Macomics Team Scores Gold and Raises Over £600 in its Hyper-Triathlon Challenge in aid of Founder Prof. Jeffrey Pollard’s Memorial Fund

Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK, 12 August 2024 – With Olympics drawn to a close, the team at Macomics Ltd, a leader in macrophage drug discovery, is celebrating its own achievement in raising over £600 in its Hyper-Triathlon Challenge. Started in 2023 in honour of its late co-founder Prof. Jeffrey Pollard, the Challenge set out to raise funds for the charity established as a memorial in his name, now renamed the Jeffrey and Ooi Thye Pollard fund.

The late Professor Jeffrey W Pollard

Macomics has two laboratories, one located in Roslin Innovation Centre, near Edinburgh and the other on Cambridge Science Park. With the sites are separated by 460km in a straight line, the Macomics Hyper-Triathlon Challenge was to complete 46km of swimming, 460km of running/walking, and 4600km of cycling. The team scored themselves Gold in the running, achieving 3,318km of the 460km target and in the swimming, with all 46km of the target completed. A Bronze was awarded in the cycling as just 2,762km of the 4,600km distance was completed.

Some of the Macomics team members who participated in the ‘Macomics’ Hyper-Triathlon Challenge

Overall, the team recorded 6,126km against the 5,106km and raised over £600 towards the memorial fund. So it’s a win for the fund and its recipients, and congratulations to the Macomics team.

The Jeffrey and Ooi Thye Pollard fund, managed by the University of Edinburgh where Prof. Pollard was Director of the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, is being used to organise scientific meetings focused on macrophage biology, and to fund travel and enrichment grants aimed at early career researchers.

Dr Luca Cassetta, VP immunology of Macomics based in its Edinburgh Labs said, “Jeff would be immensely proud of our achievements as we all were of him. He was a world leader in macrophage biology and a personal mentor, and to commemorate his impact on our company, the Macomics team decided to help raise money for the Jeff Pollard’s memorial fund established last year when he passed away. As well as linking Macomics’ staff on two sites, the challenge reflects the company’s goal to connect macrophage biology from research to transformative treatments.”

Macomics was founded on the breakthrough research of Prof. Pollard and Dr. Luca Cassetta, from the University of Edinburgh, to develop new therapeutics against novel targets on macrophages, to address unmet medical needs in solid tumour immunosuppression and pathological inflammation in chronic inflammatory disorders.

“We are one team working for the benefits of patients. This Challenge has shown that the distance between our laboratories is not a barrier to collaboration and teamwork” added Chantelle Payton, Associate Scientist, based in Macomics ‘Cambridge site. To donate, go to The Jeffrey W Pollard Memorial Fund | The University of Edinburgh, mentioning Macomics in your donation.

Macomics and the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR, Switzerland) Announce Macrophage Scientific Collaboration in Prostate Cancer Drug Development

  • Laboratory of Prof. Andrea Alimonti at IOR (Institute of Oncology Research, Bellinzona, Switzerland) and Macomics to bring together expertise on myeloid-derived suppressor cells in prostate cancer mouse model systems
  • The collaboration will combine advanced in vivo models with new therapeutic approaches to support Macomics’ continued exploration of novel macrophage biology for precision oncology medicines

Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK, and Bellinzona, Switzerland – 19 June 2024 – Macomics Ltd, a leader in macrophage drug discovery, announces that it has entered a scientific collaboration with Prof. Andrea Alimonti at IOR (Institute of Oncology Research), one of Switzerland’s leading research institutes.

IOR is focused on the study of cancer formation and development at the molecular level. Prof. Alimonti’s laboratory is pioneering studies on prostate cancer. The collaboration will see Macomics work with Dr Bianca Calì in Prof. Alimonti’s lab to synergize this deep knowledge, particularly in the use of novel in vivo mouse models, with Macomics’ macrophage expertise. The goal is to explore new modes of action for macrophage-targeted therapies.

Macomics is exploiting the potential of macrophage-targeted approaches to develop first-in-class medicines to address disease of high unmet medical need. The company’s ENIGMAC™ macrophage drug discovery platform allows access to previously hidden or inaccessible disease specific macrophage targets: It integrates large volume human data sets, next generation human macrophage cell models, and proprietary macrophage gene editing capability to discover novel targets, unlock new disease biology, and de-risk clinical translation.

Under the collaboration, the parties will explore together the potential for the use of novel in vivo prostate cancer models developed by the Alimonti lab in the characterisation of macrophage targeted therapies, including testing of novel drug candidates with new modes of action discovered by Macomics in its complex human assay systems.

Dr Luca Cassetta, VP Immunology and Founder of Macomics said, “We are delighted to collaborate with Prof. Alimonti as he is a prostate cancer expert. This collaboration will allow us to optimise the design of our therapies by accessing novel prostate cancer mouse models in which myeloid cells play a fundamental role for tumor progression.”

Prof. Andrea Alimonti, IOR director, said, “This collaboration represents an exciting opportunity to combine our pioneering research in prostate cancer with Macomics’ expertise in macrophage-targeted therapies. By leveraging our deep understanding of molecular mechanisms in cancer development and utilizing our preclinical models, we aim to uncover innovative approaches for

combating advanced prostate cancer, a disease for which a definitive cure remains an unmet clinical challenge”.

Dr Stephen Myatt, CEO of Macomics said, “This collaboration enhances further our ability to explore and exploit macrophage biology for the development of novel therapeutic approaches. Macrophages are key to multiple diseases of high unmet medical need, including as key mediators of solid tumour immunosuppression and pathological inflammation in chronic inflammatory disorders.”

Macomics Announces Appointment of Simon Dew as New Chief Business Officer

  • Macomics continues to expand its leadership team to accelerate the development of first-in-class macrophage-targeted therapies
  • Simon Dew brings over 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical business development to advance partnerships for Macomics’ macrophage ENIGMAC™ platform

Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK, 10 June 2024 – Macomics Ltd, a leader in macrophage drug discovery has announced the appointment of Simon Dew in the newly created position of Chief Business Officer (CBO). He will be instrumental in advancing Macomics’ mission to develop first-in-class medicines targeting macrophage-driven diseases of high unmet medical need, in oncology and chronic inflammatory diseases.

With an extensive background in pharmaceutical business development, corporate strategy, Simon will play a pivotal role in maximizing the potential of Macomics’ proprietary macrophage ENIGMAC™ drug discovery platform through strategic partnerships and collaborations.

Simon brings over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, having held senior leadership roles in Pharma and Biotech. He is currently on the Business Development Board of Sunstone Capital, a Danish Venture Capital Company and, most recently served as CBO at ReNeuron Group. His career also includes significant roles at Gyroscope Therapeutics, Astellas Pharmaceuticals, IQVIA, Parexel, Phytopharm plc, and GSK/SB, where he demonstrated exceptional expertise in business development, corporate strategy, and operational leadership. He has a BSc in Pharmacy and has completed the INSEAD Managing Partnerships and Strategic Alliances and M&A Executive Program.

