# Adam Friedman

> Adam Friedman is a physician-scientist turned biotech builder who runs Antares Therapeutics, the Boston company he launched in 2025 with $177 million after Eli Lilly bought its predecessor, Scorpion Therapeutics. Trained at Princeton and Harvard, he spent years as an entrepreneur-in-residence and founder before taking the CEO seat at Scorpion and steering it through partnerships with AstraZeneca, Pierre Fabre, and finally a $2.5 billion Lilly acquisition. At Antares he is chasing 'undruggable' cancer targets - transcription factors and hidden protein pockets - with a discovery engine that fuses medicinal chemistry, human genetics, and machine learning. In 2026 he signed a Novartis collaboration worth up to $1.9 billion.

- **Role:** President & CEO at Antares Therapeutics
- **Organizations:** Antares Therapeutics, Scorpion Therapeutics, Vivid Biosciences, Raze Therapeutics, Atlas Venture
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A. in Molecular Biology, Princeton University, M.D. and Ph.D. in Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Residency training in Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital
- **Known for:** Launched Antares Therapeutics in June 2025 with a $177 million Series A co-led by Omega Funds, Atlas Venture, Lightspeed, BVF Partners and Cormorant, As CEO, guided Scorpion Therapeutics to a sale of its STX-478 PI3Kalpha program to Eli Lilly for up to $2.5 billion, Architected strategic partnerships with AstraZeneca and Pierre Fabre during his Scorpion tenure

## Career timeline

- **2013-2016** — Entrepreneur-in-residence at Atlas Venture; co-founded and served as Director of Corporate Development at Raze Therapeutics, a cancer metabolism company
- **2017** — Co-founded and led Vivid Biosciences as President and CEO, an oncology platform discovery company
- **2020** — Joined the founding team of Scorpion Therapeutics; served as President, Corporate Strategy and Business Development
- **2024** — Appointed CEO of Scorpion Therapeutics in January, succeeding Axel Hoos
- **2025** — Scorpion's STX-478 program acquired by Eli Lilly for up to $2.5 billion; Friedman launched Antares Therapeutics in June with $177 million Series A
- **2026** — Signed a collaboration with Novartis worth up to $1.9 billion to develop first-in-class cancer therapies

## Achievements

- Launched Antares Therapeutics in June 2025 with a $177 million Series A co-led by Omega Funds, Atlas Venture, Lightspeed, BVF Partners and Cormorant
- As CEO, guided Scorpion Therapeutics to a sale of its STX-478 PI3Kalpha program to Eli Lilly for up to $2.5 billion
- Architected strategic partnerships with AstraZeneca and Pierre Fabre during his Scorpion tenure
- Signed a 2026 Novartis collaboration with $105 million upfront and up to $1.8 billion in additional milestones
- Co-founded multiple oncology companies including Raze Therapeutics and Vivid Biosciences

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Antares signed a collaboration with Novartis to discover and develop first-in-class cancer therapies, worth $105 million upfront and up to $1.8 billion in milestones.
- **2025-06** — Friedman launched Antares Therapeutics with $177 million in Series A financing; first clinical candidate expected to enter trials in 2026.

## Links

- Website: https://antaresrx.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-friedman-md-phd-15aa2915

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/adam-friedman
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-06