Tessellate BIO, an Emerging Precision Oncology Company Announces the Appointment of World-Leading Scientists to its Scientific Advisory Board

Amsterdam, the Netherlands and London, UK – 15 November 2023 - Tessellate BIO, a preclinical stage biotechnology company with a focus on novel Synthetic Lethality approaches, today announces the appointment of multiple international experts to its Scientific Advisory Board.

A key part of Tessellate BIO’s strategy is to source cutting-edge research from international world-renowned laboratories to bring into its drug discovery programs. The SAB plays an important role in building Tessellate BIO’s academic networks and in guiding the company’s scientific strategy.

The SAB is composed of Drs. Roger Reddel, Hilda Pickett, Claus Azzalin, Andrew Deans, Christopher Lord, Rene Bernards, George Demetri, Giulio Draetta and Timothy Yap. It is chaired by Prof. Roger Reddel, Director of Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI) and the Sir Lorimer Dods Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. Prof. Reddel is the discoverer of the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) mechanism in human cancers, which is addressed by Tessellate BIO’s lead program, and a co-inventor of the ALT-specific companion diagnostic tool, the c-circle assay which Tessellate BIO is co-developing as a companion diagnostic.

Dr. Jurgen Moll, Tessellate BIO CSO, said “Our goal is to redefine Synthetic Lethality, taking it beyond its proven potential in Homology Recombination Deficiency, and into areas where it can impact more cancers and more patients. Such a high-calibre SAB not only validates our approach but will play a vital role in ensuring we can identify the best in international science as we build our pipeline.”

Prof. Roger Reddel, Tessellate BIO SAB chair, said: “I have been impressed with the Tessellate BIO team and believe they have a huge opportunity to move Synthetic Lethality beyond HRD, not only with their lead ALT program, but by applying the same approach more widely. The SAB has an exceptional depth of expertise and I believe I speak for all the members in saying we are very excited to be involved in helping Tessellate BIO achieve its mission of turning cancer patients into cancer survivors.”

The Tessellate BIO Scientific Advisory Board additional members (chaired by Prof. Roger Reddel)

Hilda Pickett and Claus Azzalin are Tessellate BIO’s co-founders and SAB members. Prof. Hilda Pickett, BSc (Hons) PhD is Head of the Telomere Length Regulation Unit at Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) and Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, Australia. Prof. Claus Maria Azzalin, MSc PhD is the Head of the Telomeres, Long Noncoding RNAs and Genome Stability Unit at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM) and Invited Professor at The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Prof. George D. Demetri, MD is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Director at the Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), and Quick Family Chair, Medical Oncology at the DFCI in Boston, US.

Prof. Giulio Draetta MD PhD is Director at the Institute for Applied Cancer Science, and Chief Scientific Officer and Professor of Genomic Medicine, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Prof. Timothy Yap MD PhD FRCP is Professor in the Department for Investigational Cancer Therapeutics and the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, as well as Vice President, Head of Clinical Development in the Therapeutics Discovery Division and Associate Director of Translational Research in the Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy.

Prof. Andrew Deans is Associate Professor and Head of the Genome Stability Unit at St. Vincent’s Institute for Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia.

Prof. Christopher Lord, D.Phil. is Deputy Head of Division, Deputy Director of the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre, Group Leader of the CRUK Gene Function Laboratory and Professor of Cancer Genomics in at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), in London UK.

Prof. Rene Bernards, PhD is Group Leader at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) in Amsterdam and Professor of Molecular Carcinogenesis at Utrecht University, The Netherlands.

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About Tessellate BIO
Tessellate BIO discovers and develops novel precision oncology medicines with the mission to turn cancer patients into cancer survivors. A private preclinical stage biotechnology company, Tessellate BIO is redefining Synthetic Lethality by developing drugs that target unexplored or difficult to drug pathways beyond HRD.
The company’s strategy is to drive small molecule drug discovery towards novel, validated oncology targets and, critically, the parallel development of associated companion diagnostics, including a potentially best-in-class diagnostic to detect ALT positive cancers for identification of treatment-eligible patients. The company also has follow-on programs in tumor suppressor Loss-of-Function (LoF) settings.
Led by an experienced team of drug hunters, the company is building a pipeline of first-in-class medicines based on cutting-edge research sourced from international world-renowned laboratories including Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI), Australia and Instituto de Medicina Molecular (iMM), Portugal. Its lead program targets complexes that are critical for the ALT mechanism including the FANCM protein complex.
Headquartered in the Netherlands and with research labs at the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, UK, Tessellate BIO is supported by top-tier life science investors BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) and Forbion.
For more information, please visit: www.tessellatebio.com | follow us on LinkedIn