OnKure Therapeutics Appoints Mark L. Boys, Ph.D., as Vice President of Discovery Chemistry

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OnKure, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing the next generation of oncology precision medicines, today announced the appointment of Mark L. Boys, Ph.D., as Vice President of Discovery Chemistry. Dr. Boys is a seasoned pharmaceutical professional with more than 25 years of research and managerial expertise within large and small life science companies.

“Mark is an accomplished scientific researcher and leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, with extensive experience working at the interface of medicinal and process chemistry,” said Tony Piscopio, Ph.D., Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of OnKure. “Having successfully discovered multiple candidates for clinical development, including in the oncology setting, we are looking forward to leveraging Mark’s knowledge as we continue to advance and expand our discovery pipeline of preclinical oncology programs.”

Previously, Dr. Boys worked at Pfizer Inc. as a Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry and was responsible for more than 75 (internal and CRO) medicinal, synthetic and development chemists. While at Pfizer, his teams successfully delivered preclinical and clinical candidates, including an ALK5 inhibitor for treatment of dermal scarring and he formed a Synthesis Development Group to facilitate the smooth transition of projects and compounds from research into process development. Prior to Pfizer, he worked at Array BioPharma, Inc. and lead a team that discovered a CSF1R inhibitor (ARRY-382) as part of a collaboration with Celgene Corporation, which has been undergoing clinical trials in the oncology setting. Dr. Boys also worked at G.D. Searle, LLC and successfully delivered chemical processes to the pilot plant for multi-Kg production. Earlier in his career, he worked at Glaxo plc and Pharmacia Corporation and has been involved with numerous other programs that have delivered preclinical and clinical candidates. Dr. Boys received his BSc from University of York (UK) and his Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from Colorado State University.

“With its team of proven drug discovery and development scientists, OnKure is uniquely positioned to create a robust portfolio of novel oncology candidates designed to achieve optimal tolerability and efficacy," said Dr. Boys. “I am delighted to be working with such an experienced team and honored to lead OnKure’s discovery efforts as we continue to select and explore biologically validated drivers of cancer to grow our pipeline.”

About OnKure Therapeutics

OnKure, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of best-in-class precision medicines that target biologically validated drivers of cancer. Using its proven structure-based drug design approach, the Company is building a robust pipeline of tumor-agnostic candidates that are designed to achieve optimal tolerability and efficacy. OnKure is currently developing its lead clinical candidate, OKI-179, an oral, selective Class 1 HDAC inhibitor, for the treatment of both hematological and solid tumors, with plans to initiate a Phase 2 combination trial with binimetinib in NRAS melanoma in 2022.

For more information about OnKure, please visit www.onkuretherapeutics.com.