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NOV 2023

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InterAx Biotech announces being the recipient of a highly competitive European grant to fund drug development and reports financing highlights.

Zurich, Switzerland – November 10th 2023

InterAx Biotech AG, a pharmaceutical product development company pioneering computational pharmacology for drug discovery, announces being awarded an highly competitive and prestigious grant to apply its drug discovery and development platform to the breakthrough technology programs sponsored by the EU commission.

The total volume of the Horizon Europe EIC Pathfinder project is EUR 3.7M, which is split among project participants. In this consortium, InterAx has secured more than 700k. The goals of the consortium are to implement innovative methods for characterizing the intracellular functions of drug candidates, a critical component in the selection process of lead compounds. A key objective is to generate high-quality datasets to train AI algorithms to elucidate biological responses. Each participant provides their own unique and complimentary sets of skills and technology to the overall program. InterAx was selected following review by a panel of experts, recognizing the pioneering use of mathematical models and AI in developing drugs with targeted cellular effects as crucial to the program’s success.

Dr. Aurélien Rizk, Chief Scientific Officer stated, “the reviewers acknowledged our development of a cutting-edge, computer-aided drug discovery platform. It excels in decoding intricate intracellular biological responses, identifying ideal cellular effects that maximize efficacy while minimizing side effects and designing novel drugs accordingly.”

Dr. Chris Prior, Chief Executive Officer noted, “We are delighted that we have been selected for a highly competitive European grant which has an historical success rate of about 4%. This is tremendous peer review validation to the credit of the InterAx multidisciplinary team of scientists with expertise in organic and computational chemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, pharmacology, mathematics and Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Prior added, “This award greatly complements our financing needs as well as adding significant validation in support of fundraising efforts and discussions with partners. We are also very pleased with the strong support of our investors in a recent financing. The proceeds will advance our in-house two lead programs in cancer and inflammation towards IND and this will prepare us for the next stage of financing.”

InterAx Biotech AG
The company, a spin-out from ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, developed an integrated drug discovery process combining biochemical compound screening, cell pathways mathematical modeling, and Artificial Intelligence based chemical structure to function relationship. This unique approach enables the rapid and precise identification of novel cellular mechanisms to develop differentiated products that stand out for their effectiveness and safety profiles. This platform unlocks previously intractable targets, shortens timelines for drug discovery from years to months and reduces risks.
The company is specialized in G Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR) drug discovery and covers hit-generation, hit-to-lead and lead optimization for all targets including orphan GPCRs. InterAx has a highly experienced and dedicated team of scientists specialized in AI, mathematical models of signaling pathways, cellular pharmacology and computational chemistry. The company is currently funded by lead institutional investors and a grant from the EU commission and is preparing for the next round of financing to grow its capabilities and advance lead drug candidates.

 

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EU and SERI

OCT 2023

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InterAx Biotech announces the appointment of seasoned pharmaceutical executive, Mark Levick, MD, Ph.D. as new Board Director.

Zürich, Switzerland – October 3, 2023

InterAx Biotech AG, a product development company pioneering computational pharmacology for creating breakthrough therapies, announces the appointment of Dr. Mark Levick to the board of directors. In addition to his board responsibilities, Dr. Levick will provide scientific and clinical development guidance to the board and management as the company advances its pipeline towards clinical trials.

Mark Levick is the former CEO of Alvotech, a global biopharmaceutical company listed on the US NASDAQ. In addition to building the company’s pipeline, Mark and his team led the approval and commercial launch of Simlandi/Hukyndra in 17 countries. Mark’s expertise was gained through a 25+ year international career leading global research and development groups as Global Head of Development at Sandoz Biopharmaceuticals; Senior Vice President, Global Drug Discovery at Novartis; and Vice-President, Biopharmaceutical Translational Medicine at GSK. Mark oversaw R&D programs that resulted in thirteen drug approvals, including five first-in-class molecules and two approvals arising from successful human proof-of-concept programs. Before joining the industry, Mark was a medical reviewer for the UK and EU medicines regulatory authorities, and a specialist physician- scientist practicing in university hospitals in Australia and the UK. As a researcher at Cambridge University, Mark pioneered the use of reverse genetics to identify novel vaccine targets as well as conducting amongst the earliest in vivo studies using nucleic acid as a novel vaccine platform. Mark has received several awards and authored peer-reviewed papers in the fields of tropical medicine, vaccine immunology and drug development. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (FRCPA), an affiliate physician with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine in the Royal College of Physicians, UK, and an advisor to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission. Mark holds a Doctor of Medicine from University of Newcastle, Australia and a PhD from the University of Cambridge.

