OMass Therapeutics appoints Professor Steven Charlton as Chief Scientific Officer
Oxford, UK, 15 November 2024 – OMass Therapeutics (‘OMass’ or ‘the Company’), a biotechnology company identifying medicines against highly validated target ecosystems such as membrane proteins or intracellular complexes, today announces the appointment of Professor Steven Charlton as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), effective 1 December 2024. He will take on the role from Dr Ali Jazayeri, who is leaving OMass to pursue other opportunities.
Steven has over two decades of scientific leadership, drug discovery and membrane protein expertise. Steven joined OMass as Vice President of Pharmacology in February 2020 when OMass acquired the pharmacology team of Excellerate Bioscience, a contract research organisation (CRO) specialising in molecular pharmacology solutions for the pharmaceutical industry, which Steven co-founded and where he was CSO. His career also includes significant roles at SmithKline Beecham and Novartis, including Director of Molecular Pharmacology in Respiratory Diseases at Novartis. In this role, he led an assay development and compound profiling department, providing expert support for GPCR and other membrane protein targets. He also led several discovery projects that delivered drug candidates into clinical development and served on development teams covering late clinical development through post-launch. His contributions earned him the Novartis Leading Scientist Award in 2007, recognising his impact on quantitative pharmacology and the Novartis drug pipeline.
In addition to his position at OMass, Steven is Professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Drug Discovery in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham.
Professor Steven Charlton, incoming Chief Scientific Officer at OMass Therapeutics, said:
I am delighted to take the role of CSO at such an exciting time, as we advance our MC2 program towards the clinic. Building on the progress made under Ali’s leadership, I look forward to working alongside our skilled and talented management team as we grow OMass into a fully integrated pharmaceutical company, bringing transformative medicines to patients in need.
Ros Deegan, Chief Executive Officer of OMass Therapeutics, added:
Steven's deep expertise in drug discovery comes at a pivotal moment as we advance our first clinical candidate. His expanded role will be instrumental in accelerating our pipeline of novel small molecules. I also want to acknowledge Ali's transformative contributions as CSO in establishing our unique approach to drug discovery. His guidance has set strong foundations for our continued success.
