RxCelerate assembles SAB for its Biologics Discovery Unit
The SAB will be chaired by RxBiologics co-founder and world-renowned antibody engineer Jonny Finlay.
He was responsible for the initial design of the Galaxy® display library platform that RxBiologics launched in February 2021, which incorporates the world’s first in-line optimisation technology that mimics the way B cells generate high affinity and specificity antibodies in vivo.
As a result, Galaxy® has repeatedly delivered clinic-ready antibody clones straight from the library.
Joining Jonny Finlay on the SAB are Dr Alex Lugovskoy, CEO of Watertown, MA-based clustering antibody therapeutics company Diagonal Therapeutics; Dr Greg Carven, Partner at US seed-focused venture capital firm Curie.Bio and formerly CSO at Scholar Rock (NASDAQ: $SRRK); Dr Johan Fransson, Executive Director at Merck Research Labs (MRL); and Dr Orla Cunningham, Chief Scientific Officer at Granular Therapeutics Ltd.
“We are delighted to welcome so many leaders in the field of antibody discovery and development to the RxBiologics SAB,” said Dr Jill Reckless, CEO at RxCelerate.
“Their experience will be invaluable as we continue to innovate at RxBiologics. Technology is moving forward at an incredible pace, fusing advances in artificial intelligence with smart experimental platforms like Galaxy® to identify antibodies with ever more complex and exciting pharmacologies faster than ever before.”
The SAB will meet at least annually to help guide RxBiologics’ strategy and ensure that their technology remains the best option for clients seeking to discover new therapeutic antibodies.
Finlay added: “We are all antibody discoverers at heart, so together we can create a ‘wish list’ for anyone looking for better ways to discover and develop novel therapeutic candidates.
“By assembling some of the best minds in our industry we can really push the boundaries of what it is possible to imagine - and then challenge the team at RxBiologics to deliver those capabilities.”
Since its foundation in 2018, RxBiologics has more than tripled in size, and continues to enjoy rapid revenue growth - projected to increase by more than 50 per cent in 2025. As well as antibody discovery using the Galaxy® platform, RxBiologics offers a range of other services to support the discovery and development of biological drugs, including bespoke antibody/antigen optimisation, expression and purification, developability screens and comprehensive antibody characterisation capabilities.