Macomics included in PwC Future 50 list
Macomics has been included in PwC Future 50 list. You can read the report here.
Macomics has been included in PwC Future 50 list. You can read the report here.
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.”
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.”
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.
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
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our esteemed colleague and friend, Professor Jeff W. Pollard, on 1 May 2023.
Jeff, who died peacefully at home after struggling against cancer, was a Founder, Director, and adviser to Macomics Limited, and was passionate about developing novel therapies targeting tumour-associated macrophages.
Jeff was also a 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).
Jeff leaves a huge legacy to the cancer research community and to the world of macrophage and reproductive biology.
Jeff Pollard graduated with a first-class special honours degree in Zoology from Sheffield University followed by a PhD at Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now CRUK) in London. He spent a post-doctoral period at Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto and thereafter, took a Faculty position at King’s College University of London. In 1988 he joined the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York where he worked for 24 years prior to moving to Edinburgh in 2013 as Director of the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health. At the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Professor Pollard was the Louis Goldstein Swann Chair in Women’s Health, Deputy Director of the NCI funded Cancer Center, and Director of the NIH funded Center for the Study of Reproductive Biology and Women’s Health.
Jeff performed research in women’s reproductive health for his entire career with a recent emphasis on the mechanisms of action of female sex steroid hormones in controlling cell proliferation and on the tumour microenvironment of breast cancer. In the former programme his lab sought to understand the mechanism of progesterone in negatively regulating oestrogen-induced uterine epithelial cell proliferation and in the preparation of the uterus for blastocyst implantation. In the latter programme, he pioneered studies on the role of macrophages and demonstrated that they promote tumour progression and malignancy. His work focused upon mechanisms behind these pro-tumoral actions of macrophages with a particular emphasis on metastatic disease.
Jeff was a member of the COST actions Mye-EUNITER and Mye-InfoBank, an European multi-centre initiative focused on identifying novel myeloid targets for cancer therapy.
Jeff was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences.
Jeff Pollard received several awards most notably the American Cancer Society “Medal of Honour for Basic Science Research” for his studies in tumour immunology (2010), Rothschild Yvette–Meynet Curie award (2009), the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2013 – 2018) and the Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award (2013 – 2021).
With his devoted wife and lifelong partner Ooi Thye Chong he shared an enduring passion for Japanese art, food and wine.
Macomics Ltd, a leader in macrophage drug discovery has presented data demonstrating the power of its ENIGMAC™ macrophage drug discovery platform at the American Association for Cancer Research’s Annual Meeting, AACR 2023, April 14-19, Florida.
Macomics is exploiting the potential of macrophage-based approaches to develop novel precision medicines to target disease specific macrophage biology.
Macomics’ ENIGMAC™ drug discovery platform represents a unique tool for gene-to-function studies using human macrophages. It 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. It is disease agnostic and can be integrated with a variety of disease-specific conditions and phenotypic readouts.
Macrophages are key players of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Most tumors are populated by macrophages and a rich infiltration of this myeloid cell is generally correlated with poor prognosis at the clinical level. Tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) influence all the other cell types in the tumor by creating a pro-tumoral niche which favours cancer cells to proliferate and invade other organs.
Presenting the data at AACR, Dr Carola Reis, CSO of Macomics said
“Using ‘Omics’ techniques is fundamental to fully understand the extreme complexity of the TME and identify new targets. Whilst many datasets have been produced in recent years, they lack proper validation at the functional level. Our ENIGMAC™ discovery platform allows stringent bioinformatic analysis coupled with macrophage gene editing and subsequent functional analysis, to enable the identification of genetically validated macrophage therapeutic targets that informs the drug screening assay strategy.”
Data presented at AACR shows Macomics’s use of a human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) line to yield macrophages phenotypically and functionally very similar to human monocyte-derived macrophage (MDM), producing millions of macrophages per week for use in multiple high throughput assays. It also presented its proprietary toolbox that integrates gene Knock In (KI), Knock Out (KO) and Knock Down (KD) with high efficiency both at iPSC and macrophage level while maintaining expression/silencing during macrophage differentiation. KD can be performed using a pooled approach that enables screening by flow cytometry-based phenotypes at large scale.
Dr Steve Myatt, CEO of Macomics added
“We believe that TAMs reprogramming is a very effective strategy. By changing the phenotype of a high number of intratumoral TAM, we achieve not only the abrogation of their tumor-supporting functions but importantly also the increase of their tumor-killing properties. In this way, at Macomics, we plan to tip the balance and create a reprogramming domino effect which will influence other immune cells to mount an effective anti-tumor immune response.”
Authors: Martha Lopez-Yrigoyen, Thomas W. Crozier, Helena Engman, Yuxin Cui, Moritz Haneklaus, Krzysztof B. Wicher, Steven Myatt, Jeffrey W Pollard, Luca Cassetta and Carola Ries (presenter)
Session Category: Experimental and Molecular Therapeutics
Session Title: Innovative Assay Technologies
Session Date and Time: Monday Apr 17, 2023, 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM
The poster will be posted on our website after it has been presented at AACR.
Macomics Ltd, a leader in macrophage drug discovery, announces that it has entered into a worldwide drug discovery collaboration agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Osaka, Japan; President and CEO: Gyo Sagara; “Ono”) to develop new immuno-oncology antibody drugs against a novel macrophage target of interest in cancer.
Under the terms of the agreement, Macomics will identify and characterise antibody candidates against the novel target of interest using its ENIGMACTM macrophage drug discovery platform. Ono will have an exclusive option to license global rights to the candidates for further development and commercialization. Macomics will receive an up-front payment, R&D funding, and success-based milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties based on global net sales.
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 many types of cancer and modulating TAMs can enhance the body’s ability to fight cancer.
Toichi Takino, Senior Executive Officer / Executive Director, Discovery & Research of Ono said:
“Targeting macrophages in immune-oncology is emerging as an exciting area with significant opportunity to deliver novel therapeutics to improve cancer outcomes and to change the lives of patients with cancer. Macomics has demonstrated the power of its macrophage platform and drug discovery approach and we are delighted to partner with them on taking this novel target discovery program forwards.”
Stephen Myatt, CEO of Macomics said:
“This global collaboration with Ono is 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.”
The founding scientists behind Edinburgh-based Macomics, Dr Luca Cassetta and Professor Jeff Pollard who have led the field in understanding the role of macrophages in development, tissue repair and cancer, have authored a major Perspectives review in Nature Reviews Cancer¹, detailing the seminal discoveries in macrophage biology over the past 50 years revealing exciting future prospects for developing precision medicines to modulate macrophages for the treatment of cancer by targeting tumour associated macrophage (TAMs) in the tumour microenvironment (TME).
The TME is now recognized to be inundated with immune cells, of which TAMs are often the most abundant by cell number. TAMs were initially thought to be antitumoral, although some experiments suggested that they could enhance tumour cell growth. However, with the advent of new technologies, sophisticated mouse models and human clinical sample analysis, the roles of TAMs were revealed.
Clinical correlative data and a plethora of preclinical studies of cancers have now shown that both tumour-associated and metastasis-associated macrophages play an important role in promoting cancer.
Scientists are still in the process of understanding TAMs heterogeneity including the cellular interactions during tumour progression and in response to therapy, but Improved intravital imaging (IVI) capabilities in preclinical models and newer technologies such as spatial transcriptomics and multicolour multiplex immunofluorescence and mass spectrometry are enabling mapping at single-cell resolution in the TME cellular landscape.
As summarized in the review, myeloid targeting strategies are now in the clinic and show early signs of efficacy as mono and combination therapies.
“We are entering a golden era of discoveries, resulting in the manipulation of the TME, and in particular TAM biology, that will allow immunotherapy to be widely applicable to many if not all cancers”, conclude Dr Cassetta and Prof. Pollard, adding “Recent technological advances have enabled the decoding of TAM complexity in human tumours; such important steps will allow a more precise TAM targeting in the clinic. The next big challenge will be to apply these technologies on clinical samples coming from patients who failed previous cancer therapies to assess TAM evolution during cancer treatment resistance.”
Macomics is an immuno-oncology company set up to take forward these learnings and opportunities.
Prof. Pollard is a Principal Investigator at the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health (MRC-CRH), University of Edinburgh. Formerly its Director, he has been investigating the roles of macrophages in development, tissue repair and cancer for almost 30 years. His group was the first to show that tumour-associated macrophages promote the progression of tumors to metastasis in part, through the establishment of a suppressive immune microenvironment that supports tumor cell survival. He is co-founder of and remains advisor to Macomics. Dr Cassetta previously worked with Prof. Pollard and is now VP immunology at Macomics, having left his role at the University of Edinburgh to join the company full time.
Modulating TAMs can alter the tumour microenvironment enhancing the body’s ability to fight cancer. The tumour microenvironment changes macrophage behaviour, and Macomics is exploiting disease-specific TAM biology to selectively target these immunosuppressive cells.
It has proprietary cell models and approaches for the genetic manipulation of macrophages that, when combined with novel cell functional assays and informatics, enables new target opportunities for specific therapeutic hypotheses to be revealed.
Macomics portfolio is diversified by the mechanism of action and is focussed on multi-hit biological hypothesis, modulating both TAM biology directly and the activity of the broader immune system, to re-invigorate immune responses against cancer cells. It will continue to expand its portfolio of validated targets in diseases where macrophages play a central role in aetiology, response to therapy, and patient outcomes.
Dr Steve Myatt, Macomics CEO said
“We have built a world-class team and made great progress based on the discoveries by our pre-eminent scientists in the field of macrophage biology whose unparalleled expertise guides our mission to discover new therapies that improve the long-term outcome for cancer patients. We are passionate about the therapeutic potential of targeting macrophages for the treatment of cancer. Our vision is to develop a new approach to targeting the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment, that exploits disease-specific macrophage biology to harness the power of the entire immune system. Our diversified portfolio of antibody programs combined with our proprietary target identification approach and world-class team uniquely positions us to deliver on this vision.”
Macomics Ltd, biotech company with world-leading expertise in macrophage biology, is proud to announce that its co-founder Prof. Jeffery Pollard PhD has been honoured with a place in Clarivate’s annual
Highly Cited Researchers 2022 list for the second year running.
Each year, Clarivate celebrates the world’s most influential researchers by identifying those who have been most frequently cited by their peers over the last decade. In 2022, fewer than 7,000, or about 0.1%, of the world’s researchers have earned this exclusive distinction, with the work of those selected spanning 21 research fields.
Prof. Pollard was recognized for his exceptional research influence and designated as part of this elite group for the second year in a row, following the output of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% of citations for field and year in the Web of Science citation index. The analysis was performed by bibliometric experts and data scientists at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate.
David Pendlebury, Senior Citation Analyst at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate, said:
“Our Highly Cited Researchers are those who have demonstrated significant and broad influence, reflected by multiple highly cited papers that are driving the future of their respective fields of science. Prof. Pollard is a great addition for his visionary research and contributions to the deep understanding of macrophage biology, having established himself as a pioneer in the space through his many years of work.”
Macomics is developing precision medicines to modulate macrophages for the treatment of cancer, based on the pioneering work of its founders Prof. Pollard and Dr Luca Cassetta. An internationally recognized leader in macrophage biology, Prof. Pollard now provides expert consultancy to the company and is Chair of its Scientific Advisory Board. This year, Prof. Pollard was also elected to the highly selective group Academia Europaea (the European Academy, AE) in recognition of his pioneering work in the field of macrophage biology.
Commenting on the achievement, Dr Steve Myatt, CEO of Macomics, said:
“The inclusion of Jeff in the Highly Cited Researchers list for the second-year running is great reflection of the progress that he has achieved in the macrophage field. His work, spanning more than 30 years, has provided the foundations not just for Macomics but also for the wider research field. The insights gained will be of huge benefit to patients in years to come, and to Macomics’ mission to become a leading immuno-oncology company by pioneering macrophage-based therapies for cancer.”
During 2022 Prof. Pollard was also elected to the Academia Europaea (the European Academy, AE) for his visionary and pioneering work in the field of macrophage biology.
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 2022 Highly Cited Researchers list and executive summary can be found online here.
Macomics Ltd.
The University of Edinburgh
Campus Service Centre
Roslin Innovation Centre
Easter Bush Campus
Bush Farm Road
Roslin
EH25 9RG
Unit 181
Cambridge Science Park
Milton Road
Cambridge
CB4 0GJ
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
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 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.
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 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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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).
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 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 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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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).
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 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 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 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 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, 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 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, 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.
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.
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 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 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 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 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 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.