Absci Appoints Professor Sir Mene Pangalos to its Board of Directors
Jan 10, 2024
● Sir Pangalos is a distinguished biopharmaceutical executive who led BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca.
● In addition to joining Absci’s Board, Sir Pangalos will co-chair Absci’s Scientific Advisory Board.
VANCOUVER, Wash., January 10, 2024 — Absci (Nasdaq: ABSI), a generative AI drug creation company, today announced the appointment of seasoned R&D executive Professor Sir Menelas “Mene” Pangalos to its Board of Directors and as co-chair of Absci’s Scientific Advisory Board. Sir Pangalos was the Executive Vice President of BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca. He joins Absci as the company scales its AI-enabled portfolio of partnered and wholly-owned assets.
“The rapid evolution of AI in healthcare is unlocking unprecedented opportunities,” said Sir Pangalos. “Absci’s innovative approach in integrating AI with drug discovery is poised to significantly enhance the development of novel therapeutics, and I am excited to contribute to this transformative journey.”
With over 25 years of experience in drug discovery and development, Sir Pangalos was instrumental in elevating productivity and scientific excellence at AstraZeneca. His tenure there is marked by substantial advancements in R&D productivity, the fostering of key scientific collaborations, and the spearheading of innovative research initiatives that resulted in the company’s drug success rate from pre-clinical studies to completion of Phase III clinical trials increasing from 4% to 19% over a five-year period. An internationally acclaimed expert in neuroscience and drug development, Sir Pangalos has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications. His contributions to UK science earned him a knighthood from Her Majesty The Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Additionally, Sir Pangalos serves on the boards of the Francis Crick Institute and the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences.
“Sir Mene’s exemplary track record in drug discovery and development and his commitment to innovative technology make him an invaluable addition to our team,” said Sean McClain, Founder and CEO of Absci. “His expertise will be instrumental in the potential of translating our AI capabilities into impactful patient therapies.”
Sir Pangalos’ appointment, effective January 1, 2024, follows the recent addition of former Phillips CEO Frans van Houten to the Board. In his dual role, Sir Pangalos will also co-chair Absci’s Scientific Advisory Board.
Absci’s recent collaborations, including a collaboration with AstraZeneca to deliver an AI-designed antibody against an oncology target and an alliance with Almirall for dermatological disease therapeutics, underscore its commitment to leveraging AI to bring impactful drugs to patients. The company’s innovative ‘zero-shot’ generative AI model is at the forefront of these efforts, offering the potential to reshape drug discovery.
About Absci
Absci is a generative AI drug creation company that combines AI with scalable wet lab technologies to create better biologics for patients, faster. Our Integrated Drug Creation™ platform unlocks the potential to accelerate time to clinic and increase the probability of success by simultaneously optimizing multiple drug characteristics important to both development and therapeutic benefit. With the data to learn, the AI to create, and the wet lab to validate, Absci can screen billions of cells per week, allowing it to go from AI-designed antibodies to wet lab-validated candidates in as little as six weeks. Absci’s vision is to deliver breakthrough therapeutics at the click of a button, for everyone. Absci’s headquarters is in Vancouver, WA, its AI Research Lab is in New York City, and its Innovation Center is in Zug, Switzerland. Visit www.absci.com and follow us on LinkedIn (@absci), X (Twitter) (@Abscibio), and YouTube.
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