News
2016
Commendation for James Egleton
Congratulations to James who was awarded a special commendation from the MPLS Divisional Board for producing an excellent thesis.
Presentation: AJR at the University of St. Andrews
AJR was invited to present her talk on "Chemistry for regenerative medicine: small molecules to manipulate stem cell fate" at the Biomedical Research Complex at the University of St. Andrews on 27th January.
Welcome Daniel Conole
A very warm welcome to Daniel Conole who joins the AJR group to work on small molecule modulators of utrophin for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy therapy, a project in collaboration with Professor Dame Kay E. Davies (Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford) and Summit Therapeutics plc.
Muscular Dystrophy UK spotlights our research towards new treatments for DMD
Our work on the elucidation of the mechanism of action of small molecule modulators of utrophin for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, is being featured by Muscular Dystrophy UK this month. The charity funds the research project by Aini Vuorinen in collaboration with Professor Dame Kay Davies and Professor Steve Davies.
Summit Therapeutics plc announces positive interim data in ongoing phase I clinical trial with SMT C1100.
The company announced (30/3) that evaluation of a new oral formulation of the lead utrophin modulator SMT C1100 shows improvements in patients with DMD over their current formulation. Read more...
Well done Anna
Congratulations to Anna Olerinyova who submitted her Part II thesis on 29th March.
Welcome Isabel Wilkinson
A warm welcome to Isabel, a SABS-CDT student (www.sabscdt.ox.ac.uk), who joined our group on 11th April to work on the utrophin modulation drug discovery programme.
Presentation: AJR at ESBOC
AJR was invited to present her talk on "Chemistry for regenerative medicine: discovery of small molecules to manipulate stem cell fate" at the European Symposium on Biological and Organic Chemistry: a Celebration of Biological and Organic Chemistry on 20th May.
Publication: Chemical-induced Naive Pluripotency
AJR (with Laurence Silpa) was invited to submit a commentary this month in Cell Chemical Biology to review two papers by Ursu et al. and Illich et al. demonstrating that inhibition of a CK1 isoform efficiently induces naive pluripotency in epiblast stem cells. Access online...
Record £16.9M Oxford spin-out designing stem cell drugs to treat age-related disease
OxStem, an Oxford spin-out founded by Prof. Angela Russell, Prof. Steve Davies (Department of Chemistry) and Prof. Dame Kay Davies (Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics), has raised a record £16.9M to develop small molecule drug candidates to treat age-related conditions including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and heart failure. The company has formed strategic partnerships with Human Longevity Inc. and CEO Dr J Craig Venter together with Mr Bob Duggan and Dr. Mahkam Zanganeh (former CEO & Chairman and Chief Operating Officer respectively) of Pharmacyclics that was sold last year to Abbvie for US$21 billion. Other individual investors, together with Oxford Science Innovation, will enable OxStem to fund the development of a series of daughter companies - each with a focus on a different large unmet therapeutic need. The majority of the £16.9M is expected to be used to fund joint projects between the Department of Pharmacology, the Department of Chemistry and other Departments across Oxford over the next three years. Read more…
OxStem's record fundraising round featured in Financial Times
The Financial Times today (11/05/16) features OxStem in an article about it's record investment round and the groundbreaking research that will be funded as a result. The story highlights the importance of unlocking the potential of research from UK universities to translational medicine; OxStem will address a number of therapeutic areas in regenerative medicine including cancer, heart failure and neurodegenerative diseases. The article is published on page 4 of today's edition of the Financial Times. FT subscribers can also read the article online.
Supporting the Duchenne Dash team - 12th May 2016
A team of cyclists named 'Duchenne Dash' is currently undertaking an arduous 1,000 mile journey from John O'Groats to Paris in order to raise money for the Duchenne Children's Trust - to fund vital research into the progressive muscle wasting disorder Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The DMD research teams from the Russell and Davies' laboratories showed their support by welcoming them at the Blenheim Palace grounds, together with former England rugby captain Will Carling and former Olympic rower Greg Searle.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Ryan Davies, Samantha Cloake and Jessica Reynolds for handing in their Part II theses.
Welcome Sebastian and Imogen
A very warm welcome to Imogen Bentham and Sebastian Orbell who join us this week for their summer vacation placements starting 20th June.
Medicinal chemistry resource
The latest version of the Drug Discovery Glossary by Steve Davies, Peter Kennewell, Angela Russell, Robert Westwood and Graham Wynne is available to download and review from the 'teaching' page of this website.
Welcome Ben Saward
Ben Saward joins us on 11th July for a summer vacation placement, welcome!
Welcome Lewis and Jakub
We are pleased to welcome Jakub Stefaniak and Lewis O'Shaughnessy into the group this week. Jakub, a SABS-CDT student, starts his second rotation project in our group in association with the Target Discovery Institute. Lewis begins his 8-week BHF CRE-funded project to elucidate the mechanism of action of small molecule activators of epicardial cells in development and tissue regeneration.
Welcome Alastair Baldry
Alastair joins us on 25th for a summer vacation placement, welcome!
Awards nomination for OxStem Ltd
OxStem Ltd is delighted to have been short-listed for the award of 'Best Start-up Biotech Company' at the OBN Awards 2016. The winner will be announced on 6th October 2016.
