BRIEF—Engitix appoints new chief scientific officer

British drug discovery firm Engitix has appointed Christopher Stevenson as chief scientific officer.

Formerly global head of pharmaceutical sciences for interventional oncology at Johnson & Johnson, Dr Stevenson has also led discovery and translational biology units at Respivert, Novartis and Roche.

Based in London, Engitix is leveraging its extracellular matrix (ECM) platform to identify candidates in fibrosis and solid tumors.

The company is hoping to advance a portfolio of novel therapies towards IND-enabling studies while forging partnerships with big pharma companies centered on its ECM platform.