CarboHyde, a pharmaceutical company specializing in carbohydrate chemistry and innovative carbohydrate applications, today announced the appointment of its new CEO Tamas Sohajda, replacing the founder and former CEO, József Tóth. The reasons for the decision are captured in József’s personal memorandum below.
Dear colleagues, friends, and valued partners,
Today, I am writing to share an important announcement that marks a significant turning point in my life’s journey. After an incredible adventure at the helm of our beloved biotech startup CarboHyde, I have made the decision to retire from my role as CEO. I am stepping down from this position but will stay in the company as Chief Medical Officer.
It has become clear that dedicating myself both to a full-time consultant position at Semmelweis University and, meanwhile, leading CarboHyde is simply not feasible at the same time, as the expansion and development of the company demand an increasing amount of time, effort, and focus. As a result, I have come to the difficult decision to retire from my position as CEO in order to ensure that the company continues to thrive and reach its full potential under new leadership.
Words cannot express the deep gratitude and immense pride I feel as I reflect upon the extraordinary experiences we have shared throughout this incredible voyage. It has been an honor and a privilege to work alongside such remarkable individuals who have inspired me every single day.
Additionally, I would like to take a moment to express my utmost confidence in the capabilities of our incoming CEO. Tamás Sohajda, a brilliant and accomplished leader, will undoubtedly bring a fresh perspective and a wealth of expertise to guide our company into its next phase of growth. I have had the pleasure of working closely with Tamás and have witnessed firsthand his exceptional leadership qualities and strategic acumen. His deep understanding of the biotech industry, combined with his visionary thinking, will be invaluable assets as we steer CarboHyde toward new horizons. I have no doubt that Tamás will continue to drive our company towards even greater success.
In conclusion, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to each and every one of you.
Dr. Chris Kevil’s laboratory at LSU Health Shreveport (LSUHS) has discovered that a clinically approved cyclodextrin-based drug called Sugammadex can act as a hydrogen sulfide donor that restores vasoactive hydrogen. This innovation has already gone through initial in vivo testing with promising results.
To take the next leap in development, LSUHS and CarboHyde will start a multiple-staged collaboration project to assess the effects of various cyclodextrins as potential hydrogen sulfide (H2S) donors in methamphetamine-mediated vascular diseases and for various other cardiovascular diseases. Methamphetamine users face a significantly higher risk for cardiovascular disorders, according to a major study published by the Journal of the American Heart Association earlier this year. The Kevil lab has also recently published that chronic methamphetamine use causes cardiovascular dysfunction due to reduced hydrogen sulfide. This poses an additional threat and possible treatment approach for those who use or have already stopped using meth.
LSU Health Shreveport and the Kevil laboratory will focus on comparing the effects of different cyclodextrin derivatives in blood sulfide levels and test the compounds in vitro and in different animal models. CarboHyde’s expertise will be used to select and customize this project’s best-working cyclodextrin derivatives.
“This is exactly the type of research our minds are formed around. We simply admire innovative ideas and out-of-the-box applications of cyclodextrins and other carbohydrates. We keep looking for opportunities to add our knowledge to drive such studies forward. I am sure our collaboration with LSU Health Shreveport and Dr. Kevil will be mutually rewarding and may open novel insights in the application of cyclodextrins in cardiovascular diseases,” said CarboHyde’s CEO József Tóth about this upcoming collaboration.
“Collaboration with carbohydrate expertise at CarboHyde represents a unique opportunity to develop innovative molecules and modalities to treat methamphetamine and other cardiovascular diseases, said Dr. Chris Kevil.
ABOUT CARBOHYDE
CarboHyde is a private preclinical pharmaceutical start-up company specializing in the development of carbohydrate-based APIs. Our team consists of a small group of seasoned scientists with over 50 years of cumulative experience in the field of carbohydrate chemistry, analysis and pharmaceutical development. The company’s core focus is neurodegenerative diseases, yet we also have other pre-clinical programs in various unmet medical indications. Fully embracing the pharmaceutical development ecosystem, we utilize contract research organizations (CRO) and other companies focusing on CMC and clinical development to make our drug development process efficient. CarboHyde’s management team has extensive experience in medicinal chemistry, marketing, and pharmaceutical development. In addition, CarboHyde is supported by experienced advisers, consultants, and carbohydrate veterans.
ABOUT LSU HEALTH SHREVEPORT LSU Health Shreveport (LSUHS) is one of two health sciences centers of the Louisiana State University (LSU) System and home to one of only 155 medical schools in the nation accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). The primary mission of LSUHS is to teach, heal, and discover in order to advance the well-being of the state, region and beyond. LSU Health Shreveport encompasses the School of Medicine, School of Graduate Studies and School of Allied Health Professions, Graduate Medical Education (GME), and a robust research enterprise. More than 1,000 students are enrolled in degree programs at any one time, and nearly 600 residents and fellows are enrolled in LSUHS training programs while treating patients at participating sites (hospitals and clinics) throughout north Louisiana. At the heart of LSU Health Shreveport is a strong faculty that includes a number of nationally and internationally acclaimed physicians and scientists. More than 600 strong, they lead research efforts, educate students, train residents and fellows, and provide primary and specialty care to patients throughout the region. Research is a core aspect of our institution’s mission and values, and LSU Health Shreveport and is committed to fostering collaboration and discovery to advance the knowledge and practice of science and medicine. Faculty, staff and students are actively engaged in research across a variety of biomedical areas that ranges from traditional basic science research in the lab to translational research and testing of new treatment and prevention methods in clinical trials. LSU Health Shreveport is home to six research centers, four of which are designated Centers of Research Excellence by the Louisiana Board of Regents, that concentrate on public healthcare needs of the state and region, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, virology, immunology, neuroscience, and addiction. LSU Health Shreveport has established strong community support and is committed to fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion that promotes mutual respect for all. For more information, visit www.lsuhs.edu
GENEGUT, a research project funded by Horizon Europe, is to develop the first oral RNA-based therapy for ileal Crohn’s Disease (CD) – a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestine. The work is set to start on 1st October 2022 and last for four years. The consortium is made up of nine partners from eight European countries, who are all leading experts in their field. CarboHyde will play a crucial role by kick-starting the project by developing custom-made cyclodextrin derivatives, which will help to deliver their RNA cargo to the small intestine.
Addressing the major medical need of Crohn’s Disease
Crohn’s disease (CD), one of the two major disorders under the umbrella term of IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease), is a highly prevalent and high-burden chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). With up to 3 million people affected in Europe alone, the chronic disease has an accelerating incidence – leading to health costs of over 5 billion euros per year. Most significantly, however, there is no satisfactory treatment.
Role of CarboHyde
The challenging task of CarboHyde will be synthesizing amphiphilic cyclodextrins, which will be used to formulate nanoparticles containing the RNA cargo. CarboHyde will synthesize a library of amphiphilic cyclodextrins, including ones with different excipients, like polyethylene glycol or lipids. Chemically different variations of these excipients will be studied to select the best-performing ones. Nanoparticle formulations with the best working amphiphilic cyclodextrins will be tested to withstand the intestinal environment in different in vivo and in vitro models.
CarboHyde hired a Ph.D. student, Kristof Felegyi, to help the project progress.
Bringing together a multidisciplinary, European network
The expertise required to achieve this ambitious aim is as diverse as the nine partners from eight European countries that will collaborate in GENEGUT.
The project, coordinated by the School of Pharmacy of University College Cork, brings together the European Federation of Crohn’s & Ulcerative Colitis Associations with renowned researchers, expert clinical scientists, SMEs, and large pharma companies with expertise and patented technologies in global proteomics, nanotechnologies, cyclodextrin synthesis, multicellular models, drug delivery systems and production as well as innovation management, stakeholder involvement, and science communication.
A library of novel biomaterials will be synthesized and used to formulate nanoparticles containing therapeutic RNA (siRNA and mRNA). A quality-by-design approach will be applied to develop the nanoparticles for filling into capsules. The resulting nanoparticles will be assessed for safety and efficacy, including the mechanism of action, in a range of advanced in vitro and in vivo models of intestinal inflammation. The clinician, with expertise in diagnosing and treating CD patients based in UCC, will support and guide the overall project ensuring clinical relevance and providing advice on coherent plans for early clinical trials and regulatory submission, thus enabling rapid availability for patients.
Follow the progress of GENEGUT at www.genegut.eu and on Twitter and LinkedIn @GENEGUT_EU to learn about the project’s steps toward a better cure for Crohn’s Disease.
Network
University College Cork, Ireland
Bangor University, United Kingdom
Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Our board members and their families represented CarboHyde on the 37th Spar Marathon in Budapest. We dedicated this event to raising funds for Bátor Tábor, a special camp focusing on joy-based therapy for pediatric patients recovering from cancer and other devastating diseases.
To better understand the place and the goals of CarboHyde, a private preclinical pharma start-up from the EU, a short interview was performed with József Tóth, Ph.D., Founder, and CEO of CarboHyde.
What’s your story, and how did you become an innovator in healthcare?
During the years I spent at Semmelweis University as a med student, all my favorite subjects originated from cell biology. I eagerly awaited physiology lectures where the professors explained how the signaling pathways and living cells work and how they act together to form organs and the whole human body. Then later, during pharmacology courses, I was again fascinated to see how we can sometimes treat pathophysiological conditions by giving only one single molecule acting on one receptor. After finishing the Ph.D., my interest in applied pharmacology led me to specialize in anesthesia and intensive care, one of the fastest-growing fields of medicine. As an anesthetist and intensive care specialist, I could look closely at how one single molecule, Sugammadex, a carbohydrate derivate, revolutionized anesthesia safety.
Meanwhile, I was always interested in entrepreneurship and how a dedicated group of people can bring a new idea to the market. This process might look very easy to anyone watching popular start-up TV shows, but now I can tell you the reality cannot be further away from the truth. So we established a company, and now here at CarboHyde, surrounded by world-class researchers, chemists, pharmacists, and engineers, I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to combine these two interests of mine. It is a lovely, rewarding, and challenging journey.
Can you tell me a bit about your company, CarboHyde?
CarboHyde is a pharma start-up developing carbohydrate-based APIs for different target indications and other innovative applications like gene delivery or using them in vaccines. We founded CarboHyde not long ago, but the senior colleagues have worked together in this field for 10+ years. We also see other companies with similar interests as an ecosystem and support them with our knowledge in this field as a contract research organization.
As a CRO in the pharma industry, we only focus on the most complex synthetic chemistry issues our fellow innovators face with their carbohydrate or cyclodextrin-based drug development programs.
Our main aim is to develop our carbohydrate-based APIs, focusing on rare diseases, neurodegenerative CNS indications, and an RNA delivery platform. We are continuously looking for partners to collaborate on developing new therapeutic solutions in this field. So if any of our readers are one of them, they shouldn’t hesitate to contact us.
What I would like to highlight for the readers is my personal belief in the importance of the right company culture, mainly because our innovation-focused company is based on our colleagues’ exceptional brain power. So we build a very flat, administration-free culture, where we spearhead values like love of work, autonomy, freedom, results orientation, and responsibility. Our internal processes are transparent, and everyone completely understands our mission and what it takes to get there, then embraces the responsibility to make the right decisions. And we trust our people to make the right ones.
And why carbohydrates? What is so interesting in these molecule families?
Because my previous supervisor deals with lipids, my sister researches proteins, and my brother-in-law is an expert on nucleic acids, so that remains for me (smiles). Of course, that’s just a joke. I think people underestimate the role of carbohydrates in physiological processes and simplify them as only energy sources or structural molecules, but the reality could not be farther from that. Due to their structural diversity and complexity, I believe these ubiquitous building blocks of life are one of the most challenging biomolecules to manipulate. There are widely used carbohydrate-based drug families on the market, like deoxy sugars or amino sugars. Yet, carbohydrate-based API development is still a fast-growing area, including particular types of carbohydrates to treat rare diseases, like Niemann–Pick type C or Fabry disease. We are fond of these compounds, enjoy the challenge it takes to work with them, and believe that there is still a lot to learn in this area. Learning and evolving are our daily feeds.
