AUSTIN, Texas– Maxwell Biosciences, today announced it has secured a major investment from well-known pharmaceutical investor-entrepreneur and public service champion — David Evans Shaw. The investment will be used to advance Maxwell’s CLAROMER™ brand anti-infectives program towards clinical stage development.
Last week, peer-reviewed, open-access journal Pharmaceuticals (MDPI) published new scientific research findings co-authored by Maxwell Biosciences’ Scientific Advisory Board Member Gill Diamond, Ph.D. (University of Louisville, Department of Oral Microbiology and Infectious Diseases) and 10 ten other collaborating academic researchers, titled Potent Antiviral Activity against HSV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 by Antimicrobial Peptoids. The research findings demonstrate that several peptoids exhibit potent in vitro antiviral activity against both HSV-1 and SARS-CoV-2.
Maxwell’s CLAROMER™ brand anti-infectives destroy a broad spectrum of viruses, as shown in preclinical studies and imaging of viral structures.
The mechanism of action of this new small molecule drug class is shown using cryo-electron microscopy imaging of treated virus structures (imaging confirmed at independent labs). The detailed images show that CLAROMER™ brand anti-infectives disrupt the viral membrane and bind the viral DNA and RNA. In preclinical studies, Maxwell’s lead product candidates have shown direct virucidal action against Hepatitis B & C (HBV, HCV), Influenza A (IAV), all tested strains of SARS-CoV-2, and Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1). Over a decade of published academic articles illustrate selective targeting of pathogens by Maxwell’s product candidates.
In vivo safety data in human tissue and animal models (confirmed in collaboration with universities and independent labs) show that CLAROMER™ brand anti-infectives are were well tolerated in vivo at 1,000 µg/mL concentration when injected under the skin; whereas, preclinical studies indicate activity against viruses at 7 µg/mL concentration. This is a potentially optimal therapeutic window for the topical treatment of viral infections in humans, such as recurrent Herpes cold sores. Additionally, starting with a development program for topical applications may mitigate many types of systemic toxicology risk in a new, preclinical drug class.
Maxwell holds a granted composition of matter patent portfolio and the company is strongly positioned to act as a key player in the fight against viruses and other pathogens.
Shaw is Managing Partner of Black Point Group. A prominent business and social entrepreneur with extensive leadership experience in bioscience-based companies, investment management and non-profit organizations, he has helped build more than a dozen successful technology companies and served in public leadership positions for science, art, medicine, natural resource conservation and other issues.
Select examples of Shaw’s business creation, leadership, investment and board experience include: IDEXX Laboratories (founder, CEO), Ikaria Pharmaceuticals (founding CEO, chair), Covetrus – formerly Vets First Choice – (co-founder, chair), Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Venrock Associates, New Mountain Capital, Leerink Partners and Polaris Venture Partners.
“David’s belief in Maxwell Biosciences and his significant investment in the company is humbling, generous and already being put to great use as we accelerate our preclinical development plan,” said Maxwell Biosciences founder and CEO Joshua McClure.
Shaw focuses his investments on companies he believes exhibit a cultural and societal purpose beyond profit, with the intent to advance the domains they pioneer. With this investment in Maxwell Biosciences, Shaw rounds out a world class team led by Chairman of the Board Stephen Pearse. Pearse is former Chairman and CEO of Cyras Systems (Ciena) with a multi-billion dollar exit, a biotech innovator and managing partner at Yucatan Rock Ventures.
In making this investment, Shaw stated that he was “motivated by the prospect of benefiting vast populations of patients through Maxwell’s discovery research and novel technologies.”
Over the years, Shaw has also served on the faculty of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the advisory board of the Center for Public Leadership with interests in leadership, corporate governance and business social responsibility. He is a founding board member of the US Olympic & Paralympic Museum, chair-emeritus of The Jackson Laboratory, Treasurer emeritus, trustee emeritus and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) publisher of Science, founding chair of the Aspen High Seas Initiative and Sargasso Sea Alliance (ocean conservation), a trustee-emeritus of the National Park Foundation, a founding Advisory Board member to Curiosity Stream, and an advisor to Just Capital and Arctaris Impact Investors
Shaw has also been awarded honorary degrees by Colby College, Bates College, Maine College of Art, and the University of Southern Maine. Shaw was inducted into the Teddy Roosevelt Society, the UNH Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, and IDEXX Laboratories was inducted into the Life Sciences Foundation’s Biotech Hall of Fame in 2008.
