MILAN– Sibylla Biotech today announces the appointment of Sonia Poli, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). Dr. Poli brings more than two decades of international experience in pharmaceutical research and development, with broad knowledge spanning small molecule drug design, translational science, and early- to late-stage clinical development. As a seasoned pharmaceutical R&D executive, Dr. Poli has held various leadership and executive positions at both large and small pharmaceutical companies across disciplines and indications. Dr. Poli will guide the scientific direction and strategy at Sibylla as the company advances its proprietary pipeline of small molecule Folding Interfering Degraders (FIDs) to address a range of therapeutic areas.
“Sonia’s profound expertise in clinical development, coupled with her extensive knowledge of small molecule drug design, align seamlessly with the goal of advancing our FIDs toward the clinic, starting with our lead asset – a Cyclin D1 degrader,” stated Lidia Pieri, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sibylla Biotech. “Welcoming Sonia to our leadership team as CSO not only strengthens our team but also amplifies Sibylla’s capacity to unlock the promise of our PPI-FIT protein folding simulation technology to address currently undruggable targets across indications.”
“Sibylla’s pioneering approach to rational drug discovery is distinct, not only because of its focus on targeting proteins during their folding process but also due to the team’s unique constellation of physicists and biologists. This blend of expertise has already generated and validated several compounds that act on proteins of oncological interest,” said Dr. Sonia Poli, CSO of Sibylla Biotech. “Working as part of the Sibylla team presents a tremendous opportunity to contribute to the company’s computational protein folding platform and create truly transformative treatment options in areas of high unmet need.”
Dr. Sonia Poli is a pharmaceutical industry veteran with profound drug development knowledge. For the past three years, Dr. Poli has served as Life Cycle Leader for AC Immune’s partnership with Eli Lilly on the Tau morphomer program. Prior to this, Dr. Poli was the CSO of Minoryx and Vice President of Translational Science of AC Immune and has been a Board member of Dimerix Bioscience since 2013. Her earlier tenure at Addex Therapeutics spanned over a decade, during which she ascended to various leadership positions, culminating in the role of CSO. Before her time at Addex Therapeutics, she dedicated seven years to Roche, working in roles of increasing responsibility. Dr. Poli’s professional journey commenced with a post-doctoral research stint at CNRS URA400, Université René Descartes, Paris V, after obtaining her Ph.D. in Industrial Chemistry from Università degli Studi di Milano.
