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PIC Therapeutics
PIC Therapeutics is a Natick, Massachusetts biotechnology company developing small-molecule precision medicines that target cancer at the level of protein translation. Rather than chasing individual oncogenes one at a time, PIC modulates the Pre-Initiation Complex (PIC) and the translation factor eIF4E - a convergence point for many oncogenic signaling pathways - to selectively shut down the production of cancer-driving proteins while sparing healthy cells. Founded on the research of Harvard structural biologist Gerhard Wagner and led by CEO Katherine Bowdish, the company is advancing an allosteric eIF4E modulator toward first-in-human studies in drug-resistant metastatic breast cancer, backed by a $35M Series A led by OrbiMed.
Katherine Bowdish
Katherine (Kathy) Bowdish is a molecular geneticist and biopharmaceutical leader who serves as President and CEO of PIC Therapeutics, a Natick, Massachusetts biotech developing cancer drugs that work by modulating RNA translation - targeting the eIF4E 'master switch' that tumors use to overproduce oncogene proteins. Over more than two decades she has founded and led a string of early-stage life science companies including Prolifaron (acquired by Alexion), Anaphore and Permeon Biologics, and she built and ran Sanofi Sunrise, the pharma giant's early-stage venture and partnering arm. She holds a PhD in molecular genetics from Columbia and led PIC through a $35 million Series A to push its lead program toward the clinic in drug-resistant breast cancer.