NeoPhore Limited, a cancer immuno-oncology company, today announced the appointment of Jeffrey Roix as Chief Executive Officer, with immediate effect.
Jeffrey brings with him over 10 years’ experience in drug discovery, having worked in academic, pharma and startup settings. He was previously Chief Operating Officer, at Cambridge-based PhoreMost Ltd, where he was responsible for launching company operations and building the company’s initial scientific and portfolio strategy. He was instrumental in setting up NeoPhore, which spun out of Phoremost with financing from Sixth Element Capital in November 2017.
Jeffrey has held various positions at institutions including Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, Constellation Pharmaceuticals and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge MA where he specialized in cancer biology and metabolism, with an emphasis in genetics and pharmacology. Jeffrey obtained his Bachleor’s degree in biology at the Harvard Extension School.
Commenting on the appointment, NeoPhore Chairman, Robert James, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Jeff to the NeoPhore management team and board at this exciting time for the Company. Jeff’s experience in preclinical discovery and clinical translation, as well as the time spent at PhoreMost will be invaluable as we build on the discoveries already made by PhoreMost and its collaborators as we develop novel small-molecule drugs to stimulate immunity in diverse cancers.”
Jeff Roix, CEO of NeoPhore, commented: “NeoPhore is creating drugs to elicit cancer immunity in a fundamental and new way, and our target rationale has already been proven directly in cancer patients treated with immunotherapy. I am very excited to be working with our team in our innovative venture to create a next generation of cancer immunotherapy medicines.”
NeoPhore, founded with Professor Alberto Bardelli and Giovanni Germano PhD and spun-out of PhoreMost Ltd with financing from Sixth Element Capital, is focused on the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapies to treat cancer through stimulation of the immune system. NeoPhore’s drugs are designed to promote sensitivity and create lasting efficacy in non-immunogenic and immunogenic cancer types, particularly in combination with immune checkpoint drugs. Their mechanism and activity is differentiated from many competing strategies for combination immune-oncology therapy: NeoPhore’s drugs are first- in-class inhibitors of mismatch DNA-repair, which clinical, genetic and laboratory evidence suggests is a fundamental approach to enhance cancer immunity. Professor Bardelli’s ground- breaking mechanistic insights into dynamic neoantigen evolution and cancer immunology were recently featured as a research manuscript published in the journal Nature.