Nurix Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in San Francisco pioneering targeted protein degradation - medicines that destroy disease-causing proteins rather than merely blocking them. Built on its DELigase discovery engine that harnesses the cell's ubiquitin-proteasome system and DNA-encoded library screening, Nurix is advancing a pipeline of degraders and degrader antibody conjugates for cancer and autoimmune disease, led by the BTK degrader bexobrutideg (NX-5948). The company is partnered with Roche, Sanofi, Gilead, and Pfizer (via Seagen) and trades on Nasdaq under NRIX.
Olema Oncology is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in San Francisco that develops targeted small-molecule therapies for ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer and other women's cancers. Its lead candidate, palazestrant (OP-1250), is an oral complete estrogen receptor antagonist and selective ER degrader now in two Phase 3 trials, while a second program, OP-3136, is a KAT6 inhibitor in Phase 1. Olema's bet is that better-designed oral endocrine therapy can overcome the resistance that limits today's standard of care.
Pacira BioSciences (Nasdaq: PCRX) is a U.S. biopharmaceutical company built around a single, stubborn idea: surgery and chronic pain should not require a bottle of opioids. Its flagship product, EXPAREL, a long-acting local anesthetic built on the proprietary DepoFoam multivesicular-liposome delivery platform, anchors a portfolio that also includes the ZILRETTA knee-osteoarthritis injection and the iovera handheld cryoanalgesia device. With roughly 790 employees and about $726 million in 2025 revenue, Pacira is pushing beyond established analgesics into gene therapy (PCRX-201) under a '5x30' growth strategy aimed at reinventing how the world treats pain.
Paratek Pharmaceuticals is a Boston-based commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company built on tetracycline chemistry to fight drug-resistant bacterial infections. Its flagship antibiotic NUZYRA (omadacycline) is a once-daily oral and IV broad-spectrum drug approved by the FDA in 2018 for community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and acute skin infections, and it is also being developed under a major BARDA contract as a national-stockpile countermeasure against pulmonary anthrax. Paratek also originated SEYSARA (sarecycline) for acne. Now privately held by Gurnet Point Capital and Novo Holdings after a 2023 acquisition, the company positions itself as a defender of public health against the slow-moving pandemic of antimicrobial resistance.
Phathom Pharmaceuticals is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company built around vonoprazan, a first-in-class potassium-competitive acid blocker (P-CAB) it licensed from Takeda in 2019 for the U.S., Europe and Canada. Its lead product, VOQUEZNA, won FDA approval in late 2023 - the first major innovation in U.S. GERD treatment in over 30 years - and is sold for non-erosive and erosive GERD plus H. pylori infection via its DUAL PAK and TRIPLE PAK regimens. The company reached $175.1 million in net revenue in 2025 and expects operating profitability in 2026.
Scott Greenberg is the Chief Business Officer of Nura Bio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in South San Francisco building small-molecule drugs to stop nerves from dying. He joined in February 2025 to steer business development and corporate strategy as the company pushes its lead SARM1 inhibitor, NB-4746, into the clinic. He arrives with more than two decades crossing the line between finance and biology - a Goldman Sachs banking start, more than a decade at Celgene, an operations leadership role at Roivant Sciences, and a stint as Chief Operating Officer at Aro Biotherapeutics. He studied both Finance and the Biological Basis of Behavior at the University of Pennsylvania before an MBA at Harvard.
Ahsan Arozullah, MD, MPH is Executive Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer at TerSera Therapeutics, a Deerfield, Illinois specialty pharmaceutical company focused on oncology, CNS disorders and rare disease. A Northwestern-trained physician with a Harvard MPH, he spent over 15 years at Astellas, rising to Senior Vice President and Head of Oncology Development, where he helped validate claudin 18.2 as a cancer target through the pivotal SPOTLIGHT trial of zolbetuximab. He pairs two decades of clinical research with academic roots in health literacy at the University of Illinois and serves on the board of Darul Qasim College, working at the intersection of medicine and Islamic bioethics.
