Brock Schuman, PhD

An accomplished software developer for structural biology, and a thought leader in the field of RNA-targeted therapeutics, I obtained my Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Victoria, followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Toronto and the United Health Network of research hospitals (now Unity Health). As a postdoctoral fellow I proactively initiated and led projects beyond the scope of my primary responsibilities. Firstly, a published collaboration between 5 Canadian research institutes gathering biophysical evidence to support Monte Carlo simulations. Secondly, the design and evaluation of a miR modulating oligonucleotide antagonist that demonstrated effective antidepressant activity on par with SSRIs in vivo. The perceived clinical unviability of this oligo, along with perceived shortcomings for designing RNA-targeted drugs, were the impetus for founding Azor Biotek in 2019.

Recognizing the need for advancements in RNA-targeted drug design and development, I founded Azor Biotek to leverage recent progress in molecular dynamics and artificial intelligence to automate the design of bespoke and highly specific RNA-targeting small molecules, and to develop novel high-throughput assays to evaluate their efficacy.I have been involved in efforts to address unmet treatment needs for breast, ovarian, lung, prostate, CNS and hematological cancers — as well as psychiatric, fibrotic, endocrine, neurodegenerative, and metabolic disorders. RNA are an incredibly valuable, but severely underexploited class of drug targets. Every protein drug target, including the "undruggable", are encoded and regulated by multiple RNA that are potential drug targets. Four RNA drug targets have small molecule drugs approved for clinical use. Each is a first-line medication target, several are WHO Essential Medicines, and combined they command a global market of more than $113 billion USD. Expanding the scope of RNA-targeted drug development beyond these four targets will open therapeutic avenues for disease indications with unmet treatment needs, improving patient outcomes and saving lives.

Enter Azor Biotek, a biotechnology company specializing in AI-driven drug discovery that has been established to address the shortcomings in RNA-targeted small-molecule drug design and development. Azor has developed AI and physics-based computational chemistry techniques, as well as kinetic and in vivo screens, enabling RNA-target identification for any disease indication, and bespoke small-molecule design for any RNA target. Key to Azor’s success is the AI-guided generation of novel chemical entities that target biological complexes at the RNA/protein interface. Most companies focused on RNA use top-down approaches to discover small molecules targeting naked, labile RNA-solution structures. Unfortunately, solution structures of RNA are intrinsically disordered, fluid and ephemeral; they have yet to be clinically validated, and are only applicable to overexpressed RNA targets. In contrast, Azor targets stabilized and ordered RNA/protein interfaces, enabling the company to design novel molecules that target any over- or under-expressed RNA. By selectively targeting RNA molecules it becomes possible to chemically intervene at early stages in gene expression to influence protein production and, ultimately, disease progression. Enables us to unlock the tremendous potential of RNA drug targets, tailor-making and evaluating small molecules against targets previously considered undruggable, and developing therapies for many unmet medical needs.