TOKYO
PeptiDream Inc., a public Tokyo-based biopharmaceutical company (PeptiDream) (TOKYO:4587) announced today, the appointment of Dr. Keiichi Masuya as Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Dr. Masuya has had a distinguished scientific career, most recently serving as “Novartis Leading Scientist” at Novartis in Basel, Switzerland. Dr. Masuya has worked for Novartis for the past 14 years, 10 of those years in Basel, Switzerland and 4 years at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research in Tsukuba, Japan. Dr. Masuya led the project team through the discovery and development of Zykadia (ceritnib, LDK378) for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which received FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation in 2013 and was approved in early 2014. He also led the project team in the discovery and development of CGM097, for the treatment of advanced solid tumors, which is currently in Phase I testing. Dr. Masuya is a leading expert in the field of PPI inhibitors (protein-protein interaction inhibitors), and has an exceptional track record of discovering and bringing lead candidates into clinical development.
At PeptiDream, in his role as COO, Dr. Masuya will head PeptiDream’s in house discovery and development programs, and in addition, manage PeptiDream’s Japan discovery collaborations. Dr. Masuya’s extensive experience in drug development with significantly elevate the ability of PeptiDream to bring its in house discovered peptides into the clinic at an accelerated pace and with greater efficiency. Dr. Masuya received his Ph.D. from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1998. Dr. Masuya has received numerous awards, including the VIVA award as Novartis’s leading scientist, and is the author of numerous scientific papers and inventor of more than 30 patents.
[Comments from Kiichi Kubota, CEO of PeptiDream Inc]
“We are very excited to have been able to successfully recruit Dr. Masuya to PeptiDream and believe his exceptional drug discovery track record and experience will prove invaluable to PeptiDream as we look to accelerate the development of our own in house discovered peptide drug candidates and rapidly advance them into the clinic.”
[Comments from Dr. Keiichi Masuya]
“PeptiDream has established itself as the world leader in the discovery of peptide-based therapeutics, an accomplishment well-recognized among global pharmaceutical companies, and exemplified in PeptiDream’s impressive list of global discovery partners. I greatly look forward to joining PeptiDream and use my experience to accelerate discovery and develop efforts at PeptiDream and drive internal programs into the clinic”.
