Totus Medicines Announces Appointment of Nassim Usman, Ph.D., as President & CEO and the Closing of a $66M Series B Funding

2023-12-15

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EMERYVILLE, Calif., Dec. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Totus Medicines, a company revolutionizing small molecule drug discovery and development using covalent libraries and AI tools, announced today that Nassim Usman, Ph.D., has been named President & Chief Executive Officer and closed a $66M Series B financing led by DCVC Bio. Neil Dhawan, Ph.D, Totus co-founder, founding CEO, and CSO, will transition into a new role as CSO and Head of R&D, where he will continue to oversee the company's platform, programs, and data.

"We are thrilled by Nassim's arrival," said DCVC Bio Managing Partner John Hamer. "He brings exceptional experience and acumen to a company poised to bring much-needed therapies to market. I'm equally excited by the fact that Neil – whose vision and determination have brought Totus to where it is – will continue to contribute at a senior level to the company's rapid growth."

"Nassim is exactly the right leader for Totus," said Dhawan. "His extensive drug development background and vision for the Totus platform will help lead us through the next phase of growth for the company. His strong management experience will help shape Totus as we continue to advance breakthrough therapeutics, and just as importantly, Nassim embodies our culture and values."

Before joining Totus Medicines, Dr. Usman served as President, CEO and Board member at Catalyst Biosciences (NASDAQ:CBIO, now Gyre Therapeutics, NASDAQ:GYRE). Dr. Usman has an extensive background in C-Suite management (CSO, COO, CEO and Principal Financial Officer), Board membership on and venture capital investing (Morgenthaler Ventures) in several private and public companies including Sirna Therapeutics (acquired by Merck) and Principia Biopharma (acquired by Sanofi). Dr. Usman currently serves on the Board of GYRE and the advisory boards of two private biotechnology companies. During his career, he has advanced several drugs into clinical development, executed multiple licensing deals, and raised capital through private and public financings. Dr. Usman received his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from McGill University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at MIT.

"Neil and the entire team at Totus have built an extraordinary a platform that has the potential to transform small molecule discovery and have built a pipeline of clinical candidates led by TOS-358, a covalent inhibitor of PI3Ka in the clinic," said Dr. Usman. "I am delighted to join Neil, our investors and the team as we build out the platform and advance our clinical development pipeline."

The company closed the final tranche of a Series B financing totaling $66 million, led by DCVC Bio and including the participation of North Pond Ventures, Camford Capital, and the Regents of the University of Minnesota. Proceeds from the Series B financing will be used to advance Totus' clinical program, expand the pipeline, and evolve the platform.

About Totus Medicines

Totus Medicines is discovering and developing small molecule medicines using a novel DNA-encoded covalent library technology combined with artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML). With the unprecedented ability to screen billions of drug candidates against thousands of targets simultaneously, the company's novel platform can find drugs that are dramatically superior to molecules discovered through previous technologies, including drug candidates for currently undruggable targets.

For more information, please visit totusmedicines.com and follow Totus on LinkedIn and Twitter/X.

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