About Us
Overview
Ryvu Therapeutics is a clinical-stage drug discovery and development company focused on novel small molecule therapies that address emerging targets in oncology.
Ryvu Therapeutics was founded in 2007 and currently we are hiring 230 employees, including 80 Ph.Ds. Ryvu was previously known as Selvita, until renamed to Ryvu Therapeutics after spin out of the services segment.
The company is headquartered in Kraków, Poland. Ryvu Therapeutics is developing therapeutics that address clinical limitations of current treatments in oncology. Our work is defined by deep scientific knowledge, organizational efficiency, and a high throughput discovery engine platform.
Our lead candidate, RVU120, is a selective CDK8/CDK19 kinase inhibitor with potential for development in hematological malignancies and solid tumors, currently in Phase 1b study for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, and Phase I/II for the treatment of r/r metastatic or advanced solid tumors. SEL24 (MEN1703) is a dual PIM/FLT3 kinase inhibitor licensed to the Menarini Group, in Phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.
Early pipeline candidates include candidates developed in the area of kinases, synthetic lethality and immuno-oncology.
Ryvu technological expertise is validated by global partnerships with BioNTech, Merck KGaA, Exelixis, Menarini Group and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
OUR VALUES:
Our purpose: improve the life of cancer patients.
Management
Pawel Przewiezlikowski, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
Krzysztof Brzozka, Ph.D., MBA
Chief Scientific Officer
Kamil Sitarz, Ph.D., MBA
Chief Operating Officer
Vatnak Vat-Ho, MBA
Chief Business Officer
Hendrik Nogai, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Pawel Przewiezlikowski, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Przewiezlikowski is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Ryvu Therapeutics, responsible for strategic management, business and corporate development of the company. He is also the President of Supervisory Board at Ardigen and Member of the Supervisory Board at Selvita. Before founding multiple companies in the biotechnology sector (Ryvu, Ardigen, NodThera), Mr. Przewiezlikowski was a member of the executive team at technology company Comarch, responsible for divisions involved in multiple industries including the pharmaceutical industry. He was also the co-founder, the first CEO and then the Vice President of the Supervisory Board of Interia.pl, the third largest Internet portal in Poland.
Mr. Przewiezlikowski is a member of the Economic Council of the Malopolska (Krakow) region. He was awarded Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for his contributions to the development of Poland’s business environment, as well as, EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 award in the New Technologies/Innovation category in Poland.
Mr. Przewiezlikowski holds an MBA from the joint program of the Teesside University (United Kingdom) and Krakow School of Economics (Poland) as well as master degree in computer science from AGH Technical University in Krakow. He also studied IT at the Technical University in Berlin.
Krzysztof Brzozka, Ph.D., MBA
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Brzozka is the Chief Scientific Officer at Ryvu Therapeutics. He has joined Ryvu Theraputics in 2007 and has applied his interdisciplinary expertise ever since, in order to build a broad pipeline of small molecule oncology therapeutics and a high throughput discovery engine platform. Dr. Brzozka is responsible for the management of the early pipeline candidates, covering their full development until clinical phase. He is also responsible for bringing into the clinic two Ryvu first-in-class oncology programs: dual PIM/FLT3 inhibitor SEL24/MEN1703 and SEL120, CDK8 inhibitor.
Dr. Brzozka is also a member of the board of Ardigen, a bioinformatics and precision medicine company, and contributed to the founding of NodThera, a biotechnology company focused on therapeutics related to inflammasome biology.
Dr. Brzozka holds a Ph.D. degree from Ludwig Maximilian University. He also earned an MBA from the Stockholm University School of Business and the Krakow University of Economics Business School. Dr. Brzozka contributed to over 70 scientific publications and presentations in areas of oncology, immunology, intracellular signaling and medicinal chemistry. His publications were cited nearly 3500 times and published in such journals as Science, Blood, Molecular Cell or Oncotarget.
