Following a US$40 million Series B investment from The Wellcome Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Cambridge, UK, 29 Sept 2014: Kymab, a monoclonal antibody biopharmaceutical company founded on research from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, announced today the appointment of Dr Timothy Wells and Lisha Patel to its Board as Non-Executive Directors and Jenny Yip as a Board Observer, effective from 23 September 2014. Dr Richard Davis will stand down as Non-Executive Director.
Dr Timothy Wells, a protein engineer by training, is currently Chief Scientific Officer of the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) in Geneva and was previously Senior Executive Vice President Research at Serono. Lisha Patel is Head of Direct Private Investments at the Wellcome Trust and Jenny Yip is Senior Program Investment Officer on the Program Related Investments (PRI) team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
Dr Christian Grøndahl, Chief Executive Officer of Kymab, commented: “Following the successful US$40 million fundraising in May, we are delighted to strengthen our team and welcome Tim, Lisha and Jenny to the Kymab Board. Tim’s long and successful track record in developing valuable medicines within Serono and Medicines for Malaria Venture will strengthen our capabilities as we build Kymab into a global biotechnology company based on our world-class Kymouse technology. Additionally, Jenny and Lisha’s appointments reflect the high strategic importance Kymab has for both the Wellcome Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and for the long-term shared vision for building a sustainable successful company. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Dr Richard Davis, acting on behalf of the Wellcome Trust, for his important contribution in building Kymab to the successful Company it is today.”
Kymab also announced two executive promotions. Dr Glenn Friedrich has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer. Dr Friedrich is a founder of the company and previously served as Vice President, then Senior Vice President, of Technology and Research Operations. Dr Friedrich will continue to bring a wealth of experience in R&D management to the Kymab team, now with a broad responsibility for the Company’s operations and finances. Jasper Clube, EPA CPA has been promoted to Senior Vice President Intellectual Property and Chief Patent Counsel. Mr Clube joined Kymab in 2010 and has held senior roles in overseeing all aspects of the Company’s intellectual property strategies and protection.
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Contact Kymab:
Dr Christian Grøndahl, Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +44 1223 833301, Email: christian.groendahl@kymab.com
Hume Brophy:
Mary Clark, Hollie Vile and Supriya Mathur
Tel: +44 (0)20 3440 5653, Email: kymab@humebrophy.com
Biographies
Dr Timothy Wells is Chief Scientific Officer of Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), Geneva. Prior to joining MMV, Tim was Senior Executive Vice President Research at Serono and brought several innovative molecules into clinical studies. From 1997 to 2007, he worked at the Glaxo Institute for Molecular Biology in Geneva, where he ran Protein Biochemistry, and led the research on Chemotactic cytokines. An enzymologist by training, his research interests include protein structure-function relationships, and the role of cytokines in controlling host responses. He has over 180 scientific publications and several patent applications. Tim has a PhD in Chemistry from Imperial College, London for Protein Engineering studies on enzyme catalysis, with Sir Alan Fersht. He was awarded a ScD in Biology from the University of Cambridge for his later work on Cytokine Biology, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the UK Academy of Medical Sciences.
Lisha Patel is Head of Direct Private Investments at the Wellcome Trust and looks after its Direct Private portfolio valued at over $1B. Direct Private Investments back a range of companies from technology, ecommerce and healthcare businesses to energy and financial services firms. Lisha joined The Wellcome Trust in 2006 and has worked across multiple asset classes. Prior to joining The Wellcome Trust she worked at Lazard, an advisory investment bank, in their London corporate finance practice. She currently serves on the Investment Committees of Pembroke College, Oxford and the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. Lisha is a CFA Charterholder and read Economics & Management at the University of Oxford.
Jenny Yip is a Senior Program Investment Officer on the Program Related Investments (PRI) team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The PRI team manages the foundation’s $1.5B PRI pool which focuses on strategic investments in global health, global development and US education. Within BMGF, Jenny oversees investments across multiple Foundation priorities ranging from biotech to education technology companies. She also represents the foundation on numerous boards. Prior to joining BMGF, Jenny was a Vice President in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs and worked in New York, Hong Kong and San Francisco from 2002 to 2012 and as the Business Unit Manager for the West Coast Offices. Jenny read History and Science at Harvard University from where she graduated magna cum laude.
Dr Glenn A Friedrich founded Kymab Ltd along with Prof. Allan Bradley in 2010. He has been in the biotechnology sector for nearly twenty years, initially as the first scientist hired at Lexicon Genetics, now Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, and followed by other early ventures spun-out of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr Friedrich has led efforts to create new companies from conception, business plans, equity financing and intellectual property strategies through to full operations. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Alberta and a PhD degree from Baylor College of Medicine.
Jasper Clube is a European Patent Attorney and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys. He has nearly twenty-five years of experience in intellectual property in the biotechnology and healthcare sectors. He was previously Vice President of Intellectual Property at Domantis Limited (2001-2007), a company focused on the therapeutic application of human antibody single variable domains, building the patent strategy for the company from start-up to acquisition by GlaxoSmithKline. This included successful litigation in the antibody space. Following the acquisition of Domantis, his work continued as Senior Patent Counsel responsible for patenting and licensing GSK antibody assets within its Biopharmaceuticals division. Previous experience also includes Patent Counsel at AstraZeneca and within private practice.
Notes to Editors
About Kymab
Kymab is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of fully human monoclonal antibody drugs using its proprietary Kymouse™ transgenic antibody platform.
Kymouse™ has been designed to maximise the diversity of human antibodies produced in response to immunisation with antigens. Selecting from a broad diversity of fully human antibodies assures the highest probability of finding that rare drug candidate with best-in-class characteristics. Kymab is using the platform for its internal drug discovery programmes and in partnership with pharmaceutical companies. The first Kymouse™ antibody discovery agreement was concluded with Novo Nordisk in 2013.
Founded in 2009, Kymab raised US$30 million of equity financing in 2010 from the investment division of the Wellcome Trust, and successfully raised US$40 million in a Series B financing in May 2014 from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and an existing investor, the Wellcome Trust, each investing US$20 million. Kymab has an experienced management team with a successful track record in drug discovery and development and has 10 current therapeutic antibody discovery programmes in immuno-oncology and inflammation.
About Kymab Access
Kymab is committed, with the support of its primary investor, The Wellcome Trust, to collaborate with leading academic experts. Kymab Access is a programme that enables academic researchers to pursue the discovery and development of novel human monoclonal antibody therapeutics or vaccines by partnering researchers with Kymab and its world leading Kymouse™ antibody technology. Kymab Access is administered by Kymab Access Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kymab established solely for this purpose with a confidentiality firewall between its operations and those of Kymab. For further information, please visit www.kymab.com and www.kymabaccess.org
About the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. For high-resolution photos and b-roll footage, please follow this link.
About The Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust’s breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/
Kymab, Kymouse, Kymab Access are trademarks of Kymab Limited.
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