Nocion Therapeutics Appoints Dr. Catherine Bonuccelli to Scientific Advisory Board and Joan Shaw to Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations
08 July 2024 - 11:00PM
Business Wire
- Bonuccelli and Shaw bring significant experience in the
development of therapeutics for chronic cough as Nocion prepares
for initiation of its ASPIRE (Phase 2b) clinical trial of
Taplucainium
Nocion Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical
company developing novel small molecule charged sodium channel
blockers called “nocions”, that selectively silence actively firing
nociceptors for the treatment of serious conditions involving
cough, itch, and pain, today announced that it had appointed Dr.
Catherine Bonuccelli to its Scientific Advisory Board and Joan Shaw
to Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations. Both Bonuccelli and
Shaw held leadership roles in the successful clinical development
of camlipixant for persistent cough as members of the Bellus Health
clinical team.
“We are delighted to welcome Cathy and Joan to our
scientific/clinical teams as we prepare for the start of our ASPIRE
(Phase 2b) clinical trial of Taplucainium in 240 chronic cough
patients in the second half of 2024,” said Rick Batycky, CEO of
Nocion Therapeutics. “Catherine and Joan each have unique and
successful experiences in the area of therapeutic development for
chronic cough. These experiences are immediately applicable to our
development of Taplucainium for patients suffering from chronic
cough.”
Dr. Catherine Bonuccelli Bio
Dr. Bonuccelli has held a number of leadership positions
focusing on the late-stage clinical development of large and small
molecule programs in the respiratory and inflammation therapeutic
areas. She served as Chief Medical Officer of Bellus Health from
2019 until its acquisition by GSK in 2023. Prior to joining Bellus,
Dr. Bonuccelli spent more than four years serving as US Medical
Affairs Respiratory Therapeutic Area Head for GSK. In this
capacity, she oversaw all medical support activities for the
company’s portfolio of respiratory treatments. She had previously
had a 20-year tenure with AstraZeneca, where she held a number of
roles, including Global Medicines Clinical Vice President for the
Inflammation, Neuroscience, & Respiratory Therapeutic Area, and
Therapy Area Clinical Vice President, Respiratory and Inflammation.
In these positions, she had oversight for all aspects of late-stage
clinical development, including product strategy and creation of
Phase III-IV study protocols and design for inhaled, oral and
biologic products including Symbicort and Fasenra. She was also
responsible for designing and delivering brand lifecycle management
opportunities, creating long-term portfolio strategies and managing
medical and scientific staff.
Dr. Bonuccelli earned her MD, and was an Intern, Resident,
Research Fellow and Clinical Fellow, at Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore, Maryland. She has authored more than 30 publications and
abstracts, has been a board member of several prominent boards and
has been licensed in three states.
Joan Shaw Bio
Prior to joining Nocion, Joan served as the SVP of Clinical
Operation at Bellus Health (now GSK) and established their global
late-stage drug development strategy for refractory chronic cough,
completed their successful Phase 2b study and initiated a program
of Phase 3 studies. She has a unique combination of experiences
with large pharmaceutical companies (Astra Zeneca, DuPont Pharma,
Takeda), biotech companies (Bellus Health, Agenus) and contract
research organizations (Parexel, UBC, Quotient Sciences) in
multiple therapeutic areas spanning over 30 years.
Joan is a licensed Medical Technologist (B.S., University of
Delaware) and an MS in Clinical Chemistry (West Chester University)
and holds a Six Sigma Black Belt (Villanova).
ABOUT TAPLUCAINIUM
Taplucainium (formerly NTX-1175) is a proprietary molecule in
the novel class of charged sodium channel blockers that allows for
specific silencing of activated/inflamed nociceptors while having
minimal local off-target effects or systemic exposure. Unlike other
investigative cough therapies, such as P2X3 antagonists, which
target a specific large pore channel, Taplucainium is formulated
into a dry powder for inhalation, and once inhaled, gains access to
the pulmonary nociceptors through any open large pore channel
including P2X, TRPV and TRPA channels whereupon it inhibits the
sodium channels responsible for initiating the pathological cough
response. The broader mechanism of Taplucainium has shown
significant antitussive effects in preclinical models of cough.
Combined with good preliminary safety and efficacy data from
earlier stage clinical work, this forms the basis for its use in
cough indications beyond chronic cough.
ABOUT NOCION
Nocion Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing
novel small molecule charged sodium channel blockers called
“nocions” that selectively affect actively firing nociceptors for
the treatment of serious conditions involving cough, itch, and
pain. The company’s mission is to safely alleviate suffering for
millions of patients with conditions arising from activated sensory
neurons. Working with Harvard’s Office of Technology Development,
Nocion was founded on an exclusive license to foundational
intellectual property from Harvard University and Boston Children’s
Hospital. Venture investors in Nocion include Arkin Bio Capital,
Canaan Partners, F-Prime Capital, Lumira Ventures, Mass General
Brigham Ventures, Mission BioCapital, Monograph Capital,
Morningside and Osage University Partners. For more information,
visit: www.nociontx.com.
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Stephanie Gillis pr@nociontx.com