Dr Stephen Myatt, CEO of Macomics said, “I am delighted to welcome Simon to the company. Business development is a critical role to our leadership team and Simon’s extensive experience and successful track record in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry will be invaluable as we continue to advance our macrophage-targeted therapies and expand our strategic partnerships. Macrophages are key to multiple diseases of high unmet medical need, including as key mediators of solid tumour immunosuppression and pathological inflammation in chronic inflammatory disorders.”

Simon Dew, new CBO of Macomics said, “The potential of the ENIGMAC platform to discover and develop novel macrophage-targeted therapies is unique, and I look forward to working with the talented team at Macomics to deliver on strategic partnerships that will accelerate the development of transformative medicines for patients with high unmet medical needs.”

Simon Dew, Chief Business Officer, Macomics

 

About Macomics – www.macomics.com

Macomics Ltd is a macrophage drug discovery company with a world-leading macrophage drug discovery platform, developing first-in-class medicines to deliver transformational impact for patients with macrophage-driven diseases: Macrophages are key to multiple diseases of high unmet medical need, including as key mediators of solid tumour immunosuppression and pathological inflammation in chronic inflammatory disorders.

The company is progressing a diversified portfolio of therapies targeting disease specific macrophages towards the clinic. Its ENIGMAC macrophage drug discovery platform enables identification and validation of novel macrophage therapeutic targets and provides a translationally relevant path to clinic through the development of more physiologically relevant human macrophage models combined with proprietary gene editing technology.

The company was co-founded in 2020 by Prof. Jeffrey Pollard and Dr. Luca Cassetta, University of Edinburgh, internationally recognised leaders in macrophage biology.  It has R&D and office facilities in Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK. The company’s financing was led by Epidarex Capital and the company is backed by Scottish Enterprise, LifeLink Ventures and Caribou Property Limited.

Follow us on LinkedIn and X

For further information please contact:

Macomics

At the Company – Steve Myatt, CEO, Macomics E: myatt@macomics.com

Media enquiries (for Macomics) – Sue Charles, Charles Consultants T: +44 (0)7968 726585 E: sue@charles-consultants.com

Macomics and IFOM (the AIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology) Announce Macrophage Scientific Collaboration

  • Laboratory of Prof. Massimiliano Pagani at IFOM (the AIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology) and Macomics to bring together expertise on T-cell biology, ex-vivo tumoroids and macrophages
  • The collaboration will combine advanced human ex vivo models with new therapeutic approaches to support Macomics’ continued exploration of novel macrophage biology

Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK, and Milan, Italy, 13 May 2023 – Macomics Ltd, a leader in macrophage drug discovery, announces that it has entered a scientific collaboration with Prof. Massimiliano Pagani from the IFOM (the AIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology), one of Italy’s leading research institutes in Cancer Research.

IFOM is focused on the study of cancer formation and development at the molecular level. Prof. Pagani’s laboratory is pioneering studies on Regulatory T cells in the tumour microenvironment. The collaboration will see Macomics work with Dr Francesca Simoncello in Prof. Pagani’s lab to synergize this deep knowledge, particularly in the use of ex vivo tumoroids and T cell biology, with Macomics’ macrophage expertise. The goal is to explore new modes of action for macrophage targeted therapies.

Macomics is exploiting the potential of macrophage-targeted approaches to develop first-in-class medicines to address disease of high unmet medical need. The company’s ENIGMAC macrophage drug discovery platform allows access to previously hidden disease specific macrophage targets: It integrates large volume human data sets, next generation human macrophage cell models, and proprietary macrophage genome editing capability to discover novel targets, unlock new disease biology, and de-risk clinical translation.

Under the collaboration the parties will explore together the potential for the use of ex vivo tumoroid models developed by the Pagani lab in the characterisation of macrophage targeted therapies, including testing of novel drug candidates with new modes of action discovered by Macomics in complex human assay systems.

Dr Luca Cassetta, VP Immunology and Founder of Macomics, said, “We are delighted to collaborate with one of the leading centres of excellence in the T-cell biology field. This collaboration will allow us to optimise the design of our therapies by harnessing the power of patient-derived organoids which, unlike cell lines, recapitulate the overall architecture and functional features of the cancer tissue from which they originate. They also better replicate the complexity of the human tumour microenvironment than commonly used pre-clinical models. This understanding will accelerate the advancement of our programs towards clinical development.”

Prof. Massimiliano Pagani, Principal Investigator at IFOM and Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Milan, said, “A key goal for IFOM is the rapid transfer of scientific results from bench to bedside. This collaboration fits that goal, bringing together international experts across disciplines to accelerate the discovery of new therapies that [have the potential to] improve the long-term outcome for cancer patients.”

Dr Stephen Myatt, CEO of Macomics, said, “This is an important collaboration that brings together cutting-edge technology, complex assays, and novel therapeutic strategies to address the challenge and huge potential of macrophage drug discovery. Macrophages are key to multiple diseases of high unmet medical need, including as key mediators of solid tumour immunosuppression and pathological inflammation in chronic inflammatory disorders, and we are advancing a number of programs in our pipeline towards clinical studies, to bring new therapies to cancer patients.”

 

About Macomics – http://www.macomics.com/

Macomics Ltd is a macrophage drug discovery company with a world-leading macrophage drug discovery platform, developing first-in-class medicines to deliver transformational impact for patients with macrophage-driven diseases: Macrophages are key to multiple diseases of high unmet medical need, including as key mediators of solid tumour immunosuppression and pathological inflammation in chronic inflammatory disorders.

The company is progressing a diversified portfolio of therapies targeting disease specific macrophages towards the clinic. Its ENIGMAC macrophage drug discovery platform enables identification and validation of novel macrophage therapeutic targets and provides a translationally relevant path to clinic through the development of more physiologically relevant human macrophage models combined with proprietary gene editing technology.

The company was co-founded in 2020 by Prof. Jeffrey Pollard and Dr Luca Cassetta, University of Edinburgh, internationally recognised leaders in macrophage biology. It has R&D and office facilities in Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK. The company’s financing was led by Epidarex Capital and the company is backed by Scottish Enterprise, LifeLink Ventures and Caribou Property Limited.

Follow us on LinkedIn and twitter

About IFOM – https://www.ifom.eu/en/

Founded in 1998 and supported by AIRC, the Italian Association for Cancer Research, IFOM is an international cancer research institute focused on the study of cancer formation and development at molecular level, with a view to a rapid transfer of results from bench to bedside.

