amcure Announces Formation Of Inaugural Scientific Advisory Board

EGGENSTEIN-LEOPOLDSHAFEN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--amcure, a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class cancer therapeutics, today announced the appointment of a distinguished group of oncology specialists and academic leaders to the company’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The multinational group of experts will serve as a strategic resource to amcure as it continues to advance its lead compound, AMC303, currently in clinical trials to treat patients with advanced and metastatic epithelial tumors. The newly formed SAB will also provide counsel to the company as it continues to target tumor growth and metastasis.

“We are excited to work with this renowned group and draw upon their knowledge and insights in tumor growth and metastasis, as we continue to move amcure’s clinical development plans forward.”

“Our inaugural Scientific Advisory Board members bring a wealth of experience in cancer cell signaling and we are honored to have them provide us with the benefit of their combined expertise,” said Klaus Dembowsky, CEO of amcure. “We are excited to work with this renowned group and draw upon their knowledge and insights in tumor growth and metastasis, as we continue to move amcure’s clinical development plans forward.”

Inaugural members of amcure’s SAB include:

Mariano Barbacid, PhD, Group Leader, Experimental Oncology Group, Spanish National Cancer Research Center, Madrid (Spain)
Silvia Giordano, MD, PhD, Professor of Histology and Embryology, University of Torino (Italy), Group Leader, Candiolo Cancer Institute, Candiolo (Italy)
Donald M. McDonald, MD, PhD, Professor in the Department of Anatomy, Investigator in Cardiovascular Research Institute and member of UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), California (USA)
Véronique Orian-Rousseau, PhD, Professor of Genetics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe (Germany)

Dr. Barbacid is currently focusing his research on the use of genetically engineered mouse models to identify and validate therapeutic targets for K-Ras driven tumors, mainly lung and pancreatic adenocarcinomas. While in the US, Dr. Barbacid spent 9 years at Bristol Myers-Squibb and became Vice President of Oncology Drug Discovery. He was inducted into the US National Academy of Sciences as a Foreign Member and is the recipient of several awards including the 2017 Burkitt Medal for his contributions to the area of cancer research.

Dr. Giordano recently founded an innovative program focused on identifying new therapeutic strategies for gastric cancer. Based on the generation of a platform of patient-derived xenografts (PDX), the project is an experimental model that retains the principal histologic and genetic characteristics of the donor tumor and is useful for predicting clinical outcomes. Dr. Giordano is currently the president of the Italian Society of Cancerology, whose scientific committee she had served in addition to that of the Italian Association for Cancer Research. In 2009, she received the “Francesco de Luca” International Prize of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.

Dr. McDonald is currently focusing his research on examining changes in vasculature and angiogenesis and their contribution to disease evolution and progression. In addition, he is studying the cellular mechanisms of inflammation and cancer in mouse models to identify new treatment strategies. He has authored over 200 publications and remains a leading contributor in the field of oncology.

Dr. Orian-Rousseau studies the role of cell adhesion molecules in tumor progression and metastasis. She was the first to identify the role of CD44v6 as co-receptor of important receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) responsible for tumor growth and metastasis formation. This discovery, along with data obtained by several other groups, shed light on the interaction between cell adhesion molecules and RTKs in signaling. Dr. Orian-Rousseau and her team later identified the CD44v6 peptides which inhibit the activation of several RTKs. She is also a co-founder of amcure.

About amcure
amcure GmbH is a spin-off from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology established in 2012. The company develops peptide-based compounds for the treatment of highly metastatic forms of cancer. amcure’s most advanced development candidate, AMC303, has entered clinical development and has demonstrated in in vivo animal proof-of-concept studies a high efficacy against different types of epithelial cancers. amcure is sponsored by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.