Ubiquigent appoints Dr Xavier Jacq to Scientific Advisory Board

Reviewed by Bethan DaviesJan 10 2023

Ubiquigent Limited (Ubiquigent), a drug discovery and development company harnessing novel deubiquitinase (DUB) modulators as new therapeutics for areas of high unmet medical need, today announced the appointment of Dr. Xavier Jacq to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB is chaired by Professor Sir Philip Cohen.

Following the recent appointments of Professor’s Helen Walden and John Davis, the addition of Xavier further strengthens Ubiquigent’s DUB-associated expertise and will help drive the continued growth of the Company in the DUB drug discovery field.

Xavier co-founded Mission Therapeutics (Mission), where he held the positions of VP Scientific Affairs and Director of Biology. In this role, he focused on researching and exploiting the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) and was a key driver behind Mission’s DUB-focused strategy.

Xavier then moved to Almac Discovery as VP of Biology, reinforcing his expertise in the DUB field, followed by Dunad Therapeutics, a developer of targeted protein degradation-based therapies, as Senior Vice President.

Xavier is currently Chief Scientific Officer at moa Technology, an Oxford-based company investigating nature’s design for novel herbicide modes of action.

With over 22 years’ industry experience, Xavier has established a proven track record in early-stage discovery and development that spans oncology, metabolism, immunology and CNS therapeutics. He holds a PhD in Biochemistry from Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg, France and completed his postdoctoral training in Cancer Biology at Colombia University, NYC, USA.

There is a growing recognition for the role of DUBs in many disease-relevant pathways, making the UPS one of the most promising sources of druggable targets for novel therapeutics. Ubiquigent’s comprehensive approach to DUB drug discovery is unique, and I look forward to working with the team to advance both internal and partnership-based drug discovery programmes.

Dr. Xavier Jacq, SAB Member, Ubiquigent.

We’re delighted to have Xavier join our SAB, the latest in a series of appointments to further strengthen our position as experts in the DUB space. His extensive research and industry experience focused on the UPS and the DUBs will be invaluable in developing our portfolio of novel DUB modulators and associated drug discovery programmes.

Jason Mundin, Chief Executive Officer, Ubiquigent.