| Name | Title | Contact Details |
|---|
Arixa Pharmaceuticals™ is developing oral antibiotics for resistant Gram-negative infections, an urgent need. Our lead program is an oral prodrug of Avibactam®, a broad spectrum beta-lactamase inhibitor recently approved by FDA. We have addressed and solved the medicinal chemistry issues which complicate the prodrugging of this class of compounds, and expect to receive broad composition of matter patent protection.
Kezar co-founder Christopher Kirk, Ph.D. began his work on the unique function of the immunoproteasome at Proteolix in 2005, while working on the compound that would become the successful multiple myeloma drug KYPROLIS™ (carfilzomib). As VP of Research at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, which acquired Proteolix in 2009, Christopher led the efforts to develop the first selective inhibitors of the immunoproteasome and designed multiple studies demonstrating their profound immunomodulatory effects. In parallel with this work, Christopher and Kezar co-founder Jack Taunton, Ph.D. collaborated on several research projects involving protein secretion. This collaboration inspired a belief in the strong synergies between protein degradation and protein secretion, two fertile areas for drug discovery with platform potential. In 2014, Christopher and Kezar co-founder John Fowler began developing the business plan for Kezar, acting on a longstanding desire to work together and build a world-class company. In 2015, John and Christopher raised $23M and negotiated a worldwide, exclusive license agreement with Amgen for the Onyx immunoproteasome inhibitor patent estate. Now underway, John and Christopher are excited to leverage their complementary skill sets to build Kezar into a leader in small molecule drug development.
54gene was founded in 2019 by Dr. Abasi Ene-Obong to address the significant gap in the global genomics market; Nearly 90% of genetic material used in pharmaceutical research is Caucasian. Only 2% is African, despite the fact that Africans and people of African ancestry are more genetically diverse than all other world populations combined. As a result, pharmaceutical research and development is lacking the diverse data that may hold the key to medical discoveries and new healthcare solutions.
ASD BioSystems Inc is a Gretna, VA-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.
BioVision is a Edmonton, AB-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.