VANCOUVER, British Columbia– Gandeeva Therapeutics, Inc., a precision biotechnology company harnessing the power of cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and machine learning to advance drug discovery, announced today the appointment of Matthew Lucas, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer and David Poon, Ph.D., as Chief Business Officer to the leadership team.
Both individuals bring a wealth of pharmaceutical and biotech leadership experience to Gandeeva as the company continues to grow and develop differentiated therapeutics by targeting key protein-protein interactions.
“We are thrilled to expand our team with industry veterans David and Matthew,” said Sriram Subramaniam, Ph.D., CEO & Founder, Gandeeva Therapeutics. “Matthew is a highly regarded and exceptional scientist committed to bringing new therapies to the market, and David brings invaluable experience with his outstanding track record in business development and formation of strategic alliances.”
As Chief Scientific Officer, Matt Lucas has more than 20 years of drug discovery experience. He was most recently Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery at Black Diamond Therapeutics where he led the CNS-penetrant EGFR mutant inhibitor program that delivered BDTX-1535, currently in a Phase I clinical trial for GBM and NSCLC. Earlier, he served in leadership roles at Yumanity Therapeutics, Cubist Pharmaceuticals and at Roche, leading multiple projects from discovery to clinical development in therapeutic areas including oncology, immunology and neuroscience.
“I am very excited to join Gandeeva’s management team and work with an outstanding group of researchers,” said Dr. Lucas. “The platform’s potential to accelerate the pace of design and discovery of novel therapeutics and impact patients across a variety of disease areas is compelling. I look forward to working with the leadership team and our Scientific Advisory Board as Gandeeva continues to develop and advance its preclinical pipeline programs.”
As Chief Business Officer, David Poon brings to Gandeeva more than 15 years of experience in life sciences corporate development. Most recently, he served as Vice President, Business Development and Alliance Management at Zymeworks, where he was instrumental in establishing key partnerships in value totaling over USD $8 billion. Dr. Poon also made key scientific contributions to the development of the Azymetric™ and EFECT™ therapeutic platforms at Zymeworks.
“The intersection of cryo-EM, machine learning, and protein structural biology forms the basis of a strong foundation in the rational design of differentiated therapeutics,” said Dr. Poon. “I am thrilled to be joining Gandeeva’s leadership team to advance our strategy through partnerships and alliances.”
“Gandeeva has the potential to revolutionize drug discovery using its proprietary platform,” said Don Kania, Ph.D., Chairman of Gandeeva’s Board of Directors. “I am delighted to see this vision come to life with Sriram’s leadership and the exciting new additions to our executive team.” (IANS)
