Ward Capoen

Sibylla is an innovative start-up founded in 2017 as a spin-OFF of the INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) and the Trento and Perugia Universities. Its multidisciplinary team of co-founders has developed a pioneering Early Drug Discovery method that applies to the research and design of new drugs, effective against diseases so far incurable. Drug discovery is an extremely complex problem, therefore requiring innovation. Sibylla is a beautiful example of how innovation can be pushed forward by a multidisciplinary and agile team. Sibylla's approach is based on the possibility of simulating the folding pathway from the amino acid sequence as produced by the cells' ribosomes to the native state. Traditional pharmacological methods investigate the target proteins' interaction sites in their native, biologically active state. Novel methods act at the DNA level. Sibylla follows an alternative approach. We identify small molecules that bind to pockets found in the intermediate folding state. These pockets disappear in the native state, and that is why we may try to drug proteins which have been so far considered undruggable. Sibylla technology is called PPI-FIT (Pharmacological Protein Inactivation by Folding Intermediate Targeting). A molecule found through PPI-FIT would impair the folding of the protein, leading it to degradation. The overall effect is a selective reduction of the expression level of the target protein. The medical areas focused on by Sibylla's research include oncology and antibiotic resistance, although the technology can be applied to any therapeutic area. The company is developing a proprietary pipeline of potential drugs. We can also provide co-development or identifying potential drugs for pharmaceutical companies' specific targets. We recently signed a collaboration agreement with an important Pharma company. Besides the promising results already achieved, Sibylla keeps being engaged in developing proprietary computing technology.

Development of transformative therapies for the treatment of worsening and acute decompensated heart failure

BIODOL Therapeutics is a biotech company developing first-in-class compounds for treating chronic pain. It is based on the discovery by Biodols scientists of the target FLT3, which is a master hub protein in the initiation and maintenance of neuropathic pain (Nature Communications 2018). Morevover, Biodol discovered that its FLT3 breakthrough platform will also help fighting the "Opioid Crisis"​ (patented but yet unpublished). Biodol has a series of FLT3 selective small-molecule extracellular antagonists. The Biodols FLT3 technological Platform is worldwide protected by 5 patents.

Augustine Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on the treatment of neuromuscular, neurodegenerative and cardio-metabolic diseases through its next-generation approach to selectively inhibit HDAC6. Augustine’s HDAC6 inhibitors have been purposefully designed to selectively inhibit HDAC6 while preserving its beneficial non-catalytic functions. Augustine’s lead program, AGT-100216, is the first selective HDAC6 inhibitor for long-term treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease. With its novel non-hydroxamate, non-hydrazide producing chemotype, Augustine’s HDAC6 approach is selective, avoids the limitations of other chemotypes, and built for chronic diseases. With this novel approach, the Company will also be targeting diseases beyond CMT, including neurodegenerative and cardio-metabolic diseases. Augustine Therapeutics was founded on the ground-breaking research of Prof. Ludo Van Den Bosch from the VIB-KU Leuven in Belgium. ——— *Disclaimer* ——— We wish to caution jobseekers that Augustine Therapeutics, only recruits for the positions that are posted on the company’s webpage and via the channels mentioned there. It will also not charge fees of any kind from candidates during the recruitment process. Any person or organization dealing with unauthorized parties is doing so at their own risk.

PRECIRIX® is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to improving the lives of cancer patients by developing novel targeted radiopharmaceuticals using camelid single domain antibody fragments. The company is advancing its lead product CAM-H2 through a Phase I/II clinical trial targeting HER2-positive tumors, while further progressing and broadening its oncology pipeline. PRECIRIX' technology platform allows for a theranostic approach, using the same molecule for patient selection (imaging) and therapy.

Aphea.Bio is dedicated to food security and ensuring a safe and healthy food chain. We aim to provide novel, science-based solutions to build the agriculture of the future: sustainable, reliable and profitable. Located in Gent, Belgium, we have a highly dedicated and qualified team of scientist and industry experts. Based on our unique high throughput R&D platform utilizing the untapped microbial space, we have been able to build a broad pipeline based on naturally occurring micro-organisms. Our solutions range from biostimulants to biocontrol, and focus mainly on row crops. Our key strength is flexibility, which allows us to quickly adapt to market needs and to provide tailored solutions. We believe that with a fresh and sincere spirit of innovation, result-driven science, and the courage to go off the beaten track, there is fertile ground to develop efficacious biological solutions to help complement or partially replace products in the major chemical indications.

