Ubiquigent Limited, a drug discovery and development company harnessing novel deubiquitinase (DUB) modulators as new therapeutics for areas of high unmet medical need, have announced the appointment of Dr Rishi Shah as Head of Chemistry. Bringing extensive expertise in heterobifunctional molecules, Rishi will support Ubiquigent’s internal drug discovery and strategic partnerships in the design, discovery, and development of DUB inhibitors, DUB-targeting Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs) and DUB-targeting Chimeras (DUBTACs).
Rishi joins Ubiquigent from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) where he led the development of multiple targeted protein degradation (TPD) programmes across a range of therapeutic areas, in addition to the development of an orally bioavailable PROTAC platform, a state-of-the-art bifunctional linker library, and the identification of novel E3 ligase ligands for use in TPD applications.
Rishi held a Visiting Scientist position at Imperial College London, collaborating with Professor Ed Tate to merge recent advances in covalent inhibitor technology with PROTACs, and has consulted on multiple TPD programmes, including DUB- and molecular glue-focused projects. He earned a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology through the University of Strathclyde-GSK collaborative PhD programme, exploring the design and physicochemical optimisation of JAK PROTACs, and obtained a Masters in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Queen Mary University of London.
“Ubiquigent is at an exciting stage of its growth, with an evolving focus on DUBTAC design and development through the application of its comprehensive DUB-focused drug discovery platform.” said Dr Rishi Shah, Head of Chemistry, Ubiquigent. “I look forward to working alongside the Ubiquigent team to further advance its pipeline of novel DUB modulators, as well as its strategic partnerships with industry and academia, empowering therapeutic progress across the fields of protein degradation and stabilisation.”
Jason Mundin, Chief Executive Officer, Ubiquigent, commented: “I am thrilled to welcome Rishi to the Ubiquigent team. With almost a decade of experience in heterobifunctional design and biological assay development, Rishi’s expertise will be critical in the continued development of both internal and partner DUB-focused drug discovery programmes and will strengthen our therapeutic focus on DUBTACs.”