NovAliX appoints Dr. Jerome Guillemont as head of drug discovery, alongside two new directors

• Founded in 2002 and based in Strasbourg, France, NovAliX is a drug discovery-focused CRO with several unique technologies. It employs 200 researchers, with capabilities combining chemistry and biophysics. NovAliX offers its clients original collaborative models and extensive services within the framework of research programs dedicated to drug discovery. Its ambition is to continue its development by both strengthening its internationalization and extending and integrating the new capabilities essential to the success of its clients‘ therapeutic research projects into its technologies and base of expertise.
  www.novalix.comDuring his accomplished career, Dr. Guillemont has discovered successful drug candidates in a wide range of therapeutic areas, working on antibacterials, gastroenterology and virology
• With this latest addition to its scientific team, NovAliX achieves a major milestone in propelling the company further forwards as a strong drug discovery engine, contributing, with its partners, to the discovery of new drugs

NovAliX, a drug discovery-focused Contract Research Organization (CRO), today announces the appointment of Dr. Jerome Guillemont as head of drug discovery. He will also be joining NovAliX’s executive committee. To further strengthen the team, Dr. Olivier Querolle and Dr. Laurence Mevellec are appointed directors of medicinal chemistry. These appointments come at a very productive time for the company, with the implementation of a highly automatized DNA-encoded platform and the opening of a new state-of-the-art medicinal chemistry facility, both in the last 12 months.

Dr. Jerome Guillemont brings a wealth of experience in drug discovery to his new role – having spent more than thirty years in pharmaceutical companies, working on numerous drug candidates. He will be in charge of leading new research projects with the drug discovery team. He has delivered two new drugs into the fields of antimycobacterial and HIV treatments:

• Sirturo^TM – approved in 2013 for the treatment of pulmonary multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)
• Edurant^TM – approved in 2011 for use in the treatment of type 1 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

“It is really impressive to see from the inside the combination of biophysical and chemobiological technologies that NovAliX has carefully assembled and mastered. For me, this truly represents a tremendous opportunity to successfully execute high impact therapeutic projects for the well-being of patients,” said Dr. Guillemont.

Dr. Guillemont’s achievements have been widely recognized by the industry; he received the European Inventor Award in 2014, the Prix Galien International Award in 2016 for Sirturo, and the ACS Heroes of Chemistry Award in 2020.

Both Dr. Olivier Querolle and Dr. Laurence Mevellec, who join as directors of medicinal chemistry, have many years expertise in oncology. Dr. Laurence Mevellec is also the inventor of Balversa^TM, an FGFR inhibitor for the treatment of metastatic urothelial carcinoma, which has been available to the medical profession and patients since 2019.

“We are delighted to welcome these new members to the team. Dr. Jerome Guillemont is the best candidate to take the helm of our drug discovery activities – combining biophysics, biology and drug design,” said Denis Zeyer, PhD, CEO of NovAliX. “The arrival of such drug discovery experts complements NovAliX’s strong in-house capabilities in chemistry and biophysics.”

NovAliX has almost two decades of industry experience and know-how in drug discovery; the team has worked extensively with biophysical capabilities and DNA-encoded libraries for the advancement of small molecule projects. These new additions to the scientific team will quickly integrate into NovAliX’s workforce and provide a solid contribution to the success of the partners’ program.

In less than 20 years, NovAliX has grown from a small academic spin-off to a premium CRO with an acknowledged biophysical and chemobiological platform, with an expectation of 50% growth in 2021.