Kamil Sitarz, Ph.D., MBA
Chief Operating Officer
Dr Sitarz is the Chief Operating Officer at Ryvu Therapeutics. He joined Ryvu Therapeutics in 2013 as a Senior Scientist and Biology Leader. Subsequently, he was promoted to the position of Principal Investigator/Project Manager, and later to Director of R&D Biology Department. After the corporate split in 2019, dr Sitarz became the Head of R&D Operations, and in November 2020 he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer position, along with his appointment to the Management Board of the Company. Dr Sitarz holds an executive responsibility for design, implementation, and co-ordination of day-to-day business operations, as well as financial and performance management. Moreover, he is in charge of establishing and implementing corporate policies, procedures and processes, as well as management of administrative and operational functions at the Company.
Dr Sitarz holds an M.Sc. degree in Biophysics from Jagiellonian University (Krakow, Poland) and a Ph.D. degree in Human/Medical Genetics from Newcastle University (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK). He has also graduated from the joint Executive MBA program at Cracow School of Business CUE, EM Normandie Business School and AESE Business School. He is the co-author of a dozen of scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Vatnak Vat-Ho, MBA
Chief Business Officer
Vatnak Vat-Ho is the Chief Business Officer at Ryvu Therapeutics. Mr. Vat-Ho is responsible for a wide scope of corporate and business development activities at Ryvu including strategic positioning, partnering discussions, alliance management as well as investor interactions.
Mr. Vat-Ho brings in almost 20 years of professional experience spanning pharma, biotech, as well as capital markets expertise to Ryvu. Vatnak Vat-Ho spent the first 10 years of his professional career in a variety of investment banks and global equity healthcare funds, later moving to the pharma and biotech industry. His experience includes an 8-year tenure at Pfizer where he held several roles, concluding in the position of Senior Director/Team Lead, Strategy, Business Development & Alliances in the commercial development organization. Most recently Mr. Vat-Ho served as Vice President, Business Development at Affimed Inc. where he was responsible for leading partnering activities for both the preclinical and clinical pipeline, as well as serving as alliance manager for the company’s collaborations.
Mr. Vat-Ho received his AB degree in Biology from Harvard University, and MBA from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
Hendrik Nogai, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Hendrik Nogai is the Chief Medical Officer at Ryvu Therapeutics. Dr. Nogai is responsible for leading medical, clinical, and regulatory functions to support and guide the development of the company’s pipeline.
Hendrik Nogai is a board-certified medical doctor in Hematology/Oncology as well as in Internal Medicine, with almost 10 years of experience in patient care and basic research in different academic settings, including Charité – University Medicine Berlin, University Hospital in Munich, and Zentralklinikum Augsburg. Besides his clinical expertise, Dr. Nogai’s brings 17 years of industry experience including business consulting at Mercer Management Consulting/ Oliver Wyman, medical advisory at Nordic Biotech Capital ApS, and positions of increasing responsibility at Bayer AG, with his most recent role of Vice President, Global Development Leader NTRK program.
Dr. Nogai has completed his Medical Studies at Charité – University Medicine Berlin (Germany), Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich (Germany) and Harvard Medical School in Boston (USA). He holds a doctoral degree awarded by the Humboldt University of Berlin (Germany) for his research on cell biology.
Scientific Advisory Board
Jorge E.Cortes
Jorge E.Cortes, M.D., Ph.D.
Jorge E. Cortes, M.D. serves as Director of the Georgia Cancer Center in Augusta, Georgia. He came to GCC after 23 years at MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he served in the Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine, including Deputy Department Chair, Chair of AML and CML Sections, and Deputy Division Head for the Cancer Network. Cortes also held the title of Jane and John Justin Distinguished Chair in Leukemia Research, developed and led the Leukemia Fellowship Program, and was Chair of Executive IRB at MD Anderson.
Cortes obtained his undergraduate and post-graduate training in Mexico City before completing his fellowship in Houston, TX. He has over 230 grants and contracts in which he was principal investigator. He has authored over 1,000 peer-review original research articles.
He has conducted multiple clinical trials and led the development of the second generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor bosutinib and the third generation ponatinib, as well as omacetaxine, also approved for patients with CML. He also led the development of glasdegib, approved for treatment of patients with AML unfit for chemotherapy, for which Cortes was the leader for the development.
Przemyslaw Juszczynski
Przemyslaw Juszczynski, M.D., Ph.D.
Przemyslaw Juszczynski, M.D., Ph.D., is Professor and Deputy Science Director at the Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine in Warsaw, where he conducts research in the area of hematological cancers and the development of targeted therapies.
Dr. Juszczynski has held faculty appointments at the Medical University of Lodz and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Harvard Medical School. He also conducted research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as a Research Fellow. Dr. Juszczynski received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Medical University of Lodz.
His awards include the Poland Foundation for Science Fellowship, a scholarship from the International Union Against Cancer, the Special Fellow award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America and the Minister of Science of Poland award. Dr. Juszczynski has contributed to 115 peer-reviewed publications.
Greg Nowakowski
Greg Nowakowski, M.D.
Greg Nowakowski, M.D., is on the faculty at the Mayo Clinic, where his research addresses prognostic biomarkers and individualized medicine. He is an investigator in the Lymphoma Specialized Center of Research Excellence program, Director of the Aggressive Lymphoma Program, Chairman of Education and Director of the Advanced Hematology Fellowship Program at the Mayo Clinic.
He serves on the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Committee on Scientific Affairs and Taskforce on Molecular Hematology. He is also the chair of the ASH Working Group on Clinical Trial Innovation. Dr. Nowakowski is a member of the Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. Nowakowski received his M.D. from the Medical University of Warsaw and completed his residency at Yale University Medical School. Dr. Nowakowski has authored over 120 articles and numerous book chapters.
Michael Savona
Michael Savona, M.D.
Professor Savona is the Head of Hematology, Cellular Therapy and Stem Cell Transplant and Beverly and George Rawlings Director of Hematologic Malignancies and Professor of Internal Medicine and Cancer Biology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
He is a physician scientist and clinician investigator specializing in myeloid malignancies, Chair of the MDS/MPN International Working Group, and a leader in development of novel therapies for these patients. He has led development and approval of several novel therapies targeting the proteosome, BCL2 family proteins, PI3 kinase delta, the JAK/STAT pathway, and various epigenetic agents. He has been involved medical research for over 20 years, and has published over 100 manuscripts in major academic journals including: Cancer Discovery, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nature Medicine, Nature Cancer, Blood, Cell Stem Cell, Lancet Oncology, Lancet Haematology, JAMA, Nature Genetics Reviews and Nature Cancer Reviews.
He is a board-certified hematologist, an elected fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Clinical Scholar. Dr. Savona obtained his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Davidson College and medical degree at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He did post graduate clinical and research training at the University of California (Davis and San Francisco), and the University of Michigan.
Cezary Szczylik
Cezary Szczylik, M.D., Ph.D.
Cezary Szczylik, M.D, Ph.D., is Professor of Medicine and Head of Department of Oncology at the Center for Postgraduate Medical Education of the European Health Centre in Otwock. He is also founder and President of the Foundation of Experimental and Clinical Oncology, co-founder of Postgraduate School of Molecular Medicine, a member of the Society of Oncology of Poland and co-author of the National Program for Fighting Cancer in Poland.
For many years he led the Department of Oncology and Laboratory of Molecular Oncology at the Military Institute of Medicine in Warsaw. Dr. Szcylik has co-authored several hundred peer-reviewed articles. Among many distinctions, he has received the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and the Golden Cross of Merit from the government of Poland.
Dr. Szczylik received his medical degree from Military Medical Academy in Lodz and was a fellow at the Temple University School of Medicine and at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Szczylik has contributed to over 200 publications.
Josep Tabernero
Josep Tabernero, M.D.
Josep Tabernero holds M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain, and he is currently Head of the Medical Oncology Department at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Director of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) and Professor of Medicine at UVic-UCC.
He has been Principal Investigator of several Phase I pharmacodynamic studies and translational projects with tumor-directed targeted therapies and immune therapies. His research aims at potentiating molecular therapies targeting specific oncoproteins and accelerating more effective personalized cancer medicines for patients displaying genetic lesions or pathway disregulation.
Dr. Tabernero serves on the Editorial Boards of various top tier journals including Annals of Oncology, ESMO Open, Cancer Discovery, Clinical Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment Reviews and Nature Reviews in Clinical Oncology. He has (co) authored approximately 500 peer-reviewed papers.
