W. Michael Schopperle, founder and chief executive of CureMeta LLC, started the Boston biotech to develop diagnostics and therapies for aggressive metastatic cancers. Schopperle, 55, graduated from Boston College, earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Brandeis University, and worked in cancer stem cell research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center before launching CureMeta in October 2011. He spoke with Globe life sciences reporter Robert Weisman at the company’s small research laboratory in South Boston’s Drydock Center.
1Schopperle identified a molecule that will be CureMeta’s lead experimental drug compound and gave it the chemical name Bstrongximab-ADC, for Boston Strong.
“Bstrongximab is our lead drug that we want to bring into the clinic and get proof of concept that this is the way to go after metastatic cancer. . . . We got our first antibody after two years of research during the Boston Marathon bombing week, and the whole Boston Strong thing was going on. And I thought, ‘Why don’t we name this antibody ‘Bstrong?’ The FDA will never allow it [as a drug name], but for us it’s our scientific name. It was a very important week for us in the lab, and a very tough week for us personally, so the name meant a lot to us.’’
2While admitting “it’s very egotistical to think you’re going to cure cancer,’’ Schopperle nonetheless said that’s his goal — and the basis of his company’s name.
“The name CureMeta means curing metastatic disease. Right now over 90 percent of all cancer deaths are due to metastatic cancers from solid tumors, and when you have metastatic disease there’s really very little out there to help you. When we do have success [with new drugs], it’s measured in months. There’s really a big need for us to do more. I was at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical center, a cancer researcher focusing on cancer stem cells. I had different ideas about how we should be going about going after new drugs, new therapies for cancer.’’
3Schopperle sees himself as something of a rogue scientist. Unlike other cancer researchers who focus on mutations, he thinks the most important driver of cancer is cellular stress.
“There’s a more fundamental process in cancer. The cellular stress can be mutations, but it can be other factors that we know [can] cause cancer, such as aging, overweight, poor diet, environmental issues. We believe that once you have enough cellular stress, you have a process where the cell’s unhappy, and it goes through this de-differentiation or reprogramming step, and it heads backwards to where it came. It started out as an embryonic stem cell, and that’s where it’s headed. And as it goes backwards, it’s acquiring embryonic-like properties that we think can be exploited and used to target these cells that we think are driving the disease.’’
4He launched CureMeta through networking. Schopperle recalls a friend, Beth Israel Deaconess researcher Abraham Morgentaler, telling him “you have to take this [concept] out of academia and into the real world.’’ Another friend put him in touch with angel investors Armand F. Lauzon and Barry M. Zekelman, who provided early funding.
“They’ve been fantastic investors for us, really very supportive. We have a 2,000-square-foot lab, we have a fantastic staff of six scientists. We have Mats Holmqvist, who is cofounder. He’s vice president of operations. We all have big titles. I’m CEO, I’m also head janitor and the maintenance guy. I’m very proud of that work, too.’’
5 Cancer research wasn’t Schopperle’s first career. He worked his way through BC as a waiter and bartender, and after graduating he did a stint in hotel management.
“I thought, ‘Why not? Wearing a suit and eating free food all week, it was actually a pretty good gig. I did that for a year or so, and I was very good at it. . . . If there was no towels, you just get some towels and put them in the room. [But] I just wanted to do something different. So I started volunteering at the Dana-Farber two days a week, doing cancer research, because I had the science background. And about six months later, it was really a turning point in my life. I got an offer to be the assistant general manager of a hotel in Burlington. And I got an offer to be a research technician at Beth Israel, and I took that.’’
Robert Weisman can be reached at robert.weisman@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeRobW.
