Oxford Drug Design makes key appointment
Oxford Drug Design, an Oxford-based AI drug discovery company and pioneer in AI therapeutic innovation, has appointed leading oncologist and academic Professor Sarah Blagden to its Scientific Advisory Board.
This supports Oxford Drug Design’s cutting-edge AI-drug discovery platform aimed at breakthrough treatments against cancer.
The appointment comes as the company successfully completed the first in vivo validation in its innovative potential approach against multiple tumours.
Prof. Blagden is a clinician-scientist and Professor of Experimental Oncology at the University of Oxford. She has over 20 years of experience in clinical cancer drug development, having directed Oxford’s Early Phase Trials Unit. She is now Director of Oxford’s Oncology Cancer Trials Office (OCTO) which recently joined the Cancer Research UK trials network as the UK’s first dedicated center for conducting Precision-Prevention and Early Detection trials. From her clinical background as a Medical Oncologist, she was Oxford’s Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) lead.
A leading figure in this field, Prof. Blagden has contributed to approximately 100 peer review publications, many exploring trial methodologies. Her research focuses on post-transcriptional gene dysregulation in cancer and was the first to clone the human RNA binding protein LARP1 and describe its function in cancer.
She received a BSc in pharmacology and her medical degree (MBBS) from the University of London, a PhD from University of Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. In addition, Sarah is the founder of RNA Guardian Ltd, a biomarker discovery company.
The in vivo validation achieved by Oxford Drug Design is an important milestone for the company and potentially for oncological treatments overall. It involved a successful 28-day mouse trial that showed clear efficacy as well as dose response to its novel approach and using the company’s proprietary innovative chemical scaffolds.
This is the company’s second first-in-class therapeutic program to achieve clear in vivo validation based on its AI-drug discovery platform. Further, equally efficient expansions of this differentiated capability are already planned for other diseases.
Oxford Drug Design’s rapid advances have been enabled by its distinctive dual-competence discovery platform integrating its pioneering generative AI capabilities with tRNA synthetase expertise, including proprietary structural biology.
Prof. Blagden said: “I am delighted to be joining Oxford Drug Design at this exciting stage of their progress. Their highly innovative approach has the potential to have a powerful impact on the treatment of cancers where existing treatments have serious drawbacks. The team at Oxford Drug Design have a remarkable opportunity to be at the forefront of oncology drug discovery research.”
