NEW HAVEN, Conn., April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arvinas, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARVN), a biopharmaceutical company creating a new class of therapies that degrades disease-causing proteins, announced that two members of the senior leadership team were appointed to expanded roles at the company. Andy Crew, Ph.D. has been appointed Chief Technology Officer, and Ian Taylor, Ph.D. has been appointed Chief Scientific Officer.
“Combined, these appointments within our management team will be critical as we advance our lead oncology programs, ARV-110 and ARV-471, and continue ramping up work on new programs,” said John Houston, Ph.D., President and CEO of Arvinas. “Andy and Ian have been integral in deploying the power of our discovery platform, and advancing our lead programs into the clinic, with our Phase 1 trial of ARV-110 underway and ARV-471 expected to enter the clinic in the third quarter of 2019.”
Andy Crew, Ph.D., formerly the Senior Vice President of Chemistry at Arvinas, joined at the inception of the company in 2013. As one of the earliest employees at Arvinas, Andy was instrumental in building and optimizing the Arvinas PROTAC™ technology platform and its deployment into therapeutic programs. Through his appointment as Chief Technology Officer, Andy will explore innovative new technologies and collaborations that hold the promise of further extending the application of the PROTAC™ platform.
“With targeted protein degradation, Arvinas is pioneering one of the industry’s most exciting new modalities, and I am excited to continue building out the potential of the PROTAC™ platform,” said Crew.
Ian Taylor, Ph.D., formerly Senior Vice President of Biology at Arvinas, has been with the company since 2016. In addition to continued leadership over the Biology function, Ian will play an integral role in advancing into new therapeutic areas, and overseeing and building our future partnerships. Based on his work, he is being appointed as Chief Scientific Officer and will be responsible for driving forward the company’s preclinical portfolio.
“The opportunity in front of Arvinas is unique because of the broad applicability of our PROTAC™ platform, which has not only shown great potential for developing cancer treatments, but also for difficult-to-treat diseases driven by undruggable targets,” said Taylor.
About PROTAC™ (Proteolysis-Targeting Chimera) Protein Degraders
Arvinas’ PROTAC™ protein degraders harness the body’s own natural protein disposal system to degrade disease-causing proteins. PROTAC™ protein degraders recruit an E3 ligase to tag the target protein with ubiquitin, which directs its degradation through the proteasome, a large protein complex that breaks down the ubiquitinated target protein into small peptides and amino acids. As the target protein is degraded, the PROTAC™ protein degrader is released and acts iteratively to destroy additional target protein.
PROTAC™ protein degraders offer numerous potential therapeutic advantages, including broad tissue distribution, routes of administration that include oral delivery, and simpler manufacturing than other new modalities, such as cell-based therapies. Arvinas has developed and optimized a proprietary library of protein targeting ligands, E3 ligase ligands, and linkers, which allow the company to rapidly identify and optimize efficient protein degraders with favorable characteristics for successful drug development.
About Arvinas
Arvinas is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the lives of patients suffering from debilitating and life-threatening diseases through the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapies to degrade disease-causing proteins. Arvinas uses its proprietary technology platform to engineer proteolysis targeting chimeras, or PROTAC™ protein degraders, that are designed to harness the body’s own natural protein disposal system to selectively and efficiently degrade and remove disease-causing proteins. For more information, see www.arvinas.com.
