BioAtla’s Jay M. Short, Ph.D., Selected for The Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Award

Award recognizes Dr. Short’s contribution to science innovation

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioAtla, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCAB), a global clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of Conditionally Active Biologic (CAB) antibody therapeutics for the treatment of solid tumors, today announced that Jay M. Short, Ph.D., Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder, has been chosen by The Explorers Club as a recipient of this year’s Lowell Thomas Award. Dr. Short’s award is in recognition of his contribution to science innovation throughout his career.

The Lowell Thomas Award is named after the renowned broadcast journalist, filmmaker and explorer and was first given in 1980 to mark the 75^th anniversary of The Explorers Club, a multidisciplinary, professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research, scientific exploration and resource conservation. This annual Award is given thematically to a group of outstanding explorers to recognize excellence in domains or fields of exploration. Among the many notable recipients of the Award in past years are Carl Sagan, Sir David Attenborough, “Buzz” Aldrin, Sylvia Earle and Sir Edmund Hillary. The theme for the 2023 awards is innovation and Dr. Short is one of three recipients.

Dr. Short is the lead inventor of BioAtla’s CAB platform and Protein-activated Chemical Switches (PaCS). BioAtla utilizes the patented CAB platform to develop conditionally active therapeutics including antibodies, as well as potentially other biologics, that can be activated or inactivated under defined physiological conditions. In cancer the unique cell metabolism contributes to a characteristic microenvironment that activates the CAB antibody when it is in close proximity to a tumor, and reversibly inactivates the CAB antibody if it circulates away from the tumor. The CAB antibody is designed to destroy the tumor cell upon binding and not to bind to normal cells thereby improving the treatment’s efficacy. BioAtla utilizes its novel PaCS mechanism to generate CABs that uniquely allow the CAB antibody to bind to its target and attack the tumor cell.

Prior to cofounding BioAtla, Dr. Short was founder and former president of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and cofounder, CEO, President and CTO of Diversa (now BASF), where he led the largest biotechnology IPO up to that time. Dr. Short also served as President of Stratacyte, and Vice President R&D and Operations for Stratagene (now Agilent). He earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry at Case Western Reserve University and his BA in chemistry with honors at Taylor University and has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. He is inventor of more than 500 issued patents which ranked in the top ten for citation frequency in the 2003 and 2004 Patent Scorecard by MIT across all industries. Among the several awards and distinctions Dr. Short has received, in 2006 he was shortlisted by the editors of Nature Biotechnology as a personality making the most significant contribution to the field of biotechnology in the past decade.