EDINBURGH, Scotland,
July 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Inventor of ProTide
technology joins NuCana
team
NuCana, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company using
proprietary ProTide technology to develop and commercialise a
portfolio of novel anti-cancer medicines, today announced the
appointment of Professor Chris
McGuigan as Chief Scientific Officer.
Professor McGuigan was the original inventor of the ProTide
technology. He is currently Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the
Cardiff School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. He is also
the Chair of the Life Sciences Hub Wales Ltd, having been appointed
by the Welsh Government's Economy Minister in 2014. Professor
McGuigan has more than 30 years' experience in phosphoramidate
(ProTide) chemistry and has generated more than 4,500 new chemical
entities. In 2001 he was the co-recipient of the prestigious
Descartes Prize for outstanding scientific achievement in the field
of ProTide chemistry. He has an internationally renowned reputation
for his academic work and has published more than 225 scientific
papers. In addition, he has worked closely with the life sciences
industry to apply his skills to develop a series of new
medicines.
Hugh Griffith,
NuCana's Chief Executive Officer,
said: "We are delighted that Chris has chosen to join our
team. He is the inventor of the ProTide technology and one of
the world's most respected medicinal chemists. As we announced at
ASCO, our first ProTide, Acelarin, is entering Phase III studies
and our wider product portfolio continues to exceed all
expectations. We look forward to benefitting from Chris's leading
scientific knowledge as we further develop and target the
commercialisation of our ProTide technology in oncology."
Professor Chris McGuigan,
Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the Cardiff School of Pharmacy
and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the inventor of the ProTide
technology, added: "The ProTide technology has been
successfully applied to antiviral nucleosides, by companies such as
Gilead, with remarkable improvements in efficacy and tolerability.
NuCana is advancing this exciting technology into oncology and the
results from the recently completed Phase I/II study have shown the
potential of ProTides to define a new era in cancer treatment."
About NuCana
NuCana® is a rapidly growing, clinical stage
biopharmaceutical company with a broad development portfolio of
novel anti-cancer medicines. The Company's proprietary ProTide
technology has the potential to set new benchmarks in efficacy and
safety with its treatments that are specifically designed to
overcome key cancer resistance mechanisms. Acelarin® is
NuCana's lead medicine and was the first ProTide to enter the
clinic in October 2010. Acelarin
achieved exceptional levels of disease control in a broad range of
patients with advanced, rapidly progressing solid tumours. Global
Phase III studies with Acelarin are currently being planned in
ovarian, biliary and pancreatic cancers. Privately held, NuCana,
which raised $57 million in a Series
B financing in April 2014, is backed
by world-leading investors including Sofinnova Partners, Sofinnova
Ventures, Morningside Ventures, Alida Capital International and the
Scottish Investment Bank.
For more information, please visit: http://www.nucana.com
About ProTides
ProTides are first in class pre-activated anti-cancer agents,
with a protective phosphoramidate group that allows the medicine to
bypass the key tumour resistance mechanisms that limit the activity
of many current chemotherapy drugs. Acelarin is the first ProTide
in oncology to be brought to the clinic. The innovative ProTide
chemistry is a technology platform that can be applied to all
nucleoside analogues. Gilead's ProTide, Sovaldi®,
has shown the potential of this new class of medicines for
antiviral therapy.
About Professor McGuigan
Chris McGuigan is Professor of
Medicinal Chemistry in Cardiff
University and Chairman of the Life Sciences Research Network
Wales. He received his PhD from Birmingham
University and has worked in the UK and North America in drug design and development
for over 30 years. He is inventor of the ProTide technology and has
applied this to generate new anticancer and antiviral medicines.
Professor McGuigan has supervised 45 PhD students and 50
researchers have trained in his laboratories. He has over 225
scientific publications and over 50 patents. He has also invented
four New Chemical Entities, including Acelarin, that have entered
clinical studies. He serves on the Boards of Synergy
Pharmaceuticals, Contravir and Tiziana. Professor McGuigan leads
the £15 million National Research Network in drug discovery and
development for the Welsh Government.
For more information, please contact
Hugh S. Griffith
CEO
T: +44-131-248-3660
E: info@nucana.com
W: http://www.nucana.com
Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott
Ivar Milligan
Matthew Neal
T: +44-203-709-5700
E: nucana@consilium-comms.com