paradigm for macrocycle drug discovery based on rational design and synthetic chemistry. Circle’s technology facilitates the design and synthesis of intrinsically cell-permeable macrocycles that can address both intra- and extra-cellular therapeutic targets, and can be delivered by oral administration. Circle’s macrocycle development platform is applicable across a wide range of serious diseases; the company is initially focusing its internal development efforts on intracellular protein-protein interactions that are key drivers in cancer. Circle’s founders are Prof. Matthew P. Jacobson (Chair of the Dept. of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UC San Francisco and co-founder of Global Blood Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GBT) and Relay Therapeutics) and Prof. R. Scott Lokey (Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UC Santa Cruz and director of the UCSC Chemical Screening Center).
More information: www.circlepharma.com
Contacts
Circle Pharma, Inc.
Cayla McEwen, 650-392-0363
info@circlepharma.com
Read online article
This site is intended for US residents only.
© 2024 Circle Pharma. All Rights Reserved.
