TRIANA Biomedicines Announces the Appointments of Vito Palombella as Chief Scientific Officer and Reza Mazhari as Chief Business Officer
Appointments strengthen the leadership team and deepen expertise in drug discovery, oncology research, and strategic partnerships
Dr. Brian Jones appointed to Scientific Advisory Board
Lexington, MA - September 12, 2023 – TRIANA Biomedicines, Inc. (TRIANA), a leading biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing a target-first and rational molecular glue discovery platform to address difficult to drug disease targets, today announced the appointments of Dr. Vito Palombella as Chief Scientific Officer and Dr. Reza Mazhari as Chief Business Officer. Additionally, Dr. Brian Jones is appointed to the growing Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).
“I am thrilled to have Vito and Reza join the team at such a pivotal time for the company. As we rapidly advance our discovery pipeline currently focused on targeted protein degradation, Vito’s oncology and drug development expertise and Reza’s prowess in business development and portfolio strategy complement and strengthen our growing team. Both share a depth in translational sciences that will play a central role in the development of TRIANA’s future molecular glue products,” said Dr. Patrick Trojer, President and CEO of TRIANA. “Also, I am delighted to welcome Dr. Brian Jones to our Scientific Advisory Board. We are privileged to have the opportunity to work with a premier group of molecular glue thought leaders on drug development initiatives from discovery through drug commercialization. Their insights will help advance our efforts to build our world class molecular glue discovery platform and a robust pipeline of innovative molecular glue therapeutics.”
“I joined TRIANA because of its high powered scientific team and its product-focused approach to exploit this exciting new modality to tackle undrugged cancer targets,” said Dr. Vito Palombella. “We are at the cusp of creating transformative medicines for patients.”
"I am very pleased to join the TRIANA team as we explore opportunities which leverage the company's proprietary scientific platform and discovery pipeline," said Dr. Reza Mazhari. "There is a growing interest in unlocking the full potential of molecular glues to develop precision medicines for a broad range of indications, allowing TRIANA to consider various value-creating asset- and/or platform-focused business development opportunities in the months and years ahead."
“This is an exciting time for TRIANA as they deliver on the potential of molecular glue therapies. I look forward to working with the company and the other members of the SAB in guiding the company to address the undruggable dilemma facing many patients with first-in-class therapies,” said Dr. Brian Jones.
Vito J. Palombella, PhD, joins TRIANA with 30 years of scientific leadership and experience advancing first-in-class therapeutic programs, as well as a successful track record of building drug discovery and development organizations. Prior to joining TRIANA, he was the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Surface Oncology, where he led the non-clinical research and development organization. Prior to that, Dr. Palombella was EVP and CSO at Infinity Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for drug discovery and preclinical development. He held roles of increasing scientific responsibility at Syntonix Pharmaceuticals, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, LeukoSite Inc, and ProScript. Dr. Palombella was involved in the discovery and development of bortezomib and duvelisib, both for cancer therapy. Dr. Palombella holds a PhD in Viral Oncology and Immunology from the New York University Medical Center and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University.
Reza Mazhari, PhD, brings to TRIANA more than twenty years of business development as well as drug discovery and development experience. Prior to joining TRIANA, he was the Head of Search and Evaluation for Oncology at Novartis, where he led numerous successful in-licensing deals that contributed to the early-stage oncology pipeline and expanded the portfolio of enabling technologies. Dr. Mazhari was also responsible for out-licensing and divestment efforts at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR). Previously, Dr. Mazhari was the Vice President of Translational Medicine at Rexahn Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, he held dual responsibilities for leading drug discovery and early development in addition to leading the company’s business development efforts at Cerecor. He was the co-founder of Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals which was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb for $1.8 billion. He began his career as a faculty member at the School of Medicine in The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Mazhari holds a PhD in Bioengineering from University of California at San Diego and a post-doctoral research fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Brian Jones, PhD, is a seasoned drug discovery leader with over 30 years of industry experience. He is responsible for over 20 INDs across a broad spectrum of therapeutic indications. Most recently, he incubated, launched and was the CSO at Cedilla Therapeutics, which successfully discovered distinctive conditional modulators of targeted cancer biology. He was Entrepreneur in Residence at Third Rock Ventures, with active involvement in a wide variety of therapeutic areas and responsible for the incubation and launch of several private biotech companies. Previously, he was Head of Discovery Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research. Dr. Jones holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Imperial College of Science at University of London and a NATO post-doctoral research fellowship from Yale University.
About TRIANA Biomedicines Inc
TRIANA Biomedicines is a private biotechnology company, headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts and focused on building the leading molecular glue discovery platform to regulate disease targets that are difficult to address with any other modality. TRIANA’s drug discovery engine is powered by high-resolution structural insights, state-of-the-art AI and computational tools, and bespoke chemical libraries. TRIANA’s target first and rational approach to molecular glue discovery is currently focused on inducing or enhancing the degradation of high-profile cancer targets. The therapeutic approach pioneered by TRIANA has the potential to fundamentally change the paradigm of small molecule drug discovery and bring significant therapeutic benefits to patients.
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