# Jesse Chen

> Jesse Chen is the founder, president and CEO of Fortitude Biomedicines, a Waltham, Massachusetts biopharmaceutical company that launched in January 2026 with $13 million in seed financing. A serial biotech entrepreneur with an MIT PhD in biological chemistry, Chen previously co-founded TRIANA Biomedicines and Avilar Therapeutics, was the founding scientific hire at Kymera Therapeutics where he built its targeted protein degradation platform, and held discovery roles at Moderna and Millennium Pharmaceuticals. At Fortitude he is betting that molecular glue payloads, packaged into a platform he calls GLUE-DAC, can overcome the drug resistance that limits today's antibody-drug conjugates and extend them into autoimmune disease.

- **Role:** Founder, President & CEO at Fortitude Biomedicines
- **Organizations:** Fortitude Biomedicines, TRIANA Biomedicines, Avilar Therapeutics, Kymera Therapeutics, Moderna Therapeutics, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, RA Capital Management
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Origins of Life Research Fellow, Harvard University
- **Known for:** Founded Fortitude Biomedicines and raised $13M in seed financing in January 2026, Co-founded two prior biotech companies, TRIANA Biomedicines and Avilar Therapeutics, Was the first and founding scientific hire at Kymera Therapeutics, building its industry-leading targeted protein degradation platform

## Career timeline

- **early career** — Held discovery research roles at Millennium Pharmaceuticals
- **mid career** — Led novel platform and discovery program efforts at Moderna Therapeutics
- **Kymera era** — Joined Kymera Therapeutics as its first and founding scientific team member; Senior Director of Discovery, built the company's targeted protein degradation platform and pipeline
- **later** — Entrepreneur-in-Residence at RA Capital Management
- **co-founder** — Co-founded Avilar Therapeutics
- **co-founder** — Co-founded TRIANA Biomedicines and served as its Chief Technology Officer
- **2026-01** — Launched Fortitude Biomedicines as founder, president and CEO with $13M seed financing
- **2026-04** — Announced Fortitude's lead program: a first-in-class T-cell targeting bispecific antibody for axial spondyloarthritis

## Achievements

- Founded Fortitude Biomedicines and raised $13M in seed financing in January 2026
- Co-founded two prior biotech companies, TRIANA Biomedicines and Avilar Therapeutics
- Was the first and founding scientific hire at Kymera Therapeutics, building its industry-leading targeted protein degradation platform
- Earned a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from MIT
- Selected as a Harvard Origins of Life Research Fellow
- Roughly two decades of discovery research and management experience from early discovery through preclinical development

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Fortitude Biomedicines launched with $13M seed financing co-led by K2 Bio Partners, Shanghai Healthcare Angel Capital and Elikon Venture, with Everjoy Fortune and Taihill Venture participating.
- **2026-04** — Fortitude announced its lead program, a first-in-class T-cell targeting bispecific antibody for axial spondyloarthritis, expected to enter clinical trials in the first half of 2027.

## Links

- Website: https://fortitudebio.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessechen7

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jesse-chen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-30