For further information please contact:

Macomics

At the Company – Steve Myatt, CEO, Macomics E: mailto:myatt@macomics.com

Media enquiries (for Macomics) – Sue Charles, Charles Consultants T: +44 (0)7968 726585 E: sue@charles-consultants.com

Macomics Unveils its Lead First-in-Class Anti-Pan-LILR Monoclonal Antibody Programme with Positive Pre-clinical Data Presented at AACR 2024

  • Macomics’ lead programme, MACO355, in IND enabling studies is a ligand-blocking independent pan-LILR monoclonal antibody for the treatment of cancer
  • Data presented at AACR 2024 shows MACO355 is highly potent in macrophage reprogramming under tumour-like immune-suppressed conditions
  • Data demonstrated Macomics’ ENIGMAC™ platform at-scale CRISPR screening for macrophage target discovery

Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK, 11 April 2024 – Macomics Ltd, a leader in macrophage drug discovery, has unveiled details of its lead programme, a first-in-class ligand independent-pan-LILRB monoclonal antibody for the treatment of cancer, having presented key data on MACO355 at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting (AACR 2024) in San Diego1.

MACO355 is a novel, non-ligand blocking, pan-LILR targeting antibody capable of mediating macrophage reprogramming under immune suppressive conditions. It is the first LILR antibody, which does not block the interaction between LIL-receptors and MHC Class I molecules. This new mode of action results in increased antibody activity as measured by macrophage reprogramming (cytokine release) and T-cell activation. The antibody also induces tumour cell phagocytosis and NK cell tumour kill independent of the ligand status of the tumour cells, unlike ligand blocking antibodies. Tested head-to-head against reference antibodies, MACO355 was the only antibody able to activate highly immune-suppressed macrophages. Data presented also showed that it reverts M2 (TGFβ/IL-10/IL-4) macrophage-mediated suppression of T cell activity in vitro and slows tumour growth in vivo.

MACO355 binds to selected members of the LILR family and targets a unique, membrane-proximal epitope. It requires the engagement of Fc receptor(s) for full activity and rewires the macrophage kinase network in a novel mode of action. Macomics hypothesizes that by having activity independent of the ligand status of the tumour, and the ability to activate highly immunosuppressed macrophages will translate into increased efficacy in the clinic and provide the opportunity for biomarker-led patient stratification.

MACO355 has a favourable developability and safety profile and is currently in CMC and IND enabling studies with the novel soluble biomarker hypothesis guiding patient selection.

Dr Krzysztof Wicher SVP Drug Discovery and Development of Macomics, who presented the poster, said, “To date, therapeutic approaches to targeting LILRB1 and LILRB2 have blocked receptor-ligand interaction to relieve ligand-mediated immune suppression. In this study, surprisingly, the most active antibodies for macrophage reprogramming were non-ligand blocking and our new lead antibody, MACO355, demonstrated wide potentially clinically relevant effects across a range of measures. It was also unique in being able to re-program immune-suppressed macrophages. We believe these data are a compelling basis for the clinical evaluation of MACO355 as a cancer therapeutic.”

Stephen Myatt, CEO of Macomics said, “We are now focused on rapidly advancing this novel first-in-class antibody as a potential therapy to improve the long-term outcome for cancer patients. In parallel, we are leveraging our unique discovery platform across disease areas including fibrosis and inflammation where we believe targeting of disease-specific macrophage populations will provide exciting new therapeutic approaches to improve patient outcomes.”

Macomics presented data on its macrophage drug discovery platform, ENIGMAC™ at AACR2 The results of a pooled CRISPRi screen, aiming to identify regulators of IFNγ-mediated PD-L1 upregulation on macrophages, provided technical proof of concept for the ENIGMAC platform to perform screens at scale and to identify novel hits in macrophages, a cell type that is inherently difficult to gene edit. The platform which includes proprietary human induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (hiPSC) lines that stably express CRISPRi and CRISPRa expression constructs represents a unique tool for gene-to-function studies using human macrophages. ENIGMAC, used in the discovery of MACO355 is disease-agnostic and can be integrated with a variety of disease-specific conditions and phenotypic readouts.

  1. AACR 2024 – Poster 10625 – Discovery of MACO355: a first in mechanism ligand-blocking independent LILRB1/2/3 antibody for cancer therapy – Krzysztof B. Wicher, Moritz Haneklaus, Alicia Poindron, Martha Lopez-Yrigoyen, Carmen Rodriguez Seoane, Maikel Fransen, Chantell Payton, Stephane Guillame, Luca Cassetta, Stephen Myatt, and Carola Ries
  2. AACR 2024 – Poster 10619 – ENIGMAC™ platform enables at-scale CRISPR screening for macrophage target discovery – Thomas W. M. Crozier, Martha Lopez-Yrigoyen, Helena Engman, Moritz Haneklaus, Samuel Witham, Krzysztof B. Wicher, Steven Myatt, Luca Cassetta and Carola Ries.

About Macomics – www.macomics.com

Macomics Ltd is a macrophage drug discovery company with a world-leading macrophage drug discovery platform, developing first-in-class medicines to deliver transformational impact for patients with macrophage-driven diseases: Macrophages are key to multiple diseases of high unmet medical need, including as key mediators of solid tumour immunosuppression and pathological inflammation in chronic inflammatory disorders.

The company is progressing a diversified portfolio of therapies targeting disease specific macrophages towards the clinic. Its ENIGMAC macrophage drug discovery platform enables identification and validation of novel macrophage therapeutic targets and provides a translationally relevant path to clinic through the development of more physiologically relevant human macrophage models combined with proprietary gene editing technology.

The company was co-founded in 2020 by Prof. Jeffrey Pollard and Dr. Luca Cassetta, University of Edinburgh, internationally recognised leaders in macrophage biology.  It has R&D and office facilities in Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK. The company’s financing was led by Epidarex Capital and the company is backed by Scottish Enterprise, LifeLink Ventures and Caribou Property Limited.

Follow us on LinkedIn and https://twitter.com/MacomicsL

For further information please contact:

Macomics

At the Company – Steve Myatt, CEO, Macomics E: myatt@macomics.com

Media enquiries – Sue Charles, Charles Consultants T: +44 (0)7968 726585 E: sue@charles-consultants.com

 

Macomics included in PwC Future 50 list

Macomics has been included in PwC Future 50 list. You can read the report here.

Macomics Announces the Appointment of Kevin Lee as Independent Non-Executive Director

Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK, 19 October 2023 – Macomics Ltd, a leader in macrophage drug discovery, announces that it has appointed Kevin Lee Ph.D., MBA at Independent Non-Executive Director.

Based in the UK and CEO of Cambridge, UK/Cambridge, US based, Bicycle Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BCYC), Kevin brings two decades of biotech and pharma experience to Macomics. In addition to his seat on Bicycle’s board of directors, he is also a non-executive director of Alchemab Therapeutics Ltd.

Kevin has led Bicycle Therapeutics since 2015, steering it through its strategic growth including various collaborations and financings including through its listing on NASDAQ in 2019. He joined Bicycle from from Pfizer, where he served as senior vice president and CSO of the Rare Disease Research Unit. In that role, he held responsibility for more than 20 novel programs across the full spectrum of research and development, established Pfizer’s rare disease strategy, conceptualized and implemented the company’s gene therapy strategy with the creation of the Genetic Medicine Institute and founded the Rare Disease Research Consortium. Prior to joining Pfizer, Kevin worked at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and, in addition to leading the formation of multiple strategic commercial and academic partnerships, he led epigenetics research and was responsible for the creation of the EpiNova Discovery Performance Unit. Before joining GSK, he lectured at Warwick University Medical School and founded Cambridge Biotechnology (acquired by Biovitrum) and Neurosolutions.

Kevin studied pharmaceutical sciences at Nottingham University, followed by a Ph.D. in pharmacology at Cambridge University. He undertook postdoctoral training as a Wellcome Trust International Prize Fellow before joining the Parke Davis Research Unit in Cambridge, U.K. An author on over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications, he has an MBA from Warwick Business School and has been awarded an honorary Chair in Molecular Pharmacology from the University of Warwick.

Macomics is exploiting the potential of macrophage-targeted approaches to develop first-in-class medicines to address disease of high unmet medical need. The company’s ENIGMAC macrophage drug discovery platform allows access to previously hidden disease specific macrophage targets: It integrates large volume human data sets, next generation human macrophage cell models, and proprietary macrophage genome editing capability to discover novel targets, unlock new disease  biology, and de-risk clinical translation. Macrophages are key to multiple diseases of high unmet medical need, including as key mediators of solid tumour immunosuppression and pathological inflammation in chronic inflammatory disorders.

Kevin Lee, Macomics Board Director said, “Macomics is shaping up as an exciting emerging UK biotech with a powerful macrophage platform and drug discovery approach that is already demonstrating its potential to identify commercially exciting targets and validate antibody drug candidates. The company is at an exciting stage of its development, and I look forward to working with the Board and the Macomics team to help it deliver on its potential.”

 

Stephen Myatt, CEO of Macomics said, “I am delighted to welcome Kevin to our Board. His experience in building Bicycle Therapeutics and previously in his pharma roles will be extremely valuable in helping us to exploit our platform and advance our portfolio towards clinical development. I look forward to work closely with Kevin to bring next generation macrophage targeting therapeutics to cancer patients.”

Macomics Expands in Edinburgh with Move to Roslin Innovation Centre and Announces Appointment of Professor Paul Crocker to SAB

Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK, 29 September 2023 – Macomics Ltd, a leader in macrophage drug discovery, continues its growth trajectory with expansion in Edinburgh into dedicated facilities within the Roslin Innovation Centre. The company has also announced the appointment of Professor Paul Crocker FRSE, Emeritus Professor of Glycoimmunology, University of Dundee to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).

Macomics’ operations are located in Edinburgh and Cambridge, two major hubs of life science research in the UK with R&D teams split 50:50 across both sites. To accommodate expansion and to be co-located in an entrepreneurial centre of scientific excellence, Macomics has recently moved to dedicated laboratories in the Roslin Innovation Centre. The new facilities are 50% larger than its founding base at Edinburgh University.

“The Roslin Innovation Centre Easter Bush Campus provides a dynamic and vibrant working environment with world-class facilities equipped with the latest technologies” Stephen Myatt, CEO of Macomics.

Macomics, the brainchild of world-recognised experts in macrophage biology, the late Prof Jefferey Pollard and Macomics VP immunology and co-founder, Dr Luca Cassetta, is exploiting the potential of macrophage-based approaches to develop novel precision medicines to target disease specific macrophage biology. Whilst it is the only human drug discovery company at the incubator, other companies exploiting macrophage biology for animal health provide for productive scientific exchange.

Macomics’ ENIGMAC macrophage drug discovery platform integrates large volume human data sets, custom cell models, and proprietary human macrophage genome editing capability to discover novel targets and unlock disease specific target biology. Macrophages (TAMs) are often the most abundant immune cell many types of cancer and modulating TAMs can enhance the body’s ability to fight cancer.

Maximising on local expertise and connections, Professor Paul Crocker FRSE, Emeritus Professor of Glycoimmunology, University of Dundee has joined Macomics’ SAB. Prof. Crocker is a recognised expert in understanding how immune cells utilise host glycans to regulate immune and inflammatory responses and translating this to human disease.

Professor Paul Crocker FRSE, Emeritus Professor of Glycoimmunology, University of Dundee joins Macomics Scientific Advisory Board

Dr Luca Cassetta, VP immunology and co-founder of Macomics said, “It is a pleasure to welcome Paul to our SAB, having been local academic colleagues over many years. Our SAB is very International but having Paul’s expertise on our doorstep in Scotland and his knowledge of glycoimmunology and immune and inflammatory responses adds important expertise as we advance our macrophage targeting drug discovery programmes.”

Macomics Launches Team Hyper Triathlon Challenge to Raise Funds for Prof. Jeffrey Pollard Memorial Fund

Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK, 25 September 2023 – Macomics Ltd, a leader in macrophage drug discovery, is delighted to announce that it has launched the Macomics Hyper-Triathlon Challenge, in honour of its co-founder Prof. Jeffrey Pollard, who passed away earlier this year, to raise funds for the newly established Jeff Pollard’s memorial fund.

The new charitable fund, managed by the University of Edinburgh where Prof. Pollard was Director of the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, will be used to organise scientific meetings focused on macrophage biology, and to fund travel and enrichment grants aimed at early career researchers.

Macomics was founded on the breakthrough research of Prof. Pollard and Dr. Luca Cassetta, from the University of Edinburgh, to develop cancer therapeutics against novel targets on macrophages.

Dr Luca Cassetta, VP of Immunology, and co-founder of Macomics said, “To celebrate Jeff’s achievements as a world leader in macrophage biology and a mentor, and to commemorate his impact on our company, Macomics team decided to help raise money for the newly established Jeff Pollard’s memorial fund.”

Macomics has two laboratories, one located in Roslin Innovation Centre, near Edinburgh and the other on Cambridge Science Park.

Part of the Cambridge team participating in the challenge (from right: Amber, Chantell, Alicia, and Moritz)

“Although our two sites are separated by 460km in a straight line, we are one team working for the benefit of cancer patients. To prove that this distance is not a barrier, the Macomics Hyper-Triathlon Challenge will consist of 46km of swimming, 460km of running/walking, and 4600km of cycling over the slightly more than 4 months period” explained Cassetta.

As well as linking Macomics’ staff on two sites, the challenge reflects the company’s goal to connect macrophage biology from cancer research to cancer treatments. with cancer: the challenge started on September 24th, which was World Cancer Research Day and finishes on February 4th, World Cancer Day.

To donate go to The Jeffrey W Pollard Memorial Fund | The University of Edinburgh, mentioning Macomics in your donation.

