Nikolaos Biris

• Head of Discovery function and Senior Leadership Team member, setting scientific strategy and vision for the immunology-focused pipeline in alignment with long-term organizational goals. • Direct internal pipeline programs from target identification through development candidate selection, ensuring strategic alignment and timely advancement of biologics programs. • Drive business development as Due Diligence team member, evaluating external biologics assets for in-licensing and partnership opportunities. • External Scientific Communications strategy team member, driving cross-functional alignment and ensuring cohesive strategic messaging across stakeholder groups. • Expanded company IP portfolio by identifying novel antibodies, resulting in new patent filings and strengthening competitive position. • Discovery lead for two immunology-focused internal pipeline projects, overseeing antibody discovery campaigns and development of immune cell-based assays from inception to candidate selection. • Spearheaded novel target identification initiatives in allergy and autoimmune disease areas, applying understanding of immune mechanisms to expand therapeutic pipeline. • Corresponding author on discovery publications, demonstrating ability to translate complex immunology research into high-quality publications. • Pipeline Strategy Team member evaluating internal biological targets for therapeutic potential and alignment with unmet clinical needs.

My efforts focused on investigating protein-protein interactions related to signaling such as the mitochondrial cell death pathway. I explored protein interactions of the BAX protein to decode the mechanism of BAX translocation to the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM). I also worked on the structure and targeting of proteins related to mitochondrial fusion and fission. For that purpose, I utilized advanced NMR techniques and experimentally driven computational methods coupled with biochemical and cell-based approaches. Moreover, I was involved in several drug discovery and development projects using my expertise in computer-aided screening, fragment-based screening, hit-to-lead design and optimization. For several protein targets, we have identified potent, selective, small molecule inhibitors and activators of signaling pathways with drug-like properties that are validated in animal disease models.