Craig E. Masse

Craig E. Masse, PhD, has over 18 years of discovery and development experience in the biotechnology industry with a strong track record of delivering high value drug development candidates. Prior to joining Ajax Therapeutics, Dr. Masse was Executive Director and Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Nimbus where he led multiple immunology and immuno-oncology programs, all of which were prosecuted within a capitally efficient, virtually integrated, globally distributed operating model that involved a first-of-its-kind partnership with Schrödinger, Inc. (NASDAQ: SDGR). At Nimbus, he led the advancement of the company’s allosteric Tyk2 inhibitor program to a Development Candidate and helped secure an alliance with Celgene Corporation. Prior to joining Nimbus, Dr. Masse served as Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Concert Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CNCE) where he oversaw the creation of three Development Candidates all of which entered the clinic within 18 months. While at Concert, he led multidisciplinary drug-discovery projects teams, supported strategic assessment of programs for portfolio management; and provided scientific support for Business Development that resulted in a $1 billion multi-product transaction with GlaxoSmithKline. Prior to Concert, Dr. Masse started his career as a Research Scientist at Amgen-Cambridge where he worked in the oncology, inflammation, and neuroscience therapeutic areas. He is an inventor on over 60 patents and has co-authored more than 65 scientific publications including several book chapters. He earned his Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from Boston University and conducted post-doctoral research at Harvard University with Professor David A. Evans.