Life science firm ValiRx (LON:VAL) has established a scientific advisory board (SAB) to support the next steps in the development of its technologies and products in cancer therapeutics and diagnostics.
The SAB will be instrumental in preparing to take current and future compounds into Phase I clinical trials.
ValiRx focuses on cancer diagnostics and therapeutics for personalised medicine.
Late preclinical studies into one of the company's lead therapeutics, VAL201, carried out in collaboration with Oxford University and reported last year, have firmly established a potentially important role for the compound in treating hormone induced refractory prostate cancer and other conditions of hormone induced uncontrolled cell growth including breast and ovarian cancer, among others.
ValiRx also reported the successful manufacture of the VAL201 compound to a regulatory compliant standard (GMP).
VAL201is currently undergoing regulatory toxicology studies and the GMP produced compound will allow completion in a timely manner.
The SAB includes three experienced specialists.
Professor Hilary Calvert, who has recently been appointed director of cancer drug discovery and development at the University College London Cancer Institute, is internationally known among medical oncologists for his seminal work on chemotherapy and the development of the Calvert formula, which has benefited countless patients around the world.
He has a longstanding interest in developing new drugs for cancer treatment and has been associated with several successful drugs currently used worldwide. These include carboplatin (for ovarian cancer), pemetrexed (for mesothelioma and lung cancer) and inhibitors of poly (ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) for familial breast and ovarian cancers.
He has previously worked in the Royal Marsden Hospital and the University of Newcastle (as professor of Medical Oncology).
As well as his new appointment at the UCL Cancer Institute, Professor Calvert will also take over as chair of the new agents committee at Cancer Research UK in December 2012.
He received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 from the British Oncological Association.
The second member of the SAB, Dr Richard Harbottle, is currently the group leader of gene therapy research in the section of molecular medicine at Imperial College London.
His research focuses on the development of DNA technologies for gene therapy. His group utilises state-of-the-art techniques in molecular and cellular biology and bio-imaging with an emphasis in gene delivery to pre-clinical model systems.
Harbottle is a founding member of the British Society for Gene Therapy and served as an elected member of its executive board since the inception of the society in 2003 until 2010. He is also an active member and participant of the American and European gene therapy societies and the American Association of Cancer Research.
Finally, Dr Jean-Frédéric Sauniere is currently medical oncologist at the Institut Paoli & Calmettes (IPC) in Marseille, France, where he coordinates the translational research and early clinical research activities of the Institute.
His role also involves patent filing and partnerships with academics and pharmaceutical companies. His expertise is in medical oncology and pharmacology.
Dr Sauniere brings 25 years of experience in drug development and business development. He has led early Phase I and Phase II studies in the area of oncology and metabolic diseases at Pfizer in the US.
He was also a senior executive in several early stage pharmaceutical companies in the US and CEO of Shogoo Pharmaceutical in Basel, Switzerland. He is also the holder of several drugs patents in oncology and metabolic disorders.
ValiRx chief executive Dr Satu Vainikka said:"With the company on the verge of clinical trials, the establishment of a scientific advisory board and the appointment to it of such internationally eminent scientists and cancer specialists will prove invaluable.
"I am delighted by the SAB's support for the progress we are seeing in developing a treatment against hormone induced tumour growth and associated conditions and I look forward to this progress moving to the next stage."
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ValiRx sets up scientific advisory board to support move to clinical trials
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