J. David Becherer

Dr. Becherer, head of R&D at IMMvention, has 30 years of drug discovery experience in both large pharmaceutical (GSK) and venture-funded biotechnology companies (Viamet and Mitobridge). He brings to IMMvention a focused vision for novel and differentiated medicines. During his career, Dr. Becherer has led scientific research teams towards their research and business goals and identified numerous novel small molecule and biological drug candidates. He has worked on a variety of target classes across various therapeutic areas, including inflammation, cardio/metabolic, anti-viral, oncology, and diseases of aging. This work spans from early target ID and validation to lead optimization studies, including translational pharmacology, biomarker, and IND enabling safety studies.

Early career achievements while at GSK include identifying and characterizing the TNF convertase (TACE) and related metalloproteinases. This work resulted in the first testing in the clinic of a TACE inhibitor. Other achievements at GSK include cross-functional leadership to advance preclinical assets through to the clinic: TGR5 agonist (phase 1/2a), SGLT2 inhibitor Remgoliflozin (phase 2 proof of concept), CCR5 antagonist (HIV phase 2 proof of concept), and HIV integrase inhibitor Tivicay. More recently, he has identified preclinical candidates for enzymes involved in aldosterone synthesis, histone deacetylation, and pyridine nucleotide metabolism.

Dr. Becherer received his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from University of California, San Diego and his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Basel and the Basel Institute for Immunology. His thesis work focused on the innate immune response, particularly the complement system, under the guidance of Dr. John Lambris. Post-doctoral studies were conducted at the Glaxo Research Institute and focused on the structure and functions of matrix metalloproteinases. During his career, he has co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications and patents.

Dave loves baseball and coached youth baseball, from T-ball to high school travel teams, for 20 years. Now retired from the dugout, Dave is happiest at the dinner table with his family or boating and wakeboarding with family and friends at area lakes.