London, United Kingdom, 23rd February 2021: Euromedica Executive Search are pleased to announce their successful partnership with PearlRiver Bio, a Centessa company, to appoint Dr. Joseph Birkett, PhD as Chief Executive Officer.
Dr Birkett brings a wealth of experience in oncology research and development having spent 16+ years across various roles working in the biopharma industry, gained throughout his career in mid to large pharma and smaller biotech alike. Dr Birkett is hugely experienced in the clinical development of Tyrosine Kinase inhibitors (Global clinical lead for Btki ONO-4059 (now GS-4059) and was a key member of the Acerta Pharma team who developed the Btki, Calquence, subsequently acquired by Astra Zeneca in 2016 for $7.3 billion USD) and Monoclonal antibodies (key member of the Roche early phase oncology group that led to several FDA/EU approvals for the anti-CD20 antibody obinutuzumab) and through his appointment, will leverage this experience to help propel PearlRiver’s pipeline of pre-clinical assets towards the clinic.
Dr. Joseph Birkett, CEO of PearlRiver Bio, a Centessa company said: “I am delighted and honoured to join the PearlRiver Bio (PRB) team and excited to be part of Centessa Pharmaceuticals Limited. The PRB team is highly experienced in the field of EGFR biology, chemistry and structural biology and our vision at PRB is very clear; we are strategically focussed on addressing the unmet medical needs of our patients, to develop best in class drugs in the EGFR space. I am really looking forward to what lies ahead and I would like to thank Dominic in particular for his impeccable search and selection talents and his relationship management, a real pleasure to interact with during the candidate selection process".
About PearlRiver Bio
PearlRiver Bio is developing potent and selective oral exon20 insertion mutation inhibitors intended to have minimal activity on wild-type EGFR and optimal pharmacokinetic properties, for the treatment of EGFR exon 20 insertion (with potential to target and treat Her2 exon 20 insertions) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PearlRiver Bio is also developing oral inhibitors targeting C797S-mutant EGFR and undisclosed next generation EGFR inhibitors for NSCLC.
About Centessa Pharmaceuticals
Centessa Pharmaceuticals Limited is a next-generation biopharmaceutical company that aims to reshape the traditional drug development process. The company applies an asset-centric R&D model at scale to advance a portfolio of highly validated programs led by industry leading teams. Each program is developed by an Centessa Subsidiary and supported by a centralized infrastructure and the Centessa management team. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. For more information, visit www.centessa.com