Macomics Voted as Winner of One Nucleus BioNewsRound Award 2023 for Translational Research

Press release

Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK, 7 July 2023 – Macomics Ltd, a leader in macrophage drug discovery, is delighted to announce that it was voted as the winner of the 2023 BioNewsRound Award for the news of its worldwide drug discovery collaboration agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to develop new immuno-oncology antibody drugs against a novel macrophage target of interest in cancer, announced in March.

The Award, organised by leading trade association One Nucleus, seeks to celebrate life sciences successes from the past year. Specifically, this translational award, organised as part of the On Helix conference in Cambridge, recognises companies that demonstrated success in advancing their programme along the innovation pipeline, be that a new therapeutic, diagnostic or enabling technology.

The Ono collaboration is Macomics’ first pharma collaboration under which Macomics will identify and characterise antibody candidates against the novel target of interest using its ENIGMAC macrophage drug discovery platform. Ono will have an exclusive option to license global rights to the candidates for further development and commercialization. Macomics received an up-front payment and R&D funding and will receive success-based milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties based on global net sales.

Dr Tony Jones, CEO of One Nucleus and organiser of the BioNewsRound Award said, “In selecting the finalists we look for the impact of the news on the organisation’s development, the significance to the Life Sciences sector as a whole and the potential benefit to patients. Macomics scored highly against all of these criteria. The news of its deal with Ono validates both Macomics technology and capabilities and underlines the strength of UK life sciences innovation. It is great to see a UK company translating world-leading macrophage research from the University of Edinburgh into commercial success and I am delighted that it was chosen by its peers as the 2023 winner.”

Macomics is exploiting the potential of macrophage-based approaches to develop novel precision medicines to target disease-specific macrophage biology. Macomics’ ENIGMAC macrophage drug discovery platform integrates large-volume human data sets, custom cell models, and proprietary human macrophage genome editing capability to discover novel targets and unlock disease-specific target biology. Macrophages (TAMs) are often the most abundant immune cell in many types of cancer and modulating TAMs can enhance the body’s ability to fight cancer.

Stephen Myatt, CEO of Macomics said, “I am delighted Macomics has been voted as winner of this year’s award. This global collaboration with Ono is a testament to our strong program portfolio, and the unique enablement offered by our ENIGMAC discovery platform, and our world class R&D team. Ono is a leader in immuno-oncology and we are delighted to have a partner in Ono who brings the complementary skills necessary to succeed in this therapeutic area.”

About Macomics – www.macomics.com

Macomics Ltd is an immuno-oncology company with world-leading expertise in macrophage biology, developing precision medicines to modulate macrophages for the treatment of cancer.  The company is progressing a diversified portfolio of therapies targeting disease-specific tumour-associated macrophages (‘TAMs’) towards the clinic. Its ENIGMACTM macrophage drug discovery platform enables the identification and validation of novel macrophage therapeutic targets and is based on its deep understanding of macrophage biology.

The company was co-founded in 2020 by Prof. Jeffrey Pollard and Dr. Luca Cassetta, University of Edinburgh, internationally recognised leaders in macrophage biology.  It has R&D and office facilities in Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK and is backed by Epidarex Capital, Scottish Enterprise, LifeLink Ventures and Caribou Property Limited.

Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter

For further information please contact:

Macomics

At the Company – Steve Myatt, CEO, Macomics E: info@macomics.com

Media enquiries (for Macomics) – Sue Charles, Charles Consultants T: +44 (0)7968 726585 E: sue@charles-consultants.com

Offices

Edinburgh

Macomics Ltd.
The University of Edinburgh
Campus Service Centre
Roslin Innovation Centre
Easter Bush Campus
Bush Farm Road
Roslin
EH25 9RG

info@macomics.com

Cambridge

Unit 5
Technopark
Newmarket Road
Cambridge
CB5 8PB

Recent news

Joe Lindsay

Research Lab Technician

 

Joe joins us from Axol Bioscience, where he gained several years of IPSC and differentiated cell culture experience with a focus on quality control and process optimisation. Through this, he gained expertise in flow cytometry, immunocytochemistry, molecular biology techniques and process workflow design. He also has worked extensively with microglia, macrophages and other immune cell types through a BSc (Hons) in Immunology from the University of Aberdeen, and a MSc (Hons) in Immunology and Inflammation from the University of Birmingham, completing a dissertation on HIF1α and immunometabolism with the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing.

As a research lab technician, Joe maintains IPSCs in culture for differentiation and prepares macrophages for use in experiments at the Edinburgh site. He also monitors production levels and plans IPSC thawing and differentiation to improve production efficiency and year round availability of macrophages

Kathryn Oliver

Associate Director, Programme Management  

 

Kathryn joins Macomics as a programme manager with 15 years of experience in drug discovery and development. She will be responsible for driving internal projects through the candidate selection process, towards development.

She joins from Eliem Therapeutics where she has been managing small molecule clinical and discovery programs, targeting neuronal excitability disorders.  Previously to Eliem, Kathryn managed multiple antibody projects (standard and novel formats) for clients via RxCelerate Ltd.

Kathryn gained her love for drug discovery and development during her Chemistry degree at the University of Sheffield, including an industrial placement year at UCB/Celltech where she worked as a medicinal chemist.

Simon Dew

Chief Business Officer

 

Simon has over 20 years’ experience in the life sciences industry in Business Development & Licensing, Corporate Development and Corporate Strategy, as well as commercial roles in Europe and in international markets.

He has held senior leadership roles in large Pharma organisations including Astellas and GSK. More recently his experience includes executive roles in Biotech including, ReNeuron, Mereo Biopharma, Evox Therapeutics and Gyroscope Therapeutics. Simon’s extensive experience has led numerous partnerships including in-licencing and pipeline building, through to out-licensing and complex platform-based deals.

Simon also acts as an independent strategic advisor to a venture capital investment group and their portfolio companies.

After obtaining a degree in Pharmacy, the early part of his career included roles in the NHS and CRO’s including Quintiles (IQVIA) and Parexel

Kevin Lee

Non-executive Director

 

Kevin joined Bicycle Therapeutics from Pfizer, where he served as senior vice president and chief scientific officer of the Rare Disease Research Unit. In that role, he held responsibility for more than 20 novel programs across the full spectrum of research and development, established Pfizer’s rare disease strategy, conceptualized and implemented the company’s gene therapy strategy with the creation of the Genetic Medicine Institute and founded the Rare Disease Research Consortium. Prior to joining Pfizer, Kevin worked at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and, in addition to leading the formation of multiple strategic commercial and academic partnerships, he led epigenetics research and was responsible for the creation of the EpiNova Discovery Performance Unit. Before joining GSK, he lectured at Warwick University Medical School and founded Cambridge Biotechnology (acquired by Biovitrum) and Neurosolutions.

