COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE IN INNOVATION
A pioneer in the field, ConfometRx is a leader in G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) structural characterization and analysis and GPCR-targeted drug discovery.
Our comprehensive approach harnesses more than 10 years of experience elucidating the structures of GPCRs to discover and develop targeted small molecules with therapeutic potential.
Our use of proprietary protein engineering methods and G proteins to express, purify, and stabilize GPCRs in both inactive and active states have enabled the structural elucidation of GPCRs by X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy.
We have used both in silico screening and screening of DNA-encoded small molecule libraries to discover orthosteric agonists and antagonists, as well as both positive and negative allosteric modulators.
We are currently advancing several small-molecule candidates through lead optimization and pre-clinical development against GPCR targets involved in CNS, respiratory, metabolic, and other diseases. We have also contributed to drug discovery programs in collaboration with several pharmaceutical partners.
ConfometRx Research Foundation is a public non-profit foundation founded by Brian and Tong Sun Kobilka in 2009. The goal of the foundation is to bring together scientists from academia and the biopharmaceutical industry to exchange ideas, disseminate information, and discuss challenges related to drug development targeting G-protein coupled receptors in order to facilitate the discovery of more effective and selective therapeutics for unmet medical needs.
Company Founders
Brian Kobilka, M.D.
Dr. Kobilka is a co-founder of ConfometRx and current serves as a scientific advisor to the company. He is Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, and Hélène Irwin Fagan Chair in Cardiology at Stanford University School of Medicine. Over the past 30 years, he has pioneered the use of biophysical methods to study the structure and mechanism of activation of G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). In 2012, Dr. Kobilka was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on GPCRs, having been the first to obtain a high-resolution crystal structure of a non-rhodopsin GPCR and a GPCR-G protein complex. In addition to his advisory role at ConfometRx, he has served as a member of the scientific advisory boards of Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Theravance, 7TM Pharma, and BigHat Biosciences. Dr. Kobilka received a BS in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Minnesota, Duluth and his MD from Yale University School of Medicine. He completed residency training in Internal Medicine at the Barnes Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri and then was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Robert Lefkowitz at Duke University. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Tong Sun Kobilka, M.D.
Dr. Kobilka is a co-founder of ConfometRx and has served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer since its founding. Previously, she was a practicing physician and a research scientist in the Kobilka academic lab at Stanford University. She has extensive research experience in GPCRs including the cloning of several GPCRs, structure/function analysis of the β2 adrenergic receptor, and purification of GPCRs for crystallography. Dr. Kobilka received a BS degree in Biology from the University of Minnesota, two Masters degrees – one in Microbiology from Iowa State University and the other in East Asian Studies from Yale University, and her MD from Stanford University.
Advisors
Stephen Brenner, Ph.D.
Dr. Brenner has served as a scientific advisor to ConfometRx since 2013. He is currently a member of the Therapeutic Development Team at the Harrington Discovery Institute and an independent consultant with more than 40 years of experience in academia, government, and the private sector.
After receiving his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from Indiana University, he then spent ten years at the National Institutes of Health as a research scientist. Dr. Brenner then joined the Central Research Department of the DuPont Company, where he held positions of increasing responsibility, leading research teams in Structural Biology and Biophysics.
Following the acquisition of DuPont by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2001, Dr. Brenner rose through the executive ranks to the position of Vice President of Chemical and Protein Technologies, leading a diverse department that provided core support for both small- and large-molecule drug discovery. He was also a member of the Joint Research Committee for numerous BMS academic and industrial alliances, and actively involved in the creation of the BMS-Biocon Research Center in Bangalore, India, and the BMS-Tsinghua University Structural Biology alliance in Beijing, China.
During his career, he also served as a member of the Keystone Symposia Scientific Advisory Board for nearly 20 years and was Chair of the Directorate Advisory Committee for the Fundamental and Computational Sciences Directorate at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Richard William Fuller, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Fuller currently serves as an independent consultant following more than 40 years’ experience in clinical development and successfully leading teams responsible for more than 20 NDA and MAA filings in the respiratory and allergy field.
Most recently, he served as President and CEO of Oriel Therapeutics, completing the sale of that company to Novartis, where he continued on in an executive role to develop inhaled therapeutics. Prior to that, Dr. Fuller served as Chief Medical Officer/Executive Vice President at Aerovance Inc, where he led the development of a novel protein for the treatment of asthma and eczema, and as Director of Science Funding at the Wellcome Trust, a non-profit research organization.
Dr. Fuller began his industry career at Glaxo, ultimately ending his ten-year tenure there (then GlaxoSmithKline), as Vice President for Respiratory and Inflammation Clinical Development & Product Strategy, having also served as Worldwide Director of International Medical Affairs. While at GSK, he successfully developed and launched multiple respiratory therapeutics including Advair®, Flovent®, Flonase®, and Serevent®.
Throughout his academic career, Dr. Fuller was a Research Fellow/Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London, a Lecturer at St. Georges Hospital Medical School, London, and completed clinical training at various hospitals in the UK. Dr. Fuller received his M.D. degree from St. George's Hospital Medical School. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and is clinically accredited in Internal Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology.
Raphael Franzini, Ph.D.
Dr. Franzini is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Utah and an investigator at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
He received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Stanford University working in the group of Prof. Eric T. Kool and developing probes for detecting nucleic acids. During his postdoctoral training in the group of Prof. Dario Neri at ETH Zürich, Switzerland, he explored the principles that underly successful hit discovery from DNA-encoded libraries.
As an independent researcher at the University of Utah, Dr. Franzini uses DNA-encoded libraries for the discovery of lead molecules for NAD-binding proteins with roles in aging and disease. Additionally, the group explores bioorthogonal reactions for applications in drug delivery and chemical biology.
Peter Gmeiner, Ph.D.
Dr. Gmeiner has been a chaired Full Professor of Pharmaceutical / Medicinal Chemistry at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg since October 1996. From 2017 to 2019, Prof. Gmeiner was the Chairman of the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Natural Science.
His research spans the design, organic synthesis, and pharmacological characterization of bioactive molecules addressing aminergic and peptidergic G-protein coupled receptors. He has also served as Chairman of the Pharmaceutical / Medicinal Chemistry Section of the German Pharmaceutical Society (DPhG) since 2008.
Dr. Gmeiner received his Ph.D. in 1986 from the University of Munich and subsequently completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California in Berkeley. In addition, upon receiving his doctor habilitus in 1992, for which he was honored with the Johann-Wolfgang-Döberreiner prize of the DPhG, he was appointed Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Bonn.
Dr. Gmeiner is a co-founder and consultant for Epiodyne, Inc. and has consulted to numerous global pharmaceutical companies and international intellectual property firms as well as to ConfometRx. Dr. Gmeiner is an author on more than 300 published articles.
Jim Zanze
Jim has 32 years of life science corporate finance experience. He joined life science investment banking firm Aquilo Partners in 2003. Prior to that, Jim spent 11 years with JPMorgan and Hambrecht & Quist, where he was Managing Director and Head of Private Placements. Jim began his career at Salomon Brothers Inc in the Venture Capital Group. He has served as a director of the California Pacific Medical Center and chaired the investment committee overseeing its endowment. Jim graduated from Middlebury College.
