About Lumiphore

History

Lumiphore is a revenue stage biotechnology company, spun out of Prof. Kenneth Raymond’s laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley in 2001. The company was founded to commercialize the discovery of the unprecedentedly bright Tb(III) time-resolved photoluminescence of hydroxyisophthalamide (IAM) chelators. At Lumiphore, these IAM chelating units were incorporated into a macrocyclic bifunctional chelator (BFC) preorganized for Tb(III) binding known as Lumi4, enabling development of next-generation time-resolved luminescence assays. Since then, the company has been active in the development of hydroxypyridinone (HOPO) chelators, recognizing the unique potential of HOPOs as ideal chelators for radiopharmaceutical applications. Having licensed a 3-hydroxypyridin-2-one (3,2-HOPO) BFC to Algeta/Bayer in 2010 for Th-227 clinical trials, Lumiphore has most recently developed a new macrocyclic BFC based on 1-hydroxypyridin-2-one (1,2-HOPO) called Lumi804. The new Lumi804 macrocyclic BFC enables bright Eu(III) photoluminescence as well as best-in-class chelation for certain radiometals of interest, including Zr-89, Lu-177, Th-227. Reliable room temperature radiolabeling and exceptional aqueous stability are hallmarks of these next-generation radiopharmaceutical chelators for both targeted radiotherapy and radiodiagnostic imaging (theranostics).

Management

  • President and Chairman
    Kenneth N. Raymond, Ph.D. – President and Chairman

    Professor Raymond is a Lumiphore founder. After having received a B.A. from Reed College and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Northwestern University, he began his appointment at the University of California, Berkeley in 1967, where he is currently Chancellor's Professor of Chemistry and has served as Chair of the Chemistry Department. He was a Faculty Senior Scientist of the Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and has been a Visiting Professor or Lecturer at several universities around the world. Among his major awards are the Ernest O. Lawrence Award of the Department of Energy, a Humboldt Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists, the American Chemical Society Alfred Bader Award in Bioinorganic or Bioorganic Chemistry, and the 2008 ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Professor Raymond is a member of the editorial boards of several journals in the fields of inorganic and bioinorganic chemistry and is the author of many patents and research publications. He has been a consultant for DuPont Corp. (transition metal imaging agents), Monsanto Corp. (Roundup®, - phosphonomethylglycine), Epix Corp. (gadolinium MRI agents) and LJL Corp. (high-throughput screening). Professor Raymond also serves as Co-Chair of Lumiphore's Scientific Advisory Board.

  • VP Research and Development
    Darren Magda, Ph.D. – Vice President, Research and Development

    Dr. Magda has a B.S. degree in Chemistry and completed his Ph.D. degree at the University of Texas with Professor Jonathan Sessler. Following a postdoctoral appointment at the California Institute of Technology he joined Pharmacyclics, a pharmaceutical company based in Sunnyvale, CA. From 1998 to 2009 he was Director of Exploratory Research at Pharmacyclics. Dr. Magda’s expertise in the laboratory ranges most aspects of preclinical chemistry and biology, with emphasis on developing metal complexes for use in medicine. Among other professional societies, he is a member of the Radiation Research Society and American Association for Cancer Research. Dr. Magda manages much of the laboratory work associated with our on-going projects and currently serves as Co-Chair of Lumiphore’s Scientific Advisory Board.

  • Chief Business Officer
    Stephen H. Blose, V.M.D., Ph.D. – Chief Business Officer

    Following his doctoral training in molecular biology and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Blose joined Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as a Senior Scientist working for Nobel Laureate Dr. James D. Watson in cancer research. He then joined Protein Databases, Inc. (PDI), eventually becoming the CEO, and, during his tenure, developed significant relationships with Millipore (now MilliporeSigma, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt), Pharmacia LKB Biotechnology (now GE Healthcare) and Toyobo Co., Ltd. PDI was acquired by Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., a $2.5-billion company, and Dr. Blose became General Manager of their Imaging Products Division. He later founded the Mill Valley Summit Group, LLC, a transaction advisory group, that successfully helped early-stage companies in life science products and medical devices raise more than $150-million from venture financing, licensing deals, and asset transactions. Dr. Blose is former Chairman of the Board at BioMicro Systems Inc. (acquired by Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.), former Board Director and Board Secretary of Sentrx Animal Care, Inc., and, he is regarded as a founder of the proteomics industry. Dr. Blose secretary to Lumiphore’s board of directors.

