FoRx Therapeutics Appoints Chief Medical Officer and Provides an Update on Its Lead Development Candidate

Business Wire 26-Feb-2025 9:00 AM

Industry veteran in clinical development of oncology therapeutics, Dr. Jens Wurthner, PhD, joins as Chief Medical Officer

Lead development candidate, FORX-428, a PARG inhibitor for solid tumors, maintains progress toward IND submission by mid-2025

FoRx Therapeutics AG, a Swiss-based company committed to discovering and developing innovative drugs targeting cancer-relevant DDR (DNA Damage Response) pathways, today announced that it has appointed Jens Würthner, MD PhD, as Chief Medical Officer. He is further strengthening FoRx Therapeutics' existing management team with CEO Tarig Bashir, CSO Frank Zenke, and Head of Chemistry Ulrich Lücking.

Jens Würthner has 20+ years of clinical development expertise and a track record that includes the successful progression of drug candidates from Phase I initiation to market approval. He has led clinical development programs at large pharmaceutical companies, namely Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, as well as at biotech companies, such as ADC Therapeutics. At Swiss-based ADC Therapeutics, Jens oversaw all aspects of clinical development of several successful programs, including loncastuximab teserine (Zynlonta). Before that, he was Lead Clinical Program Leader at Novartis, where he was responsible for progressing small molecule compounds and a monoclonal antibody into the clinic and through multiple clinical trials. Jens joins FoRx Therapeutics from the Dutch company Scenic Biotech, where he has been building the translational and clinical teams for the oncology and rare disease franchise in preparation for first-in-human studies.

Jens Würthner holds an MD and a PhD from the University of Hamburg and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Laboratory of Cell Regulation & Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland (USA).

Tarig Bashir, PhD, CEO of FoRx Therapeutics, commented: "We are very happy that Jens is now part of our team. His long-standing expertise and track record in the clinical development of oncology therapeutics across all development stages is an outstanding asset for building FoRx Therapeutics' clinical capabilities and will be key to successfully advancing our PARG inhibitor FORX-428 with its best-in-class profile through the clinic. We are excited to have Jens on board to work on our common and ambitious goal to improve patients' lives and ultimately cure cancer."

Jens Würthner, MD PhD, CMO added: "I am looking forward to this new challenge at FoRx Therapeutics. Together with the team and all stakeholders, we will advance the Company's lead development candidate FORX-428 with its convincing best-in-class profile into the clinic and through subsequent clinical studies. We are committed to bringing a novel therapeutic with transformative potential to cancer patients who have limited therapy options and require new targeted treatment approaches."

Pipeline update

Also today, the Company provided an update on its lead development candidate, FORX-428. The compound is an inhibitor of PARG (Poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase) and is being developed for the treatment of solid tumors. FoRx Therapeutics reports significant progress towards IND (Investigational New Drug) submission for FORX-428 and anticipates clearance from the FDA by mid-2025. The Company has successfully finalized toxicological testing conducted according to GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) and also reports the identification and preclinical validation of predictive biomarkers which will be key in selecting patient populations most likely to benefit from treatment with FORX-428. Furthermore, recent data from animal studies with cell line-derived and patient-derived tumor models demonstrate outstanding anti-tumor efficacy and good tolerability, further corroborating the best-in-class proposition for FORX-428.

FoRx Therapeutics holds all development and commercial rights to FORX-428.

About FoRx Therapeutics

FoRx Therapeutics AG is a Swiss-based company committed to discovering and developing innovative drugs targeting cancer-relevant DDR (DNA Damage Response) pathways. The Company focuses on drugging key molecular targets involved in DNA replication stress, as a new approach towards the development of targeted anticancer drugs. Its lead development candidate, FORX-428, is an inhibitor of PARG (Poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase) and currently being developed for the treatment of solid tumors. FoRx Therapeutics was co-founded in 2019 with M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund and Omega Funds, along with Pfizer Ventures, the venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), and Life Science Partners (now EQT Life Sciences). For more information, please visit www.forxtherapeutics.com

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For media and investor inquiries, please contact: Switzerland/Europe: Valentin Handschin, IRF, handschin@irf-reputation.ch USA: Paul Sagan, LaVoie Health Science, psagan@lavoiehealthscience.com For general and all other inquiries, please contact: Tarig Bashir, CEO FoRx Therapeutics, tarig.bashir@forxtherapeutics.com