WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nocion Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule charged sodium channel blockers called “nocions”, that selectively silence actively firing nociceptors for the treatment of serious conditions involving cough, itch, and pain, today announced that it had appointed Dr. Catherine Bonuccelli to its Scientific Advisory Board and Joan Shaw to Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations. Both Bonuccelli and Shaw held leadership roles in the successful clinical development of camlipixant for persistent cough as members of the Bellus Health clinical team.
“We are delighted to welcome Cathy and Joan to our scientific/clinical teams as we prepare for the start of our ASPIRE (Phase 2b) clinical trial of Taplucainium in 240 chronic cough patients in the second half of 2024,” said Rick Batycky, CEO of Nocion Therapeutics. “Catherine and Joan each have unique and successful experiences in the area of therapeutic development for chronic cough. These experiences are immediately applicable to our development of Taplucainium for patients suffering from chronic cough.”
Dr. Catherine Bonuccelli Bio
Dr. Bonuccelli has held a number of leadership positions focusing on the late-stage clinical development of large and small molecule programs in the respiratory and inflammation therapeutic areas. She served as Chief Medical Officer of Bellus Health from 2019 until its acquisition by GSK in 2023. Prior to joining Bellus, Dr. Bonuccelli spent more than four years serving as US Medical Affairs Respiratory Therapeutic Area Head for GSK. In this capacity, she oversaw all medical support activities for the company’s portfolio of respiratory treatments. She had previously had a 20-year tenure with AstraZeneca, where she held a number of roles, including Global Medicines Clinical Vice President for the Inflammation, Neuroscience, & Respiratory Therapeutic Area, and Therapy Area Clinical Vice President, Respiratory and Inflammation. In these positions, she had oversight for all aspects of late-stage clinical development, including product strategy and creation of Phase III-IV study protocols and design for inhaled, oral and biologic products including Symbicort and Fasenra. She was also responsible for designing and delivering brand lifecycle management opportunities, creating long-term portfolio strategies and managing medical and scientific staff.
Dr. Bonuccelli earned her MD, and was an Intern, Resident, Research Fellow and Clinical Fellow, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She has authored more than 30 publications and abstracts, has been a board member of several prominent boards and has been licensed in three states.
Joan Shaw Bio
Prior to joining Nocion, Joan served as the SVP of Clinical Operation at Bellus Health (now GSK) and established their global late-stage drug development strategy for refractory chronic cough, completed their successful Phase 2b study and initiated a program of Phase 3 studies. She has a unique combination of experiences with large pharmaceutical companies (Astra Zeneca, DuPont Pharma, Takeda), biotech companies (Bellus Health, Agenus) and contract research organizations (Parexel, UBC, Quotient Sciences) in multiple therapeutic areas spanning over 30 years.
Joan is a licensed Medical Technologist (B.S., University of Delaware) and an MS in Clinical Chemistry (West Chester University) and holds a Six Sigma Black Belt (Villanova).
ABOUT TAPLUCAINIUM
Taplucainium (formerly NTX-1175) is a proprietary molecule in the novel class of charged sodium channel blockers that allows for specific silencing of activated/inflamed nociceptors while having minimal local off-target effects or systemic exposure. Unlike other investigative cough therapies, such as P2X3 antagonists, which target a specific large pore channel, Taplucainium is formulated into a dry powder for inhalation, and once inhaled, gains access to the pulmonary nociceptors through any open large pore channel including P2X, TRPV and TRPA channels whereupon it inhibits the sodium channels responsible for initiating the pathological cough response. The broader mechanism of Taplucainium has shown significant antitussive effects in preclinical models of cough. Combined with good preliminary safety and efficacy data from earlier stage clinical work, this forms the basis for its use in cough indications beyond chronic cough.
ABOUT NOCION
Nocion Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule charged sodium channel blockers called “nocions” that selectively affect actively firing nociceptors for the treatment of serious conditions involving cough, itch, and pain. The company’s mission is to safely alleviate suffering for millions of patients with conditions arising from activated sensory neurons. Working with Harvard’s Office of Technology Development, Nocion was founded on an exclusive license to foundational intellectual property from Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital. Venture investors in Nocion include Arkin Bio Capital, Canaan Partners, F-Prime Capital, Lumira Ventures, Mass General Brigham Ventures, Mission BioCapital, Monograph Capital, Morningside and Osage University Partners. For more information, visit: www.nociontx.com.