  • Chief Intellectual Property Officer
    Nathaniel G. Butlin, Ph.D. – Chief Intellectual Property Officer

    Dr. Butlin received his B.S. In Chemistry from McGill University, (Montreal, Canada) and his Ph.D. from the University of California – Davis following work in the labs of Professor Claude F. Meares and Professor G. Tayhas R. Palmore. Dr. Butlin has received DOE (GATE) and NSF (IGERT) fellowships for work on metallo-protein fuel-cell catalyst engineering as well as an NSF (GK-12) education fellowship. His recent protein engineering work with Professor Meares was focused on development of pre-targeted strategies for cancer therapy, analytical methods for proteomics, and antibody expression. Dr. Butlin brings knowledge and skills related to protein conjugation chemistry, immunoassay development, bioelectronic interfacing, lanthanide chelation chemistry, and bioanalytical methods to the Lumiphore team. Dr. Butlin has been co-inventor and author on multiple patents and papers related to applied protein engineering

Team

  • Senior Research Scientist
    David Tatum, Ph.D. – Senior Research Scientist

    Dr. Tatum received his B.S. in Chemistry and B.S. in Biochemistry from Virginia Tech in 2009, where he worked for Prof. Gordon Yee on molecule-based magnetism. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry at UC Berkeley with Prof. Ken Raymond in 2014, and he has worked for Lumiphore since that time. Dr. Tatum brings his expertise in Eu(III) luminescence and coordination chemistry to Lumiphore, culminating in the development of a new macrocyclic bifunctional chelator, Lumi804, which has unprecedented stability with radiometal ions of interest (e.g. Zr-89, Lu-177, and Th-227). The new chelator also forms a very bright and stable Eu(III) photoluminescent dye, making Lumiphore the proprietary owner of a best-in-class Eu(III) photoluminescent dye.

  • Senior Advisor, Synthetic Chemistry
    Jide Xu, Ph.D. – Senior Advisor, Synthetic Chemistry

    Dr. Xu has worked with Prof. Raymond for over 30 years, and has been instrumental in the development of Ken’s chemistry during that time, both at UCB and at Lumiphore. Among his many important contributions, Dr. Xu designed and synthesized the macrocyclic bifunctional chelator Lumi4, directly enabling the core revenue stream for the company and making Lumiphore the proprietary owner of a best-in-class Tb(III) photoluminescent dye. His expertise in synthetic chemistry and relentless scientific curiosity are invaluable assets for the continued success and direction of the company.

  • Manager of Office Administration
    Chandra Robinette – Manager of Office Administration

    Chandra Robinette has been Lumiphore’s Manager of Office Administration for over 14 years, performing a critical role spanning invoicing and financials, supply chain, licensing, and regulatory compliance. Chandra has an AA degree from Heald Business College and has worked in administrative roles across multiple business sectors for over 30 years.

Board of Directors

  • Board of Directors
    Norbert Neef

    Norbert Neef is a partner and attorney at the firm Neef Legal with specialties in corporate law (M&A), corporate finance, and restructuring. The Neef law firm works for leading private equity funds and their holdings, especially in the areas of media and technology. Norbert Neef began his career at the international law firm Oppenhoff & Rädler (now Linklaters). He subsequently worked as corporate counsel and specialist in structured financing for numerous companies. He is a member of several advisory boards for private companies. In addition, he is chairman of the supervisory board for Nanostart-holding MagForce AG, CEO of Nanostart Russia Holding GmbH and VentureTech Equity-Partners GmbH and was previously chairman of the supervisory board for Mood and Motion AG in Frankfurt. He spent ten years as associate professor for corporate law at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. He currently teaches at the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Cologne.

  • Board of Directors
    David J. Ecker, Ph.D.

