SciRhom Announces Addition to the Management Team

To optimize management expertise for the next phase of development, Dr. Jan Poth will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer in advancing the company’s proprietary anti-iRhom2 antibodies.

MUNICH, Germany, May 12, 2022 / B3C newswire / -- SciRhom GmbH, a therapeutic antibody developer, announced today that Dr. Jan Poth has joined its management team as new Chief Executive Officer. He will take over this role from Dr. Jens Ruhe, co-founder of SciRhom. Dr. Ruhe will remain with the company as Chief Operating Officer.

Dr. Poth brings a wealth of international experience to his new position at SciRhom. His career includes more than 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, where he held various positions across the pharma value chain, including Therapeutic Area Head Immunology at Boehringer Ingelheim. Numerous compounds were successfully advanced from preclinical stage into late clinical development under his leadership.

“I am fascinated by the therapeutic opportunities these first-in-class antibodies could bring to patients.“ says Dr. Jan Poth. “The achievements and the progress made so far by this passionate and agile team here at SciRhom are truly impressive. So, I am very happy that I can add my experience and help to further advance our therapeutic candidates.”

“SciRhom is moving into an exciting new development phase for our antibodies,” explains Chief Operating Officer Dr. Jens Ruhe. “We are delighted to have convinced Jan to join us. He complements our collective skills and experiences, putting us in a very strong position to drive forward our recently nominated clinical candidate towards the clinic.”

In early April, SciRhom nominated the anti-iRhom2 antibody it will advance into clinical development. This first-in-class drug candidate demonstrates outstanding preclinical efficacy in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and fulfills all criteria for successful pharmaceutical development. Having completed the comprehensive characterization of this molecule, SciRhom has entered into IND-enabling activities. As part of these activities, it has closed an agreement with a top-tier biopharmaceutical manufacturer for the CMC development of its clinical candidate.

About iRhom2
TACE (TNF-alpha converting enzyme or ADAM17) controls several major signaling pathways, including TNF-alpha, IL-6, and EGFR signaling. TACE has therefore been considered a potential target to block pro-inflammatory pathways, but direct inhibition of TACE causes severe side effects, such as skin and intestinal lesions. The recent discovery that iRhom2 (inactive Rhomboid 2, RHBDF2) simultaneously regulates the TACE-dependent release of TNF-alpha and of other pro-inflammatory molecules from immune cells provides the exciting opportunity to target the pro-inflammatory activities of TACE while preserving its protective functions. Furthermore, numerous new research studies suggest that iRhom2 is an attractive emerging target for a broad range of therapeutic areas, including immunology, inflammation, oncology, infectious and metabolic diseases.

About SciRhom GmbH
SciRhom GmbH, based in IZB Martinsried, Germany, is a biotech company that translates science into the preclinical and early clinical development of novel biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of life-threatening autoimmune diseases. Based on longstanding academic research conducted at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and a well-established network of experts, SciRhom was founded in 2016 through a collaboration between academic and industry scientists with profound experience in antibody development. Since then, the company has developed first-in-class anti-iRhom2 antibodies and nominated a candidate for clinical studies. Four comprehensive patent families cover the anti-iRhom2 antibodies and iRhom2-target epitopes, securing exclusivity and protection against me-too drugs. To date, SciRhom has successfully acquired seed funding from the High-Tech Gruenderfonds (HTGF), Hospital for Special Surgery, and other institutional and private investors.

Contact

SciRhom GmbH
Dr. Jan Poth
+ 49 (0)89 614 2412 36
info@SciRhom.com

Keywords: Autoimmune Diseases; ADAM17 protein, human; Adam17 protein, mouse; iRhom2 protein; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Signal Transduction; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antibodies, Neutralizing; Arthritis, Rheumatoid; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Glomerulonephritis; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Biological Products; Germany

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