“Mark brings an extraordinary breadth and depth of experience in drug development to InterAx at a time when we are preparing to advance our pipeline to clinical trials,” noted Dr. Prior, InterAx CEO. “Mark’s scope of experience extends from early preclinical and translational medicine studies to support first-in-human trials all way to approval and the commercial process,” Dr. Prior added.

“I am very attracted to the InterAx drug discovery platform that deciphers the intracellular language that drives biological responses and applying this understanding to create truly novel therapies,” commented Dr. Levick. “I believe InterAx represents the future of drug development and with the aid of AI integrated into biological, biochemical and pharmacological data, this approach promises to reduce conventional timelines for drug development by years,” Dr. Levick added.

Dr. Rizk, InterAx CSO, added, “Dr. Levick brings a tremendous dimension of experience as we discover and develop small, orally-administered molecules with dual functions for treating diseases in a highly novel manner, starting with our cancer and inflammation programs. We are eager to work with Dr. Levick on our development plans, especially given his knowledge of the use of biomarkers as predictors of halting progression of disease.”

 

InterAx Biotech AG

The company, a spin-out from ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, developed an integrated drug discovery process combining biochemical compound screening, cell pathways mathematical modeling, and artificial intelligence based chemical structure to function relationship. This unique approach enables the rapid and precise identification of novel cellular mechanisms to develop differentiated products that stand out for their effectiveness and safety profiles. This platform unlocks previously intractable targets, shortens timelines for drug discovery from years to months and reduces risks.
The company is specialized in G Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR) drug discovery and covers hit-generation, hit- to-lead and lead optimization for all targets including orphan GPCRs. InterAx has a highly experienced and dedicated team of scientists specialized in AI, mathematical models of signaling pathways, cellular pharmacology and computational chemistry. The company is currently funded by lead institutional investors and a grant from the EU commission and is preparing for the next round of financing to grow its capabilities and advance lead drug candidates.

For more information, please visit www.interaxbiotech.com and follow us on LinkedIn @InterAx Biotech

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MAY 2023

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InterAx Biotech to Apply its Leading AI and Cell Signalling Technology to Support Target Validation for a Sosei Heptares GPCR Discovery Program.

Villigen, Switzerland, 9th May 2023

InterAx Biotech, a Swiss drug discovery company, announces it has entered into an R&D agreement with Sosei Heptares to apply its integrated AI and cell signalling technology to a challenging G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) target associated with inflammatory diseases.

InterAx will leverage its unique discovery platform and deep understanding of GPCR pharmacology to quantify the complex details of GPCR signalling. The objective is to generate evidence to support an informed understanding of this GPCR as a potential new target for therapeutic intervention and to inform a future Sosei Heptares structure-based drug design program.

Aurélien Rizk, co-founder and CSO of InterAx Biotech, said: “Our work with Sosei Heptares is important for InterAx and validates the power of our technology to provide informative outputs in cell signaling, which can be applied to drug discovery. We believe that the identification of drug leads with highly specific biological responses is key to reducing risk and timelines associated with drug development. We are excited to apply our technology on a GPCR target and disease with an unmet medical need where the pathogenesis of the disease is not well understood. This will open new avenues for providing patients with greater opportunities for both effective and safe treatments.”

Alastair Brown, SVP Translational Medicine at Sosei Heptares, said: “Quantitative pharmacology forms an important part of our approach to understand detailed mechanism of action, identify biomarkers and validate new targets. We have been very impressed by InterAx’s innovative technology to decipher the complex language of cellular signalling with respect to GPCRs. We look forward to seeing what novel insights for drug discovery are generated and how these might increase our understanding of the complex biology on this potential new target.”

