Amplia Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:ATX) has appointed Hamish George of Melbourne-based Bio101 as its chief financial officer with effect from October 1, 2021.
George will replace Jeff Carter, who is stepping down from the role after being the company’s CFO for more than eight years.
Part of original team
Carter was part of the original team that managed the public listing of Amplia on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2013.
Amplia's chief executive officer Dr John Lambert said:: “I would like to thank Jeff for his exemplary service to Amplia and particularly for the support he has provided to me over the last two years.
“Jeff’s insights into the financial markets, compliance and his focus on good governance have been a great asset and we wish Jeff well in his other ongoing CFO roles.”
Shift to drug development
Amplia Therapeutics recently made the shift from the pre-clinical stage to drug development, with two potent candidates for cancer and fibrotic diseases treatment.
The company is developing two potent inhibitors of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) - a protein involved in cell adhesion and spreading processes - which dictate how cells stick to each other and move around.
FAK is involved in the development of many cancers and studies have shown that when FAK is blocked, or inhibited, cancer cells become less metastatic (they spread less vigorously).
Amplia’s focus is on developing FAK inhibitors for cancer and fibrosis purposes, and according to Lambert, its lead candidate AMP945 was “best in class”.