Anthony Pitt Email & Phone Number

Oxford, Gb

Orbit Discovery Ltd is a spin-out from the University of Oxford. Our technology is an enhanced DNA-encoded peptide display technology which was developed by Prof Graham Ogg at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine to address the need for a display technology able to probe the cell surface. The initial objective was to present random peptides to T-cells with unknown specificity as a way to establish their epitopes – something that was impossible with phage display or mRNA display.The technology supports the presentation of natural amino acids, non-natural amino acids, linear peptides, constrained peptides and peptides modified after translation.Our business model is simple – establish both internal discovery programmes which we will out-license in the future and collaborative programmes with industry and academia. We aim to balance the two through the efficiency that our technology enables and identify well characterised, selective hits for existing and novel drug targets wherever a peptide might make sense.

Oxford, Gb

Developing novel molecular diagnostic and enzymatic bioassays for pathogens directly affecting human health, the human food supply and life science research.

Basel, Ch

Strategic planning of research & development, marketing and sales activities for the drug discovery business unit.Establishment of a cell based assays program via internal development and in-licensing of new technologies.Promoting drug discovery business unit technologies and services via presentations at conferences, meetings, direct to biotech and pharma customers and by the internet.Determining client needs and the subsequent design of plans for custom assay development and compound profiling projects.Assessment of the drug discovery market in terms of needs, competitor technologies and intellectual property.Technical and competitor training of a focussed drug discovery sales and marketing team.Identification of external partners in the drug discovery field for collaborative projects (outsourcing Lonza technologies, insourcing external technologies).

Management of R&D projects, manufacturing and QC activities at Nottingham site and related activities at US sites.Invention and development of bioluminescent biochemical and cell based assays for the research, product release testing and drug discovery markets.Intellectual property: writing patents and patent applications and assessment of competitor IP.Protein engineering including cloning, mutagenesis, fermentation, expression, purification and characterization.Support of marketing and sales activities.

Responsible for the development of bioluminescent bioassays for the research and drug discovery markets (see above). Company acquired by Lonza in 2007.

Development of bioluminescent based assays related to cell health and function and specific characterizations of purified enzymes.Management of a team of 5 R&D scientists.Development of manufacturing and QC processes.

Responsible for the development of bioluminescent bioassays for the research and drug discovery markets (see above). Company acquired by Cambrex Bioscience.

Nottingham, Gb

Research into the molecular and cell biology of asthma and cystic fibrosis.