# Phil Chamberlain

> Phil Chamberlain is the co-founder, president and CEO of Neomorph, a San Diego biotech building molecular glue degraders to drug proteins long written off as untouchable. An Oxford-trained structural biologist, he spent a decade at Celgene and Bristol Myers Squibb decoding how thalidomide works at the atomic level, then turned that science into a company that has signed partnerships with AbbVie, Biogen and Novo Nordisk worth billions and pushed its lead degrader into the clinic.

- **Role:** Co-Founder, President & CEO at Neomorph, Inc.
- **Organizations:** Neomorph, Inc., Celgene, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF), University of Oxford
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** BA, University of Oxford, DPhil, University of Oxford
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Neomorph, one of San Diego's fastest-growing biotech companies, Signed partnerships with AbbVie, Biogen and Novo Nordisk with combined potential value approaching $5 billion, Advanced lead molecular glue degrader NEO-811 into a Phase 1/2 first-in-human clinical trial in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

## Career timeline

- **pre-2007** — Trained as a structural biologist at Oxford, then joined the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) working on respiratory and inflammatory disease and structural biology
- **2007** — Joined Celgene in San Diego; built and led the Structural and Chemical Biology department
- **2007-2019** — Spent roughly a decade in molecular glue drug discovery at Celgene and Bristol Myers Squibb; rose to Executive Director, Protein Homeostasis and Structural Biology
- **2020** — Co-founded Neomorph with scientists Eric Fischer, Benjamin Ebert and Scott Armstrong, backed by Deerfield Management, months before pandemic lockdown
- **2021** — Named Chief Executive Officer of Neomorph
- **2025** — Signed major collaborations including AbbVie option-to-license deal (up to ~$1.64B), plus Biogen and Novo Nordisk partnerships
- **2026** — Closed $100M Series B led by Deerfield Management to advance NEO-811 Phase 1/2 trial

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Neomorph, one of San Diego's fastest-growing biotech companies
- Signed partnerships with AbbVie, Biogen and Novo Nordisk with combined potential value approaching $5 billion
- Advanced lead molecular glue degrader NEO-811 into a Phase 1/2 first-in-human clinical trial in clear cell renal cell carcinoma
- Closed a $100 million Series B financing in April 2026
- Determined the first structure of thalidomide bound to human cereblon
- Defined the neosubstrate 'structural degron' and the structural basis for cereblon binding and neosubstrate recruitment
- Built and led the cereblon modulator platform at Celgene, a pioneering effort in the molecular glue field
- Recipient of the John W. Jackson leadership award, described as the most prestigious achievement award at Celgene
- Published targeted protein degradation work in Nature, Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, and Nature Chemical Biology

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Neomorph closed a $100 million Series B financing led by Deerfield Management to advance the NEO-811 Phase 1/2 clinical trial
- **2025-01** — AbbVie and Neomorph announced a collaboration to develop molecular glue degraders for oncology and immunology, with milestones up to ~$1.64 billion

## Links

- Website: https://neomorph.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-chamberlain

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/phil-chamberlain
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-08