Award winning medicinal chemist, Dr. Joseph Vacca, joins Third Law Molecular LLC as Scientific Advisor, bringing deep drug discovery and development experience, to advance its groundbreaking new platform for targeted drug discovery.
Joins Dr. Tomi Sawyer, Peptide Drug Hunter and peptide research expert, who has been instrumental in establishing the strategic direction for the Company – to develop the revolutionary category of Spiroligomer™ molecules to transform how diseases are diagnosed and treated.
BLUE BELL, Penn., [Date] /PRNewswire/ – ThirdLaw Molecular LLC, an early stage drug discovery company that has pioneered the discovery and development of Spiroligomer™ molecules – a groundbreaking new platform for targeted drug discovery – announced today the appointment of Dr. Joseph Vacca, award-winning Medicinal Chemist, as Scientific Advisor to the Company. Dr. Vacca brings with him a wealth of drug discovery and development experience, serving as Head of Chemistry for several small startup companies, with a previous role as Senior Vice President of Early Success Sharing Partnerships at WuXi AppTec Limited, and a 30-year career at Merck Research Laboratories. During his time at Merck, Dr. Vacca and his teams made major contributions to several approved drugs including the HIV protease inhibitor CRIXIVAN™ (indinavir sulfate); the HIV integrase inhibitor ISENTRESS® (raltegravir); the HCV protease inhibitor VANIHEP® (vaniprevir); the combination product ZEPATIER® (a combination of the second generation HCV protease inhibitor grazoprevir and the NS5A protein inhibitor elbasvir); and the recently approved second generation HIV NNRTI inhibitor PIFELTRO® (doravirine). Dr. Vacca has over 100 publications and patents and is the holder of multiple awards, including being named to the American Chemical Society Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame.
“I am excited to join ThirdLaw Molecular as Scientific Advisor to contribute to their groundbreaking work with this novel chemical platform of Spiroligomer™ molecules,” said Dr. Vacca.
Dr. Vacca joins Dr. Tomi Sawyer, who has been advising ThirdLaw Molecular since its founding in 2020. With his deep expertise in peptide research and development, Dr. Sawyer has helped inspire the Company’s mission of creating a revolutionary category of molecules that transform how diseases are diagnosed and treated. He is Chief Drug Hunter and President, of Maestro Therapeutics, a consulting/advisory enterprise that is engaging academia, biotech and pharma to support peptide drug discovery. He retired from Merck Research Laboratories as Distinguished Scientist, Global Chemistry, where he provided leadership to the Peptide Drug Hunter Network as well as both peptide R&D programs and innovative technologies. Dr. Sawyer is known for his contributions to GPCR, kinase, protease and protein-protein interaction drug discovery, and has two marketed drugs to his name, including SCENESSE® (a peptide superagonist of MCR1 for the treatment of the orphan skin disease known as erythropoietic protophyria and related indications) and ICLUSIG® (a small-molecule inhibitor of Bcr-Abl kinase for the treatment of resistant forms of chronic myelogenous leukemia). Dr. Sawyer is credited with >640 scientific publications, patents, and presentations and holds several Adjunct Professorships at the University of Massachusetts and Northeastern University Center for Drug Discovery. He is a Distinguished Alumni Scholar from his undergraduate alma mater, Minnesota State University at Moorhead, and served as a member of the MSUM Alumni Foundation Board of Directors. At his graduate alma mater, the University of Arizona, Tomi is a Distinguished Alumni Entrepreneur and has received a Professional Achievement Award from the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the College of Science. Most recently, Tomi launched the Peptide Drug Hunter Consortium and the Saint Albert the Great Institute for Science, Faith & Wisdom
“I look forward to collaborating with Dr. Vacca and continuing to partner with the talented team at ThirdLaw Molecular, to help prove the potential of this innovative therapeutic modality,” said Dr. Sawyer.
As Scientific Advisors, both Dr. Vacca and Dr. Sawyer will play pivotal roles in guiding ThirdLaw Molecular’s research efforts, providing strategic direction and assisting the Company in demonstrating the advantages of Spiroligomer™ technology over small molecules and biologic therapeutics. Their appointment underscores ThirdLaw Molecular’s commitment to assembling a world-class team of experts dedicated to driving scientific excellence in pursuit of a new therapeutic modality for targeted drug discovery.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Vacca to our team as Scientific Advisor,” said Prof. Christian Schafmeister, President, CSO and Founder of ThirdLaw Molecular, and Inventor of Spiroligomer™ technology. “He and Dr. Sawyer bring unparalleled expertise and insights that will be invaluable as we advance our groundbreaking research with this revolutionary category of molecules.”
About ThirdLaw Molecular
ThirdLaw Molecular LLC is a biotech company that has pioneered the discovery and development of Spiroligomer™ molecules – a groundbreaking new platform for targeted drug discovery. Spiroligomer™ technology represents a new, patent-protected, therapeutic modality of large, highly structured, chemically diverse, synthetic molecules for targeted drug discovery. This novel platform has expected benefits over biologics (cell permeability to access hard-to-reach intracellular targets; invulnerability to proteolysis for improved pharmacokinetics; and synthetic origin with no immunogenicity risk), and small molecules (highly selective binding of target proteins with fewer “off-target” effects). The Company is designing and synthesizing libraries of billions of Spiroligomer™-based molecules and is entering into research collaborations with pharmaceutical organizations to identify and optimize highly targeted drug-development candidates. ThirdLaw Molecular was founded in 2020 by Christian Schafmeister, PhD, Professor of Chemistry at Temple University, to advance his research into synthetic alternatives to proteins, with the mission of creating a revolutionary category of molecules that transform how diseases are diagnosed and treated – more safely and effectively. For more information, please visit www.thirdlawtx.com
SOURCE: ThirdLaw Molecular LLC.