Phenomix expands its Australian operations

Phenomix, based jointly in San Diego and Canberra, has appointed experienced biotechnology executive Dr Julie Cherrington as president of operations to oversee its Australian activities as it moves into pre-clinical and clinical programs.

The former VP of pre-clinical research and exploratory development at SUGEN (now part of Pfizer), Cherrington brings experience in developing pre-clinical and clinical programs to the company, which was co-founded by Prof Chris Goodnow at the Australian National University.

"We plan to make the most of her expertise in linking discovery and clinical development as we develop lead compounds for metabolic syndrome and immune disorders," said Phenomix president and CEO Dr Laura Shawver.

Underpinning Phenomix is the utilisation of whole-animal models of disease, derived via the use of ENU mutagenesis and targeted siRNA knockdown to genetically modify the animals, to rapidly discover drugs that can modify or even correct the disease.

"We find targets that are causative in disease rather than correlative," said Shawver. "The advantage of a whole-animal approach is that it gives us an animal model."

The company currently has four drug discovery programs, two looking at aspects of metabolic syndrome and two at immune disorders. Active compounds have been identified in two of the programs with screening still ongoing for the others.

The whole-animal approach also provides a base for effective lead optimisation allowing the company to focus on pharmacokinetics and toxicity issues earlier in the process.

"By doing really careful animal experiments early on, we can learn quite a lot," Cherrington said. "The game is to get into the clinic as fast as we can."

Phenomix hit the headlines last year when its series A financing round brought in commitments of US$32 million from Australian and US venture capital groups including GBS Venture Partners, Alta Partners, Sofinnova Ventures, Bay City Capital, CMEA Ventures, Versant Ventures and others.

The investment was increased in October by $3.5 million to $35.5 million, of which the company has received $25.5 million in two tranches.

The remaining $10 million, according to Shawver, will be used to anchor a series B round, which will most likely take place in mid-2004.