jemma gatliff, keregen
TRANSCRIPT
àUK-based early stage drug discovery and àdevelopment company
àUCL School of Pharmacy Start-up/Future Spin-out
àFounded in 2015
àOperating out of UCL/Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst
Keregen Therapeutics:
GEOFF WELLS, Chair of SAB
Management Team
JEMMA GATLIFF, CEO NICK GEORGAKOPOULOS, CSO
Industry Advisors
ILAN ZIPKIN Takeda Ventures Inc. SAM FAZELI Bloomberg ANDY SANDHAM Bicycle Therapeutics/ 14M Genomics KEITH POWELL Canbex Therapeutics ROD PORTER Rod Porter Consulting
Scientific Partners
ALBENA DINKOVA-KOSTOVA University of Dundee BIRGITT SCHUELE Parkinson’s Institute, CA JEFF JOHNSON University of Wisconsin KENNETH SMITH Institute of Neurology, UCL TILO KUNATH University of Edinburgh
àFirst-in-class non-covalent small àmolecule Nrf2 activators
àDisease modifying therapeutic àintervention in Parkinson’s
àSafety profile – better or equal to àmarketed symptomatic therapy
àOral once daily route of àadministration
Target Product Profile:
Developing precision medicines for patients with
high unmet clinical need
PATIENT FOCUS • More than five million
people worldwide have Parkinson’s Disease
• Long-term progressive illness
• No disease-modifying treatments
MULTIDISCIPLINARY UNIT • Structure-based drug
design to proof-of-concept biological validation
R&D DRIVERS • Targets with genetic
evidence are more successful in drug discovery
The journey so far…
2012/13: Nick begins PhD with Geoff. Jemma meets Nick
2014: Enter OneStart
Feb – May 15: Mentoring from Ilan Zipkin and others from OneStart
May 15: Winners of OneStart £100k prize
Oct 16 Full-‐Sme Keregen
Jan 16 – Early for market à Falls outside typical TTO model à UCL/SBC incubator
March-‐April 16: 4 new FTEs
Dec 16 – Keregen Incorporated
May 16: Move to SBC
Accelerator Programs
BUILD A NETWORK • Advisors and champions
are essential
• Get advice from experienced people
• It takes many people to
build a company e.g. finance, legal, scientists, HR
LEARN THE LINGO • Equip yourself with
business terminology • Understand the market
opportunity
• Where does your product fit in?
PITCH PERFECT • Develop your business
plan
• 1 min, 3 min, 5 min, 20 min pitches
Aligning with academia early on
WORK SPACE • Universities have start-
up space e.g. UCL & Cambridge @ SBC
• Access to equipment
• Existing infrastructure
RECRUITING GROUND • Stay in the loop with
academic research
• Highly skilled personnel on your door step
MAXIMISE • Non-dilutive funding
opportunities
• Collaborative projects: continued pipeline