Molecure Appoints Dr. Samson Fung, Chief Medical Officer to its Management Board as it Continues to Focus on Successfully Progressing its Expanded Clinical Portfolio Copy
- Dr Zbigniew Zasłona, PhD promoted to Chief Scientific Officer – Dr Zasłona remains a member of Molecure’s Management Board
- Dr Adam Gołębiowski transitioning from management board position to take on role of Senior Research Fellow
Warsaw, Poland – 03.01.2023 – Molecure S.A. (“Molecure”: WSE: MOC) a clinical stage biotechnology company using its world leading medicinal chemistry capabilities to discover first-in-class small molecule drug candidates that directly modulate unexplored protein and RNA targets to treat multiple incurable diseases, announces that Dr. Samson Fung, Chief Medical officer has been appointed to the Company’s management board. Dr. Adam Gołębiowski has stepped down from the management board to take on the role of Senior Research Fellow at Molecure. In parallel, Dr. Zbigniew Zasłona, has been promoted to Chief Scientific Officer from his current position as VP Research Biology. Dr. Zasłona, will remain on Molecure’s management board.
These changes are designed to better position the company to rapidly progress its clinical stage assets towards meaningful endpoints and partnering transactions, while simultaneously developing its early stage programs, including its innovative RNA discovery platform, to create a balanced pipeline of first-in-class assets with breakthrough therapy potential.
Marcin Szumowski, Co-founder & CEO commented, “The new roles among our leadership team are tailored to support the successful development of our exciting clinical portfolio, which comprises 0ATD-01, which is targeting inflammatory lung diseases, starting with sarcoidosis, and OATD-02, which is being developed to treat a broad range of cancers. I would like to congratulate Samson as he becomes a new member of the management board where his significant pharmaceutical and biotech industry experience will be an important asset. I am also delighted to announce the promotion of Zbigniew to Chief Scientific Officer, which reflects the significant contribution he has made since joining Molecure. Dr. Adam Gołębiowski has initiated the discovery of both of our clinical stage assets enabling Molecure to become a clinical stage company. He has been instrumental in launching our early stage pipeline since co-founding Molecure and we look forward to having his continued engagement in a more science focused role in Molecure’s early-stage programs. The experience within the senior leadership team combines deep scientific knowledge and clinical development expertise that will be important in helping us advance and broaden our pipeline.”
Dr Samson Fung graduated from the University of Freiburg, Germany and obtained his board certification in internal medicine with sub-specialization in oncology and hematology. Dr. Fung brings more than three decades of global industry and senior leadership experience across the life science sector. He has significant biotech experience with senior leadership roles (Head of Clinical Development, interim CMO) at several of Europe’s most successful biotech companies including Micromet, later acquired by AMGEN, Morphosys and Argenx. Before that Dr Fung has held senior roles in clinical development, medical affairs, business development and strategic marketing at leading global pharmaceutical companies including Roche, Novartis, Pharmacia/Pfizer, Novo Nordisk and AstraZeneca.
Dr Zbigniew Zasłona has been with Molecure for 2.5 years. He obtained his PhD in 2010 at the University of Giessen and the Marburg Lung Center in Germany, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan, USA. From 2015 to October 2020, he was a research fellow at Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) in the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, as well as a Senior Investigator at the UK biotechnology company Sitryx (which in March 2020 entered into a $1bln collaboration and license agreement with Eli Lilly), where he was responsible for anti-inflammatory drug development programs. Dr. Zasłona has a publishing track record with h-index 26 and over 3000 citations. He is a recognized international expert in the field of inflammatory processes and lung diseases being repeatedly invited to lecture at leading international scientific conferences.
Dr Adam Gołębiowski, who is a co-founder of Molecure has over 30 years of experience in leading research and development and drug discovery programs. In 1987 he completed his doctorate at the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Wayne State University, Michigan, USA. From 1989 to 2006, he led teams of medicinal chemists and research programs at Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals. From 2006 to 2012, he led research programs at the Institutes for Pharmaceutical Discovery (IPD) in Connecticut, USA. He is author of over 30 patents, 100 original publications, review articles and books.
For further information, please contact:
Molecure S.A. (PR & IR)
Marta Borkowska
Email: m.borkowska@molecure.com
+(48) 728 728 143
MEDiSTRAVA Consulting (Financial PR)
Frazer Hall, David Dible, Sandi Greenwood, Eleanor Perkin
+44 (0)203 928 6900
About Molecure
Molecure is a clinical stage biotechnology company that uses its world leading medicinal chemistry and biology capabilities to discover and develop first-in-class small molecule drug candidates that directly modulate the function of underexplored protein and RNA targets to treat multiple incurable diseases.
Molecure has generated a diverse pipeline of eight distinct programs with the support of leading academic life science institutions globally, including Yale University, Rutgers University, the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) in Ghent, the University of Michigan and the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw (IIMCB).
Molecure’s most advanced in-house drug candidate is OATD-01, a first-in-class dual chitinase inhibitor for the treatment of interstitial lung diseases, such as sarcoidosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, that is Phase II ready. A Phase II trial in patients with sarcoidosis is expected to start in 2023.
Our second proprietary candidate is OATD-02, an oral, potent and selective first-in-class, dual arginase inhibitor (ARG1 and ARG2) for the treatment of cancer.
Molecure’s headquarters and laboratories are located in Warsaw, Poland with an additional laboratory facility in Łódź. The company is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (ticker: MOC).
For more information, please visit www.molecure.com
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