Menu
This is a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, and a central factor in the body’s method of controlling inflammation.
Nicotine binds α7nAChR and is a known immune suppressive. A subgroup of patients who cease smoking go on to acquire ulcerative colitis.
180 Life Sciences believes that α7nAChR agonist treatment provides a solution: without the addictive qualities of smoking, an α7-based drug will reduce ulcerative colitis in ex-smokers.
Led by Professor Lawrence Steinman and Dr Jonathan Rothbard, who have been working on this project for more than a decade, 180 Life Sciences is developing a treatment for ulcerative colitis in ex-smokers.
Rothbard JB, Rothbard JJ, Soares L, Fathman CG, and Steinman L. (2018)
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115:7081-7086.
Lawrence Steinman and Jonathan Rothbard in the Steinman Laboratory of Stanford University
α7nAChR holds advantages over existing treatments:
α7nAChR agonists were touted by Big Pharma as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. However, despite success in the safety trials, these drugs failed to meet their clinical endpoints in later trials
Decade of research on immune suppression in multiple sclerosis led to realization of the importance of the a7 subunit of nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor (nAChR)
© 2021 | 180 Life Sciences
Co-Founder
Father of cannabis research, having worked on the chemistry, pharmacology and clinical effects of natural products, including cannabis for over 50 years. He isolated numerous cannabinoids, including the active constituent of cannabis, delta9-THC, and elucidated its structure. This also paved the way to his discovery of 2AG and anandamide, both endogenous cannabinoids in late 1990s. He has published over 400 papers in esteemed scientific journals and be awarded several notable prizes including the Israeli Prize in Exact Sciences in 2000, NIDA discovery award in 2011, 2012 Rothschild Prize in Chemical Sciences and Physical Sciences, and Lifetime achievement award at CannaMed in 2016. Currently his work focusses on generating novel cannabinoids and anandamide-like compounds which are being developed as drugs.
Chief Financial Officer
Ozan has played a key role in the formation of 180 Life Sciences as the CFO of two of the subsidiaries since late 2018 and oversaw the merger of 180 Therapeutics, Katexco and Cannbiorex, which now form 180 Life Sciences. He was instrumental in completing the company’s NASDAQ listing and managed majority of the funding rounds for the company.
Throughout his career, Ozan has specialized in helping companies in defining their corporate strategy, and executing corporate transactions such as M&As and IPOs. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the 180 Life Sciences team as a former investment banker with in-depth capital markets expertise. Ozan was previously VP of Investment Banking at a leading Canadian independent investment bank, where he co-founded the origination department which focused on small and mid-cap financing and advisory mandates. In this role he advised private and public companies on M&A deals and was the lead banker on more than 30 financings, raising approximately $400 million.
After his investment banking career, Ozan became a venture capitalist with a hands on approach, where he gained valuable experience as CFO and/or board member to early stage biotech companies. Ozan was the CFO of Enosi Life Sciences and the CFO and a board member of Unify Pharmaceuticals, both pre-clinical companies focused on autoimmune diseases.
Ozan holds an Economics and Finance degree from McGill University and is a CFA Charterholder.
Scientific Director
Fiona McCann PhD is an immunologist and has held the role of Scientific Director at 180 Life Sciences in UK since September 2018.
Fiona has obtained her PhD from studies at Pfizer and University of Kent, UK in 2000.
Since then she has carried out translational research at Imperial College London, and Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology (KIR), and has published several high impact studies with pharmaceutical companies (including Bayer Schering, Celgene, GSK) which unravel novel mechanisms of immune regulation, harnessing potential for therapeutic discovery.
From 2011-2018, she was group leader for therapeutic target discovery in autoimmune disease and fibrosis at University of Oxford, firstly working with NovoNordisk, and secondly with a multi-national consortium of academics and pharma at KIR/SGC Oxford (EU/IMI funded).
She holds a mini-MBA from SAID Business School, University of Oxford, a certificate in Entrepreneurs in Clinical Academia (ECA/FOCIS) from INSEAD business school, Fontainebleau, France and is currently studying towards a certificate in Project Management in Biotech at University of Washington and UCSD, due to complete June 2021.
