Gary Evans

Gary Evans

Gary has had a range of roles since he started at IRL in 1994, and currently leads a team of six chemists. “Most of my work has been with the Glycotherapeutics Programme, working with Vern Schramm from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. We do medicinal chemistry and are making enzyme inhibitor targets for cancer treatment and other diseases.

“It was a career highlight for me to get our second immucillin compound sub-licensed to Roche back in 2005. That was after we had designed the molecule with Vern, synthesised it, had it tested, worked out how to make it on a large scale and licensed it to a US biotech company. I would love to see some more of our compounds get that far, and get to market, but it’s a very high goal. It’s estimated that out of every 10,000 molecules with activity, only one will make it to market. That makes it a high risk game, but with the potential for high returns.

“Our enzyme inhibitors are active at picomolar levels because they are exquisitely tuned to the enzyme’s active site. They bind so tightly that they stay on for the life of the cell. That’s great because the rest of the dose can then be flushed out of the body and the only way to start processing again is by making new cells. It also reduces toxicity and side effects.

“One of the compounds I made, DADMe-ImmH, is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials as a gout medication. Our compound is being given to 144 people in combination with another drug. It’s interesting because that drug, allopurinol, does work, but for many it doesn’t bring down the levels of uric acid in their blood far enough to give them relief. Using it in combination with our compound has worked much better so far.

Gary confesses to a very intense working style. “I tend to really focus on a chemical problem, such as why a reaction hasn’t produced what I expected. It’s an intellectual challenge and I tend to go at it pretty hard until I’ve cracked it. People have learned not to interrupt that process! I also like the practical side of the work and things just don’t feel right unless I have at least one reaction on the go. 

“The Carbohydrate Chemistry group has an incredibly wide background. At the small scale end we have people with experience in plant chemistry, while at GlycoSyn we have process chemists and an ace chemical engineer. There’s an incredible amount of experience here to draw on.

“I did my PhD at Otago University, a post-doc at Oxford University and then worked for my post-doc supervisor who started his own company, Oxford Asymmetry. I gained some experience in a scale-up biotech company there, that ended up being extremely valuable to the team here as GlycoSyn was built.

“I love rugby and my three sons play—they are all pretty good. That’s my big thing at the weekends in winter, and in summer you’ll find me on the golf course. I’m happily married and a dedicated Dad. I do all the cooking at home and on Sunday evenings we always have a family roast with lots of veges and gravy. Then a nice apple shortcake to follow.”

Gary's work has seen him interviewed by a variety of broadcasting media, including TV3 news and Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon programme.