# Jonathan Montagu

> Jonathan Montagu is the co-founder and CEO of HotSpot Therapeutics, a Boston biotech he started in 2017 to chase what the industry long called undruggable. His bet: target the 'natural hotspots' that evolution built into proteins to switch them on and off, and you can make small-molecule medicines with precision the old playbook couldn't reach. A chemist trained at Oxford, Scripps and Cancer Research UK with a Stanford MBA, he previously did the dealmaking that put Nimbus Therapeutics and Concert Pharmaceuticals on the map, including a $1B GSK transaction. Under him HotSpot has raised roughly $210M and pushed its Smart Allostery platform into the clinic, presenting first-in-human Phase 1 data on its CBL-B inhibitor HST-1011 at ESMO 2024.

- **Role:** Co-Founder, President & CEO at HotSpot Therapeutics
- **Organizations:** HotSpot Therapeutics, Atlas Venture, OMass Therapeutics, Nimbus Therapeutics, Concert Pharmaceuticals
- **Education:** Chemistry (trained under Jack Baldwin), University of Oxford, Research (with K.C. Nicolaou), The Scripps Research Institute, Research (under Paul Nurse), Cancer Research UK, Chemistry training, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded HotSpot Therapeutics and built its Smart Allostery drug discovery platform, Raised approximately $210M across Series A, B and C financings, Advanced HotSpot's first investigational drug (CBL-B inhibitor HST-1011) into first-in-human clinical trials

## Career timeline

- **—** — Trained as a chemist at Oxford, Scripps, Cold Spring Harbor and Cancer Research UK
- **—** — Earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **—** — VP of Business Development at Concert Pharmaceuticals; helped secure a $1B multi-product deal with GSK
- **—** — Chief Business Officer at Nimbus Therapeutics; built drug discovery platform and closed deals with Gilead, Shire and Monsanto
- **2017** — Co-founded HotSpot Therapeutics with Geraldine Harriman, PhD
- **2018** — HotSpot debuts with $45M Series A to pursue allosteric inhibitors
- **2021** — Closed oversubscribed $100M Series C, bringing total funding toward $190M+
- **2024** — Presented first-in-human Phase 1 data on CBL-B inhibitor HST-1011 at ESMO Congress

## Achievements

- Co-founded HotSpot Therapeutics and built its Smart Allostery drug discovery platform
- Raised approximately $210M across Series A, B and C financings
- Advanced HotSpot's first investigational drug (CBL-B inhibitor HST-1011) into first-in-human clinical trials
- As CBO at Nimbus Therapeutics, helped establish its discovery platform and closed transactions with Gilead, Shire and Monsanto
- Secured a $1B multi-product transaction with GSK while at Concert Pharmaceuticals

## Latest updates

- **2024-09** — HotSpot presented first-in-human Phase 1 clinical data on its CBL-B inhibitor HST-1011 at ESMO Congress 2024.
- **2021-11** — Closed an oversubscribed $100M Series C led by Pivotal bioVenture Partners to push the platform into the clinic.

## Links

- Website: https://hotspotthera.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-montagu-8b0262/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/hotspotthera

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jonathan-montagu
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-11