Artios Pharma Announces Appointment of Dr. Ian Smith as Chief Medical Officer

CAMBRIDGE, England, April 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Artios Pharma Limited (Artios), a leading DNA Damage Response (DDR) company developing a broad pipeline of innovative treatments for cancer, today announces the appointment of Ian Smith, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Smith will assume responsibility for leading Artios's overall preclinical and clinical development strategy, regulatory, and medical activities. He will work in tandem with and report directly to Niall Martin, Chief Executive Officer, and join the company's executive leadership team.

Artios also announces the formation of a new Clinical Advisory Board with the appointment of world leading clinical oncologists: Professor Jonathan Ledermann (UCL, London), Professor Johann de Bono (The Institute of Cancer Research, London), Professor Andrew Tutt (KCL and the ICR, London), Professor Kevin Harrington (ICR, London), and Professor Geoff Shapiro (Dana-Farber, US). Members will provide invaluable scientific and clinical expertise and guidance to the Artios management team and Board as the company progresses its discovery programmes, including its Polymerase theta (Polθ) programme, towards the clinic.

Commenting on today's announcement, Niall Martin said: "I would like to welcome Ian to the Artios management team. Ian brings a wealth of experience in advancing oncology compounds from early to late stage clinical development and through to market. With his expertise, and the guidance we will receive from our newly formed Clinical Advisory Board, Artios is in a strong position to accelerate the development of its pipeline of highly promising first-in-class DDR therapies."

Dr. Smith joins Artios from Eli Lilly where, as a Senior Medical Director he was responsible for the successful clinical development and worldwide regulatory approval of key breakthrough oncology medicines in multiple indications. Prior to Eli Lilly, Ian spent eight years at AstraZeneca where he was involved in the early clinical development of several oncology compounds, and led a cross portfolio team for breast cancer, and as Global Clinical Team Leader was responsible for the development of lead oncology drugs within the Global Medicines Development Division. Prior to AstraZeneca Ian spent four years at Eli Lilly as a Medical Advisor and Associate Medical Director in oncology.

Before joining the pharmaceutical industry, Ian spent 10 years in clinical-academic training in oncology and radiology at the University of Aberdeen where he obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery.

Dr. Smith, newly appointed Chief Medical Officer commented: "The Artios pipeline offers one of the most exciting approaches to cancer treatment. I look forward to working with the rest of the management team and world-leading Clinical Advisory Board, to progress our pipeline of DDR therapies, particularly Polθ which has multiple opportunities to treat some difficult cancers, providing new treatment options for patients."

The Clinical Advisory Board members include:

Professor Jonathan Ledermann (UCL, London)

Jonathan Ledermann is Professor of Medical Oncology in the UCL Cancer Institute and Director of Cancer Research UK and UCL Cancer Trials Centre. He is an Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology at UCL Hospitals. He trained in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology in London and in Toronto, Canada. He specialises in Gynaecological Cancer treatment and research and has led many national and international clinical trials. He was formerly a member of the European Medical Agency Specialist Advisory Committee for Oncology. He is a council member of the European Society for Gynaecological Oncology and is on the Editorial Board of several cancer journals. He has published widely on his research and given lectures at many international meetings.

Professor Johann de Bono (The Institute of Cancer Research, London)

Johann de Bono is Regius Professor of Cancer Research and Head of the Division of Clinical Studies at the ICR, and an international expert in the development of molecularly targeted cancer therapies against adult cancers. He runs one of the world's largest phase I clinical trials units for cancer and has also led phase III trials for prostate cancer drugs. He graduated from the University of Glasgow medical school in 1989. He was awarded a four-year Cancer Research Campaign Clinical Fellowship, which allowed him to pursue a PhD between 1993–97.

Professor Andrew Tutt (King's College London and The Institute of Cancer Research, London)

Andrew Tutt is Professor of Breast Oncology and Head of the Division of Breast Cancer Research and Director of the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research and Guy's Hospital King's College London. He is a Clinician Scientist with the Laboratory and Clinical Trials programme, and a Consultant Clinical Oncologist. Professor Tutt has developed a translational laboratory for triple negative breast cancer. He leads a clinical trial programme focusing on TNBC and cancers associated with functional deficiencies in BRCA1 and BRCA, having led international Phase II and III trials for BRCA1/BRCA2-associated malignancy. He qualified in medicine in 1990.

Professor Kevin Harrington (The Institute of Cancer Research, London)

Kevin Harrington is Professor of Biological Cancer Therapies at The Institute of Cancer Research and an honorary consultant oncologist at The Royal Marsden. Professor Harrington was appointed as Joint Head of the ICR's Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging in 2013. He specialises in developing new treatments using biologically targeted agents (such as viruses, antibodies and small molecules) that selectively destroy cancer cells.

Professor Harrington studied medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and began focusing on head and neck cancer while a PhD student at Hammersmith Hospital. He completed postdoctoral research in molecular medicine at the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, before joining the ICR in 2001 as Team Leader in Targeted Therapy within the Section of Cell and Molecular Biology.

Professor Geoff Shapiro (Dana-Farber, Boston, US)

Geoff Shapiro is Director of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Early Drug Development Center, Clinical Director of the Center for DNA Damage and Repair and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Shapiro directs both basic and translational research on cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, as well as inhibitors of DNA repair. In addition, he also leads multiple early phase clinical studies of inhibitors of signal transduction, cell cycle and DNA repair, used alone, in targeted combinations or in combination with immune checkpoint blockade in patients with advanced solid tumours. He is the Principal Investigator on the NCI-CTEP grant supporting the activities of the DF/HCC in the Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network (ETCTN). Dr. Shapiro received his PhD in 1987 and his MD in 1988 from Cornell University, followed by postgraduate training in internal medicine at Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, where he served as chief medical resident.

About Artios Pharma Limited

Artios is a leading DNA Damage Response (DDR) company focused on developing first-in-class treatments for cancer. The Company, founded by SV Health Investors in 2016, is led by an experienced scientific and leadership team with proven expertise in DDR drug discovery. It has a unique partnership with Cancer Research UK (CRUK), and collaborations with leading DNA repair researchers worldwide, such as The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and the National Centre for Biomolecular Research at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic. Artios is building a pipeline of next-generation DDR programmes to target hard to treat cancers. Backed by blue chip investors including: Arix Bioscience plc - Artios' largest shareholder, SV Health Investors, M Ventures, IP Group plc, AbbVie Ventures, Andera Partners (formerly EdRIP), LSP, Pfizer Ventures and Novartis Venture Fund (NVF). Artios is based at the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge, UK. www.artiospharma.com

For more information about Artios Pharma Ltd., please contact:

Artios Pharma Ltd.
Niall Martin
Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +44-(0)1223-804180

Media & IR Enquiries

Optimum Strategic Communications 
Mary Clark/ Eva Haas/ Hollie Vile
[email protected] 
Tel: +44-(0)-203-950-9144

Burns McClellan
Jill Steier/ John Grimaldi
[email protected] 
Tel: +1 (212) 213-0006

SOURCE Artios Pharma