board of directors
Timothy Springer, PhD
Founder, Morphic Therapeutic

Timothy Springer, PhD, Founder, Morphic Therapeutic is Latham Family Professor at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston.

Tim Springer, Ph.D. – an immunologist and biophysicist serving as Latham Family Professor at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital – discovered integrins and their ligands in the 1980s and since then, has worked on elucidating regulation of their biological function. His pioneering work resulted in the detailed characterization of integrin structure and robust understanding of biophysical phenomena underlying their activation. This has led to the founding of multiple biotechnology companies (LeukoSite , Scholar Rock, Morphic Therapeutic) and approved therapeutics including Amevive®, Raptiva®, Campath®, Velcade®, and Entyvio®). Morphic Therapeutic Inc., capitalizes on his 15 years of study of the molecular mode of action underlying unproductive interactions between small-molecule drugs and their integrin targets in the disease tissue. These findings make possible small molecule antagonists which reverse their activation by preventing them from occupying disease-specific signaling and conformational states. Tim is a member of Morphic Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board and provides strategic guidance to all research and development activities of Morphic Therapeutic.

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Integrin Partnership: Janssen

Morphic entered a research partnership with Janssen in 2019 to discover inhibitors of undisclosed integrin targets. In 2021, this partnership was expanded to include an antibody activator of an integrin target, extending the application of Morphic’s knowledge of integrin biology into modalities beyond small molecules. The antibody activator program is the focus of our collaboration with Janssen today.

Undisclosed Targets

Morphic is leveraging the MInT Platform to discover therapeutically relevant small molecule inhibitors of targets across the integrin family to treat autoimmune diseases, cancer and fibrotic diseases.

Undisclosed Target for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Morphic is deploying the MInT Platform to create small molecule inhibitors of an undisclosed integrin target for evaluation as a potential treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). PAH is a devastating, usually fatal disease characterized by elevated mean pressures in the pulmonary artery and associated with lung and heart dysfunction. Morphic’s PAH program is in preclinical development.

αvβ8

Morphic is developing small molecule inhibitors of the integrin αvβ8 through a combination immuno-oncology approach for the treatment of solid tumors as well as potential additional indications. αvβ8 is known to activate selective isoforms of TGF-β and Morphic has demonstrated that αvβ8 inhibition can potentiate immune checkpoint blockade and potentially drive responses in checkpoint refractory tumors. Morphic’s αvβ8 inhibitors are in preclinical development.

Next Gen α4β7 Inhibitors

Morphic is developing a family of next generation α4β7 small molecule inhibitors with enhanced attributes using the MInT Platform. These candidates have distinct chemical properties from our first-generation inhibitors with differentiated selectivity, potency, and pharmacokinetic profiles. Morphic’s next generation α4β7 inhibitors are currently in preclinical development.