He was the President (2018 – 2019) and is currently the Past President (2020-2021) of the European Society for Medical Oncology´s (ESMO), and is also member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). He has also been a member of the Educational and Scientific Committees of the ESMO, ECCO, ASCO, AACR, AACR/NCI/EORTC, ASCO Gastrointestinal, TAT and WCGIC meetings.
Anthony Tolcher
Anthony Tolcher , M.D., FRCPC, FACP
Anthony Tolcher, M.D., has over 25 years’ experience in early drug development and a member of over 20 Scientific Advisory Boards for both large and small pharmaceutical companies, as well as a member of the Board of Director for 2 biotechnology companies.
Dr. Tolcher is the CEO and Founder of NEXT Oncology, San Antonio, Texas, a newly founded Phase I group that seeks to transform early clinical trials. Dr. Tolcher served as President and Co-Founder of START LLC from 2009- 2018, one of the world’s largest Clinical Phase I and early drug development operations in cancer medicine with 5 locations in San Antonio Texas; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Madrid Spain; and Shanghai China. He has been involved in many of the initial phase I studies of new agents that subsequently were FDA approved for the treatment of cancer.
He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals including Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Clinical Cancer Research, as well as an author of nine book chapters.
Supervisory Board
Rafal Chwast
Rafal Chwast
Mr. Rafal Chwast is Executive Vice President at Nowy Styl and CEO of Nowy Styl International. Previously, as Chief Financial Officer of Comarch, Mr. Chwast was responsible for financial supervision of the group’s subsidiaries, raising capital through the stock exchange and the acquisition of the company CDN.
Mr. Chwast served as CEO of the Association of Stock Exchange Issuers, and was also a member of the Capital Market Council operating at the Prime Minister office. He a graduate of Cracow University of Economics (Accounting) and the AGH Technical University in Krakow (Computer Science).
Mr. Chwast is the President of the Audit Committee at Selvita.
Scott Z. Fields
Scott Z. Fields, M.D.
Dr. Scott Z. Fields is a medical oncologist/hematologist with more than 30 years of experience in clinical drug development. Dr. Fields currently serves as Chief Medical Officer at NeoTX Therapeutics.
Prior to joining NeoTX, Dr. Fields was the Global Head of Development for Oncology at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. In this role, he was responsible for early and late-stage development, including several novel oncology medicines across the platforms for targeted therapies/precision medicine, antibody-drug/alpha radiation conjugates and novel Immuno-Oncology agents, such as Darolutamide (Androgen Receptor inhibitor for prostate cancer), Larotrectinb (NTRK inhibitor - tissue agnostic), Xofigo (Radium223 – alpha particle emitter for prostate cancer), Copanlisib (PI3K inhibitor for lymphoma) and Regorafinib (multi-kinase inhibitor for liver, colon and GIST). Prior to his position at Bayer, Dr. Fields held senior positions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, SmithKline Beecham, Amgen, Eisai, and Arno Therapeutics and helped bring over a dozen drugs to market. He also practiced oncology/hematology and transplant medicine in academic settings.
Dr. Fields received his medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York, followed by training in internal medicine and hematology, and oncology at Columbia University Medical Center.
Axel Glasmacher
Axel Glasmacher, M.D.
Professor Axel Glasmacher, M.D., is an oncologist with more than 25 years of experience in the field. Currently he serves as the non-executive chairperson at the board of 4D Pharma, as well as a board member of the international non-profit organization The Cancer Drug Development Forum. Until recently, Professor Glasmacher held the position of Senior Vice President and Head of the Global Clinical Research and Development Hematology Oncology at Celgene, where he has worked in various global roles for more than ten years and contributed to the development of products including Revlimid (lenalidomide), Vidiza (azacitidine), Idhifa (enasidenib) and luspatercept.
Professor Glasmacher conducted clinical research with a focus on hematological malignancies at the University of Bonn, where he continues to teach. He is a former editor for the Cochrane Hematological Malignancies Group and has contributed to practice guidelines for the Germany Society of Hematology and Oncology and the British Society of Hematology. Professor Glasmacher received his medical degree from the University of Bonn.
