STORM Therapeutics Appoints Marguerite Hutchinson, J.D., as Chief Business Officer
1 November 2023, Cambridge, UK: STORM Therapeutics Ltd. (STORM), a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering and developing novel small molecule therapies targeting RNA modifying enzymes (RMEs) for oncology and other diseases, is pleased to announce the appointment of Marguerite Hutchinson, J.D., as Chief Business Officer.
Marguerite has over ten years’ extensive experience in leading licensing agreements and collaborations with large, high profile healthcare companies as well as experience in legal and strategic operations. She was previously the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Plexxikon Inc., a member of the Daiichi Sankyo Group, establishing and managing collaborations with Roche, Merck, AstraZeneca, Array and Cancer Research UK. She played a pivotal role in the out-licensing of bezuclastinib to Cogent Biosciences and plixorafenib to Fore Biotherapeutics, securing upfront payments and additional developmental milestones, and royalty payments. She was instrumental in the Phase 3 development and approval of TURALIO® (pexidartinib), a prescription medicine which is the first and only oral therapy for tenosynovial giant cell tumor. In addition, Marguerite successfully pursued the patent infringement case Plexxikon v. Novartis, resulting in a significant jury verdict award and ongoing royalties from dabrafenib sales.
Jerry McMahon, Chief Executive Officer of STORM Therapeutics, said: “We are excited by the addition of Marguerite to the STORM leadership team as we continue to maximise collaborations for our developing pipeline of products targeting RNA modifying enzymes. Marguerite brings strategic vision to align our business with existing and new shareholders as we advance our current clinical program into additional advanced clinical studies.”
Marguerite Hutchinson, new Chief Business Officer of STORM Therapeutics, commented: “STORM is advancing the first RNA methyltransferase inhibitor to enter clinical development and I am delighted to be joining the team at a pivotal stage of clinical development with its lead candidate STC-15, which has the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes. I look forward to working closely with the stellar management team at STORM.”
Marguerite joins STORM from Tatara Therapeutics, where she was Chief Executive Officer, a UCSF spin-out which she set up and raised seed financing. Prior to this, Marguerite was Chief Business Officer at Frontier Medicines Corporation where she oversaw and led all business development activities including a collaboration with AbbVie.
Marguerite received a B.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law and is based in US.
CONTACTS:
STORM Therapeutics Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)1223 804174
info@stormtherapeutics.com
Optimum Strategic Communications
Hana Malik, Zoe Bolt, Elena Bates
Tel: +44 (0)203 882 9621
storm@optimumcomms.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
About STORM Therapeutics
STORM Therapeutics (STORM) is a clinical stage biotechnology company creating novel therapies that inhibit RNA modifying enzymes (RME) for use in oncology and other diseases. There are more than 150 RNA modifications reported and approximately 300 RNA modifying enzymes which represent novel therapeutic targets.
STORM has leveraged its first-mover advantage to establish a novel drug discovery and RNA analytics platform leading to the identification of novel targets and a proprietary pipeline of first-in-class small-molecule drug candidates for potential use in oncology, inflammation, viral infection and CNS diseases.
The pipeline is exemplified by STORM’s METTL3 inhibitor, STC-15, which has received IND approval and commenced its Phase 1 clinical study in cancer patients in November 2022. STC-15 represents the first ever RNA modifying enzyme inhibitor to enter clinical evaluation in humans. Additional programs are planned for advancement into IND-track activities in 2023.
STORM investors include M Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, Taiho Ventures LLC, Seroba Life Sciences, Cambridge Innovation Capital I Limited, IP Group plc, UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd. (UTokyo IPC) and the Fast Track Initiative (FTI).
For more information, please visit www.stormtherapeutics.com
About STC-15
STORM’s lead clinical program STC-15 is a first-in-class inhibitor of RNA modification and is the first ever RNA methyltransferase inhibitor to enter clinical development. STC-15 is an oral small molecule that inhibits METTL3, an RNA methyltransferase implicated in oncology and other diseases. Certain RNA methyltransferases are important regulators of RNA sensing and innate immune activation and represent novel immune-regulatory targets.
STC-15 has also been shown preclinically to inhibit tumour growth through mechanisms involving anti-cancer immune responses, such as changes in interferon signalling and synergy with T cell checkpoint blockade.
STORM commenced the dosing of the first patient in a Phase 1 clinical study of STC-15 in patients living with solid tumours in November 2022 and anticipates presenting first results from its study in 2024. Details of the study can be found on clinicaltrials.gov under the identifier NCT05584111.