– UK, London – Alchemab Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of naturally-occurring protective antibodies in neurodegeneration and oncology, today announced the appointment of Dr. Douglas Treco, Ph.D. to its Board of Directors as CEO. Dr. Treco will be based in Boston, Massachusetts.
“We’re excited that Doug will bring his extensive experience to our leadership team as we seek to grow our highly differentiated platform,” said Houman Ashrafian, BM BCh, DPhil, Managing Partner at SV Health Investors and Board Chairman at Alchemab. “Our goal is to develop a world class management team with footprints on both sides of the Atlantic and broaden the Company’s exposure to US investigators, investors, and potential employees.”
Most recently, Dr. Treco was Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Ra Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on peptide and small molecule inhibitors of the complement pathway. The company was acquired in April 2020 by UCB S.A. for $2.5 billion.
“Alchemab’s approach of identifying protective antibodies truly changes the game in terms of creating the next major antibody therapeutics company,” said Dr. Treco. “We believe this platform gives us a unique ability to develop a robust pipeline of truly innovative neurodegenerative and oncology medicines.”
Previously, Dr. Treco co-founded Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc., which was acquired in 2005 by Shire plc. In his position as Senior Vice President of Research and Development, he established and directed TKT’s gene activation and protein production efforts, which led to the approval of Dynepo, Replagal, Elaprase, and Vpriv. Dr. Treco is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Inozyme Pharma and is a member of the Board of Directors of CRISPR Therapeutics AG. He is also a scientific advisor to Lightstone Ventures. From January 2008 to May 2014, Dr. Treco served as an entrepreneur-in-residence with Morgenthaler Ventures and was a visiting scientist in the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital and a lecturer in genetics at Harvard Medical School from 2004 to 2007. He received a BA in Biology from the University of Delaware, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and performed post-doctoral research at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Massachusetts General Hospital.
In April 2021, Alchemab raised $82 million in Series A financing led by RA Capital and joined by Lightstone Ventures, DHVC, and DCVC Bio. In 2019, Alchemab raised a seed round led by SV Health Investors and the Dementia Discovery Fund. The Company collaborates closely with Illumina, having been part of the first cohort of companies joining the Illumina Accelerator in Cambridge, UK, and recently announced a partnership with AstraZeneca where Alchemab will use its platform to aid in the development of new treatments for prostate cancer.
About Alchemab
Alchemab has developed a highly differentiated platform which enables the identification of novel drug targets and therapeutics by analysis of patient antibody repertoires. The platform uses well-defined patient samples, deep B cell sequencing, and computational analysis to identify convergent protective antibody responses among individuals that are susceptible but resilient to specific diseases.
Alchemab is building a broad pipeline of protective therapeutics for hard-to-treat diseases, with an initial focus on neurodegenerative conditions and oncology. The highly specialized patient samples that power Alchemab’s platform are made available through valued partnerships and collaborations with patient representative groups, biobanks, industry partners, and academic institutions.
For more information: https://www.alchemab.com/
- Disclaimer - News, data, and statements included in this release are intended exclusively for general information purposes. Talent4Boards does not guarantee that news is accurate or about the correct person and accepts neither liability for the consequences of the reader’s reliance, nor responsibility for the accuracy of the information. Nothing in this release should be considered for decisions about referred securities. Products and brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.