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Maxion Therapeutics Appoints Joel Edwards as Chief Business Officer

Cambridge, UK
·
October 1, 2025
Press Release

Maxion Therapeutics (“Maxion”), a biotechnology company developing antibody-based KnotBody® drugs for ion channel and G protein coupled receptor (GPCR)-driven diseases, today announces the appointment of Joel Edwards as Chief Business Officer (CBO), effective immediately. 

Joel brings over 25 years of global experience in corporate strategy, operations, business development and alliance management, having secured more than $3.5 billion in strategic partnering revenue from top 20 pharmaceutical companies. He has overseen multiple collaborations leading to FDA approvals and commercial launches, including Kynarmo®, Spinraza®, and Tegsedi®. His expertise in partnering novel platforms and assets in cardiometabolic, oncology, neurology, and rare disease areas, will be instrumental as Maxion advances its KnotBody® technology targeting complex membrane proteins in multiple indications.

Prior to joining Maxion, Joel served as CBO at Abilita Therapeutics and Biosion where he closed major discovery collaborations and licensing transactions with Orion, ImmunoGen, and Pyxis Oncology. He has acted as a Senior Strategic Advisor, providing business development guidance to multiple private startup biotech companies, including Creyon Bio where he played a key role in negotiating terms for their discovery collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company. He also held various leadership positions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, where he most recently had an instrumental  role in the commercial launch of Tegsedi® and led numerous strategic initiatives to enable Ionis’ current commercialization capabilities. Earlier in his career, Joel completed formative business and R&D posts at Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Lexicon Pharmaceuticals.

Arndt Schottelius, MD PhD, CEO, commented:

“We are thrilled to welcome Joel to our executive team. Joel’s impressive global business development expertise and strong industry network will be key as we advance partnering discussions for our KnotBody® platform and programmes. He has an exceptional track record of securing and managing highly successful collaboration agreements, particularly in the US, and his addition to our team and being US-based will help in securing value-creating partnerships and extending Maxion’s global presence.”


Chief Business Officer, Joel Edwards, added:

“I am excited to lead the Company’s business development efforts and work with Maxion’s exceptional leadership team, with their proven track records of innovation and success. The Company’s KnotBody® technology and proprietary pipeline show immense promise for addressing ion channel and GPCR-driven diseases that were previously untreatable with antibody-based drugs which could lead to transformational outcomes for patients with unmet medical needs.”

Joel holds an MBA from Colorado State University, an MS from New Mexico Highlands University, and a BS from Ball State University. 

Contact

CEO
Email
Arndt Schottelius, MD, PhD, CEO
communications@maxion.co.uk
ICR Healthcare
Email
Mary-Jane Elliot / Ashley Tapp / Kate Hall
maxiontherapeutics@icrinc.com

For more information, please contact:

Maxion Therapeutics

Arndt Schottelius, MD PhD, CEO E-mail: communications@maxion.co.uk

ICR Healthcare

Mary-Jane Elliott / Ashley Tapp / Kate Hall E-mail: MaxionTherapeutics@icrinc.com

About Maxion Therapeutics

Maxion Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing antibody-based drugs for previously untreatable ion channel and G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-driven diseases, including autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, and cardiovascular diseases. The Company is developing a pipeline of potentially first- and best-in-class therapeutics using its proprietary KnotBody® technology to generate potent, selective, and long-acting therapeutics by combining naturally occurring mini-proteins (‘knottins’) with antibodies using state-of-the-art phage and mammalian display technologies. Maxion was founded in 2020 by highly respected biotech entrepreneurs and scientists Dr John McCafferty, CTO and Dr Aneesh Karatt-Vellatt, CSO. Dr McCafferty previously co-invented antibody phage display, which was the subject of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to his co-inventor Sir Gregory Winter. Maxion’s portfolio and growth is being advanced by a team of highly experienced leaders in the discovery and development of antibody-based drugs. The Company is based near Cambridge, UK and is backed by international blue-chip investors. For more information, please visit: 

https://www.maxiontherapeutics.com/

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Discovering transformational therapies

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