METiS Therapeutics Appoints Hongming Chen, Sc.D., President and Head of Research & Development

METiS Therapeutics today announced the appointment of Hongming Chen, Sc.D., as President and Head of Research & Development.

"Hongming is a proven biotech executive and successful entrepreneur and brings a wealth of experience in driving early-stage programs through development and into the clinic," said Chris Lai, CEO and Founder, METiS Therapeutics. "Her leadership and business acumen will be invaluable as we advance our pipeline and progress our AI-driven drug discovery and delivery platform."

"I'm incredibly excited to join METiS during this early stage of the company's growth and to lead the expansion of our operations in the U.S.," said Dr. Chen. "The company's AiTEM platform leverages machine learning, AI and quantum simulation to discover novel drug candidates, and I look forward to working with the extraordinary team at METiS on advancing the platform."

Prior to joining METiS, Dr. Chen served as Chief Scientific Officer at Kala Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company she helped found in 2010. At Kala, she successfully translated a novel nanoparticle technology from bench discovery through Phase III clinical trials and FDA approval, and helped to attract significant investments to the company, including an initial public offering in 2017. Prior to Kala, Dr. Hongming helped start and build TransForm Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2005. Dr. Hongming has also held various research positions at AstraZeneca and Merck. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, a Fellow of the Controlled Release Society and a member of the Academy of Distinguished Chemical Engineers at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Hongming holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UT Austin and an M.S. and an Sc.D. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

About AiTEM Platform

The METiS platform (AiTEM) combines state-of-the-art AI data-driven algorithms, mechanism-driven quantum mechanics and molecular dynamics simulations to calculate Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) properties, elucidate API-target and API-excipient interactions, and predict chemical, physical and biological properties of small molecule and nucleic acid therapeutics in specific microenvironments. This enables efficient lead optimization, candidate selection and formulation design. Founded by a team of MIT researchers, serial entrepreneurs and biotech industry veterans, METiS develops and in-licenses novel assets with high therapeutic potential that could benefit from its AI data-driven platform.

About METiS Therapeutics

METiS Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that aims to drive best-in-class therapies in a wide range of disease areas by integrating drug discovery and delivery with AI, machine learning, and quantum simulation. To learn more, visit www.metistx.com/.