About Simone
Simone is a medicinal chemist by training and currently serves as Research Translation Manager at Cancer Research Horizons, where he evaluates early-stage oncology innovations across therapeutics, diagnostics, AI, data and software. He brings scientific due diligence, IP/FTO assessment, and strategic evaluation together to deliver development recommendations to governance decision-makers – translating complex scientific evidence into clear translational pathways and partnering strategies.
Before joining Cancer Research Horizons, Simone worked as Associate Principal Scientist and Technical Team Leader at Iksuda Therapeutics, a VC-backed ADC-focused biotech, where he led cross-functional chemistry and innovation workstreams and contributed to portfolio strategy and IND-enabling activities. Prior to this, he completed a postdoctoral role at the Newcastle Drug Discovery Unit under Professor Mike Waring, the lead medicinal chemist behind AstraZeneca's Tagrisso.
Simone holds a combined BSc and MSc in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Sapienza University and LMU Munich. He received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD Fellowship through the EU Horizon-funded Innovative Training Network – conducting multidisciplinary oncology drug discovery across biotech and institutions in Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Italy spanning small molecules and ADCs from concept through preclinical proof-of-concept.