On April 1, 2021 ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ: IBRX), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company, reported the appointment of health innovation expert and executive Linda Maxwell, M.D., MBA, as an independent member of the company’s board of directors (Press release, NantKwest, APR 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234577493]). The company also appointed CEO Richard Adcock to the board; he was named CEO of NantKwest in October and remains the CEO of the company after the merger of NantKwest with ImmunityBio in March. Both appointments are effective March 29, 2021.

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The nine-member ImmunityBio board is led by Founder and Executive Chairman Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D. The board includes two other recently appointed outside members, former CIA director John Brennan and retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, along with current board members Michael Blaszyk, Cheryl Cohen, Christobel Selecky, and Barry Simon, M.D.

"Linda’s background as a physician and surgeon combined with her extensive global healthcare industry and business experience will enable us to build on ImmunityBio’s strong foundation and help us take the company to the next level," said Soon-Shiong. "As a company working to bring novel therapeutic approaches to treating cancer and other serious conditions, we will benefit greatly from Linda’s insights on innovation."

The company also announced that two current directors—Fred Driscoll and John D. Thomas—will conclude their service on the board effective with the new appointments.

"We are grateful to Fred and John for their many years of service and the value they brought to our shareholders and employees," said Soon-Shiong. "During their tenure, we have expanded our pipeline and grown our portfolio of immunotherapy agents. Their contributions during that time were important to establishing this strong foundation and baseline for the growth we anticipate."

About Dr. Linda Maxwell

Dr. Maxwell is a medical educator, surgeon, and health technology entrepreneur and innovator. She has guided a wide variety of startup companies through clinical development capitalization and commercialization as Founder and Executive Director of the Biomedical Zone, Canada’s first and only hospital-embedded, physician-led business incubator for emerging health technology companies. Dr. Maxwell also managed a life sciences tech transfer portfolio at the University of Oxford and the UK national Health Service, executing patent strategy, spin-out company formation, and early stage capital raising. She has also served as a healthcare innovation expert in various Canadian federal, provincial, and local government entities, as a member of the Department Audit Committee and the Public Health Agency of Canada, as an advisor to the Canadian Medial Association and the Canadian Space Agency. Dr. Maxwell earned an A.B. with honors from Harvard University, an M.D. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the University of Oxford. She serves as an independent member of the Board of Directors of United Therapeutics, Inc.

"I’m honored to join the ImmunityBio board at such an important time of growth and opportunity for the company," she said. "I’m impressed with both the science and the leadership that I believe will take the company on an upward trajectory as it makes innovative contributions to medicine."

On April 1, 2021 Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (NASDAQ: ABUS), X-Chem, Inc. (X-Chem) and Proteros biostructures GmbH (Proteros) reported that they have entered into a discovery research and license agreement focused on the discovery of novel inhibitors targeting the SARS-CoV-2 nsp5 main protease (Mpro) (Press release, X-Chem, APR 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234577492]). The agreement is designed to accelerate the development of pan-coronavirus agents to treat COVID-19 and potential future coronavirus outbreaks.

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This collaboration brings together Arbutus’ expertise in the discovery and development of antiviral agents with X-Chem’s industry leading DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology and Proteros’ protein sciences, biophysics and structural biology capabilities and provides important synergies to potentially identify safe and effective therapies against coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2. The collaboration will allow for the rapid screening of one of the largest small molecule libraries against Mpro (an essential protein required for the virus to replicate itself) and the use of state-of-the-art structure guided methods to rapidly optimize Mpro inhibitors, which Arbutus could potentially progress to clinical candidates. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"It is well accepted that in addition to the availability of vaccines, effective and safe therapies are needed to successfully combat the COVID-19 pandemic and any future coronavirus outbreaks," stated Dr. Michael Sofia, Arbutus’s Chief Scientific Officer. "Arbutus, X-Chem and Proteros have complementary and valuable expertise that makes this collaboration particularly well-suited for small molecule drug discovery targeting coronaviruses. Our goal is to identify unique and differentiated pan-coronavirus assets targeting the main coronavirus protease which, when combined with assets arising from our internal nucleoside program targeting the SARS-CoV-2 nsp12 viral polymerase, could deliver a much-needed all-oral antiviral treatment for SARS-CoV-2 and any potential future coronavirus outbreaks."

"We are delighted of this joint discovery research collaboration with Arbutus and X-Chem, which has the potential to identify unique small molecule treatment options for COVID-19 and other possible coronavirus related respiratory diseases" said Dr. Torsten Neuefeind, Proteros’ CEO. "The complementary strengths of all parties gives us a strong position to potentially inhibit a key enzyme with a central role in the viral life cycle in a specific and effective manner."

"The discovery and development of novel drugs to combat infections caused by coronavirus is an incredibly important and challenging task", added Matt Clark, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of X-Chem. "We are exhilarated to join forces with industry leaders Arbutus and Proteros in this effort and bring our drug discovery expertise to this important area of antiviral research."