May 26, 2022 08:00 ET

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Stablix, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company pioneering targeted protein stabilization (TPS) as a novel therapeutic modality, today announced that Eddine Saiah, Ph.D., has joined the company as Chief Scientific Officer.

“Stablix’s recent presentation at the Induced Proximity-Based Drug Discovery Summit showing the ability of the platform to generate and validate heterobifunctional small molecules that induce the stabilization of selected proteins of interest gives me further conviction in the ability of our platform to generate an entirely new class of medicines.”

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Dr. Saiah is an experienced drug hunter and seasoned leader with over 25 years of experience heading drug discovery, preclinical and early development in large pharmaceutical and small biotech companies. He was most recently CSO at Navitor Pharmaceuticals where he led the company’s research and early development platform. His work led to the discovery of first-in-class mTORC1 activators, including a lead compound that is in Phase 2 development for treatment-resistant depression with additional opportunities in other CNS indications. Earlier in his career, Dr. Saiah held a series of leadership roles in drug discovery at Pfizer and Wyeth, where he led multiple discovery and early clinical development teams, advancing over a dozen small molecule candidates into clinical trials with indications in inflammation and immunology, metabolic disease and rare disease. Dr. Saiah has co-authored more than 120 scientific publications, patents, reviews and presentations. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Paris Sorbonne-Pierre and Marie Curie University and conducted postdoctoral studies at the Mayo Clinic.

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“I see tremendous potential in targeted protein stabilization approaches, and I am thrilled to be joining the leading company in this emerging field. A large number of proteins are aberrantly degraded in the cell leading to diseases such as genetic diseases, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases,” said Dr. Saiah. “Stablix’s recent presentation at the Induced Proximity-Based Drug Discovery Summit showing the ability of the platform to generate and validate heterobifunctional small molecules that induce the stabilization of selected proteins of interest gives me further conviction in the ability of our platform to generate an entirely new class of medicines.”

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In addition, Stablix announced that Dr. Kevin Sprott, Ph.D., has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer from Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery. Dr. Sprott is a co-founder of Stablix, joining in March 2021. He has over 20 years of experience leading projects and companies from early discovery to clinical stage, and he and his teams have delivered 9 development candidates in diverse therapeutic areas including oncology, immunology, and pain. As Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Sprott will continue to lead the buildout of Stablix’s internal capabilities and network of external partners as well as develop and execute on business and corporate development strategies.

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“The appointment of Eddine as CSO and Kevin as COO significantly expands our executive leadership team and makes a strong statement about our commitment to build a world-class innovative company,” said Stablix’s CEO Tony Kingsley. “Targeted protein stabilization is rapidly emerging as an exciting new modality for creating drugs with the potential to address a wide range of un-treated or under-treated diseases. Our team’s collective experience and track record in building early-stage companies, developing high impact drug discovery capabilities, and delivering development candidates will help Stablix accelerate its efforts as the pioneer in this emerging field.”

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About Stablix

Stablix was launched in June 2021 with a $63 million Series A led by founding investor Versant Ventures with New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Cormorant Asset Management, Euclidean Capital, and Alexandria Venture Investments. The company’s platform is based on the work of Henry Colecraft, Ph.D., Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, and Professor of Pharmacology, Columbia Medical School. At Stablix, we are establishing a new paradigm for tackling diverse diseases by harnessing the power of the body’s own cellular machinery. Our RESTORED™ platform generates heterobifunctional small molecules (RESTORACS™) that selectively recruit active deubiquitinases (DUBs) to target proteins for precise removal of ubiquitin to restore protein function. We believe this approach may have wide applicability across oncology, immune-oncology, immunology and rare diseases.

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Stablix recently provided a progress update on its drug discovery efforts at the Induced Proximity-Based Drug Discovery Summit, held in Boston May 2022.

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Contacts
Steve Edelson
sedelson@versantventures.com