About InterAx Biotech AG
The company, a spin-out of ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland, uses high throughput biochemical screening of compounds integrated into an artificial intelligence and cell pathways mathematical modeling process. This platform unlocks previously intractable targets, shortens timelines for drug discovery from years to months and reduces risks. The company focuses on the generation and optimization of drugs which trigger a specific and well characterized effect on signaling pathways, thus leading to higher therapeutic efficacy and reduced risk of toxicity. The company is specialized in G Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR) drug discovery and covers hit-generation, hit-to-lead and lead optimization for all targets including orphan GPCRs. InterAx has a highly experienced and dedicated team of scientists specialized in AI, mathematical models of signaling pathways, cellular pharmacology and computational chemistry. The company is currently funded by lead institutional investors and a grant from the EU commission and is preparing for the next round of financing to grow its capabilities and advance lead drug candidates.


For more information, please visit www.interaxbiotech.com and follow us on LinkedIn @InterAx Biotech

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JAN 2023

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InterAx Biotech announces the appointment of seasoned pharmaceutical executive, Dr. Christopher Prior, as CEO and reports recent drug discovery highlights.

Zürich, Switzerland – January 24, 2023

InterAx Biotech AG, a product development company pioneering computational pharmacology for drug discovery, announces the appointment of Dr. Christopher Prior as Chief Executive Officer. In his new role, Dr. Prior will be responsible for leading the company into its next stage of development and global expansion.

Dr. Christopher Prior is a highly accomplished serial entrepreneur who has built numerous biotechnology companies creating extensive value for the investors and stakeholders. Over the course of his 30+ year career, he has generated more than 25 Investigational New Drugs (INDs) and achieved four product approvals. In addition, he founded, built and sold two companies (Principia, BioRexis) in deal value exceeding $550M. More recently, Dr. Prior successfully took a company public and significantly increased shareholder value by achieving milestones on time and on budget. Dr. Prior has held senior management positions all in product development at Aventis (now Sanofi), Pfizer, Human Genome Sciences (now GSK) and Biogen. Dr. Prior received a B.Sc. (honors) in chemistry from the University of London, a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Columbia University in New York City and a research fellowship at The Rockefeller Medical Institute.

“InterAx has a unique biosystems approach integrated into artificial intelligence (AI) to decipher cellular response and create novel drugs with high efficacy and safety. I am impressed with the advances the company has made in unlocking new drug targets with improved pharmacology”, Dr. Prior noted. “Developing small orally available cost-effective molecules with same functional effect as peptides, proteins and monoclonal antibodies requiring frequent injections is nothing short of a huge game changer”, added Dr. Prior.

“We are delighted to have Dr. Prior join our team, especially at a time when our platform has discovered a unique chemokine receptor interaction being evaluated in vivo to treat a highly aggressive and difficult to treat form of breast cancer. This validation will take the company into its next stage of development. To our knowledge, no other AI approach to drug discovery addresses both cellular signaling and drug-target interaction, a critical link needed for effective drug discovery. Dr. Prior’s experience in product development and business operations provides a perfect fit with our innovative team of cell biologists and computational scientists”, noted Dr. Aurélien Rizk, InterAx CSO and Co-Founder.

 

InterAx Biotech AG

The company, a spin-out of ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland, uses high throughput biochemical screening of compounds integrated into an artificial intelligence and cell pathways mathematical modeling process. This platform unlocks previously intractable targets, shortens timelines for drug discovery from years to months and reduces risks. The company focuses on the generation and optimization of drugs which trigger a specific and well characterized effect on signaling pathways, thus leading to higher therapeutic efficacy and reduced risk of toxicity. The company is specialized in G Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR) drug discovery and covers hit-generation, hit-to-lead and lead optimization for all targets including orphan GPCRs. InterAx has a highly experienced and dedicated team of scientists specialized in AI, mathematical models of signaling pathways, cellular pharmacology and computational chemistry. The company is currently funded by lead institutional investors and a grant from the EU commission and is preparing for the next round of financing to grow its capabilities and advance lead drug candidates.


For more information, please visit www.interaxbiotech.com and follow us on LinkedIn @InterAx Biotech

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JUL 2022

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InterAx Biotech, MS Center Amsterdam and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam join forces to unlock a novel target to promote remyelination in Multiple Sclerosis

Villigen – Switzerland, Amsterdam – The Netherlands, July 15th 2022

InterAx Biotech, the MS center of Amsterdam UMC and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam announce that they will combine complementary technologies to design and validate the efficacy of bioactive molecules to promote neuroprotection and remyelination. The efforts will open novel avenues to treat progressive multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common diseases of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). Today, more than 2.8 million people around the world suffer from MS. In Europe, the incidence it about 1 in every 450 people, of which more than 70% are women [1]. The chronic disease disrupts the ability of the nerves to conduct electrical impulses to and from the brain causing various symptoms including fatigue and cognitive and movement problems, resulting in progressive lifelong disabilities.
The goal of the program is to design and validate the efficacy of new compounds to promote remyelination and neuronal function in patients with MS to slow down disease progression. This will be a breakthrough compared to the current standard of care based on reduction of disease activity and management of symptoms.

In the collaboration, partners will optimize hit molecules steered by the InterAx’s artificial intelligence driven discovery platform. Optimization and synthesis approaches, as well as pharmacology and toxicology efforts will be led by Rob Leurs (Medicinal Chemistry) at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. At the MS Center Amsterdam, selected molecules will first be tested by Elga de Vries and Merel Rijnsburger (Molecular Cell Biology and Immunology, UMC) for their effect on remyelination in experimental models. Compounds that show promising effects based on multi-parameter optimization will be chosen for further in vivo studies. An innovative cortical animal model of MS that reflects both neurodegeneration and demyelination, as seen in MS patients, will be used to test the most promising compounds.

With this project, InterAx Biotech, MS Center Amsterdam and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are further strengthening their successful long-term relationship. The partnership already led to the discovery of first in class drug molecules with high affinity and potency on a novel target that are under further investigation as anti-cancer therapy in animals. Initial promising results in vitro show that the drug molecules block proliferation and migration of breast cancer cells, and also blocks in vivo the receptor target function – thus promising to stop tumor growth and metastasis.

The project is supported by Consortium Knowledge and Innovation (TKI) for high quality and highly promising industry-academia collaborations, a program from Health Holland – Top Sector Life Sciences & Health.

 

 

InterAx Biotech AG

InterAx is pioneering computational pharmacology for drug discovery. The Swiss company focuses on the generation and optimization of drugs which trigger a specific and well characterized effect on signaling pathways, thus leading to higher therapeutic efficacy and safety. The company is specialized in GPCR drug discovery and covers hit-generation, hit-to-lead and lead optimization for all targets including orphans.
InterAx technology platform is combining artificial intelligence, mathematical models of signaling pathways, cellular pharmacology and computational chemistry.
For more information, please visit www.interaxbiotech.com and follow us on LinkedIn @InterAx Biotech

About Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, department of Medicinal Chemistry

The Medicinal Chemistry group of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has a long-standing expertise in the area of GPCR drug discovery with an emphasis on histamine and chemokine receptors. Next to detailed pharmacological and cell signaling studies of these GPCRs, the group targets various of these GPCRs by means of fragment-based approaches and structure-based design, combined with state-of-the-art synthetic approaches. The group is integral part of the Amsterdam Institute of Molecules, Medicines and Systems, one of the high-profile research institutes of the Vrije Universiteit.
For more information, please visit aimms.vu.nl.

About MS Center Amsterdam

The MS Center Amsterdam has an excellent international reputation and is one of the top three MS research centers in the world. The MS Center is a multidisciplinary center within Amsterdam UMC in which more than 100 researchers from different disciplines cooperate. One such discipline is the Neuroimmunology research group, embedded in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology and Immunology. The group focuses on various neuro-inflammatory diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and MS. Using state-of-the-art techniques, the group strives to gain in-depth knowledge on immunological and neurodegenerative processes in order to develop new treatments.
For more information please visit immunologyamsterdam.org.

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SEP 2021

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Early and successful completion of European Union’s H2020 Project 

 

September 2021, Switzerland

 

Today, InterAx Biotech AG, a Biotech company located in Villigen, Switzerland, has completed its two-year Horizon 2020-project “PICARD” successfully and four months in advance to the deadline. The newly developed drug discovery platform combines for the first time classical pharmacology, computational methods, systems biology and artificial intelligence to revolutionise drug discovery.

The European Union’s SME Instrument Horizon 2020 Project PICARD which started on October 1st 2019 was successfully completed by InterAx four months in advance on May 31st, 2021. With a total project volume of 2.49M EUR, InterAx expanded its drug discovery platform and boosted its commercialization efforts with the acquisition of three Pharma collaborations. With the integration of Artificial Intelligence, InterAx is now able to actively determine how to modify the chemistry of compounds to achieve specific cellular responses.

