About Us
Celleron Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on new and innovative cancer treatments.
Celleron’s Vision is to build a global pipeline of clinical products which are safe and effective in unmet indications, supported by a precision medicine platform.
It has two registrational study assets, zabinostat and emactuzumab, which offer near term revenues. It is also in active discussion with major multinational pharmaceutical companies to acquire new assets for clinical development and commercialisation.
Executive team
Professor Nick La Thangue
MA MSc PhD FRSE FMedSci
Chief Executive Officer
Nick has over 30 years of experience in biotech entrepreneurship, translational cancer science and drug development. He founded Prolifix focused on cell cycle therapeutics, where he acted as CSO and CEO until its merger with TopoTarget which led to a highly successful IPO. He founded Oxford Cancer Biomarkers, which continues to develop a portfolio of marketed precision cancer medicine tests, where he held senior positions including CEO and CSO. He has been CEO at Celleron Therapeutics developing precision cancer drugs since the company was founded. Nick is Professor of Cancer Biology at Oxford University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the European Academy of Cancer Science, the Lister Institute and Professorial Fellow of Linacre College Oxford. He has over 200 publications and is an inventor on numerous patents.
Professor David Kerr
CBE MA MSc MD PhD DSc FRCP FRCGP FACP FMedSci
Chief Medical Officer
David is a senior clinician with more than 30 years experience in cancer treatment. He has a strong record in clinical research and has built numerous life sciences companies over the years, including Cobra, Therexsys, Oxford Cancer Biomarkers, Celleron and SynOx Therapeutics. David contributes to Oxford as Professor of Cancer Medicine, where he has worked with colleagues to build a new Institute for Cancer Medicine and Cancer Hospital. He is an Honorary Professor of Oncology in Sichuan, Suchow, Xiamen, Shanghai, and Seoul National Universities. He has published over 400 papers and has an H-Index of 95 associated with over 45,000 citations. He was elected President of the European Society of Medical Oncology in 2010. He is Editor in Chief of The Oxford Textbooks of Oncology and Cancer Biology, was Editor in Chief of Annals of Oncology, established the Journal of Global Oncology and has initiated a new course in Oxford on Global Health Diplomacy.
Bill Fleming
MA (Law) ACMA
Chief Financial Officer
Bill’s career spans over 25 years in a broad range of finance positions. Holding a law degree from Cambridge University and as a qualified ACMA, Bill has accumulated international FD/CFO experience in small venture-backed companies and large blue chips. Bill served as European Finance Director for Visible Genetics, a pioneering company in the field of nucleic acid diagnostics, subsequently holding senior finance positions for Bayer Healthcare in Europe and the USA. Bill played a leading role in securing investment for Oxford University spinout Oxitec and in its successful acquisition by Intrexon Corporation. Bill actively supports the Biotech industry with roles including Chair of OBN, and engagements with Celleron Therapeutics, Grey Wolf Therapeutics and Ultromics Ltd.
Collette Coll
MBA
Operations Director
Collette a highly qualified and experienced business leader. She has held several management positions in both industry and academia throughout her career. Her recent experience includes knowledge and technology transfer in several Oxford University spinouts and patent portfolio management. She demonstrates leadership in strategic planning and implementation of cross-functional corporate and business activities.
Simon Cook
MSc CSci MIBMS
Clinical Research Director
Simon Cook is a Chartered Scientist and Member of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, with 32 years of experience in running international clinical trials in all phases (I-IV). Initially graduating in Pharmacology from the University of Strathclyde, he has since become a specialist in the management of commercial drug development to GCP standards and has written two books on the subject. He began his career with manufacturers such as Beechams (now GSK) and then crossed into the CRO business: managing clinical trials at companies such as G H Besselaar Associates (now Covance), Quintiles (now IQVIA), and Kendle International (now Syneos Health). Since 2016 he has specialised in researching novel anti-cancer agents within the biotech sector, at Celleron Therapeutics, Oxford; and latterly SynOx Therapeutics.
