Fintech PR
DISCO Pharmaceuticals launches as the surfaceome company with EUR 20 Million in Seed Financing
- Transformative surfaceome discovery technology enables a comprehensive map of the cancer cell surface to identify a multitude of novel druggable targets.
- Pipeline programs in Small Cell Lung Cancer and Microsatellite-Stable Colorectal Cancer.
- Experienced team of individuals with expertise in surface proteomics and oncology from academia, biotech and pharma, led by CEO Roman Thomas.
- Leading biopharma executives Dieter Weinand (previously CEO at Bayer Pharmaceuticals) and Carsten Reinhardt (CDO at Immatics), join the DISCO Board of Directors as Chairman and Independent Director, respectively.
COLOGNE, Germany and ZURICH, Jan. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — DISCO Pharmaceuticals (“DISCO”), a specialist biotech unlocking the surfaceome of cancer cells at scale to identify new targets and develop first in class drugs, emerges from stealth today. The Company, operating out of Cologne, Germany and Schlieren, Switzerland, successfully raised seed financing of EUR 20 million and is backed by a world leading investor syndicate, including Sofinnova Partners, which led the round, Panakes Partners, M Ventures and AbbVie Ventures.
The development of new treatment modalities in oncology is growing at an ever-increasing rate, but the lack of cancer-specific cell surface targets limits the application to a few clinically effective targets. The development of new biologics, such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and bi-specific antibodies, is on the rise; however, there are currently less than 30 molecular targets which form the basis of all antibody-based therapies. Therefore, there is a significant need to identify novel cancer-specific targets and target pairs.
DISCO’s pioneering surfaceome mapping platform transforms the current approach of target discovery for large molecule R&D. The technology identifies proteins and protein communities across the entire cancer cell surface in a scalable manner, thus addressing the need for target candidates for both mono- and bi-specific antibodies. These insights enable the development of a multitude of cancer-specific therapies, with the potential to boost efficacy and reduce side effects for patients. DISCO has started to create an internal pipeline of novel anti-cancer therapeutics leveraging this knowledge.
DISCO has completed the first-ever map of the surfaceome of a cancer type, Small Cell Lung Cancer, (SCLC) and is developing proprietary antibody-based treatments for SCLC, which has historically been difficult to treat. DISCO is currently working on Microsatellite-Stable Colorectal Cancer, which is associated with a high unmet medical need and for which only a few treatment options are available. The Company’s pipeline includes further undisclosed programs.
DISCO was spun out of ETH Zürich, with founders from ETH, the University of Cologne and Stanford University, and was founded in May 2022 by Prof. Roman Thomas, Dr. Johannes Heuckmann, Prof. Bernd Wollscheid and Prof. Julien Sage. The founders have a deep understanding of surface proteomics, cancer biology and drug discovery, and a track record of value creation. Dr. Stefan Ries, who has previously held leadership positions at Roche and was a venture partner at Versant Ventures, joins DISCO as Chief Scientific Officer. The DISCO team is complemented by a world leading group of scientific advisors.
In addition to the experienced Board of Directors from the investor syndicate, Dieter Weinand will join as Chairman of the Board. Dieter Weinand was previously the CEO of Bayer Pharmaceuticals and has held leadership positions at Pfizer, BMS and Sanofi. He currently serves on the Board of Coya Therapeutics (NASDAQ: COYA), as Chairman of the Boards of Replimune (NASDAQ: REPL), Umoja, and Inspirna, and as Executive Chairman of Mnemo Therapeutics. Furthermore, Carsten Reinhardt, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Development Officer at Immatics (NASDAQ: IMTX), joins the DISCO Board as an Independent Director. Previously, he was EVP and Chief Medical Officer at Micromet Inc, International Medical Leader at Hoffmann-La Roche, and has been serving as a director on supervisory boards to a variety of biopharma companies.
Roman Thomas, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, at DISCO Pharmaceuticals, said: “Today, we are launching DISCO Pharmaceuticals and its breakthrough technology after a decade of research by our exceptional team. We believe that our surfaceome discovery technology is truly disruptive and will transform oncology treatment options and ultimately improve outcomes for patients. The surfaceome mapping in Small Cell Lung Cancer – that we completed within months – has validated our technology platform and approach, demonstrating its potential, and we look forward to applying it to different indications.”
