BRISBANE, Calif., Sept. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nitrase Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company deploying its NITROME platform to build a pipeline of therapies targeting nitrases, a new class of enzymes discovered in-house that are involved in a broad variety of diseases, today announced the company has appointed Arun K. Kashyap, Ph.D., a 25-year biopharmaceutical leader and drug developer specializing in cancer therapies, to the newly created position of senior vice president of oncology.
“We are happy to welcome Arun to lead our oncology pipeline, which was recently launched based on our discovery that nitrases and their nitro-substrates play important roles in cancer biology and escape from immune vigilance,” said Pierre Beaurang, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Nitrase Therapeutics. “Arun is the consummate drug discovery expert and scientist, and his decades of industry experience in building novel pipelines in oncology, is precisely the expertise needed to expeditiously translate our breakthrough discoveries into therapies for patients.”
Dr. Kashyap has more than 25 years of experience as a leading drug discovery and early development expert in the biotherapeutics industry. He was previously the vice president of research at Arch Oncology where he directed the strategy and operations of discovery and preclinical drug development. Additionally, he oversaw portfolio management and intellectual property contributions, as well as academic and industry collaborations. At Dren Bio, Dr. Kashyap was a senior member of the founding scientific team responsible for leading the research department in the discovery and validation of antibody targets. He served in a similar capacity at Compugen, where he provided strategic and operational leadership for their therapeutic pipeline and platform technologies, including overseeing a multifunctional research group managing antibody discovery and protein science. During his tenures at Protagonist Therapeutics and Sea Lane Biotechnologies, Dr. Kashyap led discovery and preclinical efforts aimed at technology development and pipeline expansion. Dr. Kashyap obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California in Santa Cruz and his A.B. in Zoology at the University of California in Berkeley.
Dr. Kashyap added, “I am delighted and excited to join Nitrase Therapeutics to lead its oncology efforts. We have a completely untapped opportunity to discover and advance novel, differentiated and unique therapies targeting previously unrecognized nitrases and nitro-substrates that have a role in cancer onset and progression.”
Irene Griswold-Prenner, Ph.D., founder and chief scientific officer of Nitrase Therapeutics, added, “I am thrilled to have Arun’s expertise on our scientific leadership team. With the recent additions of Arun, as well as Frank Kayser, Ph.D., as the vice president of drug discovery and Sheerin Shahidi-Latham, Ph.D., as the vice president of pre-clinical development, it is clear that we are attracting top talent to lead the advancement of our cutting-edge science and novel programs.”
About Nitrase Therapeutics, Inc.
Nitrase Therapeutics is a pioneering biopharmaceutical company deploying its unique NITROME platform to unlock the therapeutic potential of nitrases, a new class of enzymes that it discovered, to develop a pipeline of therapies against a broad range of diseases. The medicines that Nitrase Therapeutics is developing will target these enzymes and potentially help slow or halt the progression of numerous diseases in which nitrases and nitro-substrates play a role, including Parkinson’s, cancer, immunological and fibrotic diseases. Nitrase Therapeutics (under the former name Nitrome Biosciences) has been widely recognized and has won multiple awards including the prestigious Target Advancement grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF). Nitrase Therapeutics is located in Brisbane, CA, and its investors include Sofinnova Partners, AbbVie Ventures, Dementia Discovery Fund, Bristol Myers Squibb, Mission Bay Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.nitrasetx.com.
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