Metrion Biosciences
Metrion has bolstered its drug discovery leadership team with the addition of Dr. Edward Stevens appointed as head of drug discovery, and Dr. Andrew Lightfoot as head of medicinal chemistry and discovery funding.
According to the specialist ion channel contract research and drug discovery company, the appointments follow the expansion of its internal drug discovery program.
Based on a portfolio of more than 2,000 novel small molecule inhibitors of potassium ion channels acquired in January 2018, the internal proprietary program will now be led by Stevens and Lightfoot.
Stevens joins Metrion from Ario Pharma, where he was chief scientific officer. He also has held various roles at Pfizer Neusentis and Pfizer Sandwich before which he was chief operating officer at NeuroSolutions. Stevens was also head of the ion channel group at Cambridge Drug Discovery/BioFocus (now part of Charles River).
“Ion channels are an important and underexploited target class, and research within this space has been integral to the development of novel therapeutics, with a significant impact on health and disease,” said Stevens.
Steven told us is he looking forward to working alongside Metrion’s leadership team to leverage the company’s wide expertise in preclinical ion channel discovery.
“I look forward to advancing Metrion's internal drug discovery programme which will be greatly supported by the extensive in-house capability in automated and manual electrophysiology,” he added.
Metrion is evaluating the lead compounds as potential orally active drugs for treatment of auto-immune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, ulcerative colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis.