Business Wire

Adrestia Appoints Human Genetics Leader, Professor John Perry, to Build Human Genetics Computational Platform

Share

Adrestia Therapeutics, a leader in synthetic rescue therapies for genetic diseases, today announced the appointment of Professor John R.B. Perry as its Vice President, Human Genetics. Dr Perry is a world-renowned expert in human population genetics at the University of Cambridge with a track record of identifying genetic drivers of complex, multigenic diseases and health-related traits. His expertise will complement Adrestia’s technology platform, which is already progressing a series of first-in-class therapies to treat both rare and common diseases with a genetic component.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220518005013/en/

To view this piece of content from mms.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

Professor John R.B. Perry, Vice President, Human Genetics (Photo: Business Wire)

“We are on the cusp of a revolution in drug discovery” said Dr Perry. “Within the 8 billion living humans, each single base substitution in the genome that is compatible with life is likely to be present somewhere. Studying this genetic diversity in population studies gives us a hypothesis-free, genome wide screen for identifying and validating genes causing or influencing human disease. Due to advances in genome sequencing technologies and the advent of large-scale population studies, we can now phenotype human genetic knockouts at scale, leading to rapid validation of new drug discovery targets.” said Dr Perry. “I’m excited to apply these advanced techniques for maximum clinical impact. Combining population genetics with Adrestia’s synthetic rescue platform provides unprecedented opportunities to efficiently unlock new ways of treating some of the world’s most intractable diseases”.

Throughout his career and in recent years at the University of Cambridge, Professor Perry has been involved in discovering many of the first genetic drivers of diverse complex diseases including obesity, Type 2 diabetes, reproductive disorders and aspects of behavior. His work to better understand the genetic architecture of disease will enable more efficient drug target selection and the design of more predictive models of disease, both translating into higher drug development success rates. His career has been deeply embedded in the UK’s world-leading projects in population genomic analysis, including the UK Biobank, a ground-breaking resource containing in-depth genetic and health information from half a million participants. These projects have created deep expertise and an infrastructure that can be further leveraged for effective drug development at Adrestia.

Despite advances in genetic technologies, many genes known to directly cause disease remain undruggable. Synthetic rescue offers a fresh approach: rather than targeting the causative mutation, a synthetic rescue drug modulates the product of another, functionally connected gene, correcting the effects of the disease mutation and ‘rescuing’ cells from disease. The concept is underpinned by a deep understanding of genetic networks, and its therapeutic potential is illustrated in families where a member born with a disease-causing mutation is protected from disease due to a second ‘rescue’ mutation. Synthetic rescue presents new opportunities for drug development across all diseases that have a genetic component, including prevalent conditions.

“Traditional drug development is risky and expensive” said Robert Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Adrestia. “We believe that our synthetic rescue platform, supplemented by John’s expertise in human genetics, offers a new paradigm, where the probability of success is markedly higher, the cost of development is dramatically lower and the time to clinical proof of concept is substantially shorter. We warmly welcome John to our team, which is united in a singular mission: to deliver revolutionary new medicines to patients suffering from devastating diseases”.

Dr Perry is Professor of Molecular Endocrinology at the University of Cambridge and Medical Research Council (MRC) Programme Leader and Investigator at the University’s Institute of Metabolic Science. He also serves as an Associate Group Leader at The Gurdon Institute at the University of Cambridge, as well as being a Fellow and Director of Studies at King’s College Cambridge. He will continue in these roles while serving at Adrestia.

Prior to joining the MRC Epidemiology Unit, Dr Perry was a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellow, holding visiting positions at the University of Exeter Medical School; the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford; the Department of Twin Research at Kings College London and the Center for Statistical Genetics at the University of Michigan. He has co-authored over 150 publications in peer reviewed journals, many in leading journals such as Nature, Science, Nature Genetics and Nature Medicine. Dr Perry completed his Ph.D. in Human Genetics at the University of Exeter, UK and before then had a background in computer science.

About Adrestia’s synthetic rescue platform

Adrestia has developed a leading synthetic rescue drug development platform, which has already identified completely new approaches to treating intractable genetic diseases. The platform includes multiple components, each designed to yield new insights into how every gene in the human genome modifies a particular disease’s cellular phenotype. These insights are married with human genetic datasets to provide robust validation of new druggable targets and build an ever-growing synthetic rescue ‘Atlas’ of the human genome. As the Atlas expands, the opportunities to use synthetic rescue drugs to treat both rare and common diseases continue to grow.

This scalable platform builds on decades of research by Professor Steve Jackson’s laboratory at the University of Cambridge into synthetic rescue and the related concept of synthetic lethality for the treatment of cancer. The Jackson Laboratory’s work has yielded a wealth of concepts, techniques, and know-how, now translated into Adrestia’s platform.

About Adrestia

Adrestia is a leader in synthetic rescue therapies for genetic diseases. As many directly causative mutations are not druggable, synthetic rescue embraces the much broader target set represented by functionally connected genes, to correct the effects of the causative mutations and ‘rescue’ health. Adrestia is creating a synthetic rescue ‘Atlas’ of the human genome and advancing a portfolio of first-in-class therapies, initially for neurologic, neuromuscular and cardiomyopathic diseases. Adrestia’s platform and in-house programs are complemented by a target discovery alliance with GSK and a Huntington’s disease collaboration with noted researchers including Dr Sarah Tabrizi at University College London.

