# Elaine Cheung

> Elaine Cheung is Chief Business Officer at Moonwalk Biosciences, a South San Francisco biotech backed by $57 million in funding and co-founded by CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang and former Illumina CTO Alex Aravanis. With 20+ years navigating the inflection points of genomic medicine - from spinning GRAIL out of Illumina, helping architect its $900M+ Series B, and steering Lyell Immunopharma through its IPO - Cheung brings a rare combination of scientific literacy and deal-making precision. At Moonwalk, she is helping build the business infrastructure for a company that has pivoted from epigenetic editing to siRNA-based therapeutics targeting adipose biology and obesity.

- **Role:** Chief Business Officer at Moonwalk Biosciences
- **Organizations:** Moonwalk Biosciences, Lyell Immunopharma, GRAIL, Illumina, Genomic Health, Mindstrong Health
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Biological Sciences, Stanford University, M.S. in Management Science & Engineering, Stanford University, Mayfield Fund Fellow (Stanford Technology Ventures Program), Stanford University
- **Known for:** Founding employee and Head of Business Development at GRAIL, leading the operational spin-out from Illumina in 2016, Helped architect GRAIL's record-breaking $900M+ Series B financing through strategic pharma collaborations and partnerships, Played a major role in Lyell Immunopharma's successful IPO as SVP of Corporate Strategy & Business Development

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Joined Genomic Health (now Exact Sciences), growing the OncoType Dx product portfolio across disease indications and expanding international commercial presence
- **~2013-2016** — Business development lead at Illumina's Oncology Business Unit; executed OncoPanel transactions with AstraZeneca, Janssen, Merck KGaA, and Sanofi Aventis
- **2016** — Led the operational spin-out of GRAIL from Illumina as a founding employee and Head of Business Development
- **2016-2020** — Head of Business Development at GRAIL; implemented partnerships enabling large-scale clinical trials and strategic pharma collaborations comprising a major portion of GRAIL's $900M+ Series B financing
- **~2020-2021** — VP at Mindstrong Health, leading operations, communications, and marketing/policy for the digital mental health company
- **2021-2023** — SVP, Corporate Strategy & Business Development at Lyell Immunopharma; oversaw BD/licensing, acquisitions, divestitures, and played a major role in Lyell's IPO
- **2023** — Joined Moonwalk Biosciences as Chief Business Officer (joined in stealth mode)
- **2024-01** — Moonwalk Biosciences publicly launched with $57 million in seed and Series A financing; Cheung publicly announced her role
- **2024** — Represented Moonwalk at BIO Investor Forum 2024 and major scientific conferences including ASGCT 2024
- **2025** — Featured speaker at BIO International Convention 2025 on gene editing and epigenetics innovations
- **2026-02** — Moonwalk Biosciences pivoted from epigenetic editing to siRNA-based obesity therapeutics targeting adipose biology

## Achievements

- Founding employee and Head of Business Development at GRAIL, leading the operational spin-out from Illumina in 2016
- Helped architect GRAIL's record-breaking $900M+ Series B financing through strategic pharma collaborations and partnerships
- Played a major role in Lyell Immunopharma's successful IPO as SVP of Corporate Strategy & Business Development
- Executed major oncology business development deals at Illumina with AstraZeneca, Janssen, Merck KGaA, and Sanofi Aventis
- Over 20 years of life sciences business experience spanning diagnostics, genomics, cell therapy, digital health, and epigenetics
- Dual Stanford degrees (B.S. Biology + M.S. Management Science & Engineering) plus Mayfield Fund Fellowship

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Moonwalk Biosciences announced a strategic pivot from epigenetic editing to siRNA-based obesity therapeutics, with multiple pipeline candidates (MW04, MW05, MW08, MW09) in preclinical stages targeting adipose biology
- **2025-06** — Cheung spoke at the BIO International Convention 2025 on next-gen medicine, gene editing, and epigenetics
- **2024-01** — Moonwalk Biosciences publicly launched with $57M in financing (seed + Series A led by Alpha Wave Ventures, with ARCH, Future Ventures, GV, Khosla Ventures, YK Bioventures)

## Links

- Website: https://moonwalk.bio
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/elainelcheung

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/elaine-cheung
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-14