Maina Bhaman, Partner at Sofinnova Partners, added: “DISCO is uniquely positioned to transform cancer care. The team, which brings together individuals with diverse backgrounds from academia, biotech and pharma, combined with its unique surfaceome discovery technology, enables comprehensive target information which neither standard proteomics, nor genome or transcriptome sequencing can provide.”
Dieter Weinand, newly appointed Chairman of the DISCO Board of Directors, commented: “Expanding the possible target space in oncology has been a bottleneck in the industry for decades. I am thrilled to be working with the truly exceptional people at DISCO as I firmly believe that they will be able to overcome this hurdle by using their disruptive surfaceome discovery engine.
About DISCO Pharmaceuticals
DISCO Pharma, operating out of Cologne, Germany and Schlieren, Switzerland, employs a disruptive scalable technology to map the surfaceome of cancer cells and develop first-in-class cancer drugs. With the advent of new cell-surface, target-directed therapeutic modalities (including ADCs and bi-specific antibodies), it is critical to ramp up the discovery of meaningful targets. DISCO does so by comprehensively identifying druggable targets, as well as protein communities (i.e., different proteins that form nanoscale organizations on a cell), across the entire cancer cell surface at scale, thus uncovering crucial new information that neither genome nor transcriptome sequencing can provide. By knowing which proteins are truly present on the cell surface, and how they are associated within protein communities, DISCO can design highly specific binders, boosting expected efficacy and reducing side effects.
DISCO has a highly experienced team with a strong track record in cancer drug discovery and entrepreneurial value creation, as well as a deep understanding of surface proteomics born out of ETH in Zurich and developed further within the Company. DISCO is backed by world leading life sciences investors including Sofinnova Partners, Panakes Partners, M Ventures and AbbVie Ventures.
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/disco-pharmaceuticals-launches-as-the-surfaceome-company-with-eur-20-million-in-seed-financing-302035546.html
The promotions span across six practice areas and three regions to drive growth in 2025 and beyond
CHICAGO, Jan. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Heidrick & Struggles (Nasdaq: HSII), a premier provider of global leadership advisory and on-demand talent solutions, today announced key global and regional leader appointments, effective January 1, 2025. The appointed leaders will continue advancing the firm’s objective of delivering exceptional value to clients by fostering differentiated, deep, and durable relationships.
“Having the right leadership in place is increasingly crucial to business performance, growth, and prosperity, making our work more important than ever,” said Tom Monahan, CEO, Heidrick & Struggles. “This dynamic group embodies our values as a firm as well as our unwavering commitment to delivering superior client service. We’re excited to promote these outstanding leaders as they continue to shepherd our clients through their most pressing business and talent challenges.”
These leaders span Heidrick & Struggles’ priority practice and solution areas, as well as multiple regions globally.
Individuals appointed to Regional Leader:
- Anne Rockey, North America
- Richard Guest, Asia Pacific & Middle East
Individual appointed to Global Managing Partner:
- Todd Taylor, Client Driven Growth, a newly created role
Individuals appointed to Executive Search Global Practice Managing Partner:
- Jaimee Eddington, Corporate Officers Practice
- Dominique Fortier, Financial Services Practice
- Chris Bray, Global Technology & Services Practice
- Gustavo Alba, Co-Lead, Private Equity Practice
Individuals appointed to Executive Search Regional Practice Managing Partner:
- Liz Langel, Americas, Financial Services Practice
- Ina Sood, Americas, Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice
- David Burd, Americas, Corporate Officers Practice
- David Crawford, Asia Pacific & Middle East, Global Technology & Services Practice
- Tom Cunningham, Europe & Africa, Global Technology & Services Practice
- Sarah Driscoll, Europe & Africa, Global Technology & Services Practice
- Roman Wecker, Europe & Africa, Industrial Practice
Individuals appointed to Partner-in-Charge:
- Jane Xing, Beijing
- Jessi Gentile, Chicago
- Maliha Jilani, Dubai
- Kim Pomoell, Finland
- Kiwook Kim, Korea
- David Richardson, New York/Stamford
- Christina Besozzi Cary, Washington, D.C.
Individual promoted in Heidrick Consulting:
- Eric Joseph, leading North America on an interim basis
About Heidrick & Struggles
Heidrick & Struggles (Nasdaq: HSII) is a premier provider of global leadership advisory services and on-demand talent solutions, serving the senior talent and consulting needs of the world’s top organizations. Heidrick & Struggles pioneered the profession of executive search more than 70 years ago. Today, we partner with clients to develop future-ready leaders and organizations, combining our expertise in executive search, leadership consulting, and on-demand, critical talent solutions to achieve the highest levels of profitability and performance. Helping our clients change the world, one leadership team at a time.® www.heidrick.com
Media Contact
Bianca Wilson
Global Director, Public Relations
Heidrick & Struggles
[email protected]
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/139029/heidrick_struggles_logo.jpg
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/heidrick–struggles-announces-2025-global-and-regional-leader-appointments-302343456.html
LONDON, Jan. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Finastra, a global provider of financial services software applications, today announced a significant leadership transition. After nearly a decade of transformative leadership, Simon Paris will step down from his role as Chief Executive Officer. Chris Walters has joined Finastra and will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer.
Chris brings a wealth of experience from senior executive leadership positions, driving innovation and scaling technology companies. He recently served as CEO of Pluralsight and Avantax, a leading company within Financial Services, where he orchestrated significant performance improvement and the company’s successful sale. Prior to Pluralsight and Avantax, Chris served in a variety of leadership roles, including being a Partner at McKinsey & Company and the COO of Bloomberg Industry Verticals Group.
On his appointment, Chris said, “I’m excited to join Finastra at this pivotal moment in its journey and am impressed by the significant progress that has been made during Simon’s leadership. I look forward to working with the talented team to drive sustainable growth and continue to deliver more value to our customers, team members, and investors.”
Under Simon’s stewardship, the company has achieved remarkable milestones, including:
- Leading the charge in Open Finance, following the merger of Misys and D+H in 2017 to form Finastra
- Building a loyal customer base of over 8,000 clients in 130 countries, including 45 of the world’s top 50 banks
- Achieving recognition as a leader in Generative AI, with all employees upskilled and ~50 capabilities in progress from ideation to production stages
- Garnering extensive market accolades, including multiple product, culture, and leadership awards, and being named the #1 Banking Technology company, the #2 Financial Technology company, and appearing in the top 15 Software companies worldwide in 2024 alone
- Delivering record financial performance and double-digit Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) growth
As Finastra embarks on its new strategic sprint in 2025, the company is well-positioned for continued success. During the transition period, Simon and Chris will work closely together to ensure a smooth handover.
Simon reflected on his tenure, saying, “This journey with Finastra has been a privilege. Chris is a seasoned professional, and I am honored to ‘pass the baton’ to him. I leave incredibly proud of what Finastra has achieved so far and excited for the company’s future under Chris’s leadership.”
About Finastra
Finastra is a global provider of financial services software applications across Lending, Payments, Treasury and Capital Markets, and Universal (retail and digital) Banking. Committed to unlocking the potential of people, businesses and communities everywhere, its vision is to accelerate the future of Open Finance through technology and collaboration, and its pioneering approach is why it is trusted by ~8,100 financial institutions, including 45 of the world’s top 50 banks. For more information, visit finastra.com.
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2591526/Simon_Paris_and_Chris_Walters.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1916021/5100855/FINASTRA_Logo.jpg
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/finastra-announces-leadership-transition-welcoming-chris-walters-as-new-ceo-302343232.html
AI Impact leverages DXC’s combined consulting, engineering, and secure enterprise services
ASHBURN, Va., Jan. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC), a leading Fortune 500 global technology services provider, today announced AI Impact, an approach designed to help solve customers’ most pressing challenges. By combining DXC consulting, engineering and secure enterprise services, DXC will help clients across industries securely innovate and drive real business outcomes with AI.
