DICE Therapeutics
Hassane Belabed has extensive work experience in medicinal chemistry, spanning various research and academic institutions. Hassane began their career as a Synthetic Organic Chemist at Galapagos NV in collaboration with KULeuven in Mechelen, Belgium, where they focused on synthesizing new compound libraries targeting kinases and developing novel methodologies for the synthesis of pyridazine derivatives and fused pyridazines. Hassane then worked as a Postdoctoral Scientist in Medicinal Chemistry at the Neuroscience department of The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, where they specialized in synthesizing novel beta-secretase 1 (BACE-1) inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Following this, Belabed worked as a Scientist in the Medicinal Chemistry group at FMP Berlin, where they were involved in designing and synthesizing the first selective PI3K C2alpha inhibitor through hit-to-lead optimization. Hassane also contributed to the development of new methodologies for the synthesis of privileged heterocycles.
Belabed continued their career as an Assistant Specialist in the research group led by Prof. Suzanne A. Blum at UC Irvine.
Most recently, they worked as a Scientist (Medicinal Chemistry) in the Center for Drug Discovery at Baylor College of Medicine. In this role, they focused on designing and synthesizing novel bioactive molecules in the field of male contraception. Hassane utilized DNA-encoded library technology (DEL) to identify hits for further investigation.
Currently, Belabed is employed as a Scientist II in the Medicinal Chemistry department at DICE Therapeutics, where they continue their work in developing new drug compounds.
Hassane Belabed pursued an Industrial PhD in Organic and Medicinal Chemistry from 2009 to 2013 at KU Leuven.
DICE Therapeutics
At DICE Therapeutics, we design and develop innovative therapies in immunology for patients with debilitating disease. Seeking to create a future where convenient oral medicines with biologic-like efficacy are available to patients with serious medical conditions, we are developing oral alternatives to medicines currently limited to injectable forms. We believe that such pills will be widely appreciated by patients and doctors alike, as they provide a lower bar to entry than biologics, and as oral medicines can easily be co-formulated with other efficacious drugs. The combination of our core technology with additional, unique biophysical insights has enabled DICE to target protein-protein interactions with small molecules. In doing so, DICE has cracked open a previously intractable set of clinically validated therapeutic targets, including Interleukin-17 (IL-17). Our lead program – an orally bioavailable IL-17 antagonist for the treatment of psoriasis – is currently progressing through IND-enabling studies. In parallel, we continue to advance both partnered and internal pipeline drug discovery programs, providing a robust pre-clinical pipeline.