Frank succeeds the Founding Chair, Professor Peter Fraser, who will continue as a Board Member and remain deeply involved with the scientific development of the company.
Frank is a highly experienced, medically qualified pharmaceutical executive who has worked to Board level in the UK, US, Switzerland and Germany. He currently works as an Independent Advisor, Chair and Board Member to several life science companies. He has broad experience of working with, running, and growing technology and therapeutic companies, supporting them to raise capital, partner and develop their technology and products.
The appointment comes at an exciting time for the company, which identifies novel drug targets using its proprietary 3D genomics platform. The company’s approach is showing some very promising insights into potential new therapeutic approaches through ongoing collaborations, including pro bono work on COVID-19. The Enhanc3D Genomics team is also working towards a further fundraise to support the next phase of development.
Commenting on the appointment, Prof. Peter Fraser said: “Enhanc3D Genomics is very pleased to welcome Frank to the company and we are excited to start work with him. His experience and insights will be invaluable as we develop our drug discovery and therapeutic business strategy.”
Commenting on his appointment, Dr Frank Armstrong said: “I am delighted to join Enhanc3D Genomics at this pivotal point in the company’s development. The Promoter Capture Hi-C technology has the potential to revolutionise the discovery of novel drug targets for a range of therapeutic areas by unlocking the wealth of hidden information held in the non-coding region of our genomes. I look forward to working with the team as we apply this innovative science platform to novel drug discovery and development. My thanks to them all for the excellent work to date which provides great springboard for the future.”
Enhanc3D Genomics is a Start Codon portfolio company and is based in the Milner Therapeutic Institute on the Cambridge BioMedical Campus.
About Enhanc3D Genomics
Enhanc3D Genomics’ disruptive technology profiles 3D genome folding at high resolution to link gene enhancers and non-coding genetic variants to their target genes to unlock their potential for therapeutic discovery.
The company was spun-out of research at the Babraham Institute into the three-dimensional (3D) organisation of the genome and long-distance interactions that occur within it to control gene expression. It is founded by academic scientists who are leaders in the fields of regulatory genomics and chromosomal architecture. Its three co-founders are: Professor Peter Fraser, Dr Mikhail Spivakov and Dr Stefan Schoenfelder. Dr Debora Lucarelli is the company’s CEO. Enhanc3D Genomics is based on the Cambridge BioMedical Campus.
About Dr Frank Armstrong
Dr Armstrong has held Chief Executive roles with five biotechnology companies (both public and private) including FulcrumPharma PLC (AIM) and CuraGen (NASDAQ). He led Medical Science and Innovation at Merck Serono and was previously Executive Vice President of Product Development at Bayer and Senior Vice President of Medical Research and Communications at Zeneca. Dr Armstrong is currently the Chairman of Caldan Therapeutics and Faron Pharmaceuticals, a Director of Newcells Biotech and a Non-Executive Director of ECO Animal Health Group plc. He is a member of the Senior Advisory Board at Healthcare Royalty Partners and an SAB Member at Epidarex Capital. Dr Armstrong is a Member of the Court of the University of Edinburgh. He is a physician and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh).