Bicycle Therapeutics at the double with new board directors
CEO Kevin Lee believes the double appointment can prove transformative for the business. He says: "We are thrilled to welcome Roger and Hervé to our Board as we make strong progress across our pipeline and anticipate numerous upcoming milestones.
"As prominent leaders in oncology research, drug development and commercialisation who have delivered many transformative cancer medicines to patients, Roger and Hervé will add valuable perspectives and expertise
"Together, with our entire board of accomplished global oncology leaders and our dedicated team, we are executing on our strategy to develop next-generation targeted therapies with the potential to help patients not only live longer but also live well.”
Dansey currently serves on the Boards of Inovio Inc. and Ottimo Pharma. Previously, he was interim chief oncology officer and chief development officer of Pfizer Oncology. He also served as chief medical officer and president of research and development at Seagen prior to Pfizer’s acquisition of the company. Earlier in his career, he held senior leadership positions at Merck, Gilead Sciences and Amgen.
Hoppenot is an adviser to the CEO and serves on the Board of Incyte after 11 years as the company’s chairman and CEO. Under his leadership, Incyte tripled the number of clinical candidates, established an international presence in 15 countries and grew revenues from $350 million to $4.2 billion.
He also serves on the Boards of Pierre Fabre Laboratories and N-Power Medicine. Previously, Hoppenot was president of Novartis Oncology, originally joining as chief commercial officer, overseeing the industry’s largest oncology pipeline. He started his career at Rhône Poulenc, later known as Aventis, where he served in several senior roles of increasing responsibility, including as vice president of oncology and head of the US oncology business unit.
Bicycle is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing a novel class of medicines, referred to as Bicycle® molecules, for diseases that are underserved by existing therapeutics. Bicycle molecules are fully synthetic short peptides constrained with small molecule scaffolds to form two loops that stabilise their structural geometry.
This constraint facilitates target binding with high affinity and selectivity, making Bicycle molecules attractive candidates for drug development. The company is evaluating zelenectide pevedotin (formerly BT8009), a Bicycle® Drug Conjugate (BDC®) targeting Nectin-4, a well-validated tumour antigen; BT5528, a BDC molecule targeting EphA2, a historically undruggable target; and BT7480, a Bicycle Tumor-Targeted Immune Cell Agonist® (Bicycle TICA®) targeting Nectin-4 and agonising CD137, in company-sponsored clinical trials.
It is also developing Bicycle® Radioconjugates (BRC®) for radiopharmaceutical use and, through various partnerships, is exploring the use of its technology to develop therapies for diseases beyond cancer.
Headquartered at Granta Park in Cambridge, UK, the company has many key functions and members of its leadership team located in Cambridge, Mass.
