Maxion Therapeutics (“Maxion”), the biotechnology company developing antibody-based drugs for previously untreatable ion channel- and GPCR-driven diseases, announced today that Dr Arndt Schottelius has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer, effective on 1 March 2024, to take the Company to its next phase of development. The appointment is part of a planned succession process, with co-founder Dr John McCafferty transitioning from Chief Executive Officer to Chief Technology Officer after having co-founded Maxion, raised $16 million in initial funding, and established its cutting-edge KnotBody® technology.
Prior to joining Maxion, Arndt has served as the Chief Scientific Officer of Affimed and held executive leadership roles as Executive Vice President of R&D at Kymab (acquired by Sanofi) and Chief Development Officer at MorphoSys as well as senior leadership roles at Genentech. During his 25-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, he established a successful track record of advancing therapeutics from research into early and late-stage clinical developments and in building valuable portfolios of drug candidates and pharma partnerships. Arndt has extensive experience in discovery, project and portfolio management, preclinical and clinical development, FDA negotiations and regulatory filings as well as business development.
Arndt studied medicine in Freiburg, Germany and at the Royal Free Hospital in London. He holds PhD and MD degrees from the University of Freiburg, Germany and a Habilitation in Experimental Medicine degree from Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich. Arndt subsequently practised medicine as a resident physician in gastroenterology at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin in Berlin, Germany, and held a research fellowship from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before working in the pharmaceutical industry.
Eva-Lotta Allan, Chair of the Board of Directors commented:
“It is with great pleasure that I, on behalf of the Board, welcome Arndt to Maxion. As we are expanding our portfolio of KnotBodies and driving our lead programme towards the clinic, his leadership and drug development expertise will be invaluable. I look forward to working with Arndt to shape the vision and drive the Company forward.”
Eva-Lotta Allan
Maxion Therapeutics team.
Dr John McCafferty, current CEO added:
“I am proud of what we have achieved so far at Maxion, and am pleased to welcome Arndt to the team to guide the transition of the Company into the next stage of our development. We have a unique KnotBody technology which addresses the key challenges in ion channel and GPCR antibody drug discovery and our lead programme is rapidly advancing towards preclinical development. With Arndt’s appointment, I am excited to be dedicating more time to further advance the underlying KnotBody technology and enabling new opportunities. The team is keen to work closely with Arndt and benefit from his extensive experience in antibody drug development to ensure we reach our ambitious goals.”
Dr John McCafferty
Dr Arndt Schottelius, incoming CEO said:
“Maxion’s truly revolutionary technology has the unique opportunity to deliver first-in-class and best-in-class protein therapeutics to treat ion channel and GPCR-driven diseases. I am delighted to join Maxion Therapeutics at such an exciting time in the Company’s development. I look forward to working with the leadership team and the Board to maximise the value of the Company’s proprietary KnotBody technology.”
Dr Arndt Schottelius
About Maxion Therapeutics
Maxion Therapeutics is developing novel biologic medicines for ion channels and GPCRs, which are critical cell surface proteins involved in a wide range of untreated or poorly-treated diseases, including autoimmune conditions and chronic pain. Maxion is applying its patented KnotBody® technology to generate potent, selective, and long-acting antibody-like drugs. KnotBody technology combines the benefits of naturally occurring mini-proteins, which have ion channel modulating activity, with antibodies, using state-of-the-art phage and mammalian display technologies. The resulting fusion protein, which combines the drug-like benefits of both molecules, helps address key challenges in ion channel and GPCR drug discovery.
Based at Unity Campus, near Cambridge, UK, Maxion Therapeutics is driven by an experienced team with an excellent track record. CEO and co-founder Dr John McCafferty (previously co-founder of Cambridge Antibody Technology and IONTAS) and CSO and co-founder Dr Aneesh Karatt Vellatt (also co-founder of IONTAS) co-invented KnotBody technology. Dr McCafferty previously co-invented antibody phage display, which was the subject of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to his co-inventor Sir Gregory Winter. The Company is currently developing its KnotBody pipeline, including candidates with significant potential to be first-in-class and best-in-class therapeutics.
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