Indi Molecular Appoints Stephen Worsley Senior VP Business Development

CULVER CITY, Calif., Dec. 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Indi Molecular, an emerging life sciences company, announced today that it has appointed Stephen Worsley as senior vice president business development. Worsley is a seasoned life sciences executive who most recently served as Peregrine Pharmaceutical's VP business development. Indi Molecular is developing a novel, synthetic class of binders with antibody-like properties called protein catalyzed capture agents. PCCs are a small molecule replacement for antibodies in in vivo imaging, therapeutics, and in vitro diagnostics. The company recently raised an $11.5 million Series-A financing to establish a high throughput PCC discovery platform to advance existing leads in PET immuno-oncology imaging to clinical stage.

"As Indi Molecular explores new applications for our PCC technology platform, Steve's track record of forging value by creating life sciences partnerships will prove invaluable," said Albert A. Luderer, Ph.D., chief executive and co-founder, Indi Molecular. "PCCs combine the benefits of antibody-like binding with the flexibility and chemical properties of small molecules. They represent a novel modality with broad potential impact across research, imaging and therapeutic use."

Prior to his leadership role at Peregrine, Worsley served as chief business officer for Centrose Pharmaceutical and VP business development for Intrexon. Earlier in his career he held the position of VP business development at Zosano Pharmaceutical and Raven Biotechnologies. Worsley also served as director of business development for several successful startups, including Abgenix (acquired by Amgen), Tripos Drug Discovery (acquired by PharSight) and OHM Technologies (acquired by The Carlyle Group). He holds an MBA from the University of Washington and a BS from the University of Utah.

"Indi Molecular's combination of technology and vision holds the promise to dramatically disrupt the market for monoclonal antibodies -- and to create new categories of binding agents," said Worsley. "The company's successful Series A demonstrates the incredible interest in PCCs as a potential replacement for antibodies in in vivo imaging, therapeutics and in vitro diagnostics. I'm delighted to be working with Al and the rest of the team to fulfill the promise of Indi Molecular's PCC platform."

Indi Molecular was founded in 2013 by Leroy Hood (Institute of Systems Biology, Seattle), James Heath (Caltech) and Al Luderer to commercialize a unique discovery platform, which leverages the PCC technology developed at James Heath's lab at Caltech. PCCs are highly specific, low molecular-weight binders with unprecedented specificity and affinity. The fully synthetic process allows for the creation of binders against difficult targets in a short time.

Since its inception, Indi Molecular has shown the utility of PCC binders across a wide range of applications, ranging from research tools and diagnostic agents to PET imaging. The company has collaborated with partners including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the US Department of Defense and leading healthcare companies.

About Indi Molecular

Indi Molecular is an emerging life sciences company that is developing a synthetic class of diagnostic and therapeutic agents with antibody-like properties: protein-catalyzed capture agents. The molecule's small size (< 4 kD) makes PCCs a synthetic equivalent of a monoclonal antibody but with biophysical properties similar to a small molecule drug. PCCs offer the promise of superior stability, lower cost and faster creation compared to monoclonal antibodies, the current standard for identifying biomarkers in most diagnostics platforms ? and in many therapeutic uses.

The company launched as a spinout from its parent company Integrated Diagnostics (Indi) in 2013 with a $1.8 million seed round, followed by an $11.5 million Series A in 2017. The company has received grants from the Department of Defense and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For more information visit www.IndiMolecular.com.