    Dr. Ecker is CEO of Janus-I Science Inc. and former co-founder of Isis Pharmaceuticals and former Founder of the Ibis Biosciences where he was Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Ecker was instrumental in the development of the Ibis T5000 (formerly TIGER) program for infection control, infectious disease diagnostics, biological weapons defense sponsored by DARPA, CDC, NIAID, FBI and DHS. Prior to Isis, Dr. Ecker was Assistant Director, Department of Molecular Genetics at SmithKline and French Laboratories (SK&F). While at SK&F, he focused on applications of molecular biology to drug discovery. Dr. Ecker contributed to a number of SK&F therapeutic programs including cancer, arthritis/inflammation, antiviral, and antifungal. He also designed and supervised the SK&F oligonucleotide synthesis facility. Dr. Ecker has published extensively in fields that include biodefense technology development, chemistry, DNA synthesis, gene construction and expression, protein structure and function, enzymology, and gene regulation. He has authored more than 100 scientific publications and issued more than 50 U.S. patents. Dr. Ecker received his Ph.D. in chemistry and biochemistry from Utah State University and was an American Cancer Society Fellow in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He brings considerable expertise to Lumiphore including patent management, business development, strategic direction and the management of corporate and government partnerships from his over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology.

Scientific Advisory Board

  • Scientific Advisory Board
    Jonathan L. Sessler, Ph.D.

    Professor Sessler is a founding member of Lumiphore’s Scientific Advisory Board. He received a B.S. degree (with highest honors) in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Stanford University. Following postdoctoral studies in France and Japan, he joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is the Roland K. Pettit Professor of Chemistry. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is an expert in the area of synthetic porphyrins or analogs and the applications of this chemistry to metals in medicine. He has authored more than 300 research publications, one book, and nearly sixty issued or allowed U.S. patents. He is a co-founder of Pharmacyclics, Inc., a publicly traded company (PCYC; NASDQ) developing biomedical applications of expanded porphyrins. He recently co-founded Anionics, Inc. (anion recognition chemistry). Professor Sessler serves as Editor of Supramolecular Chemistry and as Associate Editor for Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines. Some of his honors include President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award, Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, Alexander von Humboldt Senior Visiting Scientist, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Izatt-Christensen Award in Macrocyclic Chemistry.

  • Scientific Advisory Board
    Thomas J. Meade, Ph.D.

    Professor Meade is the Eileen M. Foell Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Physiology and Radiology at Northwestern University and is a world leader in molecular imaging research. He is an expert coordination chemist, with his primary biotech contribution in the area of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) probe development. Professor Meade’s research focuses on the design, synthesis and physical properties of transition metal and lanthanide coordination complexes, specifically in the areas of biological molecular imaging, electron transfer mechanisms and metal complexes enzyme inhibitors. Professor Meade has founded four successful start-up companies based on his research at the California Institute of Technology and Northwestern University including Clinical Micro Sensors (CMS) which is developing electrochemical sensors for the detection of nucleic acids and was acquired by Motorola in 2000 for $300 million, Metaprobe and PreDx both focused on imaging technologies, and Ohmx, a biosensor detection company. Professor Meade is currently the inventor on more than 70 patents and patent applications and many academic research publications.

  • Scientific Advisory Board
    Carolyn Anderson, Ph.D.

    Dr. Anderson is Simón-Ellebracht Professor of Medicinal Chemistry & Professor of Radiology at the University of Missouri. She is formerly Professor of Medicine, Radiology, Pharmacology & Chemical Biology and Bioengineering, the Director of the Molecular Imaging Laboratory in the Department of Radiology, and the Co-Director of the UPCI In Vivo Imaging Facility at University of Pittsburg. Dr. Anderson's research interests include development of novel radiometal tracers for diagnostic imaging and targeted radiotherapy of cancer, pulmonary, and cardiovascular diseases. Dr. Anderson pioneered the development of radiometal-labeled receptor-targeted PET imaging agents, leading the first human study of a 64Cu-labeled somatostatin analog in patients with neuroendocrine tumors. A current focus of her research is in the development of imaging agents for upregulated receptors on immune cells that are involved in inflammation related to lung diseases including tuberculosis, primary tumor growth, and cancer metastasis. Another area of interest in is the development of targeted radionuclide therapy agents for prostate cancer and melanoma. The Anderson Lab develops PET radiotracers for imaging of disease with the ultimate goal of translation into humans

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