BDC: Breakthroughs in Biotechnology
Breakthroughs in Biotechnology
Starting your own company: the exciting path of discovering the entrepreneur within
Nora Mineva, Ph.D.
CSO & Co-founder, Adecto Pharmaceuticals
Wednesday, December 12th @ 3:30pm
Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Science and Engineering
610 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
Room 101
Bio: Dr. Nora D. Mineva is the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) and a Co-founder of Adecto Pharmaceuticals, a therapeutics start-up developing the first targeted treatment against ADAM8-positive cancers. She holds a Ph.D. in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine from Boston University School of Medicine and a B.A./M.A. in Biology from Clark University. During her post-doctoral training at Tufts University School of Medicine, in the laboratory of Dr. Gail Sonenshein, Dr. Mineva had a leadership role in the research that led to the discovery that the transmembrane protein ADAM8 is a critical driver of both primary tumor growth and spread. Dr. Mineva and colleagues identified two ADAM8 extracellular domains responsible for these functions and designed a new antibody-mediated targeting approach to simultaneously inactivate both in therapy. In October 2014, Dr. Mineva co-founded and assumed the role of CSO at Adecto Pharmaceuticals, whose primary goal is the development of a monoclonal antibody-based therapeutic based on this technology for treatment of ADAM8-positive cancers, with triple-negative breast cancer as the first indication. Since becoming CSO of Adecto Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Mineva has been involved in company management, business development, investor relations, and fund-raising efforts in addition to therapeutic development. In this time, Adecto has successfully isolated two therapeutic lead antibodies which are currently in pre-clinical development and raised over 2.5 million dollars in funding. She is a graduate of the NIH I-Corps Business Training Program and MassBio’s MassConnect Entrepreneur Mentorship Program. Dr. Mineva received the 2015 Tufts University 100K New Ventures Competition Award (1st Prize for Life Sciences) and was a finalist for the 2017 Boehringer Ingelheim Boston Innovation Award. Her long-term goal is to improve the survival of cancer patients by providing better therapeutic options.
**The Breakthroughs in Biotechnology Seminar Series, sponsored by the Biological Design Center, brings in industry scientists from across the biotechnology space to highlight their exciting research from developing new technologies, to therapeutics, medical devices and beyond.**