T:+44 (0) 1223 497700  |  E: info@sareum.co.uk

About us.

What we do.

Sareum is a clinical-stage small molecule company actively involved in developing next generation kinase inhibitors to treat autoimmune diseases and cancer.

At Sareum, we recognise the crucial role of the TYK/JAK cell signalling family in maintaining a healthy immune system, and our pipeline is primarily focused on this area of scientific and commercial interest.

Our most advanced internal program, SDC-1801, is a potent and selective TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor designed to address autoimmune diseases with a particular focus on psoriasis.

Sareum’s second product SDC-1802 is a TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor being developed for cancer and cancer immunotherapy applications.

Sareum also has a significant economic interest in SRA737, a clinical-stage, oral, selective Checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) inhibitor that targets cancer cell replication and DNA damage repair mechanisms.

Our strategy.

At Sareum, we are committed to advancing molecules in the TYK2/JAK1 space for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer. Our focus on this dual JAK kinase inhibition is due to the potential superior efficacy we believe this offers compared to agents targeting just one of these kinases.

With our highly experienced team, we specialise in kinase inhibition and have decades of experience in R&D and public company management. Our approach is to discover and develop programmes to late preclinical, or early clinical, stages before licensing or partnering, maximising the return on our investment.

Our ultimate goal is to generate revenue by licensing our innovative drug development programmes to pharmaceutical partners, allowing us to bring these therapies to market and improve patient outcomes.

How we work.

Sareum welcomes partnering opportunities to bring our innovative drug development programmes to patients. We collaborate with trusted providers to achieve optimal outcomes for our investors and our Company.

Our in-house team maintains a lean cost base, while engaging laboratory-based research and development fee-for-service organisers, giving us access to a global network of expert research providers.

Contact us to learn more about our approach and how we can work together to make a meaningful impact.

Our team.

Sareum board.

Stephen Parker DPhil, MBA

Non-executive chairman

Tim Mitchell PhD

founder & ceo

John Reader PhD

founder & cso

Michael Owen PhD

Non-executive director

Clive Birch

Non-executive director 

Stephen Parker DPhil, MBA

Non-executive chairman

Tim Mitchell PhD

founder & ceo

John Reader PhD

founder & cso

Michael Owen PhD

Non-executive director

Clive Birch

Non-executive director 

Stephen Parker DPhil, MBA
Non-executive chairman

Dr Stephen Parker has a career in the healthcare and pharma sector that spans over 35 years, including 10 years in the City in advisory roles. He has sector corporate finance experience having been an investment banker focusing on pharma and biotechnology with Barings, Warburg and Apax Partners and has previously held roles as a partner at Celtic Pharma and chief financial officer of Oxford GlycoSciences. He holds a D.Phil. from Oxford University and an MBA from City University Business School.

Stephen is also chairman of Biodexa Pharmaceuticals plc and Drishti Discoveries Limited, and a non-executive director of MGC Pharma Limited.

Tim Mitchell PhD

founder & ceo

Dr Tim Mitchell has over 35 years’ experience in the industry with key management and business expertise gained from his positions at Cambridge Discovery Chemistry Ltd and his roles at Millennium Pharmaceuticals Research and Development Ltd as a member of the management team and in forming the integrated Structure-Based Discovery department. Prior to that, he was director of computational chemistry at Cambridge Discovery Chemistry Ltd and a team leader in the Computational and Structural Sciences department at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals.

Tim has a PhD in computational chemistry and a BSc in chemistry.

John Reader PhD

founder & cso

Dr John Reader has over 30 years’ experience within the industry and was formerly associate director, chemical technologies at Millennium Pharmaceuticals Research and Development Ltd, prior to which he worked with Pharmacopeia Inc. and Cambridge Discovery Chemistry Ltd in the provision of high throughput chemistry services to external and internal clients. John has extensive experience of leading large research teams and in the invention and application of new technologies to the drug discovery process, with an excellent track record of delivering successful projects and has authored or co-authored many patents and publications. The majority of patents granted to John cover composition of matter discovered in the multiple projects in which he has worked, with further patents covering technological innovations in the field.

John has a PhD in chemistry and a BSc in applied chemistry.

Michael Owen PhD

non-executive director

Dr Michael Owen has had a varied career in biomedical research, and in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He was the co-founder and first CSO of Kymab Ltd, a biopharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, UK, which was acquired by Sanofi for up to £1.45 billion in 2021. Prior to Kymab, he worked for GSK where he was SVP and head of research for biopharmaceuticals R&D. His academic career was spent at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now CR-UK). In addition to the Board positions listed below, he chairs the SAB of Avacta plc, is a member of the R&D Investment Advisory Committee of Apollo Therapeutics and advises a number of Venture Capital LPs. Mike received an MA from Oxford University and a PhD from Cambridge University, and is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Michael is also a non-executive director of ReNeuron plc, Zealand Pharma A/S, and the chairman of Ossianix Inc.

Clive Birch PhD

non-executive director

Clive Birch is a Chartered Accountant and a retired partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, where his role was that of an auditor and reporting accountant with an industry specialism in early stage technology and healthcare companies. He was also part of the teams involved in fundraising and listing those clients on various markets. Clive was also partner in charge of PwC’s Cambridge office for 15 years up to 2010, during which time he was responsible for all aspects of that standalone business.

Clive is a Non-Executive Director of Cambridge Innovation Capital plc, a Cambridge-based builder of technology and healthcare companies.