San Diego, California, July 26, 2017 – Forge Therapeutics, Inc., (Forge), a biotechnology company discovering first-in-class antibiotics using a breakthrough drug discovery platform, announced today the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) with leading experts in microbiology, chemistry and antibiotic drug development. The Forge SAB will help guide the company’s scientific vision and mission to discover and develop novel metalloprotein inhibitors.
“We are honored that each of these acclaimed researchers and drug developers has agreed to serve on the Forge Scientific Advisory Board,” said Zachary A. Zimmerman, CEO of Forge. “Their guidance on our scientific vision will be invaluable as we drive our novel, Gram-negative antibiotic program toward the clinic and identify expansion opportunities for our metalloprotein platform.”
About the Forge SAB
Forge has assembled a strategic advisory board comprised of leading microbiology, chemistry, antibiotic and drug development experts from around the globe.
- Michael Barbachyn, Ph.D., co-inventor of the antibiotics linezolid (marketed as Zyvox) and sutezolid, and former director-level contributor to antibacterial discovery at Pharmacia, Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
- Robert Bonomo, M.D., Chief Medical Service at Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, and Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.
- Seth Cohen, Ph.D., scientific co-founder of Forge and a world leading authority on metalloprotein inhibitors; Professor and former Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego.
- John Rex, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Director at F2G Ltd. and Chief Strategy Officer at CARB-X, the world’s largest public-private partnership devoted to antibacterial preclinical R&D.
- Karen Joy Shaw, Ph.D., current Chief Scientific Officer of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals and former SVP Biology at Trius Therapeutics leading the microbiology strategy for Tedizolid development; former Antibacterial Team Leader Johnson & Johnson and Schering Plough.
- Lynn Silver, Ph.D., was involved in the discovery of the first inhibitors of LpxC, and the development of the antibiotic Invanz at Merck where she held the title of senior investigator.
- Brad Spellberg, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, LA+USC Medical Center and antibiotic resistance expert.
- Andrew Tomaras, Ph.D., Vice President and Director of Microbiology at BacterioScan Inc. and former LpxC program leader at Pfizer.
- Mark Whitaker, D.Phil., SVP Drug Discovery at Evotec and former Director Medicinal Chemistry at British Biotech.
About Forge Therapeutics
Forge Therapeutics is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing novel antibiotics to treat multi-drug resistant bacteria, or ‘superbugs,’ that have ignited a global health epidemic. With its proprietary chemistry approach, Forge develops small molecule inhibitors targeting metalloenzymes. Forge’s lead effort is focused on LpxC, a zinc metalloenzyme found only in Gram-negative bacteria and which is essential for bacteria to grow. Forge has discovered novel small molecule inhibitors of LpxC that are potent in vitro, efficacious in vivo, and effective against drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria ‘superbugs.’ To complement its innovative approach to drug discovery, Forge has a capital efficient business model that utilizes a mix of non-dilutive and traditional funding sources to advance its programs, including LpxC. Forge has formed a strategic alliance with leading drug discovery alliance and development partnership company Evotec AG and has been awarded multiple government awards to address the global ‘superbug’ epidemic including CARB-X. In addition, Forge has amassed a rich intellectual property estate on metalloprotein inhibitors to protect its technology and pipeline. For further information, please visit the company’s website www.ForgeTherapeutics.com and follow us on Twitter @ForgeThera.
Forge Company Contact:
Forge Media Contact:
Amy Conrad
Juniper Point
858-366-3243