Adrestia was co-founded by Professor Steve Jackson and the deep technology investment fund Ahren Innovation Capital, which co-led Adrestia’s Series A financing along with GSK. Jackson co-originated the first synthetic lethality drug, olaparib, which was the first drug approved to treat cancers caused by inherited mutations. For further information, please visit: http://www.adrestia.com.

To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

Contact information

Investors
Robert Johnson
investors@adrestia.com

Media
Tom Donovan
tom@lyrebird.bio
+1 857 559 3397

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire



Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Cirium’s Airfare Data Shows Increases in Economy Airfares in 2023 in North America and Europe With a Decrease in Transatlantic Business Class Fares28.3.2024 11:37:00 CET | Press release

Cirium, the leading aviation analytics company, analysed airfare trends for 2023, using Cirium FM Traffic. Economy airfare has generally increased since 2023 in North America and Europe, but lower than the U.S. inflation rate. “While airfare has risen in nominal terms in U.S. and Europe, consumers will appreciate that the increases are less than other consumables,” said Jeremy Bowen, CEO of Cirium. “Cirium’s data teams will continue to monitor the impact on fares of increased capacity in the market, despite challenges related to the availability of aircraft, be it due to groundings, engine issues, or supply chain constraints.” Cirium analysed airfare for the U.S. domestic market (including 13 U.S. airlines), intra-European travel, and the Transatlantic market. The data is non-directionally averaged, in U.S. dollars, not including taxes and fees. Unless otherwise noted, the fares indicated are for economy class. U.S. Domestic Airfare The average U.S. domestic airfare by the 13 airlines

Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and Palantir Partner to Create Safe Conditions for In-Person Education in Schools28.3.2024 10:00:00 CET | Press release

The Ministry of Education and Science, along with Palantir (NYSE:PLTR), a leading provider of AI systems, have signed an agreement. The main goal is to facilitate qualitative transformations in the field of education and ensure the maximum number of children have access to safe in-person learning. The agreement, initially for 12 months, will support the Government’s official School Offline initiative which aims to provide 300,000 more Ukrainian pupils with safe access to a school. New software tooling will enable: Funding allocated for school bomb shelters to be targeted where it will deliver the greatest benefit for children and young people of a school age. Every school to receive a risk rating according to a methodology recently adopted in law as a Cabinet of Ministers decree, in order to help identify targeted measures that will improve the safety of a school. The rating will take into account factors such as historic shelling in the area, presence of a bomb shelter, safety of acce

Guidewire Jasper Release Boosts Commercial Lines Agility for P&C Insurers and Strengthens Functionality Across Entire Product Portfolio28.3.2024 08:05:00 CET | Press release

Guidewire (NYSE: GWRE) announces Jasper, its latest release, which boosts commercial lines agility for P&C insurers with support for layered coinsurance, schedule import, and a new U.S. Bureau Content Solution.* Additionally, expanded HazardHub data for Canada gives insurers deeper property risk insights for underwriting precision. Jasper release will be generally available on April 5, 2024. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240328607054/en/ “Commercial lines insurers face both risk and opportunity. On the one hand, there are economic fluctuations, including inflation, geopolitical complexities, capital limitations, and environmental challenges. On the other hand, the protection gap creates growth opportunities for insurers that innovate to stay ahead of the evolving risk landscape,” said Eugene Lee, senior vice president and general manager, InsuranceSuite, Guidewire. For P&C insurers seeking to improve commerc

Surge announces closing of a €7.5 million fundraising round to decrypt the immune system and transform precision medicine28.3.2024 08:00:00 CET | Press release

Surge has just closed its second round of funding, raising €7.5 million. The round was led by Eurazeo with the participation of Kima, Teampact, and MH Innov’, as well as the support of historical funds Boutique Venture, HCVC, and 50 Partners Santé. The fundraising is complemented by grants from BPI, including support for deep tech development and the Future Investment Program, of which Surge was a laureate. This second round of funding, marked by the entry of strategic investors, reflects Surge's accelerated development and the beginning of the commercial expansion phase. This funding will enable the opening of SurgeLab™, a premier laboratory dedicated to the discovery of immune biomarkers, and the finalization of PreCyte®'s industrialization. It will also support the refinement of its cutting-edge AI algorithms. "Building on solid scientific and technical fundamentals, Surge has already demonstrated the relevance of its biomarker discovery platform to address concrete clinical needs a

EIG’s MidOcean Energy Completes Acquisition of Tokyo Gas’ Interests in Portfolio of Australian Integrated LNG Projects28.3.2024 08:00:00 CET | Press release

MidOcean Energy (“MidOcean”), a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company formed and managed by EIG, a leading institutional investor in the global energy and infrastructure sectors, today announcedthe completion of its previously announced agreement to acquire Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd’s (“Tokyo Gas”) interests in a portfolio of Australian integrated LNG projects. The acquisition includes Tokyo Gas’ interests in the Gorgon LNG, Pluto LNG and Queensland Curtis LNG projects. The portfolio benefits from experienced operators, including Chevron, Woodside and Shell, and spans the LNG value chain from upstream operations to midstream, liquefaction and sales. As part of the transaction, MidOcean will open an office in Perth, Australia, to support and oversee the projects. R. Blair Thomas, EIG’s Chairman and CEO said, “We are strong believers in the role of LNG as a key enabler of the energy transition and have formed MidOcean to provide partners and investors differentiated exposure to the asset class. W

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye