— The former President and CEO of Nuvelution Pharma also served as the CEO of three public biopharmaceutical companies, including Sevion and NeurogesX, and has overseen billions of dollars in industry transactions —
San Francisco, CA (Date TBD) – MorphImmune, Inc., a private platform company that is advancing a highly specific targeting technology that uses a ligand-linked payload to reprogram the immune system, announced the appointment of Ronald Martell as the company’s President and CEO effective April 12, 2021.
A serial entrepreneur, Martell has founded five biopharmaceutical companies and served on the boards of directors of several others. Prior to joining MorphImmune, Inc., Martell served as the President and CEO of Nuvelution Pharma. He was also Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Indapta, Orca Bio and Co-Founder and CEO of Achieve Life Sciences, where he led the merger of the company with Oncogenex. Martell has served as the CEO of three public biopharmaceutical companies, including Sevion and NeurogesX, and has overseen billions of dollars in industry transactions.
Earlier in his career, Martell served as Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at ImClone Systems, where he was instrumental in deals with Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck KGaA, and built ImClone Systems’ worldwide operations to market and commercialize Erbitux®. He also served in various leadership positions with Genentech where, as Group Manager, Oncology, he was responsible for building the company’s oncology franchise, including the launch of Herceptin® and Rituxan®.
“Ron’s track record demonstrates that he has the entrepreneurial vision, leadership and management skills necessary to optimize the value of a company’s intellectual and human assets,” said MorphImmune Founding Board Chairman and Research Bridge Partners Co-Founder and CEO Isaac Barchas. “His intimate understanding of the R&D process, along with his deep relationships with Silicon Valley and Wall Street, will help create highly favorable market opportunities for MorphImmune.”
MorphImmune is founded on the discovery and research of the company’s Scientific Founder, Philip S. Low, PhD, the Presidential Scholar for Drug Discovery and Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Purdue University. Low, the named inventor of more than 500 patents and patents pending, has created a highly specific targeting technology involving the use of a ligand-linked payload to drug previously undruggable physiological pathways.
These discoveries have led to the design of targeted drugs to reprogram specific immune cell types (macrophages, T cells, antigen presenting cells, Fc receptor expressing cells, NK cells) for treatment of malignant, CNS, infectious, autoimmune and fibrotic diseases and develop ligand-targeted chemotherapies, radiotherapies, and immunotherapies of cancer.
“We were in search of an industry leader whose entrepreneurial acumen is equal to the potential of our technology, and we found just that in Ron,” said Low, the Scientific Founder of MorphImmune, Inc. and various startup companies including Endocyte, Inc., which Novartis acquired for $2.1 billion in October 2018. “I trust in him to help us realize our goal of saving lives by reprogramming the immune system in multiple disease settings.”
“At a time of extraordinary opportunity in the biopharma world, what draws me to MorphImmune is the strength and platform nature of its science, the rigor of the lab’s science, culture and Phil’s drive to address diseases that have claimed the lives of people he cares about,” said Martell. “The work of Phil and his team is emblematic of the preeminent innovation birthed at Purdue University.”
About MorphImmune, Inc.
MorphImmune, Inc. is a private platform company that is advancing a highly specific targeting technology that uses a ligand-linked payload to reprogram the immune system. The MorphImmune Chemistry Platformenables physicians to drug previously undruggable physiological pathways in treating an array of cancers, chronic diseases and other conditions mediated by the immune system. We design targeted drugs to reprogram specific immune cell types (macrophages, T cells, antigen presenting cells, Fc receptor expressing cells) for treatment of malignant, CNS, infectious, autoimmune and fibrotic diseases and develop ligand-targeted chemotherapies, radiotherapies, and immunotherapies of cancer.
The company is led by a team with extensive accomplishments in discovering and advancing biopharmaceutical innovations. Our Scientific Founder, Philip S. Low, PhD, the Presidential Scholar for Drug Discovery and Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Purdue University who is the named inventor of more than 500 patents and patents pending, established various technology companies including Endocyte, Inc., which Novartis acquired for $2.1 billion in October 2018. President and CEO Ronald Martell has served as the CEO of three public biopharmaceutical companies, including Sevion and NeurogesX. Our Chief Scientific Officer, Sunil Singhal, MD, MBA, is the Director of the Thoracic Surgery Research Laboratory and the William M. Measey Associate Professor of Surgical Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Our Directors include Isaac Barchas, JD, Co-Founder and CEO of Research Bridge Partners, and Franklyn Prendergast, MD, PhD, the former Edmond and Marion Guggenheim Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the Mayo Medical School, Mayo Distinguished Investigator, Emeritus Director at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center and Mayo Center for Individualized Medicine, and a former Director for Eli Lilly.
About Research Bridge Partners
Research Bridge Partners, a 501 (c) (3) organization, enhances the societal and economic impacts of America’s research universities by bridging preeminent innovators at mid-continent institutions with the commercialization resources of Silicon Valley. Founded by Isaac Barchas and Reid Hoffman, Research Bridge Partners uses proprietary data analytics to identify the nation’s leading researchers and translational philanthropy to transform their scientific breakthroughs into investible companies for the benefit of people everywhere.