Chairman of Clinical Advisory Board
Professor Nanchahal is a surgeon scientist at the University of Oxford, focused on defining the molecular mechanisms of common diseases such as fibrosis and translating his findings through to early phase clinical trials
His surgical background has allowed him to bring a unique insight to common, yet relatively neglected diseases
Many of his findings stem from investigations in primary human tissues, rather than relying on animal models that often fail to recreate human clinical conditions
He has pioneered the treatment of fibrosis of the hand (Dupuytren’s disease), which unlike fibrosis in major human tissues can be diagnosed early and samples easily obtained to discover new pathways of importance
In 2013 his group identified TNF⍺ as a target for Dupuytren’s disease, leading to a phase 2a clinical trial to determine the effective dose and preparation of anti-TNF
He is now leading the Phase 2b/3 trial funded by the Wellcome Trust and UK Department of Health
Professor Nanchahal is a member of the Royal College of Plastic Surgeons
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr Jonathan Rothbard works in the neurology department at Stanford University
Dr Rothbard headed the Molecular Immunology Laboratory at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London in 1990, where he first worked with Professor Sir Marc Feldmann
He has collaborated with Professor Lawrence Steinman since 1986, when they published the first of their 26 manuscripts together
Dr Rothbard has been involved at a high level with start-up pharmaceuticals discovery; in 1987 he founded Amylin in San Diego and has also founded start-ups CellGate and ImmuLogic
Amylin was focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of drugs treating diseases including diabetes and obesity
The company was sold in 2012 to Bristol-Myers Squibb for $5.4 billion
In addition to neurology, Dr Rothbard has also worked in the departments of chemistry and rheumatology at Stanford University
Dr Rothbard holds a BA from Hamilton College and a PhD from Columbia University, which he followed with a fellowship at The Rockefeller University
Co-Chairman
Professor Lawrence Steinman is currently is the George A. Zimmermann Endowed Chair in the Neurology Department at Stanford University
His specialities lie in autoimmune diseases, particularly multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica
In the Steinman Laboratory of Stanford, which is his foundation, he has developed new therapies for autoimmune diseases, some of which are in advanced clinical trials
Professor Steinman has overseen success in the pharmaceuticals industry; he was on the board of Centocor, sold to Johnson and Johnson in 1998 for $4.9 billion, and was a founder of Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) which went public in 1997
Professor Steinman was instrumental in discovering the application of natalizumab (Tysabri) in treating multiple sclerosis. The drug was sold to Royalty Pharma in 2017 for $2.85 billion
Recognition for his work includes the Friedrich Sasse Award in 1994, the John Dystel Prize in 2004, the Charcot Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Multiple Sclerosis Research in 2011, and the Anthony Cerami Award in Translational Medicine in 2015
He has twice been awarded the Senator Jacob Javits Award by the US Congress, in 1988 and 2002
Professor Steinman is a member of both the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences
Co-Chairman
Professor Sir Marc Feldmann, AC FAA FRS FRCP FRCPath FMedSci is a pre-eminent immunologist, and an Emeritus professor at the University of Oxford.
At the Kennedy Institute in London in the 1980s, he identified TNF as a target in the treatment of arthritis. With his research partner, Prof Sir Ravinder Maini, they led clinical trials of monoclonal antiTNF antibody in treatment resistant rheumatoid arthritis, which Centocor had generated, and now called Infliximab, which J&J now sells as Remicade.
This work was highly recognized, leading to many prestigious awards including the Crafoord prize of the Royal Swedish Academy, the Albert Lasker award for clinical medical research, the Canada Gairdner award, the Paul Janssen award and the European Inventor of the year award, and most recently (2020) the Tang Prize.
Remicade was the main driver of the $4.9 billion USD acquisition of Centocor by Johnson and Johnson in 1998. Since its approval Remicade has sold over $50 billion USD worldwide, and remains J&J’s biggest selling drug. Feldmann and Maini are credited for the generation of anti-TNFs as the world’s biggest drug class since 2013, with global sales of $36 to 40 Bn in recent years. This major impact on medical therapy led to his receiving a knighthood and also the Australian equivalent, Companion of the Order of Australia ( AC ).
Sir Marc Feldmann is a fellow of the Royal Society, Australian Academy of Science and a Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.
Chief Executive Officer
Jim Woody has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical research and management expertise
He currently serves as Chairman of Oncomed Pharmaceuticals, where he was previously a founder and CEO; he is also a General Partner at Latterell Venture Partners, a venture capital group focusing on early-stage healthcare companies
He has served in a variety of health and management roles including as President of Roche Bioscience, and CSO and Senior Vice President of R&D for Centocor.
At Centocor, Jim was part of the team that discovered Remicade, used to treat arthritis and which is now one of the best-selling drugs in the world.
He served as Commanding Officer and Director at the US Naval Medical Research and Development Command in Bethesda, Maryland
In this role he was responsible for the surveillance, detection and therapy for all biologic warfare agents and infectious diseases in the First Gulf War; he was awarded the US Navy Legion of Merit for his service
He holds an MD from Loma Linda University, and trained in pediatric immunology at Duke University and Boston Children’s Hospital (Harvard)
He further holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of London, and has co-authored more than 140 publications