Kevin studied pharmaceutical sciences at Nottingham University, followed by a Ph.D. in pharmacology at Cambridge University. He undertook postdoctoral training as a Wellcome Trust International Prize Fellow before joining the Parke Davis Research Unit in Cambridge, U.K. Kevin is an author on over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications, has an MBA from Warwick Business School and has been awarded an honorary Chair in Molecular Pharmacology from the University of Warwick. In addition to his seat on Bicycle’s board of directors, Kevin is also a non-executive director of Alchemab Therapeutics Ltd

 

Professor Paul Crocker FRSE

Advisor

 

Paul is Emeritus Professor of Glycoimmunology, University of Dundee. He is a recognised expert in the understanding how immune cells utilise host glycans to regulate immune and inflammatory responses and translating this to human disease.

 

Amber Ngo

Associate Scientist

 

Amber is an experienced laboratory technician, previously working at Bio-Rad and where she was responsible for facilitating changes to interdepartmental procedures and performing in-depth analysis of manufactured products using her expertise in various immunological assays including flow cytometry, ELISA and western blots. She has an MBiol. in Biochemistry from Nottingham Trent University, England.

As part of the drug development team, Amber is responsible for managing laboratory operations and supporting in vitro testing and biochemical assays within the team.

 

Dr Samuel Witham

Junior Bioinformatician


Sam has an MBiol in biology from the University of York and a PhD in synthetic plant biology from the Earlham Institute (University of East Anglia). During his PhD, he gained extensive experience in both wet and dry lab techniques, and generated a CRISPR library, validated connections in a gene regulatory subnetwork, and reprogrammed the subnetwork using feedback controllers.
He also ran bioinformatics workshops in Ghana for Beneficial Bio, a biotech start-up that provides low-cost solutions for protein production. Samuel is passionate about using bioinformatics to uncover novel insights into biological systems and disease mechanisms. As part of the drug discovery team, Samuel analyses and visualises complex biological data, developing pipelines to aid target identification.

Dr Valérie Méresse Naegelen

Advisor

Dr Méresse Naegelen has over 20 years of experience in research and clinical development of small and large molecule compounds for various indications in oncology. A seasoned physician-scientist, she joined Roche in 2002 where she currently oversees translational and clinical activities related to the in-licensing and acquisition of external assets for Roche, pRED Oncology in Basel. Previously she gained experience in roles that encompassed both early and late clinical development of oncology assets across various technical modalities for the treatment of solid tumours and haematological diseases. Under her leadership, multiple programs have entered and progressed through clinical development, some accompanied by extensive biomarker and translational activities.

Dr Yuxin Cui

Senior Bioinformatician

Dr Yuxin Cui specialises in bioinformatic analysis of large-scale multi-omics data. He has extensive R&D experience in both academia and industry, including biomarker identification and drug discovery in various solid and liquid cancers and autoimmune diseases. Yuxin obtained his PhD from the University of Nottingham School of Pharmacy and gained postdoc experience from the University of Cambridge and the University of Bristol. Prior, Yuxin was at Apitope where he was responsible for the development of novel vaccine-like drugs and designing immunogenomics-based drug precursors. Before joining Macomics, Yuxin was a Research Fellow at Cardiff University. He is currently helping to enhance the understanding of the biology of tumour-associated macrophages and building an infrastructure-based bioinformatic engine for target identification and validation.

Dr Thomas Crozier

Senior Scientist

Thomas is a senior scientist at Macomics with over 10 years of research experience and extensive knowledge of the use of unbiased genome and proteome-wide approaches to uncover gene and protein function in a range of biological systems. Thomas obtained his PhD at the University of Dundee where he focused on the use of proteomics approaches to provide functional annotation to uncharacterised proteins in the pathogenic parasite, Trypanosoma brucei. As a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge, he has utilised CRISPR-Cas9 technologies to further understand mechanisms of epigenetic regulation of viral genetic elements and gained broad expertise in genetic engineering of human cell lines.

Lisa Seymour

Operations Manager/ Health and Safety Officer

Lisa has three years of experience as a licensed animal technician and seven years of experience as an Advanced Laboratory Technician in Clinical Microbiology/virology and Parasitology. She also has over eight years of experience as an Administrator in the insurance and recruitment sector. Lisa Joins from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute where she held technical roles of increasing responsibility. During these roles she has led and contributed to projects involving Schistosoma mansoni and Trichuris muris parasites, including the development of caecaloids to study host-pathogen interactions.  Lisa has a BSC (Hons) in Biomedical Science from Cambridge University. She is a Member of IOSH and the Royal Society of Biology. She holds a NEBOSH General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety which includes Management in Health and Safety.

Dr Doody

Advisor

Jacqueline Doody has over 30 years of industry experience and is ex-VP of Immuno-oncology at F-star working on bispecific antibody therapies targeting T cells. Dr Doody headed the Immunology departments at ImClone and Eli Lilly taking antibody programs to the clinical stage, including the macrophage program on CSF-1R.

Dr Squadrito

Advisor

Mario Leonardo Squadrito is project leader in the Unit of Targeted Cancer Gene Therapy, directed by Prof. Luigi Naldini, at the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy, Milan, Italy. Dr Squadrito is an expert in cell engineering and is focusing his research in the development of new gene-base strategies to convey antitumor molecules to liver metastases to activate immune functions. Previously, Dr Squadrito pioneered RNA sequencing of tumour associated macrophages and invented genetic tools to exploit circulating microvesicles as a source of tumor antigens for innovative tumor vaccines.

Professor Okkenhaug

Advisor

Klaus Okkenhaug is Chair of Immunology, at Cambridge University within the Department of Pathology. An expert in T cell biology, his research focuses on the pathways used by the immune system to instruct and coordinate defences against pathogens. Furthermore, he employs mouse models to predict and understand the effect of drugs on the immune system. Professor’s Okkenhaug work has made major contributions to understanding the role of PI3K signalling in cancer, with several PI3K inhibitors having now received regulatory approval for the treatment of breast cancer and B cell malignancies.

Professor Speiser

Advisor

Daniel Speiser is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Fundamental Oncology at the University of Lausanne and formally led the Unit for Investigator-Initiated Trials at the Department of Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV). Professor Speiser has over 30 years of medicine and translational research experience and was previously clinician-scientist at the Ludwig Cancer Research Institute. Professor Speiser has pioneered T cell-based immunotherapy for cancer patients, and made significant contributions to understanding the activation, differentiation and function of human T cells, with special emphasis on direct analyses of immune activatory and inhibitory pathways, and their relation to parameters of cancer biology and inflammation.

Carlos Gomez-Roca

Advisor

Carlos Gomez-Roca is a cancer specialist at the Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse (IUCT), where he is Co-Chair of the Clinical Research Unit at IUCT-Oncopole and leader in the Early Phase Unit with a focus on targeted therapies and immuno-oncology. His main research interests are early clinical development, phase I trials across solid tumors, innovative methods of evaluation of novel drugs’ clinical activity, personalized medicine and mechanisms of toxicities and resistance of new targeted agents and immunotherapies. He ran the first-in-human trial of emactuzumab, the trail-blazing monoclonal CSF1R antibody targeting tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs).

Professor de Visser

Advisor

Karin de Visser is a tumor immunologist with special interest in the crosstalk between the innate and adaptive immune system in cancer. She is a senior group leader at the Division of Tumor Biology and Immunology at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, alongside her appointment as group leader at Oncode Institute and professor of Experimental Immunobiology of Cancer at Leiden University Medical Center. Her research focuses on understanding mechanisms by which the innate immune system influences metastatic breast cancer. Utilizing state-of-the-art transgenic mouse models, Professor de Visser’s research team has made major contributions to understanding how mammary tumors induce pro-metastatic systemic inflammation and how the genetic make-up of breast cancer dictates immune composition and function in tumors.

Sadie Kemp

Senior Research Technician

Sadie brings over 15 years of experience, gained in both commercial and academic laboratories. With a background in cell culture and cell infection assays, her expertise includes confocal microscopy, immunohistochemistry, ELISA, and molecular biology techniques.

Sadie joins from seven years at Napier University where she held technical roles of increasing responsibility. Prior to that gained significant experience at the University of Edinburgh and Moredun Scientific. During these roles, she has contributed to projects across a range of therapeutic areas including immunology, bacteriology, and cancer.

She has a BSC (Hons) in Natural Sciences from the Open University and is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Conor Poland

Associate Scientist

Conor has experience in academic and industrial settings. He is a cell biologist experienced in working with induced pluripotent stem cells, immortalised cells, primary cell cultures, and fibroblasts from human skin samples.

He joins from Cignpost Diagnostics, a private Covid testing facility, where he established and ran its qPCR laboratories for COVID-19 testing during the recent pandemic. Prior to this, he completed his PhD at the University of Dundee at the Jacqui Wood Cancer centre, where he gained extensive experience with induced pluripotent stem cells and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing among other molecular techniques. Prior to this, he gained experience at Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford and in the microbiology lab at Geneius Lab Ltd. He has a BSc (Hons) in Human Genetics from Newcastle University.

Dr Chantell Payton

Associate Scientist

Chantell has extensive experience in tissue culture, cell line development and characterisation, confocal microscopy, and in vitro assay development.

Chantell joins Macomics from the world-leading Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, where she undertook a PhD investigating the acquisition and potential biomarkers of cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy resistance. She has a BSc (Hons) from the University of Lincoln where she undertook several research placements investigating protein expression in several cancer signalling pathways

Dr Moritz Haneklaus

Principal Scientist

Moritz is a molecular immunologist with over 10 years of experience studying human myeloid biology. He has extensive expertise in applying molecular techniques and genomics to complex immunological questions.

He joins from an academic career, most recently as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Child Health, University College London studying brain tumour single-cell analysis. Prior to that, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge as part of the Open Targets consortium investigating neuroinflammation in the context of Alzheimer’s disease.

Moritz obtained his PhD in Immunology at Trinity College Dublin studying inflammatory signalling in macrophages. He has an MSc in BioMedicine from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and a BSc in Biology from the University of Heidelberg, Germany.

Stephane Guillaume

Associate Scientist

As part of the drug discovery team Stephane is responsible for protein expression and characterisation, including the development of novel in vitro and cellular assays for antibody characterisation. Stephane has a BSc (Honours) in Microbiology and Immunology from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Australia, and subsequently undertook research on tissue-resident memory T cells and their role in cancer, gaining extensive experience in a variety of model systems. Stephane has been accepted to study for his PhD at the prestigious Babraham Institute, Cambridge UK, and we hope to have him back at Macomics when he will have completed his studies.

Dr Carmen Rodriguez-Seoane

Scientist

Carmen has over 10 years of research experience with expertise in the use of human and embryonic/induced pluripotent stem cell models and a wide range of molecular biology techniques.

Carmen joins from the University of Edinburgh where she was a post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Inflammation Research, having started as a Research Assistant. She moved to the UK after obtaining her PhD from the Brain Protein Malfunction Lab at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain. She has a M.Sc. in Biomedical Research and a B.Sc. in Biology.

Dr Helena Engman

Associate Scientist

As part of the cell biology and immunology team, Helena is responsible for the maintenance, development, and characterisation of complex cellular models using specialised cell culture methods and a wide range of molecular biology techniques. Helena studied for her interdisciplinary PhD at the Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences and the School of Chemistry, Edinburgh University and has considerable experience in human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cell lines, Raman spectroscopy, confocal microscopy, immunofluorescence, UV-vis spectroscopy and 3D apparatus design and printing. Previously, Helena received her BSc (Hons) in Human Embryology and Developmental Biology at the University of Aberdeen and undertook a research placement at the Barcelona Stem Cell Bank (BLCB).

Alicia Poindron

Senior Scientist

As part of the drug discovery team, Alicia is responsible for the development of protein production, purification, and antibody characterisation using in vitro and Flow Cytometry assays. Alicia has broad expertise in early-stage protein purification methods, as well as large-scale downstream processes and optimisation for monoclonal antibody GMP production. Alicia has the extensive biotech experience, previously at Kymab Ltd, first as a Research Associate and later as Research Scientist, and at Novasep. Alicia received a technical degree at the Lycée technique Galilée, a Bachelor of Science from the Pierre and Marie Curie University, and a Master of Science from Polytech Marseille, Aix-Marseille University, France.

Dr Carola Ries

Chief Scientific Officer

Dr Ries has over 20 years of immunology and drug discovery experience and is an internationally recognised expert in macrophage immunology. She formally led Roche’s innate immunity department in cancer immunotherapy and was a member of the pRED immunotherapy discovery leadership team. Dr Ries led the discovery of emactuzumab (CSF1R program) and contributed to its clinical translation, identifying a clinical population in which emactuzumab provided significant clinical benefit. Earlier in her career Dr Ries was a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. McCormick at UCSF, where she discovered her passion for oncology. Dr Ries has over 35 publications and is named an inventor on over 10 patents.

Dr Jane Dancer

Non-Executive Director

Dr Dancer has over 30 years’ experience in Business Development across biotech, pharma and agrochemicals. She was Chief Business Officer at F-star, VP Business Development at Cellzome and Director, Business Development at MedImmune Ltd (formerly Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT)).  Jane spent the first part of her career in the agrochemical industry where she held research and project management roles in Aventis Crop Science, AgrEvo UK Ltd and Schering Agrochemicals Ltd.

Jane has an MBA from The Judge Institute of Management Studies, University of Cambridge and a PhD and a first degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, UK. Jane is on the board of Spirea, PharmEnable and Chair of the Sir Richard Stapley Educational Trust.

Dr Elizabeth Roper

Investor Director

Dr Roper joined Epidarex as a Partner in 2013. She has more than 20 years of experience in the life science and healthcare industry, either as a venture investor or an operating executive. She has held senior operation roles and held various directorships including Chair.  She focuses on shaping and building early-stage life science opportunities into successful companies and investments.