For more information, see: http://www.obn-awards.com/
OxStem Neuro and OxStem Ocular launched
Two new subsidiaries of OxStem Limited, an Oxford spin-out co-founded by Prof. Angela Russell and Prof. Steve Davies, were launched (4th August). OxStem Neuro, co-founded with Prof. Francis Szele (Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics), aims to identify drugs that will stimulate de novo neuron production from neural stem cells that will compensate for disease pathology in neurodegenerative diseases, stroke and traumatic brain injury. OxStem Ocular, co-founded with Prof. Robert MacLaren (Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology), aims to identify drugs that will stimulate precursor cells within the retina of patients for retinal repair and restoration of vision. These two collaborative projects will be funded within the University over the next three years following OxStem’s record £16.9M initial fundraise in May 2016. Click here for further information.
Welcome Bridget Reeve
We are pleased to welcome Bridget who, during her 4-week summer vacation placement starting on 1st August, will be working on a project investigating small molecule modulators of neurogenesis.
Congratulations Daniel and Jack
Well done to Jack Hoffman (St John's College) and Daniel Sowood who have won Organic Chemistry prizes for their excellent work this year. Jack has won a prize for his Part II thesis and Daniel has won a Turbutt Prize for 2nd year Organic Chemistry practicals.
Welcome Part II students
Welcome to our new Part IIs: Dominic Faulkner, Ria Dinsdale and Sam Exton.
Welcome Laia and Purnima!
We are pleased to welcome Laia Josa Culleré who joins the group as a PDRA to work on an OxStem Oncology-funded project to develop new small molecules to promote differentiation of cancer stem-like cells to more benign states. Also working on the project, we are pleased to welcome Purnima Kumar who begins her Pharmacology DPhil programme this month.
OxStem Ltd wins Best Start-up Biotech Company Award
We are delighted to have been awarded the Best Biotech Start-up Company Award for OxStem Ltd at the Oxfordshire Bioscience Network (OBN) Awards ceremony last night (6th October). The awards, held annually, celebrate innovation and achievement in the UK Life Sciences across Biotech, Medtech, Synthetic Biology and Digital Health categories. John Harris, CEO of OBN, said: "We are thrilled with the high quality of nominees this year which made picking just one winner in each category very difficult”. The company was recognised for it's disruptive approach to the field of regenerative medicine.
Summit Therapeutics plc and Sarepta Therapeutics plc announce exclusive license and collaboration agreement
Today (4th October) Summit Therapeutics and Sarepta Therapeutics have announced that they have entered into an exclusive license and collaboration agreement to advance the development of therapies for the treatment of DMD. The agreement gives Sarepta Therapeutics rights in Europe, Turkey and the Commonwealth of Independent States to Summit's utrophin modulator pipeline including lead candidate ezutromid; Summit retains rights in all other countries. Summit will receive an upfront payment of $40 million, with future ezutromid related development, regulatory and sales milestones payments totalling up to $522 million. The complementary partnership supports the development of innovative and novel therapies to treat patients with the progressive muscle-wasting disease. For more information, click here to read the press release.
BioBeat 2016 blog
Following her nomination as a 'rising star' in the BioBeat 2016 'Movers and Shakers' report and participation in the BioBeat16 Summit, AJR comments in the event blog.
OxStem Cardio launched
A fourth subsidiary of OxStem Ltd, an Oxford spin-out co-founded by Prof. Steve Davies and Prof. Angela Russell has been launched (17th November 2016). OxStem Cardio, co-founded with Prof. Roger Patient (Professor of Developmental Genetics Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine) and Prof. Paul Riley (British Heart Foundation Professor of Regenerative Medicine), aims to identify drugs that will restore lost tissue following a heart attack by inducing cardiovascular regeneration, in order to improve cardiac function. This collaborative project will be funded within the University over the next three years following OxStem’s record £16.9M initial fundraise earlier this year. Full press release.
Welcome Sebastien and Laura!
A very warm welcome to Laura Mola Sola and Sebastien Galan, OxStem-funded PDRAs, who joined the group on 14th November.
BioBeat Movers and Shakers 2016
Prof Angela Russell has been named as a ‘Rising Star’ in the BioBeat 50 Movers and Shakers in BioBusiness 2016 report. Released annually, the report celebrates 50 outstanding women entrepreneurs and business leaders who are recognised for their contributions to global health innovation. BioBeat’s founder Miranda Weston-Smith said that the report highlights those women who are “transforming today’s challenges into tomorrow’s opportunities” and are inspirational “pioneers who are setting the pace in laboratories, healthcare, entrepreneurial companies …“ among others.
Angela Russell, Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology at the University of Oxford and co-founder of OxStem Ltd (www.oxstem.co.uk) said “I am delighted to have been recognised in this report standing alongside some exceptional bioscience business leaders in the field. Our research at OxStem has the potential to impact on the healthcare of millions worldwide with the approach of developing small molecule drugs in a wide range of therapeutic areas including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and heart failure. I hope that my nomination, together with the women featured in this report, helps to inspire the next generation of bioscience entrepreneurs”.
Welcome Erin
A very warm welcome to Erin Shepherd who joins the AJR group as an OxStem-funded PDRA working on the OxStem Neuro research programme (5th December).