LA JOLLA, Calif., Feb. 22, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ActivX Biosciences, Inc.®, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Tokyo), announces the appointment of Professor Hugh Rosen of The Scripps Research Institute to the position of Chairman & President of ActivX®, effective April 1, 2017. He will succeed John W. Kozarich who has been at ActivX since 2001, serving as Chairman & President since its acquisition by Kyorin in 2004. John will stay on at ActivX as a Board Director and assume the new position of Distinguished Scientist and Executive Advisor.
Professor Rosen’s 30+ year career in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic sectors has been one of significant achievements. Following training in medicine in Cape Town, he received his D.Phil. as a Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Scholar at the University of Oxford. He spent 11 years at Merck Research Laboratories before becoming a Professor at TSRI (The Scripps Research Institute) in 2002. There he co-invented ozanimod and was a scientific founder of Receptos, acquired by Celgene in 2015 for $7.3 Billion, as well as BlackThorn Therapeutics, which recently closed a $40M Series A. He serves as an independent Board member at Regulus Therapeutics and will remain on the faculty of TSRI.
“Hugh Rosen is a world-class translational physician/scientist and biotechnology entrepreneur,” explained Dr. Kozarich. “We are delighted that he will assume the leadership of ActivX, building on our R&D contributions to Kyorin and adding new dimensions to our cutting-edge KiNativ technology. Hugh has been a friend and colleague to me and to Kyorin for 25 years. I am honored to have him as my successor and look forward to working with him in my new role. Hugh’s appointment clearly signals Kyorin’s ongoing commitment to ActivX as a key component to their future success. This is an ideal outcome for all involved.”
Dr. Rosen added that: “The opportunity to lead ActivX Biosciences is especially attractive to a physician-scientist with a record of success in drug discovery and development because the ActivX technologies have unlocked exciting and potentially transforming drug discovery opportunities. This is a tribute to the outstanding work of John Kozarich and colleagues at both ActivX and Kyorin. I look forward to continuing to work with John, his management team and Kyorin to bring significant new products forward to benefit patient outcomes, caregivers and providers. Through discovery and development, we strive to improve the public health.”
Mr. Minoru Hogawa, Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kyorin Holdings Inc., commented that: “Kyorin has been and will be creating first-in-class medicines. ActivX Biosciences is the core member for our research group activities. We believe Dr. Rosen will accelerate our research programs and accomplish our goals effectively with his wide experience.”
About ActivX Biosciences, Inc.
ActivX Biosciences, Inc.® (www.activx.com ) located in La Jolla, California, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tokyo-based Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and has drug discovery and proteomics technology capabilities. The company applies proprietary chemical technologies and high-throughput protein analysis to the drug discovery and development process. By focusing on functional proteins, ActivX® addresses disease mechanisms directly, in contrast to approaches such as expression profiling, in which the measured analyte is several steps removed from the site of drug action. ActivX and its partners utilize ActivX’s proprietary technology and profiling platform (KiNativ® - www.kinativ.com ) to address critical challenges in kinase drug discovery, including selectivity profiling of candidate drug molecules in biological samples to guide their medicinal chemistry efforts. The KiNativ platform aids in the identification of novel drug targets and biomarkers, the determination of target engagement in vivo and the characterization of off-target activities of candidate and established drugs to understand the basis of their efficacy and/or toxicity.
About Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Trusted among patients and professionals in the medical industry, Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (http://www.kyorin-pharm.co.jp/en/), which is a core company of Kyorin Holdings Inc. (http://www.kyorin-gr.co.jp/en/), strives to be a company that contributes to the public health and is recognized as a one with social significance by improving its presence in specified therapeutic areas and through global discovery of novel drugs. Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. uses its franchise customer strategy in the developing and marketing ethical drugs on the core areas of respiratory, otolaryngology and urology.