Biosceptre International Limited Establishes Pre-eminent Scientific Advisory Board
Biosceptre’s lead anti-cancer programs comprise antibody therapeutics directed towards a novel proprietary cancer target, nf-P2X7. This target is a non-functional form of P2X7 which is a major cellular receptor responsible for normal cell death (apoptosis). A subtle change renders P2X7 ‘non-functional’ which in cancer prevents apoptosis. Biosceptre has a range of antibody products in development capable of specifically detecting nf-P2X7 and inducing cancer cell death without affecting normal healthy cells.
Dr Cliff Holloway, Biosceptre’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “This is an exciting time for Biosceptre and it is an honour and privilege that such eminent scientists have joined our SAB. Their collective input will be key to the direction of our internal R&D efforts as we advance our lead therapeutic towards clinical evaluation”
Sir Greg Winter, SAB Chairman, added: "Biosceptre appears to have a great molecular target, and antibodies to this target have the potential to treat multiple cancers. I am excited about advising the company on their efforts in building therapeutic antibodies and choosing the best disease to tackle. "
Dr Paul Kelly, Biosceptre’s Chairman , said “The Board of Biosceptre welcomes the advice and direction our Scientific Advisory Board will provide, and the engagement of some of the worlds leaders in antibody therapeutics is not only a validation of the potential impact of our target and lead antibodies but also builds on the company’s other achievements this year and its renewed strategic focus on getting its lead therapeutics into the clinic”
The founding SAB members are:
Dr. Sir Gregory Winter, CBE, FRS, FMedSci, HonFRCP; Medical Research Council, Cambridge, UK. Sir Gregory Winter is a member of the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, and a Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge. He has served LMB as a Head of Division, Deputy Director and Acting Director. His scientific career has almost entirely been based in Cambridge where his work included protein sequencing (aminoacyl tRNA synthetases) and nucleic acid sequencing (influenze virus). He later developed technologies for making humanised antibodies (by grafting hypervariable regions from rodent antibodies to human antibodies) and also for making human antibodies in bacteria (by use of antibody repertories and phage display technologies). Most of the therapeutic antibodies on the market were developed using methods devised by him. He was a Founder and Director of Cambridge Antibody Technology (acquired by Astra Zeneca), a Founder and Director of Domantis (acquired by GSK) and more recently a Founder and Director of Bicycle Therapeutics. Sir Gregory has received numerous international prizes and awards, and in 2004 was knighted for services to Molecular Biology.
Professor Douglas Fearon FRS, FRCP, FMedSci; University of Cambridge, UK
Douglas Fearon is Emeritus Sheila Joan Smith Professor of Immunology of Cambridge University, and Senior Group Leader of the CRUK Cambridge Research Institute. Before moving to Cambridge in 1997, he was Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School from 1984-1987 and at Johns Hopkins Medical School from 1987-1993 where he was director of the Division of Rheumatology. He is Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), a Founder Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci), and a member of National Academy of Sciences of the United States. He is a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. His scientific work has spanned several areas of immunology, including the innate immune system of complement, B and T cell biology, and most recently tumor immunology. His experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology area has included scientific advisory roles with Cambridge Antibody Technology, Domantis, GSK, and Kymab.
Professor Terence Rabbitts FRS, FMedSci; Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, UK
Professor Rabbitts worked in Cambridge from 1973-2006 in the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology where he was head of the Division of Protein & Nucleic Acid Chemistry until 2002. He moved to become Director of the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine (from 2006 to 2010). He is a Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and a Founder Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).
His scientific work includes pioneering the method of cDNA cloning, mapping human antibody genes, methods for chimaeric antibody production and single domains for blocking protein interactions inside cells. He defined the linkage of antibody and T cell receptor genes with cancer-specific chromosomal translocations, identified new families of oncogenes (such as the LMO2 and HOX11 families) and identified a first gene fusion in a solid tumor (FUS-CHOP). He developed the first gene fusion knock-in and also methods for creating chromosomal translocations de novo.
He has considerable experience in biotechnology companies. He was chairman of the SAB of Cambridge Antibody Technology and of Quadrant Healthcare until their respective IPOs, and he was a member the Domantis SAB until the company’s acquisition by GSK. He is currently Chairman of the SAB of Kymab and is a member of the SAB of Oryzon Genomics and of DiThera.
About Biosceptre: Biosceptre International Limited is dedicated to the discovery and development of a new and novel cancer target and related therapies for the treatment of a broad range of cancer indications. The company’s core platform and Intellectual Property position is based on the discovery of a novel cancer biomarker known as ‘non-functional’ P2X7 (nf-P2X7) which has been identified in over 20 cancer indications tested to date. The company’s core focus is to validate nf-P2X7 as a therapeutic target and develop antibody products for use in proof of concept clinical studies in humans. Biosceptre is an unlisted public company founded in 2001 (Sydney).