Thiwanka B. Samarakoon
Senior Principal Scientist @Blueprint Medicines
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WORK HISTORY
Senior Principal Scientist @Blueprint Medicines
led cross functional drug discovery teams, CRO teams and lead multiple chemistry teams. Co-inventor of BLU-808. worked on oncology / non-oncology and rare disease targets and delivered development candidates and PoC milestones. Formulated and executed medicinal chemistry strategy on degrader program from early hit discovery to lead identification that enabled the team to achieve hit-to-lead transitionLed Medicinal chemistry lead for oncology program for PPI target collaborating with program leads to identify HTS and DEL providers, establish optimal HTScompound sets, collaborate with internal CADD resources and external collaborators on virtualscreens to identify novel chemical matter for the targetContributor / Team memberMember of BPM new drug targets group for expanding early discovery pipeline - propose andevaluate new immunology and oncology targetsProvided critical and enabling design contributions to the optimization of heterobifunctionaldegrader of CDK4 in the lead optimization space
EDUCATION
The University of Kansas
PhD, Chemistry
University of Peradeniya
Bachelor of Science (Honors in Chemistry), Chemistry
ABOUT THIWANKA B. SAMARAKOON
Strategic drug discovery leader with 15+ years of experience across diverse targets and modalities including small molecules, heterobifunctional degraders, and ADCs advancing programs from early discovery to candidate selection. Extensive experience in traditional HTS and DEL screenings, structure based drug design, lead optimization in small molecule / degrader / ADC space. Proven leader in managing cross-functional teams and CRO collaborations, contributing to delivery of one approved drug, two clinical assets, and three development candidates, translating innovation into clinical success.
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