Proteolix was founded in 2003 by Craig Crews, Raymond Deshaies, Susan Molineaux and Philip Whitcome based on intellectual property from Yale University and CalTech.
Craig M. Crews received his B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Virginia and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Harvard University. After postdoctoral training in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard, Dr. Crews joined the faculty of Yale University, where is a Professor in the Departments of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacology. His research focuses on elucidating the mechanisms of action of biologically active nature products and his work with the microbially-derived epoxomicin led to the development of a new class of proteasome inhibitors. In addition to a Donaghue Foundation Young Investigator Award, Dr. Crews has received a Burroughs-Wellcome New Investigator Award, a CapCURE Research Award and the Friedrich Wilhem Bessel Award from the Humboldt Foundation. In 2005, Dr. Crews was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Raymond J. Deshaies received his B.S. in Biochemistry from Cornell University and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California-Berkeley. After completing postdoctoral studies at the University of California-San Francisco in 1994, Dr. Deshaies joined the faculty of CalTech, where he is currently a Professor of Biology. Dr. Deshaies has won a number of awards and fellowships for his work on the ubiquitin-proteasome system and cell cycle control, including: Searle Scholar Award, Burroughs-Wellcome New Investigator Award, Beckman Young Investigator Award, American Society for Cell Biology-Promega Early Career Life Scientist Award, and election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2000, Dr. Deshaies was appointed as an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Susan M. Molineaux received a B.S. in Biology from Smith College, a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University. After working in the Immunology group at Merck, Dr. Molineaux served as VP of Drug Development for several years at Praecis Pharmaceuticals, before joining Praelux as VP of Biology. In 2000, she joined Rigel Pharmaceuticals as VP of Biology before starting Proteolix as Founding CSO. She has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Proteolix since January, 2006.
Philip J. Whitcome received his B.S in Physics from Providence College and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of California-Los Angeles. He then earned an M.B.A. from the Wharton School. Dr. Whitcome began his professional career at Bristol-Myers Squibb, and then joined Abbott Laboratories, where he met George Rathmann. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Whitcome helped to catalyze the meeting of his Ph.D. adviser Dr. Winston Salzer and Dr. Rathmann, which led to the formation of Applied Molecular Genetics (later known as Amgen) with Rathmann as CEO and Dr. Whitcome as his first hire. After serving in multiple roles at Amgen, Dr. Whitcome left in 1988 to serve as founding CEO of Neurogen, which he subsequently took public. After Neurogen, Dr. Whitcome became involved with multiple biotechnology companies as a Director or consultant, including Avigen (where he was Chairman), Curagen, 454, Proteolix (where he was founding CEO), Array BioPharma, and Agensys. Dr. Whitcome passed away in December 2005.
History