What are the company’s short and longer-term goals?
Before answering your question, I want to highlight how proud I am of the results we have achieved this year already. It is essential to talk about the future, but it is equally important to look back and be proud of what we have already achieved – for me, this provides a source of energy, like my morning coffee with a high dose of carbohydrates. So this year, we have already managed to attract some internationally renowned scientists into the team, expand our pipeline program, and successfully apply for an EU grant. I believe these are great results.
But as a real startupper, I am ready to talk about our plans for hours (smiles). The shorter version is that our long-term goal is to hold 5+ patent families for different compounds, sponsor early-stage clinical trials and be a key-opinion leader in carbohydrate chemistry and drug development.
In the next 2-3 years, we will grow in size, strengthen our CRO arm and start focusing on our pipeline program. In addition, we have already been developing specific capabilities in-house, which we outsource at the moment – like carbohydrate analytics, which requires unique expertise.
As a pharma startupper, what advice do you have for others just starting in this space?
First of all, do not underestimate the work ahead. Several excellent books on the market can give helpful advice on how to treat the expected difficulties; I read a lot of them and enjoyed them. But no matter how many books you read about those topics, new and new unexpected challenges will come across, and one person alone cannot deal with all of them. So let’s find competent people, experts in their fields, who you can get along with as human beings, and who strongly believe in your projects. If you can gather people, you can trust and focus on each other’s strengths and enhance them, and you can handle these challenges together, sooner or later. And when you feel exhausted, you should know and practice where you can have extra energy – if it is your morning coffee with three spoons of carbohydrates or pursuing your hobby; it doesn’t matter.
At CarboHyde we decided to dedicate a subpage on our website to carbohydrate science and the latest fascinating discoveries in this field. If you wish, you can access it via this link:
Tamás Vargadi, a pharmaceutical engineer experienced in radiopharmaceuticals, synthetic chemistry, quality control, industrial scaling, GMP production, and tech transfer of various carbohydrate-based pharma ingredients, has just joined our team.
“I started a brand new chapter in my life when I joined CarboHyde as a Chief Operating Officer. My main role in the company is supporting all activities, from organic chemistry to business development. I want to make processes at CarboHyde easier and simpler for our partners and employees. I believe the team we have here will be able to achieve our common goals and build a successful company together.”
Tamas is an amazing personal and professional fit for our team, and we look forward to growing together. Welcome on board!
We are thrilled to introduce youLászló Ragányi (left) and Kristóf Felegyi, who are strengthening our #chemistry team and will participate in the challenging #carbohydrates#synthesis related to CarboHyde‘s pipeline and our work in GENEGUT.
About László:
I graduated as a chemist (MSc) from Eötvös Loránd University in 2019. My interest was in the synthesis of ferrocene derivatives. I have two years of experience in chromatography, mainly in gas chromatography. Later I was a synthetic research chemist at CycloLab for one year. My current interests are the synthesis and chromatography of carbohydrate derivatives.
About Kristof:
In high school, I have always been fascinated by natural sciences, how molecules are synthesized and how they work, so I started studying chemical engineering in addition to the pharmaceutical sciences. After my master’s degree, I continued my studies at Semmelweis University as a Ph.D. student, where I first dealt with the synthesis of organic compounds; then, my interest turned to the in-depth chemical investigations of different mushrooms, isolating their characteristic metabolic products and determining their structure. After completing the experimental work, I came to Carbohyde, where I could return to the organic chemistry dear to my heart
Milo has 10+ years of experience in cyclodextrin chemistry. He was a senior research chemist at CycloLab. He developed many cyclodextrin-based nanocarriers with targeting functions and multimodal activities. He designed 30+ Sugammadex impurities and new cyclodextrins-based APIs. His current interests are the production of cationic amphiphilic cyclodextrins able to interact with nucleic acids and cross biological barriers (GENEGUT). His primary focus is the creation of carbohydrate-based APIs for unmet medical needs.
Milo will be our greatest help in the journey ahead, and we could not imagine a better partner to travel with!
