Solu Therapeutics Names Philip Vickers President and CEO

Solu Therapeutics, a precision-medicine company developing therapeutics to eliminate disease-driving cells, appointed Philip Vickers, President, and Chief Executive Officer. Vickers succeeds David Donabedian, co-founder, and start-up CEO of the company.

Vickers has more than 30 years of experience in the biopharma industry. As CEO, he will play an instrumental role in the company’s work to eliminate cells that drive disease in areas of high unmet medical need through the continued development of Solu’s proprietary CyTaC (Cytotoxicity Targeting Chimera) platform, including their lead program in oncology, which is projected to enter the clinic within two years.

Vickers started his career as a senior biologist at Merck Research Laboratories. He went on to spend more than 13 years at Pfizer, ending his time there as vice president, research. Following his time at Pfizer, Vickers worked at Boehringer-Ingelheim, where he served as senior vice president and US head of research before joining Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals as chief scientific officer. After Resolvyx, Vickers was global head of R&D at Shire Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for overseeing preclinical research and development, clinical development, regulatory affairs, program management, and medical affairs.

“Solu’s CyTaC platform and focus on unlocking antibody-intractable cell surface targets present an exciting opportunity to make a significant impact for patients living with devastating diseases,” said Vickers. “Solu is building a new generation of medicines that combine the strengths of biologics and small molecules to advance the way we treat cancer and immune-mediated illnesses. I am thrilled to be leading this dedicated team.”

Christoph Westphal, founding executive chair, Solu Therapeutics and Founding Partner of Longwood Fund, said, “Vickers’ work supporting the approval of numerous drugs and his deep knowledge of novel therapeutics and clinical development make him the ideal choice to do so. I have the utmost confidence in his ability to advance Solu’s science and lead the team.”