Jarl Jungnelius
Jarl Jungnelius, M.D.
Jarl Ulf Jungnelius, M.D. is an oncologist with more than 25 years of clinical and research experience at both large pharmaceutical companies and academic organizations.
Dr Jungnelius currently serves as Chief Medical Officer at NOXXON Pharma, as well as serves on the boards of Isofol Medical, Biovica International, Oncopeptides and the life sciences technology company Monocl. On top of that, he is a Managing Partner at HealthCom GmbH. Dr. Jungnelius held important responsibilities in the clinical development of several successful oncology drugs, and contributed to the successful commercialization of Abraxane (paclitaxel), Alimta (pemetrexed), Gemzar (gemcitabine) and Revlimid (lenalidomide).
He worked at Celgene from 2007 to 2014 where he served as Vice President of Clinical Research and Development, Solid Tumors. Prior to that post Dr. Jungnelius held leadership positions at Takeda, Pfizer, Eli Lilly & Company and VAXIMM, where he was responsible for clinical development of oncology programs as well as being involved in business development. Jarl Jungnelius received his M.D. from the Karolinska Institutet.
Piotr Romanowski
Piotr Romanowski, Chairman of the Board
Dr. Romanowski is a senior advisor and investor across biotech, deep tech and financial services. He is the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Selvita S.A.. Previously, Dr. Romanowski has spent over 20 years in strategic management consulting as Partner in McKinsey & Company and PwC where he specialized in strategy and M&A in financial services, oil & gas, pharmaceuticals, and health care.
Dr. Romanowski was also a Board Member at Bank Millennium S.A. responsible for Corporate and Investment Banking. He holds a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Cambridge and MD, PhD in cancer genetics from the Medical University of Gdańsk. Dr. Romanowski is a Member of the Audit Committee at Ryvu Therapeutics.
Peter Smith
Peter Smith, Ph.D.
Dr. Peter Smith is a pharmaceutical executive with over 20 years of experience in drug discovery and development. He has proven experience in company building and the discovery and development of new therapeutics for various diseases of unmet need. Dr. Smith is Co-Founder and currently Chief Executive Officer of Remix Therapeutics. He also serves as Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Atlas Venture, where he is Co-founder and Acting CSO of Amplify Medicine, as well as an advisor to other Atlas portfolio companies.
Previously, he served as CSO at H3 Biomedicine, where his team introduced three molecules into the clinic with precision medicine approaches to treat various cancers. Prior to H3 Biomedicine, he was at Millenium/Takeda, where he focused on oncology drug discovery and early clinical development.
Dr. Smith received his PhD from Newcastle University and completed post-doctoral training at Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Thomas Turalski
Thomas Turalski
Thomas Turalski has over seventeen years of experience in the biotechnology arena ranging from public and private investing and exposure to the corporate, operational and regulatory side of company development. As Portfolio Manager, Mr. Turalski currently leads the investment team at Revidea Ventures.
Prior to joining Revidea ventures, he spent eleven years at Perceptive Advisors, a top ranked healthcare investment fund, where he led investments in Myogen, Morphosys and Pharmacyclics among many others. He was also responsible for the firm’s investment in Acerta Pharma where he was a member of the founding team as well as the board of directors. Mr. Turalski received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University.
Tadeusz Wesolowski
Tadeusz Wesolowski, Vice Chairman of the Board
Dr. Tadeusz Wesolowski has more than 20 years of experience in investment and management of companies. He has consistently advised and participated in the creation of new ventures in the pharmaceutical market.
In 1990 he founded and managed PROSPER S.A. (part of NEUCA Group), a company that for over 17 years has been one of the leaders on the pharmaceutical distribution market in Poland. Currently, he serves on the Supervisory Board of NEUCA.
Dr. Wesolowski received his PhD in Technical Sciences from Warsaw University of Technology. He is a Member of the Audit Committee at Ryvu Therapeutics.
Collaborations
Awards
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Economic Award of the President of Poland
16/08/2018 -
Economic Award of the President of Poland
22/08/2019
CSR
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Unicorn
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Unicorn
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Unicorn
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