Our Mission
Nodus Oncology is developing first and best-in-class molecules inhibiting novel targets within the DNA damage response and replication stress response.
Supported by most recent scientific advances, we are developing the next wave of cancer therapeutics in the DNA damage response (DDR) area.
Founded by Cumulus Oncology and in partnership with the Lead Discovery Centre, Nodus Oncology is developing an innovative portfolio focused on synthetic lethality and collateral vulnerabilities in molecularly defined cancer patient populations.
Our Team
A mix of extensive scientific expertise and experienced commercial strategy to develop an ambitious start up with several development programmes to bring innovative drugs to patients.
Scientific Advisory Board
Marcel van Vugt, PhD
Professor of Molecular Oncology at the Department of Medical Oncology at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Marcel’s interest in the DDR started during his PhD at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, under supervision of Prof. Rene Medema, where he studied Cell Cycle regulation by Polo-like kinase-1. This interest continued during his postdoctoral fellowship, where Marcel studied the regulation of the DNA damage checkpoint by cell cycle kinases in the laboratory of Michael B. Yaffe at the David H. Koch, at the institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, Cambridge USA). In 2009, Marcel started an independent research group at the University of Groningen where his research focuses on how normal cells and cancer cells deal with DNA damage, and how this knowledge can be used to improve cancer therapy. Since April 2018, Marcel is appointed Full Professor of Molecular Oncology, and since November 2018 he is director of the Cancer Research Center Groningen.
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Dominic James, PhD., FRSB
VP of Translational Sciences at Imagen Therapeutics
Dominic has over 30 years’ experience in molecular and cellular biology with roles at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, University of Geneva, AstraZeneca and the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute (CRUK MI). He has successfully led drug discovery projects for CRUK MI from target identification through to licencing. Dominic is an enthusiastic and highly skilled scientist who was recently elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Biology.
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Jan Eickhoff, PhD
Head of Screening and Assay Development at Lead Discovery Center in Dortmund, Germany
Jan has over 20 years of experience in oncology and drug discovery, holding positions at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Axxima Pharmaceuticals and GPC Biotech. In addition, Jan was managing director of the HDC GmbH in Constance, Germany, and involved in planning and set up of the centralized compound management and screening unit of the Max Planck Society. He has a track record of successfully leading small molecule drug discovery projects, with several first-in class oncology projects currently being tested in clinical trials.
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Keith Caldecott PhD, FRS FMedSci
Professor of Genome Stability at the University of Sussex (UK)
Keith is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society, Academy of Medical Sciences, and EMBO. Keith developed his interest in DDR during his PhD at the Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research in London, in Penny Jeggo’s lab. His interest in DNA repair continued during postdoctoral fellowships in California with Larry Thompson at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and with Tomas Lindahl at the Cancer Research UK's laboratory at Clare Hall, London. In 1995, Keith established his own laboratory at the University of Manchester, and in 2002 moved to the Genome Damage and Stability Centre (GDSC); a multi-disciplinary centre-of-excellence funded jointly by the MRC and the University of Sussex. The Caldecott lab is focussed on identifying new human DNA repair genes and unravelling the link between defects in DNA strand break repair and human genetic disease.
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Board of Directors
Julia Brown
Chairwoman
Julia is an experienced Non-Exec Director and Chairperson with a broad scientific background and wealth of experience in both industry and the public sector. She led the transition of a novel biotech from bench to late-stage clinical testing and out-licensing. She co-founded a clinical CRO which successfully expanded its operations into the USA. Julia has worked closely with companies, government, and the higher education sector to support Scotland’s economic development. This included diligence on investment opportunities for Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Investment Bank. Most recently, Julia was Chair of the UK Knowledge Transfer Network, KTN Ltd and former Non Exec Director of Cumulus Oncology.
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Keith Blundy
NED
Former Chief Executive with experience in molecular biology R&D, drug discovery, strategy & licensing as well as extensive venture capital fund raising experience with a world leading cancer technology commercialisation company (Cancer Research Technology) and a pioneering biotech startup (Storm Therapeutics). He was formerly a director of KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Mission Therapeutics, Cancer Therapeutics Pty and Inivata Ltd.
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Clare Wareing
NED
Clare is the CEO of Cumulus Oncology, which founded Nodus Oncology. With a PhD in cancer cell biology from the University of Edinburgh and a 30-year career in clinical development in the oncology biopharmaceutical sector, Clare’s in-depth experience in the contract research organisation (CRO) sector has given her a wide exposure to different oncology asset classes and a highly valuable perspective on the key attributes for successful oncology drug development. Clare founded the niche CRO, Nexus Oncology, which became the partner company of choice for a number of biotechs developing new cancer therapies. Clare sold Nexus Oncology to Ockham Development in 2012 in a cash and share transaction, with a second successful exit two years later when Ockham was acquired by Chiltern Development.
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Bert M. Klebl
NED
Bert M. Klebl has gathered more than 20 years of professional experience in the life sciences industry, working in different positions in drug discovery and early development. He is founding managing director and chief scientific officer of the Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC), Dortmund/Germany, a drug discovery incubator, which has been established in 2008 by the Max-Planck Society together with Max-Planck Innovation GmbH in order to transform basic research results into assets for commercialization. LDC connects basic research from different sources to pharmaceutical industry and the financing sector. Due to LDC’s successes, the LDC management raised the fund structure KHAN-I GmbH & Co.KG in 2019. Bert is one of the general partners of KHAN-I. Previous positions were at GPC Biotech AG, Axxima Pharmaceuticals AG and Hoechst Marion Roussel/Aventis. Bert also holds a position as Researcher at the Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics of the University of Tromsø, Norway. He earned his PhD in biochemistry at the University of Konstanz, Germany, and did postdoctoral work at the NRC Biotechnology Research Institute in Montréal, Canada. He (co-)authored more than 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals and is a co-inventor of more than 30 patents and patent applications.
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Nodus Oncology is supported by sophisticated investors with expertise in oncology drug development, which aim to bring novel molecules to the clinic.
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Partnerships
The Lead Discovery Center acts as the drug discovery partner for Nodus Oncology and participates in the development of all assets in the pipeline. This close collaboration enables rapid and efficient delivery of successful programmes.
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