Healthcare Industry News: ZOLINZA
News Release - May 14, 2010
Epizyme Appoints Mikel Moyer, Ph.D., Vice President of Molecular Discovery
Company Leading the Discovery and Development of Epigenetic TherapeuticsCAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Epizyme, Inc. announced today the appointment of Mikel Moyer, Ph.D., as Vice President of Molecular Discovery. He joins Epizyme from the Broad Institute, where he was Director of Medicinal Chemistry in the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research. Prior to the Broad, Dr. Moyer held leadership positions in medicinal chemistry groups at Pfizer for nearly two decades.
“Mike is a recognized leader in molecular discovery, and I welcome him to Epizyme, where his contributions will significantly advance our development of first-in-class medicines targeting histone methyltransferases (HMTs), a key group of epigenetic enzymes,” said Robert A. Copeland, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Epizyme. “Mike’s appointment completes our highly experienced research leadership team, where he joins Dr. Victoria Richon, our Vice President of Biological Sciences. Vicky led the team that discovered ZOLINZA® at Memorial Sloan Kettering and was a co-founder of Aton, which was subsequently acquired by Merck.”
“Epizyme is unlocking the potential of epigenetics through the regulation of HMTs,” commented Dr. Moyer. “I am excited to be working with the Epizyme team as we build a pipeline of innovative therapeutics that change the landscape of cancer treatment and address other significant unmet medical needs.”
Robert Gould, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, added, “I am proud of the experienced scientific and business leadership team and organization that we have assembled to pursue the important emerging field of epigenetic therapeutics. Collectively, our work has led to seven approved drugs and more than 55 INDs. This experience is vital as we continue to build our proprietary pipeline and work with other leaders in the industry to advance this important field.”
During his time at the Broad Institute, Dr. Moyer was responsible for establishing the first medicinal chemistry research group aimed at discovering novel therapeutics for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Prior to the Broad, he held a variety of leadership positions during 18 years at Pfizer, where he led medicinal chemistry groups that moved 25 compounds from discovery into development across five therapeutic areas, including oncology. The most advanced compound from these efforts has reached the market (Tarceva®). Prior to Pfizer, Dr. Moyer was a medicinal chemist in the immunoscience area at Abbott Laboratories. Dr. Moyer obtained a B.S. from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.
Epizyme’s executive leadership team includes: Robert Gould, Ph.D., CEO and President; Robert A. Copeland, Ph.D., EVP and CSO; Jason Rhodes, EVP and CBO; Mikel Moyer, Ph.D., VP of Molecular Discovery; and Victoria Richon, Ph.D., VP of Biological Sciences.
About Epizyme
Epizyme is leading the discovery and development of a new class of drugs for the treatment of cancer patients and other significant unmet medical needs based on breakthroughs in the field of epigenetics. Our accomplished team of pharmaceutical scientists and leaders is building a pipeline of drug candidates that selectively target an important epigenetic enzyme class, the histone methyltransferases (HMTs). Epigenetic enzymes are strongly associated with the underlying causes of multiple human diseases. www.epizyme.com
ZOLINZA® is a registered trademark of Merck.
Tarceva® is a trademark of OSI Pharmaceuticals.
Source: Epizyme
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