OCTIMET oncology was founded in 2016 by Timothy Perera PhD, Ann Meulemans PhD, Paolo Comoglio, MD, PhD and Philip Owen. Headed by Dr. Timothy Perera (CEO), OCTIMET has licensed highly selective MET kinase inhibitors with clean safety profiles from Janssen Pharmaceutica and will advance the development of these molecules by employing innovative patient selection and pharmacodynamic biomarker-based strategies, as well as an innovative clinical development strategy, to provide differentiation both within the current treatment paradigms and from competitor agents using biomarker defined intelligent patient selection.

Step Pharma is the world leader in the discovery and development of inhibitors of CTPS1 (cytidine triphosphate synthase 1) for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. Step Pharma’s lead program dencatistat (STP938) is a first in class, potent, selective, oral inhibitor of CTPS1 with demonstrated anti-tumor activity. Dencatistat entered clinical development in 2022 in a PhI/II study for the treatment of relapsed and refractory T-cell and B-cell lymphoma. More recently a solid tumour study was started focused on ovarian cancer using the concept of synthetic lethality and biomarker selection of patients. This can ultimately be viewed as a tumour agnostic approach with ovarian cancer being the PoC indication and future plans to expand into other tumour types such as NSCLC with high prevalence of the biomarker.

Sibylla is an innovative start-up founded in 2017 as a spin-OFF of the INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) and the Trento and Perugia Universities. Its multidisciplinary team of co-founders has developed a pioneering Early Drug Discovery method that applies to the research and design of new drugs, effective against diseases so far incurable. Drug discovery is an extremely complex problem, therefore requiring innovation. Sibylla is a beautiful example of how innovation can be pushed forward by a multidisciplinary and agile team. Sibylla's approach is based on the possibility of simulating the folding pathway from the amino acid sequence as produced by the cells' ribosomes to the native state. Traditional pharmacological methods investigate the target proteins' interaction sites in their native, biologically active state. Novel methods act at the DNA level. Sibylla follows an alternative approach. We identify small molecules that bind to pockets found in the intermediate folding state. These pockets disappear in the native state, and that is why we may try to drug proteins which have been so far considered undruggable. Sibylla technology is called PPI-FIT (Pharmacological Protein Inactivation by Folding Intermediate Targeting). A molecule found through PPI-FIT would impair the folding of the protein, leading it to degradation. The overall effect is a selective reduction of the expression level of the target protein. The medical areas focused on by Sibylla's research include oncology and antibiotic resistance, although the technology can be applied to any therapeutic area. The company is developing a proprietary pipeline of potential drugs. We can also provide co-development or identifying potential drugs for pharmaceutical companies' specific targets. We recently signed a collaboration agreement with an important Pharma company. Besides the promising results already achieved, Sibylla keeps being engaged in developing proprietary computing technology.

Development of transformative therapies for the treatment of worsening and acute decompensated heart failure

BIODOL Therapeutics is a biotech company developing first-in-class compounds for treating chronic pain. It is based on the discovery by Biodols scientists of the target FLT3, which is a master hub protein in the initiation and maintenance of neuropathic pain (Nature Communications 2018). Morevover, Biodol discovered that its FLT3 breakthrough platform will also help fighting the "Opioid Crisis"​ (patented but yet unpublished). Biodol has a series of FLT3 selective small-molecule extracellular antagonists. The Biodols FLT3 technological Platform is worldwide protected by 5 patents.

Augustine Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on the treatment of neuromuscular, neurodegenerative and cardio-metabolic diseases through its next-generation approach to selectively inhibit HDAC6. Augustine’s HDAC6 inhibitors have been purposefully designed to selectively inhibit HDAC6 while preserving its beneficial non-catalytic functions. Augustine’s lead program, AGT-100216, is the first selective HDAC6 inhibitor for long-term treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease. With its novel non-hydroxamate, non-hydrazide producing chemotype, Augustine’s HDAC6 approach is selective, avoids the limitations of other chemotypes, and built for chronic diseases. With this novel approach, the Company will also be targeting diseases beyond CMT, including neurodegenerative and cardio-metabolic diseases. Augustine Therapeutics was founded on the ground-breaking research of Prof. Ludo Van Den Bosch from the VIB-KU Leuven in Belgium. ——— *Disclaimer* ——— We wish to caution jobseekers that Augustine Therapeutics, only recruits for the positions that are posted on the company’s webpage and via the channels mentioned there. It will also not charge fees of any kind from candidates during the recruitment process. Any person or organization dealing with unauthorized parties is doing so at their own risk.