SAN FRANCISCO, July 06 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nitrase Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company deploying its unique NITROME platform to unlock the therapeutic potential of nitrases, a new in-house discovered class of enzymes that offers the promise of a pipeline of therapies against a wide variety of diseases, today announced the addition of two key members of the Scientific Leadership Team: Frank Kayser, Ph.D., Vice President of Drug Discovery, and Sheerin K. Shahidi-Latham, Ph.D., Vice President of Preclinical Development.

“The expansion of the leadership team marks an important step in our mission to unlock the therapeutic potential of nitrases in multiple devastating diseases, including cancer and Parkinson’s disease,” said Irene Griswold-Prenner, Ph.D. ., founder and scientific director. from Nitrase Therapeutics. “Frank and Sheerin each bring over 20 years of experience in drug discovery and development for biotechnology and large pharma. Their expertise will be instrumental in building a drug pipeline based on the nitrase targets discovered through our proprietary NITROME platform.

Frank Kayser, Ph.D.

Dr. Kayser has over 25 years of senior-level drug discovery experience and has led multidisciplinary teams that have evolved compounds from early chemical leads to optimized drug candidates in late-stage clinical trials. With expertise in medicinal chemistry and structure-based drug design, he has developed numerous drug candidates for neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and immunology. Prior to Nitrase Therapeutics, Dr. Kayser was Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery at BioArdis, where he led all aspects of small molecule discovery. Previously, he was Head of Chemistry and Senior Vice President of Chemistry for Comprehensive Integrated Drug Discovery at BioDuro, and he led the Chemistry Department at Nurix. Additionally, he has held research and management positions in the pharmaceutical industry at Amgen, Tularik and Merck. Dr. Kayser has co-authored more than 40 issued US international patents and corresponding patents, and several pending US and PCT applications. He has a doctorate. in Chemistry from the University of Marburg, Germany, with Prof. MT Reetz, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. BH Lipshutz at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Sheerin K. Shahidi-Latham, Ph.D.

Dr. Shahidi-Latham brings nearly 20 years of biotechnology and pharmaceutical experience, ranging from early target validation to clinical development. Prior to joining Nitrase Therapeutics, she was Senior Team Leader of ICF Diseases and Translational Medicine at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS). During his tenure at BMS, Dr. Shahidi-Latham developed and executed biomarker-based strategies for clinical development programs, while co-leading a cross-functional translation steering committee responsible for defining, prioritizing and leading execution of reverse translation efforts. Prior to BMS, Dr. Shahidi-Latham was Senior Director of DMPK Biomarkers and Discovery at MyoKardia, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company using a precision medicine approach to discover, develop and commercialize targeted therapies for the treatment of rare cardiovascular diseases. . Earlier in her career, Dr. Shahidi-Latham served as Principal Scientist and Lead for Metabolomics and Imaging Mass Spectrometry in the Department of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics at Genentech. Dr. Shahidi-Latham earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Vanderbilt University under Professor Richard Caprioli and a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Miami.

About Nitrase Therapeutics, Inc.

Nitrase Therapeutics is a pioneering biopharmaceutical company deploying its unique NITROME platform to unlock the therapeutic potential of nitrases, a novel class of enzymes it discovered, to develop a pipeline of therapies for a wide range of diseases. The drugs Nitrase Therapeutics is developing will target these enzymes and potentially help slow or halt the progression of many diseases in which nitrases and nitro-substrates play a role, including Parkinson’s disease, cancer, immunological and fibrotic diseases. Nitrase Therapeutics (formerly Nitrome Biosciences) has been widely recognized and has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Target Advancement Fellowship from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease Research (MJFF). Nitrase Therapeutics is located in Brisbane, California, and its investors include Sofinnova Partners, AbbVie Ventures, Dementia Discovery Fund, Bristol Myers Squibb, Mission Bay Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.nitrasetx.com.

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