Shawn S Zheng
DPhil MBA FRSB
Business and Development Director
Shawn is a business development professional with experience spanning across a number of Oxford University spinouts, including SynOx, Celleron, and Argonaut Therapeutics. He has a strong background in cancer research and was formerly a principal investigator of a joint drug discovery programme between MSD and A*STAR Singapore. Shawn was educated at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge where he received his DPhil and MBA degrees, respectively, and underwent postdoctoral training with Sir David Lane FRS. He is a lead author in a number of top-tier scientific publications and a recipient of multiple prestigious scholarships. He is a Visiting Fellow at Linacre College Oxford and an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.
Board
James Noble
Chairman
James Noble MA FCA has held a number of high-profile positions in his long and successful career in the Biotech sector, most recently as Co-Founder and CEO of Adaptimmune Therapeutics. He was also the founding CEO of Immunocore Ltd. James currently serves as a non-executive director of Adaptimmune and is Deputy Chairman of NASDAQ-listed GW Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, James held a wide range of non-executive roles, including on the Boards of Medigene, Powderject and Oxford Glycosciences. He was previously CFO at British Biotech, where he took the company public in London and on NASDAQ and was formerly a director at the investment bank, Kleinwort Benson. James has extensive experience of both private and public sector markets.
Sangwoo Lee
Director
Sangwoo is the Director of Korean Investment Partner’s US offices, based in Silicon Valley, with worldwide experience in development of investment portfolios. Sangwoo has 18 years industry experience, prior to this, both in corporate and new venture environments, including roles with Samsung Electronics, Dasan Networks, Neomtel and Polidigm.
Richard Taylor
MA ACMA
Non-Executive Director
MD at GRE Investment Advisors. Former Head of Investment Banking, Corporate Finance and Capital Markets at CLSA. 30 years investment banking experience in London and Hong Kong. Completed more than 200 transactions raising in excess of US$200b. MA from Oxford University.MD at GRE Investment Advisors. Former Head of Investment Banking, Corporate Finance and Capital Markets at CLSA. 30 years investment banking experience in London and Hong Kong. Completed more than 200 transactions raising in excess of US$200b. MA from Oxford University.
Professor Declan Doogan
Chief Scientific and Clinical Advisor
Declan has 30 years experience in drug development and has worked with a number of new drug development companies. He was the Global Head of Development at Pfizer until he retired from that role in 2007. Since then Declan has been President of R&D and then CEO at Amarin. He is currently the CEO of Portage Biotech, a portfolio company developing new drugs using novel protein transporters and the Chair of Biohaven, a spin out from Yale that specialises in psychiatric diseases. He has held a number of visiting professorships at Harvard School of Public Health, Glasgow University Medical School and Kitasato University (Tokyo), where he has been involved with development of strategies to enhance efficiency of the R&D process.
Strategic Collaborations
Global Pharma
Celleron has acquired global rights to zabinostat (CXD101) through an exclusive world-wide license agreement from AstraZeneca
SynOx Therapeutics (a Celleron spin-out) has acquired global rights to emactuzumab through an exclusive world-wide license agreement from Roche
Asian Healthcare
Celleron has a sub-licensing and partnership agreement with Nuance Biotech to develop zabinostat in China and South Africa
Celleron has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Genor Biopharma relevant to the clinical development of zabinostat
Oxford
Celleron has established a unique partnership with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust to facilitate its clinical trials and develop its precision medicine platform
SynOx Therapeutics
SynOx Therapeutics is a Celleron spin-out with a focus to deliver marketing approval for emactuzumab in diffuse tenosynovial giant cell tumour.
In December 2020, SynOx acquired a world-wide exclusive license for emactuzumab from Roche, and received €37 million investment from HealthCap, Medicxi, Forbion and Gimv.
It is currently engaging in an Orphan Registration Trial for emactuzumab.