“I am very proud of the whole InterAx team for the successful achievement of the very ambitious goals set in our Picard H2020 project in such short time and with limited resources” explains Dr. Aurélien Rizk, CEO of InterAx Biotech. “The overall assessment of PICARD by the EU experts has been extremely good – the project has delivered exceptional results with significant immediate impact for the industry.”
InterAx has been pushing the boundaries of current knowledge and practice in cutting-edge technologies in an inherently interdisciplinary combination of analytical science, systems biology and machine learning. The ability to predict in vivo activity of novel chemical entities will lead to a reduction of animal testing, an increase of clinical trials success rate and a reduction of time to market for new treatments.

InterAx has established a platform that combines cell-based real-time assays and proprietary computational algorithms to enable intelligent drug candidate design targeting the largest class of drug targets (G Protein-Coupled Receptors, GPCRs) – which counts for more than 30% of all approved drugs.
The company applies mathematical models and simulations to in house-derived experimental data to address the complexity of drug-induced cellular signalling mechanisms. The technology offers outstanding potential to design new medicines that specifically activate the cellular response responsible for the desired therapeutic effect and reduce the cellular response responsible for adverse effects.

The company is currently focusing on further advancements of its technology platform and on in-house drug discovery of next-generation therapeutics for conditions with high unmet medical needs.
The InterAx discovery program to treat several solid tumors is showing promising results. First in class drug molecules with high affinity and potency on a novel target are under further investigation in animals after initial promising results in vitro to block proliferation and migration of breast cancer cells.
The target receptor is essential for the coordination of many physiological processes, in particular the immune cell behavior. Its deregulation is linked with many solid tumors, inflammatory diseases, and neurological diseases.

 

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APR 2021

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InterAx Biotech further strengthens its Scientific Advisory Board – welcoming Prof. Dr. Ruedi Aebersold as a member

 

April 2021, Switzerland

 

Today, InterAx Biotech announced that Prof. Dr. Ruedi Aebersold has joined the company Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) as a member. InterAx is a privately held ETH Zurich and Paul Scherrer Institute spin- off reinventing drug discovery with systems biology and artificial intelligence to significantly reduce the time and costs associated with the discovery and development of new drugs for a wide array of human diseases.

Prof. Dr. Ruedi Aebersold is a pioneer in the field of proteomics and systems biology. He co-founded the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle in 2000 – the first-ever institute dedicated to the study of relationships and interactions between various parts of biological systems. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Committees of numerous academic and private-sector research organizations. He received multiple prestigious honors and awards in his career, including being ranked #1 on the 2015 list of “most influential people in the analytical sciences” by the Analytical Scientist and most recently the 2020 Swiss Science Prize Marcel Benoist.

“We are honored to officially welcome Prof. Dr. Ruedi Aebersold as a new member of our Scientific Advisory Board,” said Dr. Aurélien Rizk, CEO of InterAx Biotech. “Dr. Aebersold’s expertise, insights and direction will provide an unmatched mentorship as the company is extending its core technology to predict a broader range of drug responses. This will be especially valuable as InterAx Biotech is entering a new phase – advancing its in-house programs driven by its proprietary technology platform.”
“It is exciting to support a company successfully pioneering the commercialization of mathematical modeling and principles for systems biology-based drug discovery that have been developed in academia in the last decades.” says Prof. Dr. Ruedi Aebersold.

The InterAx Scientific Advisory Board consists of 7 members and includes experts in GPCR pharmacology, computational and structural biology, machine learning, medicinal chemistry, translational medicine in oncology and immunology. These experts provide scientific advice and are involved in strategic discussions about the company’s direction. The main focus is on the advancement of the InterAx technology platform and on the in-house drug discovery of next-generation therapeutics for conditions with highly unmet medical needs.

After having succeeded in acquiring first Pharma and Biotech partners and in securing EUR 2.49M European grant (Grant agreement No 880322), InterAx Biotech is looking forward to further expand its partner base and develop its in-house oncology program. InterAx is planning to grow further and is celebrating its 5-year anniversary with the opening of a new investment round.

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