Outstanding Innovation Award
Richard Heyman, PhD
Metacrine, Inc.
Richard Heyman has spent the majority of his career in the biotech sector focused on integrating approaches in molecular endocrinology to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics that target nuclear receptors.
Rich received a PhD in pharmacology from the University of Minnesota and a BS in chemistry from the University of Connecticut. He was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute, working with Ronald Evans. Following his post-doctoral training, he joined Ligand Pharmaceuticals, where he served as project leader leading to the successful identification and development of agonists (called rexinoids) that bind to the retinoid X receptors (RXRs). Two of these drugs, Panretin® (i.e., 9-cis retinoic acid) and Targretin® are approved by the FDA for the treatment of cancer.
In the early 2000s, he co-founded and served as chief scientific officer of X-Ceptor Therapeutics, which focused on the treatment of metabolic diseases. In 2009, he became CEO of Aragon Pharmaceuticals, where he successfully developed a new generation of therapeutics for hormone dependent prostate cancer based on insights into molecular mechanisms of resistance. In 2013, Johnson & Johnson purchased Aragon and simultaneously to the acquisition, Rich helped spin out a new company, Seragon Pharmaceuticals, and served as the CEO. At Seragon, Rich developed a novel class of compounds that degrade estrogen receptor (ER) and are now in clinical trials for treating ER+ cancers.
The unprecedented success of Seragon led to its acquisition by Genentech/Roche in 2014. For these achievements, Rich recently received the San Diego regional Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the biotech industry. He is the author of more than 120 publications and patents. Rich’s latest venture is serving as executive chairman and co-founder of Metacrine, Inc., a new biotech start up developing therapeutics for the treatment of diabetes and fatty liver diseases. He also serves on the board of trustees of the Salk Institute, and is a board member of Receptos Inc., Organovo Inc., BIOCOM, and serves on the Executive Committee of the UCSD Moores Cancer Center.
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