OTTAWA, Canada, August 6, 2019 (Newswire.com) – Orion Biotechnology Canada Ltd. today announced that Sir Gregory Winter FRS has agreed to chair the Orion Biotechnology Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Sir Gregory Winter FRS is a molecular biologist best known for his work on protein engineering and developing technologies to make therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Winter was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the technology that led to the creation of Humira, the first fully human mAb to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is now the world’s top-selling pharmaceutical drug. He founded three start-up companies to develop therapeutic drugs based on his inventions: Cambridge Antibody Technology, Domantis, and, more recently, Bicycle Therapeutics. His research career has been based almost entirely at the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the MRC Centre for Protein Engineering in Cambridge, England. He is a Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge and was Master of the College from 2012-2019.
“The appointment of Sir Gregory to chair the Orion Biotechnology SAB is an important milestone in our company’s development,” said Dr. Ian McGowan, Chief Medical Officer for Orion Biotechnology. “We are delighted that a scientist of such international stature is willing to work with us on accelerating the development of chemokine analogues as immunotherapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer, as well as other indications, including multiple sclerosis and HIV prevention.”
Mark Groper, President and CEO of Orion Biotechnology added, “I have no doubt that Orion Biotechnology will benefit enormously from Sir Gregory’s experience both as a scientist and a pioneer in biotechnology. His guidance on the optimal development of our innovative drug discovery platform will be of critical importance in defining our overall corporate strategy.”
Sir Gregory commented, “Chemokine analogues are an exciting new class of drug and have the potential to make a significant contribution to the range of immunotherapeutic agents being tested in patients with advanced cancer. I am looking forward to working with the Orion team on the development of their lead product, OB-002, as well as exploring the ability of their drug discovery platform to generate new chemokine analogues.”
