Oxford, United Kingdom – 14 December 2021 – OMass Therapeutics (‘OMass’ or ‘the Company’), a biotechnology company identifying medicines against highly validated target ecosystems, is pleased to announce that its founder Professor Dame Carol Robinson has been awarded the 2022 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine and the 2022 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry.

These highly prestigious awards are in recognition of Professor Robinson’s contributions to the field of mass spectrometry and for establishing it as a method to analyse proteins in their native state. These discoveries have formed the basis of OMass’ technology platform, OdyssION™.

The Louis-Jeantet Foundation’s mission is to further the cause of medicine and awards annual prizes to encourage and finance the best European research projects in medicine. Other recipients of the 2022 prizes were Ugur Sahin, Özlem Türeci and Katalin Karikó (BioNTech SE, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and University of Szeged) who were jointly awarded the 2022 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Translational Medicine for the design and development of mRNA-based vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.

The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia honours the legacy of Benjamin Franklin by presenting awards for outstanding achievements in science, engineering and industry, and is the oldest comprehensive science and technology awards programme in the USA. Alongside Professor Robinson, this year’s 13 honourees included Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, whose work with mRNA formed the basis of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. The CEOs of these two companies, along with the CEO of a third vaccine maker, Johnson & Johnson were also honoured.

Professor Dame Carol Robinson, Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board and Founder, added: “2021 has been an amazing year for science and I am honored to have received these two awards alongside the mRNA Covid vaccine heroes. I congratulate all awardees and thank both the Franklin Institute and the Louis-Jeantet Foundation for their recognition.

“Mass spectrometry can be an under recognized area of science, but I truly believe that it will play a major role in drug discovery for years to come. Through my academic role and as a founder of and consultant to OMass, I hope that my discoveries can have a positive impact on the lives of patients.”

Native mass spectrometry is a core element of OMass’s proprietary technology platform, OdyssION™, which also integrates novel biochemistry techniques and custom chemistry. It allows OMass to interrogate not just a drug target but also how the protein interacts with its native ecosystem, separate from the confounding complexity of the cell. The result is cell-system fidelity with cell-free precision. OMass is advancing a pipeline of small molecule therapeutics in rare diseases and immunological conditions, targeting solute carriers, complex-bound proteins and GPCRs.

Rosamond Deegan, OMass CEO, commented: “We are immensely proud of Carol and her achievements this year, and for her incredible innovations that led to the formation of OMass. Throughout her career Carol has contributed significantly to the fields of mass spectrometry and chemistry. The recognition of her work by both organisations is a testament of her success and highlights the ground-breaking potential of our OdyssION™ platform, which Carol has been instrumental in developing.”

Both awards add to Professor Robinson’s list of achievements this year, having been awarded the 2022 European Chemistry Gold Medal from the European Chemical Society in August.

-ENDS-

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About OMass Therapeutics

OMass Therapeutics is a biotechnology company identifying medicines against highly validated target ecosystems such as membrane proteins or intracellular complexes. The Company’s unique technology platform, OdyssION™, comprises novel biochemistry techniques, next generation native mass spectrometry and custom chemistry. This allows OMass to interrogate not just the target but how it interacts with its native ecosystem, separate from the confounding complexity of the cell. The result is cell-system fidelity with cell-free precision. OMass is advancing a pipeline of small molecule therapeutics in rare diseases and immunological conditions, targeting solute carriers, complex-bound proteins and GPCRs.

Headquartered in Oxford, UK, OMass is backed by a top-tier investor syndicate, Syncona and Oxford Science Enterprises, having closed a ~$60m Series A funding.

To learn more, please visit www.omass.com. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Carol Robinson

Carol Robinson is the Professor and Chair of Dr. Lee’s Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford and is the Founder and non-executive Director of OMass Therapeutics. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2013 due to her services and contribution to the field of mass spectrometry and further research into the 3D structure of proteins and their complexes. She is a leading expert in the field and prior to leaving for the University of Oxford, became the first female Professor in Chemistry at the University of Cambridge in 2001. She holds eight honorary degrees and is the current President of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

About the Louis-Jeantet Foundation

Established in Geneva, the Louis-Jeantet Foundation seeks to further the cause of medicine. The primary goal of the Foundation is to award annual prizes aimed at encouraging and financing the best European research projects in medicine, both clinical and fundamental, notably in the fields of oncology and cardiovascular diseases, but with a concern for any illness threatening mankind.

The announcement of the 2022 winners can be found HERE.

About The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia

The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia honours the legacy of Benjamin Franklin by presenting awards for outstanding achievements in science, engineering, and industry and is the oldest comprehensive science and technology awards programme in the US.

The announcement of the 2022 Medal honorees can be found HERE.