Circle Pharma Appoints Paul Park, MBA, as its Chief Business Officer

Rhea-AI Summary

Circle Pharma has appointed Paul Park as its Chief Business Officer to advance its lead program, an orally bioavailable Cyclin A inhibitor, towards clinical trials. Park brings extensive experience from previous roles at Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Amgen, where he led significant business transactions. The company aims to leverage its macrocycle platform to expand its pipeline, focusing on oncology therapeutics targeting cyclin proteins, which play a critical role in cancer cell regulation. Circle’s approach addresses unmet clinical needs in serious diseases.

Positive

• Appointment of Paul Park as CBO could bring valuable experience to advance business development.
• Circle Pharma's macrocycle platform shows potential in addressing challenging drug targets.

Negative

• Concerns regarding potential gaps in leadership continuity during the transition.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Circle Pharma, a company focused on developing macrocycle therapeutics against targets previously considered to be undruggable, has appointed Paul Park, MBA, as its Chief Business Officer. Mr. Park has extensive business development experience in life sciences in prior roles including vice president of business development at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, head of strategic partnerships at Aetion and various roles in international licensing, strategy and corporate development at Amgen. He joins the leadership team at Circle as the company is advancing its lead program, an orally bioavailable Cyclin A inhibitor, towards the clinic and applying its macrocycle platform to expand its pipeline which includes other targeted oncology therapeutics.

“Paul has a strong record of leading deals including large pharma partnerships, major M&A transactions, licensing and financings, as well as strategic corporate development experience,” noted David J. Earp, JD, PhD, Circle’s president and CEO. “We’re delighted to welcome him at an exciting time: our lead program is moving towards the clinic in a target space – cyclins and cyclin dependent kinases – that is generating a lot of interest, and we are growing our pipeline.”

“I’ve been impressed by the capabilities of Circle’s macrocycle platform to address key challenges that have stymied macrocycle drug developers, including achieving robust cell permeability and oral bioavailability, as exemplified by the company’s Cyclin A program,” noted Mr. Park. “I am looking forward to helping the Circle team to harness the platform against other challenging targets that will hopefully yield new treatment options for patients with unmet medical needs.”

Mr. Park led the Ionis team that orchestrated numerous significant transactions including most recently the co-development and co-commercialization deal with AstraZeneca for eplontersen, the spin-out of Ionis’ oncology portfolio to Flamingo Therapeutics, and in-licensing transactions with Bicycle Therapeutics and Genuity Sciences. Earlier in his career at Amgen he played key roles in the acquisitions of Tularik and Immunex. He obtained an AB in health and society from Brown University and an MBA in healthcare management from The Wharton School.

About Circle Pharma, Inc.

Circle is a pre-clinical stage company deploying a platform that combines structure-based rational drug design and advanced synthetic chemistry to develop first-in-class macrocycle therapeutics for challenging targets to address unmet clinical needs. Circle’s technology facilitates the design and synthesis of intrinsically cell-permeable macrocycles that can address both intra- and extra-cellular therapeutic targets, and can be delivered by multiple routes, including oral administration. Circle’s macrocycle drug discovery & development platform is applicable across a wide range of serious diseases; the company is initially focusing its development efforts on intracellular protein-protein interactions that are key drivers in cancer. Its pipeline targets include cyclin proteins, including cyclins A and E, which are part of the regulatory machinery that controls progression of cells through the cell cycle. Inhibition of cyclin A has been reported to be synthetic lethal to cancer cells that carry mutations causing dysregulation of the Rb pathway – such mutations are frequently found in small cell lung cancer. Cyclin E upregulation is found in many tumor types including uterine and ovarian cancer and is often associated with resistance to widely used cancer therapies, including trastuzumab and cdk4/6 inhibitors.

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220726005501/en/

More information: www.circlepharma.com

Contact: info@circlepharma.com

Eleonor Lim: 650.825.4099

Source: Circle Pharma, Inc.

FAQ

What is the significance of Paul Park's appointment as Chief Business Officer at Circle Pharma?

Paul Park's appointment is significant as he brings extensive experience in life sciences and business development, which can enhance the company's strategic direction.

How might Paul Park's experience benefit Circle Pharma's lead program?

His prior roles in leading major transactions could facilitate partnerships and financing, driving progress in Circle Pharma's lead program, a Cyclin A inhibitor.

What are Circle Pharma's main therapeutic targets?

Circle Pharma primarily targets cyclin proteins, including Cyclin A and E, which are critical in cancer cell regulation.

What advancements are being made by Circle Pharma in oncology therapeutics?

Circle Pharma is advancing an orally bioavailable Cyclin A inhibitor towards clinical trials while expanding its pipeline of oncology therapeutics.

How does Circle Pharma's macrocycle platform work?

The macrocycle platform combines structure-based drug design and synthetic chemistry to create therapeutics that can target challenging drug targets with good cell permeability.