About us
Discovery scientists working from hypothesis to novel preclinical therapeutics
Our Mission
Curileum is a biotechnology company in London that focuses on intervening early in the development of serious gastrointestinal diseases. We discover novel therapeutics to correct cell production in the continuously regenerating mucosal barrier of the gut.
Our Story
Intervening early in disease development
It started with an observation of defective stem cells in intestinal mucosal biopsies taken from healthy tissue in models for bowel cancer and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This indicated that the intestinal microenvironment was compensating for a diseased stem cell population to maintain a functional gut.
With decades of discovery science experience in the area of regulating cell production in the bone marrow and the single layer of mucosa in the gut, we set out to identify regulators to drive healthy cell production in high risk patients for bowel cancer and IBD patients suffering from chronic painful gut inflammation.
With a dynamic team of scientists committed to translating our science to game-changing therapies, we discovered a small molecule to reduce polyp formation and progression to bowel cancer and developed a stem cell therapy to repair an incurable condition in Crohn’s disease patients.
Dr Jeff Moore | Founder & CEO
Dr Moore’s career has focused on the regulation of cell production in the body’s two most regenerative tissues: the bone marrow and the single layer of the intestinal mucosa. His PhD research conducted at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) changed the understanding of the genetic basis of paroxysmal nocturnal haemaglobinuria (PNH) (link).
Dr Moore’s search for regulators of cell production started as a post-doctoral fellow of Dr Don Metcalf at the Walter and Elisa Hall Institute (WEHI) in Melbourne, founder of the field of blood cell production. One of the four white blood cell growth factors (G-CSF) that Dr Metcalf discovered is used worldwide everyday to boost white blood cell production in cancer patients.
Based on some early research, Dr Moore set out at WEHI to identify the body’s regulators that protect stem cells (engine for cell production) from the toxicity of chemotherapy. The search continued at DNAX Research Institute in Palo Alto and at ImClone Systems Inc in New York City.
At ImClone, Dr Moore discovered a protein (FRIL) that maintained blood stem cells in culture for extended periods and were capable of repopulating long-term blood cell production. He founded Phylogix Inc in the Boston area and advanced FRIL to late preclinical development with $15 venture capital funding from Atlas Venture, Biotechnology Value Fund, Canaan Partners, Prospect Venture Partners and Radius Ventures.
Dr Moore then moved to the body’s other most regenerative tissue, the mucosal layer of the gut. He joined Prof Chris Potten, founder of the epithelial stem cell field, at the Epistem Ltd in Manchester, UK. Dr Moore created and led a regenerative medicine collaboration with Novartis Institutes of BioMedical Research (NIBR), where his team developed and validated in vitro models that delivered novel in that form the core technology at Curileum.
Dr Moore graduated from Colorado College with a BA in chemistry and from George Washington University with PhD in genetics.