DXC takes a pragmatic approach to AI by focusing on developing solutions that solve real world challenges and support business growth. With DXC’s AI Impact, customers benefit from DXC’s vast industry expertise and technology experience to build solutions, services and experiences together that will deliver real business outcomes using the latest technology innovation. Read more about DXC’s approach here.
“AI has already captured the attention and imagination of industries everywhere. From AI agents to autonomous driving and personalized medicine, companies are taking steps to unlock value from AI, which promises to reshape our world,” said Howard Boville, EVP, Consulting & Engineering Services – Powered by AI. “With DXC’s AI Impact approach, we are helping to push the boundaries of what AI makes possible, guided by our team of consulting, engineering and technology experts to address our clients’ most pressing challenges.”
Customers across industries are leveraging AI Impact, including:
- Automotive: DXC is helping customers leverage AI-powered diagnostic tools to make it easier for automotive manufacturers and service providers to identify potential issues before they become critical, reducing downtime and maintenance costs. DXC is also helping customers leverage AI to personalize every aspect of a vehicle, including personal assistants that learn a driver’s preferences and habits over time to make more intuitive recommendations.
- Public Sector: To provide more transparency, governments are using DXC AI Impact to efficiently engage with citizens and make it easier for them to access public services. This includes the use of AI Agents and AI enhanced processes that streamline and simplify tax, national lending and even public healthcare processes.
- Financial Services and Insurance: DXC is helping customers optimize operations, from underwriting and risk assessment to claims processing and customer service. By working with DXC, financial institutions are leveraging chatbots to make it easy for human agents to respond faster and more accurately to customer inquiries by analyzing thousands of documents in minutes with Generative AI.
- Healthcare: DXC implemented an AI-powered app to help measure patient symptoms in real-time, analyzing data to provide clinicians with insights that enable more accurate diagnoses and treatment plans, improving the quality of care and proactively addressing prescription resistance.
For more information on DXC AI Impact and how we’re working with the most innovative industry leaders to securely innovate, visit here.
Forward Looking Statements
All statements in this press release that do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute “forward-looking statements.” These statements represent current expectations and beliefs, and no assurance can be given that any result, goal or plan set forth in any forward-looking statement can or will be achieved. Such statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements, many of which are outside of our control. For a written description of these factors, see the section titled “Risk Factors” in DXC’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, and any updating information in subsequent SEC filings. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements which speak only as of the date they are made. We do not undertake any obligation to update or release any revisions to any forward-looking statement or to report any events or circumstances after the date of this document or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.
About DXC Technology
DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC) helps global companies run their mission-critical systems and operations while modernizing IT, optimizing data architectures, and ensuring security and scalability across public, private and hybrid clouds. The world’s largest companies and public sector organizations trust DXC to deploy services to drive new levels of performance, competitiveness, and customer experience across their IT estates. Learn more about how we deliver excellence for our customers and colleagues at DXC.com.
CONTACT: Mihir Bellamkonda, Media Relations, [email protected]; Roger Sachs, Investor Relations, [email protected]
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/dxc-technologys-ai-impact-helps-customers-across-industries-innovate-with-ai-302343102.html
-
Fintech PR6 days agoOutsourced Accounting Service: The New Standard for Business Finance Industry
-
Fintech PR7 days agoBybit Launchpad Onboards Xterio, Opening up Opportunities in Blockchain Gaming for Users
-
Fintech PR6 days agoCKGSB Professor Mei Jianping Launches Global Indices Tracking Impressionist, Contemporary, and Chinese Art Markets
-
Fintech PR6 days agoIBN Technologies Sets the Benchmark in Financial Management Accounting Excellence
-
Fintech PR3 days agoBybit x Block Scholes Report: BTC Options Steady with Call-Put Parity, ETH Braces for Short-Term Volatility
-
Fintech PR6 days agoDayOne Launches as an Independent Global Data Center Pioneer Following Series B Funding Closure
-
Fintech PR6 days agoGES Completes Sale to Truelink Capital
-
Fintech PR3 days agoArtificial Intelligence (AI) in Trading Market to Reach USD 35 Billion by 2030, Growing at a 10% CAGR | Valuates Reports