Month: November 2021

Macomics Ltd, an immuno-oncology company with world-leading expertise in macrophage biology, is proud to announce that its co-founder Prof. Jeffery Pollard PhD has been named on the annual Highly Cited Researchers 2021 list from Clarivate.

The methodology that determines the “who’s who” of influential researchers draws on the data and analysis performed by bibliometric experts and data scientists at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate. It also uses the tallies to identify the countries and research institutions where these citation elite are based.

The Annual Highly Cited Researchers list includes One in 1,000 Citation Elite that recognizes pioneers in their fields over the last decade, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science citation index.

Macomics is developing precision medicines to modulate macrophages for the treatment of cancer, based on the pioneering work of its founders, Prof. Jeffrey Pollard and Dr Luca Cassetta, from the University of Edinburgh. Internationally recognised leader in macrophage biology, Prof. Pollard now provides expert consultancy to the company and is Chair of its Scientific Advisory Board, whilst Dr Cassetta has joined full time as Vice President Immunology.

Prof. Pollards’ publications build a foundation of knowledge on the role of macrophages in disease. One review¹ on macrophage diversity has been cited over 4,000 times, whilst others have citations exceeding 2,000^2,3,4.

David Pendlebury, Senior Citation Analyst at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate said: “It is increasingly important for nations and institutions to recognize and support the exceptional researchers who are driving the expansion of the world’s knowledge. This list identifies and celebrates exceptional individual researchers who are having a significant impact on the research community as evidenced by the rate at which their work is being cited by their peers. The research they have contributed is fueling the innovation, sustainability, health and security that is key for our society’s future.”

Commenting on the achievement, Dr Steve Myatt, CEO of Macomics said: “I congratulate Jeff on being included in the 2021 Highly Cited Researchers list. It is a reflection of the ground-breaking nature of his research in the macrophage field, on which Macomics is built. Our vision is to deliver benefits to patients from this research and to become a leading immuno-oncology company pioneering macrophage-based therapies for the treatment of cancer.”

Macomics is progressing a diversified portfolio of therapies targeting disease-specific tumour-associated macrophages (‘TAMs’) towards the clinic. Its target discovery platform enables the identification and validation of novel macrophage therapeutic targets and is based on its deep understanding of macrophage biology.

The full 2021 Highly Cited Researchers list and executive summary can be found online here.

1. Cell Macrophage Diversity Enhances Tumor Progression and Metastasis, Volume 141, Issue 1, 2 Pages 39-51, (2010) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867410002874
2. Nature CCL2 recruits inflammatory monocytes to facilitate breast-tumour metastasis, volume 475, pages 222–225 (2011) https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10138
3. Nature Macrophage biology in development, homeostasis and disease, volume 496, pages 445–455 (2013)https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12034
4. Immunity Tumor-Associated Macrophages: From Mechanisms to Therapy, Volume 41, Issue 1,  Pages 49-6117 (2014) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1074761314002301

Macomics Ltd, an immuno-oncology company with world-leading expertise in macrophage biology, is pleased to announce that its co-founder and Vice President Immunology, Dr Luca Cassetta has been honoured by the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (JITC) with the ‘Best Immunotherapy Biomarkers Paper Award’ for his 2020 publication Differential expansion of circulating human MDSC subsets in patients with cancer, infection, and inflammation.

As the first author, Dr Cassetta was presented with the award at an Awards Ceremony on the evening of 13 November, at the end of the SITC 36^th Annual Meeting November 10-13, in Washington DC. SITC is the world’s leading member-driven organisation specifically dedicated to improving cancer patient outcomes by advancing the science and application of cancer immunotherapy.

The publication provides improved technical protocols and workflows for the multi-center analysis of circulating human Myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) subsets. The presence of MDSC has been reported in the peripheral blood of patients with several malignant and non-malignant diseases, but direct comparison of MDSC across different diseases and centers is hindered by a lack of standardized methodology.

Accepting the award, Dr Luca Cassetta, co-founder, and Vice President Immunology, Macomics said

 “On behalf of the teams at our international network of 13 laboratories, I thank the judges for choosing our paper. This was the first study where a standardised SOP was used to compare frequency and activation status of MDSC in multiple patients cohorts. Results showed a significant expansion of PMN MDSC in cancer patients and shed light on important biomarkers such as PDL1 and LOX1. This paper represents a very useful resource for patient stratification and biomarker discovery in the clinical setting.”

JITC Editor-in-Chief Pedro J. Romero, MD, said

“Each year, one article is selected in the Immunotherapy Biomarkers category for presenting outstanding research on the discovery, development and/or clinical significance of biomarkers for immunomodulatory anti-cancer treatments. Following evaluation by a prestigious review committee of SITC leadership and the JITC Editorial Board, Dr Casetta’s paper was the highest ranked in category. I congratulated him and his network on being our 2021 winner, and I am delighted to present the award in recognition of their great achievement.”

The award-winning publication can be found here.