Radionetics Oncology Appoints Nishan de Silva, M.D. as Chief Executive Officer
Experienced company-builder joins a seasoned leadership team to advance novel precision radiopharmaceuticals
Company expects to file three INDs in the next two years
Radionetics Oncology, a pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel radiotherapeutics for the treatment of a wide range of oncology indications, announced today the appointment of Nishan de Silva, M.D. as its Chief Executive Officer. Dr. de Silva brings more than 20 years of experience in biotechnology operations, biopharmaceutical venture capital and healthcare consulting to Radionetics and joins a veteran leadership team leveraging a broadly enabling platform to expand the application of radiopharmaceuticals.
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Nishan de Silva, M.D., CEO, Radionetics Oncology (Photo: Business Wire)
The company's technology platform uses small molecule targeting to deliver therapeutic radioisotopes to a broad range of cancers by binding selectively to peptide receptors that are overexpressed on many tumors. This platform has the potential to be impactful in nearly all solid tumors and Radionetics is rapidly advancing multiple candidates with the expectation of filing three INDs in the next two years.
"Nishan's rich experience building companies, coupled with Radionetics' deep scientific and drug development expertise, gives the company an ability to mobilize its robust technology platform to rapidly develop targeted small molecule radiopharmaceuticals in pursuit of precision treatments for cancer," said Scott Struthers, Ph.D., Chairman of Radionetics. "We are delighted to have Nishan take the helm and accelerate the company's momentum in this exciting field of oncology therapeutics."
"Radionetics is pursuing a differentiated approach in an emerging therapeutic class that has the potential to upend current standards of care in radiation oncology," said Dr. de Silva. "The company's focus on pursuing novel oncology targets using a small molecule approach with a platform that is agnostic to the type of radioisotope is very attractive. In addition, recent scientific advancements and significant improvements in the radiopharmaceutical supply chain are unlocking vast opportunities to deliver precise and powerful radiopharmaceuticals to patients as well as meaningful financial returns for investors. The strength of the Radionetics team and platform uniquely position the company for success and I'm excited to take on this leadership role."
During his career, Dr. de Silva has built multiple companies, bringing novel pharmaceuticals through financing and clinical development. Prior to joining Radionetics, Dr. de Silva was the CEO at AFYX Therapeutics where he led a successful Phase 2 clinical trial program for a first-ever sponsor-conducted study in oral lichen planus. He also raised the financing to enable the achievement of that key value creating milestone and led the development and implementation of new IP strategies to ensure the program's exclusivity position. Before AFYX Therapeutics, Dr. de Silva served as President and Chief Operating Officer for Poseida Therapeutics, a leading gene therapy and gene editing therapeutics-focused company. There, he oversaw clinical, regulatory, technical operations, finance, business development and human resources functions through direct reporting relationships. Dr. de Silva played a key leadership role in raising over $100 million in capital, and he oversaw the advancement of the company's lead asset from preclinical concept through successful establishment of clinical proof-of-concept in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in multiple myeloma.
Dr. de Silva holds a B.A. summa cum laude in biology from Harvard University, an M.D. from The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and an M.B.A. with Distinction in healthcare management from The Wharton School.
Dr. de Silva joins the founding Radionetics management team, which includes Yu-Fei (Frank) Zhu, Ph.D., Deborah Slee, Ph.D., Brett Ewald, Ph.D., and Ana Kusnetzow, Ph.D. In addition to his CEO role, he will serve as a director on the company's board. Since launching in October 2021, Radionetics has added eight new members to the team and plans to more than double over the coming year.
About Radionetics Oncology
Peptide-targeted radiotherapeutics have recently demonstrated important therapeutic benefit for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors and advanced prostate cancer and are rapidly being integrated into the standard of care for these patients. Their increasing use is expected to drive infrastructure and deployment of additional radiotherapeutics. Radionetics Oncology, a pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel radiotherapeutics for the treatment of a wide range of oncology indications, is poised to capitalize on the increasing demand for novel radiotherapeutics. The company's platform technology uses small molecule targeting to deliver therapeutic radioisotopes to a broad range of cancers by binding selectively to peptide receptors that are overexpressed on these tumors. This small molecule technology addresses many of the significant challenges currently facing peptide and protein targeted radiotherapeutics, particularly in the realm of optimizing drug-like characteristics and manufacturing. Spun out of Crinetics (NASDAQ:CRNX) in 2021 and financed by 5AM Ventures and Frazier Healthcare, Radionetics is advancing a pipeline that currently consists of multiple lead drug candidates to treat a broad range of cancers and is conducting additional drug discovery efforts to identify drug candidates for additional receptor targets. According to commercially available market research reports, the market for radiopharmaceuticals is expected to rise to $12.6 billion by 2027.
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