Allen B. Reitz, CEO of Bucks County drug discovery company, chosen for second annual Timothy M. Block Biotech Impact Award

Doylestown, Nov. 1, 2024 – The Hepatitis B Foundation, Baruch S. Blumberg Institute and Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC) announced today (Nov. 1) that Allen B. Reitz, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Fox Chase Therapeutics Discovery Inc., has been chosen for the second annual Timothy M. Block, PhD, Biotech Impact Award.

A resident of New Britain Township in Bucks County, Dr. Reitz will receive the award at the 24th Annual Regional Biotechnology Conference at the PABC, which is expected to draw about 100 professionals in the life sciences, finance and related sectors. Daiichi Sankyo of Basking Ridge, N.J., is the Presenting Sponsor for this year’s conference. Proceeds from the event will support research at the nonprofit Hepatitis B Foundation and Blumberg Institute. Details and the registration form are here.

Louis P. Kassa III, MPA, Chief Executive Officer of the PABC, Hepatitis B Foundation and Blumberg Institute, said Dr. Reitz has been one of the most outstanding members of the PABC community for more than a decade.

"Our leadership team chose Dr. Reitz in recognition of his many professional accomplishments, particularly his amazing record of success in the challenging field of drug discovery and development,” Mr. Kassa said. “It’s equally important that Dr. Reitz has contributed very significantly as a leader in our community. He’s extremely generous in sharing his time and expertise, and we greatly appreciate the role he plays as one of the senior CEOs at the PABC.”

Located at the PABC, Fox Chase Therapeutics Discovery Inc. (FCTDI) is a science-based small business focused on applying best discovery practices of early-stage drug and probe discovery research to challenges in biomedical research. Dr. Reitz also is a co-founder of the nonprofit Pennsylvania Drug Discovery Institute. Services at FCTDI include medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, chemical biology, laboratory medicinal chemistry, ADME characterization and pharmacology screening, all in support of translational research programs, many in collaboration with Pennsylvania universities and nonprofit research organizations. FCTDI staff have prepared more than 16,600 new chemical entity drug candidates, three of which have advanced into clinical trials, including troriluzole, which currently is under regulatory review for the treatment of spinocerebellar ataxias (Biohaven Pharmaceuticals). 

Dr. Reitz has more than four decades of accomplishments as a medicinal chemist in the pharmaceutical industry, including nearly 26 years with Johnson & Johnson and nine compounds that have entered human clinical trials, including mazapertine and troriluzole. He has more than 180 scientific publications and 82 issued U.S. patents. Please read more about Dr. Reitz here.