Paul Shughrue
Vice President, Program Leader & Head of Research Acumen
Paul is a neuropharmacologist with more than 25 years of drug discovery experience in both large pharmaceutical and small biotech companies. Most recently, he transitioned to Acumen to head a discovery effort to identify new bispecific amyloid beta oligomer antibodies with enhance brain delivery using anti-TfR scFv and VHH technologies. He began his career at Wyeth Ayerst and later Merck where he discovered and advanced multiple small and large molecules to clinical development including ACU193 (sabirnetug). Throughout his career he has authored more than 75 papers and holds 14 patents.
Paul earned his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington.
Seminars
- Demonstrate efficient TfR-mediated transcytosis using a high-affinity, bivalent antibody architecture that achieves robust CNS exposure despite prevailing assumptions in the field
- Present translational mouse and non-human primate data showing substantially enhanced brain penetration while preserving selective binding to pathogenic amyloid beta oligomers
- Explore a differentiated TfR binding epitope that avoids hematological liabilities (anemia) associated with earlier BBB shuttle approaches
- Share drug candidate selection, lead characterization and dose-ranging studies in rodent and non-human primates of Enhanced Brain Delivery™ therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease
