Industry Leader John Maraganore, Ph.D., Joins Cybrexa Therapeutics as Strategic Advisor
June 25 2024 - 8:07AM
Cybrexa Therapeutics, a clinical-stage oncology biotechnology
company developing a novel class of tumor-targeting peptide drug
conjugate (PDC) therapeutics, today announced that John Maraganore,
Ph.D., has joined as a Strategic Advisor to the Company’s Executive
Leadership Team. In this role, Dr. Maraganore will provide
strategic guidance and leverage his extensive experience in the
biotech industry to support the advancement of our alphalex™
technology platform, including progressing our lead candidate, a
first-in-class peptide drug conjugate, CBX-12, (alphalex -
exatecan) into Phase 2 ovarian cancer clinical trials, in the
coming months.
“This strategic appointment underscores our unwavering
dedication to growth and innovation, and we are thrilled to have
John join us at such an exciting time,” said Per Hellsund,
President and CEO, Cybrexa. “As we prepare for our next important
milestones, we are confident John’s insights and deep industry
experience will propel the Company and the alphalex technology
platform forward.”
“Cybrexa’s innovative approach, leveraging pH in the tumor
microenvironment to selectively kill cancer tissue while sparing
healthy tissue, has the capability to revolutionize cancer
treatment,” said Dr. John Maraganore. “The alphalex platform’s
unique attributes, combined with the Company's commitment to
developing novel treatment options for patients, align perfectly
with my own dedication to advance groundbreaking therapies for
patients. I am particularly encouraged to see the recent efficacy
and safety data from CBX-12’s Phase 1 trial, which showed activity
in six different tumor types. I am excited to be part of this
potentially transformative journey.”
Dr. Maraganore served as the founding CEO and a Director of
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals from 2002 to 2021, where he spearheaded the
company’s growth from early-stage RNA interference (RNAi) research
to the global approval and commercialization of their first four
RNAi therapeutics. Under his leadership, the Company’s market
capitalization value reached $25 billion, and he forged more than
20 major strategic pharmaceutical alliances. Before Alnylam, he was
at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he oversaw the Company’s
product franchises in oncology, cardiovascular, inflammatory and
metabolic diseases, in addition to holding leadership roles in
M&A, strategy, and biotherapeutics. He earned his M.S. and
Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of
Chicago. Currently, he is a Venture Partner at ARCH Venture
Partners, a Venture Advisor at Atlas Ventures, and a Senior Advisor
for Blackstone Life Science. Beyond his venture capital roles, Dr.
Maraganore serves on the boards of several privately held and
public companies, as well as foundations.
About CBX-12CBX-12 is a clinical-stage,
first-in-class peptide drug conjugate (PDC) that utilizes Cybrexa’s
proprietary alphalex™ technology to enhance delivery of exatecan to
tumor cells and is composed of a pH-Low Insertion Peptide (pHLIP®),
a linker and exatecan. CBX-12 is designed to increase the efficacy
and reduce the toxicity of topoisomerase I inhibition by delivering
exatecan, a highly potent, second-generation topoisomerase I
inhibitor, directly to the tumor cells. As an antigen-independent
therapy, CBX-12 may have broad utility in patients who are not
eligible for antigen-targeted therapies, including monoclonal
antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and has potential
for use in combination regimens with other anti-cancer agents and
immunotherapies. Data from the ongoing Phase 1 trial of CBX-12 in
patients with metastatic solid tumors demonstrated preliminary
anti-tumor activity in a heavily pretreated patient population with
a favorable safety profile.
About the alphalex™ Technology Platform The
Cybrexa alphalex™ technology is a novel antigen-independent,
peptide-drug conjugate (PDC) platform that enables targeted
delivery of highly potent anticancer treatments and aims to
revolutionize the standard of care in oncology. The platform
consists of a pH-Low Insertion Peptides (pHLIPs®) peptide, linker,
and small molecule anti-cancer agent. pHLIP peptides are a family
of pH-Low Insertion Peptides that target acidic cell surfaces.
pHLIP was developed at Yale University and the University of Rhode
Island, and is exclusively licensed to pHLIP, Inc., and Cybrexa is
a sublicensee of pHLIP, Inc. To date the alphalex platform has
generated three programs at Cybrexa; CBX-12, CBX-13 and CBX-15.
About CybrexaCybrexa is a privately held
clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering novel
antigen-independent tumor-targeting peptide drug conjugate (PDC)
therapeutics. The company is led by a dynamic team of highly
successful life science entrepreneurs and veteran drug development
scientists. It is on a mission to create therapeutics that
revolutionize the standard of care in oncology. Cybrexa’s robust
pipeline aims to combat breast cancer, ovarian cancer, non-small
cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer and a range of other tumors.
Its assets are built on Cybrexa’s alphalex™ technology platform,
which enables intracellular delivery of highly potent anticancer
treatments. Cybrexa is based in New Haven, Conn. and was founded in
2017. For more information about Cybrexa, please visit
www.cybrexa.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Investor Contact:Per Hellsund, CEO, Cybrexa
Therapeutics860-799-1517per.hellsund@cybrexa.com
Media Contact:Tara DiMilia, TellMed
Strategies908-884-7024tara.dimilia@tmstrat.com