Prior to joining Epidarex, Liz was Head of Business Development and part of the management team at Chroma Therapeutics Ltd., where she led the establishment of several major company-building alliances including a multi‐target deal with GlaxoSmithKline. Liz is a former executive with the life science venture capital team at the Investments Division of The Wellcome Trust. She is also a former member of the Life Science team at Atlas Ventures, London.

Liz currently serves on the Boards of Directors of AdoRx Ltd (Chair), Nodthera Ltd., Mironid Ltd., Caldan Therapeutics Ltd., Epidarex Exeed (Chair), EM Imaging Ltd, Macomics Ltd. and Dunad Therapeutics Ltd.

Liz holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Biochemistry (1st class) from the University College Cork, and a PhD from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.

Dr John Haurum, M.D., D.Phil

Advisor

Dr Haurum has over 20 years of industrial experience. Dr Haurum is the ex-CEO of F-star, where he built successful biotech with clinical-stage oncology assets and ex-VP of Research at ImClone and earlier a CSO at Symphogen.

Prof. Michele De Palma

Advisor

Prof. Michele De Palma, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), leads research into tumour microenvironment including tumour associated macrophages, tumour angiogenesis and immunotherapies. His previous work has led to the first-in-kind clinical trials of engineered monocytes in patients with brain and haematological cancers

Dr Jacqueline Doody

Advisor

Dr Jacqueline Doody has over 30 years of industry experience and is ex-VP of Immuno-oncology at F-star working on bispecific antibody therapies targeting T cells. Dr Doody headed the Immunology department at ImClone taking antibody programs to the clinical stage, including the macrophage program on CSF-1R.

Prof. Karin de Visser

Advisor

Prof. Karin de Visser, Netherlands Cancer Institute, studies the impact of the immune system on metastatic breast cancer and therapy response and is working on novel immunomodulatory strategies to fight metastatic breast cancer.

Dr Maikel Fransen

Senior Scientist

Maikel Fransen has over twenty years of experience in R&D in the biotech and pharma sectors (Acambis, GSK, Isogenica, Ossianix). He obtained his PhD at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK; prior to moving to industry, he worked as a post-doctoral research associate at the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, UK.

A biochemist by formation, Maikel has gained extensive expertise in early-stage immuno-oncology projects, with a focus on membrane protein biochemistry and antibody drug discovery, using various biophysical, structural biology, and phenotypic assay techniques.

Currently, he is responsible for the design and execution of hit to lead in-vitro screening of biologics to support the drug discovery program at Macomics. Maikel is passionate about his research and his vision is to deliver pioneering best-in-class antibody treatments specifically targeting macrophages in the solid tumour micro-environment.

Dr Martha López Yrigoyen

Principal Scientist

Martha Lopez-Yrigoyen is a Principal Scientist at Macomics. As part of the cell biology and immunology team, Martha is responsible for the development of novel complex cell models, myeloid functional genomics and reprogramming approaches, and immunology assays to support target identification, characterisation, and the study of antibody cellular pharmacology.  Martha has deep expertise in macrophage biology and has led the field in the development of methods for the genetic reprogramming of macrophages. Martha has published in leading international academic journals including Nature Communications and is a named inventor on macrophage patents. Martha was one of the first two scientists at Macomics, collaborating with the company whilst a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Edinburgh, before joining Macomics full time in 2021. She has a PhD in the genetic programming of human iPSC-derived macrophages from the University of Edinburgh. She has received multiple awards including the Winifred Cullis Prize for outstanding PhD.

Richard Brooks

Consultant Head of Finance

Richard Brooks is an experienced executive with over 25 years of experience in start-ups and early-stage technology companies.  He is a co-founder of FD Solutions, formerly a market leader in the UK for the provision of part-time finance directors.  He is the provider of Head of Finance services to Mironid, AdoRx Therapeutics, Lunac Therapeutics, Neophore and Epidarex Exeed.

Dr Krzysztof B. Wicher

SVP Drug Discovery and Development

Dr Wicher is an experienced drug developer. He was a Director of Research at Ossianix, a biotech start-up developing blood-brain barrier penetrant biologics, using a single domain shark antibody platform. He then served as a Director of Pharmacology and Translational Sciences at Kymab, supporting the preclinical development of immuno-oncology biologics. At MedImmune/AstraZeneca he was involved in creating novel biologics formats for the treatment of autoimmune and other diseases. Krzysztof holds an MSc in Biotechnology from the Jagiellonski University in Kraków and a PhD from the University of Uppsala. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the London Research Institute, CRUK (now part of the Crick Institute), and at the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge.

Dr Stephen Myatt

Chief Executive Officer

Dr Myatt was appointed CEO of Macomics in February 2021. Steve has over 15 years’ experience of the life science industry gained through leadership positions in commercial, R&D, and executive roles. Steve has diverse experience gained through roles in private biotech companies (Azeria Therapeutics, NeoPhore Limited, AdoRx Therapeutics), venture capital (as a Partner in Sixth Element Capital), early-stage technology transfer (Head of Alliances, Business Development at Cancer Research Technology), and as IND studies program leader for multiple assets. Steve has led and closed numerous commercial partnerships, venture capital financings, IP licensing transactions, and academic collaborations, collectively worth over $1.5bn and has a successful track record of delivering novel therapeutics into clinical trials. Steve has a first-class degree in Pharmacology and a PhD in paediatric oncology drug discovery.

Prof. Jeffrey W. Pollard

Founder – In Memoriam

Prof. Jeffrey Pollard was a Founder, Director, and adviser to Macomics 2020-2023 and was passionate about developing novel therapies targeting tumour-associated macrophages. Jeff died peacefully at home on 1 May 2023 after struggling against cancer.  Jeff was also Professor of Resilience Biology in the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, at the University of Edinburgh, and for nearly a decade led the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Reproductive Health (CRH), as Director, (2013-2022). He leaves a huge legacy to the cancer research community and to the world of macrophage and reproductive biology. See announcement here.

DR LUCA CASSETTA
VP Immunology and Founder

Dr Cassetta is a co-Founder of Macomics and is an immunologist with in-depth knowledge of human myeloid cell biology applied to different human diseases.  He obtained a PhD in immunology at the S.Raffaele Institute in Milan studying the role of macrophage polarization in HIV pathogenesis; he then moved to NY at the Albert Einstein Medical College in the lab of Prof. Jeffrey Pollard where he studied Tumor Associated Macrophages in breast cancer. He then moved to the University of Edinburgh continuing his studies on TAMs where he established his own lab as principal investigator. His extensive experience in human macrophage biology contributed to the development of the Macomics screening platform. Dr Cassetta is an author of multiple publications in high-impact international scientific journals including Cancer Cell, Nature Communications, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Blood, PNAS, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. He was awarded the Innovation Prize cup 2019 as a young entrepreneur for the spinout company, Macomics. Dr Cassetta joined Macomics full time as VP Immunology in 2021.