Promakhos Therapeutics
Though inflammation is normally a healthy part of the body’s response to injury or infection, some people experience a dysfunctional immune response. The resulting chronic inflammation can damage the body and lead to further disease. Current therapies for chronic inflammatory diseases such as Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and ankylosing spondylitis often work by suppressing the immune system, and treat symptoms rather than addressing the root causes of the disease. However, only 20-30% of patients benefit from these therapies long term. So, what if – instead of working against the immune system – we figured out how to restore its balance and function?
Promakhos Therapeutics aims to do just this. Founded in the spring of 2021 and based in Allston, Massachusetts, we develop curative therapies that restore the function of the immune system, allowing the body to control inflammation and heal.
Meet the team
We are entrepreneurs, scientists and drug discovery professionals.
Katerina Chatzi, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer, President and Co-founder
Postdoc, Molecular and Cellular Biology
Harvard University
Postdoc, Biophysics
KU Leuven
PhD., Biochemistry and Microbiology
Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
Katerina Chatzi, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer, President and Co-founder
Katerina Chatzi serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Promakhos Therapeutics. Katerina is a distinguished scientist-entrepreneur with expertise in immunology, protein secretion, biochemistry, bacteriology, cell biology and business development. She has performed biomedical research for over 15 years across four different countries, uncovering fundamental principles underlying bacterial secretion, protein folding, antibiotic resistance, and cell cycle regulation.
Katerina’s scientific journey started at the University of Crete, where she studied mechanisms underlying tolerogenic immunosuppression during pregnancy in mice. She then received an Erasmus fellowship to study antibiotic resistance at Uppsala University in Sweden. Returning to Greece, she received the Excellent Academic Performance Award and started her Ph.D. training to study and reconstitute bacterial secretion systems. For her work, she was awarded the prestigious Heraclitus II fellowship from the National Strategic Innovation Program. Katerina then continued her research on bacterial secretion and protein folding as a Research fellow at the KU Leuven in Belgium.
Katerina arrived in the United States of America to work as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University. Recognizing her passion for translational research, she engaged in various business development programs across the Harvard and Massachusetts ecosystems. Through her exposure to different scientific fields as well as clinical and business environments, Katerina realized how her skills can help in the development of novel immunomodulatory therapeutics. She assembled a team and founded Promakhos Therapeutics to carry out her vision.
Jasper E. Neggers, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer, Co-Founder
Postdoc, Medical Oncology
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Postdoc, Target Identification & Validation
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
PhD., Functional Genomics & Chemical Biology
KU Leuven
Jasper E. Neggers, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer, Co-Founder
Jasper Edgar Neggers is the Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of Promakhos Therapeutics. Jasper is an entrepreneurial, pioneering and innovative scientist with a background in microbiology, immunology, cell biology, target identification and validation, drug discovery and functional genomics. His commitment to entrepreneurship, scientific inquiry and translational research stems from his natural curiosity for biology and biotechnology, which manifested as he grew up in the Netherlands.
Jasper performed his Ph.D. studies at the Rega Institute for Medical Research at the KU Leuven, Belgium. He was among the first scientists to apply CRISPR/Cas to genetically engineer human cells. Jasper collaborated with Karyopharm Therapeutics to validate the mechanism of action of the now marketed anticancer drug Selinexor (XPOVIO®) and the clinical stage drug KPT-9274. In Belgium, Jasper also invented a CRISPR-based genetic screening approach for identification of the cellular target of new candidate drugs.
Jasper arrived in the USA as a postdoctoral fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard to spearhead a team of researchers to identify and validate new therapeutic targets for cancer. He quickly distinguished himself and was awarded a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation fellowship. As a fellow, Jasper developed an updated compendium of synthetic lethal interactions in cancer, helped identify new metabolic vulnerabilities in pancreatic cancer and continued developing new CRISPR/Cas applications. His work has nominated several new high-priority therapeutic targets for cancer and has led to the initiation of new drug discovery campaigns. As a rising scientific leader, Jasper was on his way to become an assistant professor after receiving the National Cancer Institute Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early-Stage Postdoctoral Researchers. However, ultimately, Jasper wants his research to translate into patient impact and felt that an academic career would not provide the right environment to pursue his vision. So, he handed back his million-dollar grant money and joined Katerina to co-found Promakhos Therapeutics.
Strategic advisors
Joshua R. Korzenik, M.D.
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Associate Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Resnek Family Distinguished Chair in Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Director of the Resnek Family Center for Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis Research
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Founding Director of the Crohn's and Colitis Center
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Joshua R. Korzenik, M.D.
Dr. Korzenik is a specialist in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy that focuses on developing new therapies for inflammatory bowel disease and primary sclerosing cholangitis. He is also well recognized for his compassion and dedication to his patients and for his integrative team approach to patient care. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, the Founding Director of the Crohn's and Colitis Center at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Director of the Resnek Family Center for Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis Research at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Resnek Family Distinguished Chair in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Korzenik has been involved in inflammatory bowel disease research and patient care for almost 25 years. His insights in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis have opened new avenues of research and possible therapies, and he was among the first investigators to research the intestinal microbiome for clues about the role it may play in the development of inflammatory bowel disease as well as in its management through nutrition and therapeutics. Dr. Korzenik is an author of over 100 peer-reviewed articles and research papers and frequently speaks at professional meetings. He was named Humanitarian of the Year in 2013 by the New England Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America and was awarded the Torch of Friendship in 1999 by the Mid-America Chapter in St. Louis. Moreover, he has sequentially been selected as a Top Doctor by Boston Magazine in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Dr. Korzenik has led and was involved in many major clinical trials of new therapies for inflammatory bowel disease. For example, he has initiated a different therapeutic approach to Crohn’s disease through a set of multi-center clinical studies utilizing granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and granulocyte macrophagecolony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) as therapeutic agents. In addition, based on an understanding of ulcerative colitis as a vascular disease and under-appreciated properties of heparin, he has previously developed clinical trials using heparin for the treatment of ulcerative colitis. His research has also focused on uncovering better biomarkers that can guide drug development and determine which interventions tested in clinical trials may be most effective and on understanding what initiates and perpetuates inflammation.
Tomi K. Sawyer, Ph.D.
Maestro Therapeutics
Chief Drug Hunter & President
Maestro Therapeutics
Adjunct Professor, Center for Drug Discovery
Northeastern University
Adjunct Professor, Departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Tomi K. Sawyer, Ph.D.
Tomi Sawyer serves as a drug discovery and development consultant. Tomi is an accomplished and entrepreneurial drug hunter, medicinal chemist and chemical biologist with a track record of developing both peptide and small molecule drugs. Tomi has over four decades of industrial experience in both pharma and biotech and is well known for his contributions to GPCR, kinase, protease and protein-protein interaction drug discovery. He is the inventor of the marketed drugs Afamelanotide (Scenesse®, Clinuvel) and Ponatinib (Iclusig®, Ariad Pharmaceuticals [now Takeda]) and is credited with over 600 scientific publications, patents, and presentations.
Tomi is currently the Chief Drug Hunter and President of Maestro Therapeutics, a consulting/advisory enterprise that supports peptide drug discovery in academia, biotech and pharma. Tomi Sawyer has recently retired from his position as Distinguished Scientist, Global Chemistry at Merck Research Laboratories. In this role, he provided leadership to the Peptide Drug Hunter Network and several peptide R&D programs as well as innovative core capabilities and knowledge engine. He previously also served as the Chief Scientific Officer of Aileron, Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery at Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Senior Director, Chemical Sciences at Pfizer and was a past President of the American Peptide Society.
Tomi is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Massachusetts and the Northeastern University Center for Drug Discovery. In addition, he is a Distinguished Alumni Entrepreneur from his undergraduate alma mater, Minnesota State University at Moorhead, and previously served as a member of the MSUM Alumni Foundation Board of Directors. At his graduate alma mater, the University of Arizona, Tomi is a Distinguished Alumni Entrepreneur and has received a Professional Achievement Award from the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the College of Science.
Mary Christian, PharmD., MBA
C4 Therapeutics
Senior Vice President, Regulatory
C4 Therapeutics
Mary Christian, PharmD., MBA
Dr. Christian is a pharmaceutical and biotech executive with more than 20 years of regulatory and drug development experience across pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. She has created high functioning, fit-for-purpose teams for emerging biotech, envisioned and built new capabilities in large pharma (e.g. Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology Strategic Collaborations, leading to success in >$50M in development partnerships), and led R&D efforts across a variety of therapeutic areas including, but not limited to, CNS, immunology, and immuno-oncology in all phases of development.
Dr. Christian serves as the Senior Vice President of Regulatory at C4 Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotech developing a pipeline of targeted protein degraders for oncology. Besides her role at C4, Dr. Christian also serves as a scientific advisor to several emerging biotech companies and lectures at MIT on Regulatory Strategies for developing drugs and devices.
Prior to C4, Dr. Christian was the Senior Vice President of Regulatory, Quality and Compliance at Lyndra Therapeutics, a rapidly growing clinical stage biotech whose mission is to reinvent medicine for a healthier world. She was also a founding member of Cyclerion Therapeutics, a spinout of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals focused on serious and orphan diseases, where she led Regulatory, Quality and Pharmacovigilance. Before her role at Cyclerion, Dr. Christian was Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, where she transformed the regulatory organization, successfully negotiated approval of a stalled marketing application for Linzess® in China, advanced rare disease assets into Phase 1 and 2 and built organization models that enabled the spinoff of various assets.
Prior to joining the world of biotech in Boston, Dr. Christian created and led successful and innovative teams at Bristol-Myers Squibb by identifying novel ways to accelerate research and the delivery of medicines to patients globally. Dr. Christian also held roles of increasing responsibility in Global Regulatory Affairs at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development (now Janssen Pharmaceutica) across several therapeutic areas.
News
November 3, 2023
Katerina Chatzi and Promakhos Therapeutics interviewed by Alex Alexakis of Startup Pirate
News
Athens, Greece
Katerina Chatzi and Promakhos Therapeutics interviewed by Alex Alexakis of Startup Pirate
This is a news announcement supporting the original article published by the Startup Pirate on November 3, 2023.
Some of the most challenging diseases of our time — atherosclerotic, neurodegenerative, metabolic, autoimmune diseases, etc. — may ride the same steed: inflammation. Inflammation, by definition, should be good. It is the way our body heals itself after injury. But chronic, unchecked, continually ramped-up inflammation leads to the opposite: chronic disorders in many forms.
Today, Alex Alexakis of Startup Pirate interviewed our CEO and founder Katerina Chatzi, PhD. He asked all the right questions about inflammatory diseases and allowed Katerina to provide some context! Check out the interview to learn about:
How inflammation becomes chronic and why inflammatory diseases are prevalent in our societies nowadays
Redefining how inflammatory diseases are cured by activating the immune system
The process from molecule design to developing new therapies
Challenges building a biotech startup
September 1, 2023
Promakhos Therapeutics receives $272K NIH Phase 1 SBIR grant to develop new oral immunomodulating therapy for Crohn's disease
News
Allston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Promakhos Therapeutics receives $272K NIH Phase 1 SBIR grant to develop new oral immunomodulating therapy for Crohn's disease
Promakhos Therapeutics is proud to announce the receipt of a Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). This SBIR grant (1R43DK135153-01) provides $271,865 to support the preclinical development and validation of Promakhos' oral drug candidate for treating Crohn's disease. This candidate is designed to restore intestinal innate immune function and wound healing to resolve bowel inflammation without suppressing the immune system.
May 20, 2023
Promakhos Therapeutics named as a Life Sciences Company to Watch by Big4Bio
News
San Francisco, California, United States of America
Promakhos Therapeutics named as a Life Sciences Company to Watch by Big4Bio
This is a news announcement supporting the original article published by the Big4Bio news aggregator on May 20, 2023. To learn more about Big4Bio, visit: https://big4bio.com/life-sciences-biotech-news/
Promakhos Therapeutics is excited to share that the company has been listed as a Life Sciences company to Watch by Big4Bio. Big4Bio is a premier aggregator of news and developments in the life sciences sector. Its name stands for the cornerstone “Big 4” in biosciences and health: drugs, devices, diagnostics, and digital (also known as the “four D’s”). Big4Bio produces individual summaries for the most significant life sciences markets in the world.
May 1, 2023
Promakhos Therapeutics selected as finalist at BIO 2023 and will present at the BIO 2023 Start-Up Stadium in Boston this June
News
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Promakhos Therapeutics selected as finalist at BIO 2023 and will present at the BIO 2023 Start-Up Stadium in Boston this June
Promakhos Therapeutics is pleased to announce that the company has been selected as a Start-Up finalist for the 2023 BIO International convention.
Our CEO, Katerina Chatzi, will showcase and present our mission and vision on stage at the BIO 2023 Start-Up Stadium in Boston on Tuesday June 6th, 2023 11:00 AM-1:00 PM. We look forward to seeing you there!
March 30, 2023
Promakhos Therapeutics selected as finalist of the 2023 Harvard President's Innovation Challenge
News
Allston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Promakhos Therapeutics selected as finalist of the 2023 Harvard President's Innovation Challenge
Promakhos Therapeutics has been selected as a finalist of the 2023 Harvard President's Innovation Challenge - Health & Life Sciences track. The Innovation challenge is a call to action, innovation and entrepreneurship – and an opportunity to win up to $75,000 (Grand Prize) or $25,000 (Runner-up) in non-dilutive funding. In May, Katerina Chatzi, our CEO, will present the company to a large audience at the Harvard Business School during the final event. We hope to see you there!
October 24, 2022
Promakhos Therapeutics welcomes Dr. Mary Christian to the scientific advisory board
News
Allston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Promakhos Therapeutics welcomes Dr. Mary Christian to the scientific advisory board
Promakhos Therapeutics is excited to announce that Dr. Mary Christian has joined the company's scientific advisory board.
Dr. Christian is a pharmaceutical and biotech executive who delivers visionary, innovative solutions in complex landscapes. She has a diverse experience in drug development spanning from regulatory strategy to establishing external partnerships with key academic institutions in the US to drive common research and development goals. She has created high functioning, fit-for-purpose teams for emerging biotech, envisioned and built new capabilities in large pharma (e.g. Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology Strategic Collaborations, leading to success in >$50M in development partnerships), and led R&D efforts across a variety of therapeutic areas including but not limited to CNS, immunology, and immuno-oncology in all phases of development. She thrives where she is trusted, purpose-driven and ever-learning; strengths include collaborative problem solving, partnering for mutual success and diverse & inclusive leadership.
Dr. Christian is the Senior Vice President of Regulatory, Quality and Compliance at Lyndra Therapeutics, a rapidly growing clinical stage biotech whose mission is to reinvent medicine for a healthier world. Lyndra is developing a pipeline of long-acting oral therapies. The regulatory pathway to global approval is uncharted for products this unique; Dr. Christian is committed to leveraging 20+ years of regulatory and drug development experience, working with the stellar Lyndra team, to accelerate these important therapies to patients. She also serves as a scientific advisor to several emerging biotech companies and lectures at MIT on Regulatory Strategies for developing drugs and devices.
Prior to Lyndra, Dr. Christian was a founding team member of Cyclerion Therapeutics, a spinout of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals focused on serious and orphan diseases, where she led Regulatory, Quality and Pharmacovigilance. She was Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals where she transformed the Regulatory organization and successfully negotiated approval of a stalled marketing application for Linzess® in China, advanced rare disease assets into Phase 1 and 2 and built organization models that enabled the spinoff.
Prior to joining the world of biotech in Boston, Dr. Christian created and led successful and innovative teams at Bristol-Myers Squibb by identifying novel ways to accelerate research and the delivery of medicines to patients globally. Dr. Christian also held roles of increasing responsibility in Global Regulatory Affairs at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development (now Janssen Pharmaceutica) across several therapeutic areas.
April 18, 2022
Promakhos Therapeutics interviewed by the Harvard Innovation Labs
News
Allston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Promakhos Therapeutics interviewed by the Harvard Innovation Labs
This is a news announcement supporting the original article published by the Harvard Innovation Labs on April 18, 2022. To learn more about The Harvard Innovation Labs' mission, please visit: https://innovationlabs.harvard.edu/
In a new interview by the Harvard Innovation Labs, Dr. Katerina Chatzi discusses the history and mission of Promakhos Therapeutics.
January 12, 2022
Promakhos Therapeutics' Dr. Katerina Chatzi interviewed by Nasdaq and Ladderworks to inspire children to become social entrepreneurs
News
New York City, New York, United States of America
Promakhos Therapeutics' Dr. Katerina Chatzi interviewed by Nasdaq and Ladderworks to inspire children to become social entrepreneurs
This is a news announcement supporting the original article published by Nasdaq on January 12, 2022 and curated by Ladderworks. To learn more about Ladderworks' and Nasdaq's mission to stimulate equitable entrepreneurship and to inspire children to become social entrepreneurs, visit: https://www.ladderworks.co/ and https://www.nasdaq.com/Purpose
In this new interview with interplanetary journalist Spiffy, reporting for Nasdaq and Ladderworks, Promakhos Therapeutics' Dr. Katerina Chatzi talks about the company’s commitment to make a difference in the world. Dr. Chatzi also provides additional insight into Promakhos Therapeutics' history.
October 31, 2021
Promakhos Therapeutics closes first financing round
News
Allston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Promakhos Therapeutics closes first financing round
Promakhos Therapeutics has closed its first round of financing after participating in the summer 2021 batch of Y Combinator, a Silicon Valley accelerator. The newly raised funds will be used to support preclinical drug development and to establish a pipeline for the discovery of new molecules for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases. The round was backed by various angel investors and large biotech funds.
October 1, 2021
Promakhos Therapeutics welcomes Dr. Joshua Korzenik and Dr. Jean-Frédéric Colombel to the scientific advisory board
News
Allston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Promakhos Therapeutics welcomes Dr. Joshua Korzenik and Dr. Jean-Frédéric Colombel to the scientific advisory board
Promakhos Therapeutics is proud to announce that Dr. Joshua Korzenik and Dr. Jean-Frédéric Colombel have joined the company's scientific advisory board.
Dr. Korzenik is a visionary and specialist in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy that is well recognized for his compassion and dedication to his patients. He brings over 25 years of experience in clinical research that focuses on developing new therapies for inflammatory bowel disease and primary sclerosing cholangitis. His insights in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis have opened new avenues of research and possible therapies, and he was among the first investigators to research the intestinal microbiome for clues about the role it may play in the development of inflammatory bowel disease as well as in its management through nutrition and therapeutics. Dr. Korzenik is an author of over 100 peer-reviewed articles and research papers and frequently speaks at professional meetings. He was named Humanitarian of the Year in 2013 by the New England Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America and was awarded the Torch of Friendship in 1999 by the Mid-America Chapter in St. Louis. Moreover, he has sequentially been selected as a Top Doctor by Boston Magazine in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, the Director of the Crohn's and Colitis Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Director of the Resnek Family Center for Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis Research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Colombel is a world-renowned specialist in gastroenterology and immunology and a leading authority in inflammatory bowel disease. He has been leading inflammatory bowel disease research for over 35 years and implements and leads major clinical trials. Dr. Colombel was previously the President of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO) (2008–2010) and Chair of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD) (2010–2012). He has been awarded the United European Gastroenterology Federation (UEGF) Research Prize in 2009, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation (CCF) Clinical Research Award in 2014 and the Sherman Prize in 2018. His research is perhaps most well-known for his contributions to the identification of major susceptibility genes for the development of Crohn's disease, the identification of a new subtype of Escherichia coli associated with Crohn's disease, as well as the development of the Anti-Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Antibody (ASCA) test. Dr. Colombel has authored over 980 peer-reviewed papers, is a current associate editor of Gastroenterology and has also been an associate editor of other major gastroenterology journals including Gut and Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Currently, Dr. Colombel serves as a Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Director of the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center and the Director of the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Center.
Both Dr. Korzenik and Dr. Colombel are valuable additions to our team and we are pleased to be working with them.
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