Commitment in Action on the C4 Therapeutics Team
At C4T, patient focus and scientific innovation are deeply connected. Our drive to advance the targeted protein degradation field by understanding disease biology and developing new medicines is rooted in the goal of helping change what is possible for people living with challenging diseases, like multiple myeloma.
As understanding of this disease has advanced, it has opened the door to new opportunities for people living with multiple myeloma. Our team is working to advance our cereblon-modulating protein degrader, cemsidomide, by deeply understanding both the disease and this investigational medicine.
“Clinical trials ask a lot of patients and their support system, and we have a responsibility to live up to the high expectations they have of our team and our research,” said Riadh Lobbardi, Ph.D., our senior director, translational medicine, who is responsible for understanding how our science translates into clinical results in a large population, which includes closely analyzing lab samples that patients provide through our clinical trials. “I view every sample from every patient as a gift—and it’s our responsibility to use these gifts to deliver on our goal of quickly advancing a new therapy to people living with multiple myeloma.”
Riadh has been with cemsidomide since the first patients chose to enroll in our clinical trial. He has played an integral role helping us better understand how cemsidomide works by modulating Cereblon and degrading IKZF1/3, two transcription factors that drive multiple myeloma. He has also led research within C4T, driven by samples from patients enrolled in our clinical trials, to better understand how cemsidomide activates patients’ immune systems to further fight the disease. This research was captured in a poster presentation at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the International Myeloma Society.
He also finds ways to support cemsidomide beyond research. An avid baker who applies his upbringing in France to his culinary skills, Riadh generously donated two “French Patisserie Packages” to our silent auction to raise support for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. After a friendly bidding war, two of our colleagues each won a homemade baked goods package filled with madeleines, financiers, meringues, a lemon meringue pie and a brioche loaf, all baked from scratch by Riadh.
“I’m excited about cemsidomide’s path and the journey ahead to help more people,” Riadh commented. “We want to bring more hope to the multiple myeloma community and strive to ultimately change the direction of multiple myeloma treatment.”