Alex Martin is the Chief Executive Officer of Abcuro, a clinical-stage biotech in Newton, Massachusetts working on selectively depleting highly cytotoxic T cells in autoimmune disease and cancer. A biopharma operator with more than 30 years of company-building and deal-making, he has run Palladio Biosciences and Realm Therapeutics (both acquired), served as COO of Intercept Pharmaceuticals and CFO of BioXell, and held business-development leadership at Novartis. In February 2025 he steered Abcuro to a $200 million Series C led by New Enterprise Associates. He also chairs the board of Veralox Therapeutics, sits on the board of ESSA Pharma, coaches senior executives, and lectures at Wharton and Columbia Business School.
858 Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company in San Diego building small-molecule cancer drugs aimed at novel targets in DNA damage response, RNA modulation, and innate immunity. Its lead candidate, the oral PARG inhibitor ETX-19477, is in a first-in-human Phase 1/2 trial for advanced solid tumors and has won FDA Fast Track designation for BRCA-mutated, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Founded in 2019 by a serial team of San Diego drug developers, the company has raised $110 million across Series A and B financings.
Basking Biosciences is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing the first reversible thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke. Its lead candidate, BB-031, is a first-in-class RNA aptamer that inhibits von Willebrand Factor to break up clots quickly, paired with a companion reversal agent, BB-025, that can switch the drug's activity off in minutes if bleeding occurs. Spun out of research begun at Duke University and founded in 2019, the company is based in the Research Triangle of North Carolina and is advancing BB-031 through a Phase 2 RAISE trial.
Epirium Bio is a San Diego-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing orally available small molecules that target PGE2 signaling to restore tissue homeostasis, reduce inflammation, and stimulate regeneration. Its lead candidate, MF-300, is a first-in-class oral 15-PGDH enzyme inhibitor advancing toward a Phase 2b trial for sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle strength for which no FDA-approved therapy currently exists.
Granata Bio is a Boston-based biopharmaceutical company building a portfolio of fertility and reproductive-health therapies. Founded in 2018, it in-licenses and develops medications used in IVF outside the US, runs its own clinical programs, and is expanding into ovarian biology. Its lead asset is an investigational human menopausal gonadotropin in the pivotal Phase III GRACE study, and its 2025 acquisition of Oviva Therapeutics added a first-in-class therapeutic aimed at extending ovarian function. The company targets the multi-billion-dollar global infertility medication market with the goal of expanding patient access and improving IVF outcomes.
Helicore Biopharma is a South San Francisco clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company building first-in-class GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) antagonists for obesity and cardiometabolic disease. Its lead candidate, HCR-188, is a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds circulating GIP ligand rather than the GIP receptor, a mechanism designed to improve the quality of weight loss - favoring fat loss over lean mass when paired with GLP-1 - and to restore leptin sensitivity. Incubated by Versant Ventures, the company emerged from stealth in January 2025 with a $65 million Series A and is advancing a pipeline of long-acting antibody-peptide conjugates aimed at quarterly dosing.
Kriya Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company building one-time, AAV-based gene therapies for prevalent chronic diseases of high unmet need. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina with operations in Silicon Valley, Kriya pairs a proprietary, vertically integrated manufacturing and R&D engine with a pipeline spanning ophthalmology, metabolic disease, and neurology. Its bet: gene therapy shouldn't be reserved for the rare few, but engineered and manufactured at the scale and cost needed to reach millions.
Noveome Biotherapeutics is a Pittsburgh clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company built around ST266, a multi-targeted secretome of hundreds of biologically active proteins harvested from a novel population of amnion-derived cells. Rather than transplanting cells, Noveome delivers the healing signals those cells secrete - aiming to modulate inflammation, protect nerves, and accelerate tissue repair. Its lead program treats necrotizing enterocolitis, a devastating gut disease in premature infants, with additional pipeline work spanning ophthalmology, neurology, and dermatology.
Ollin Biosciences is an Austin-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company building a portfolio of best-in-disease therapies for vision-threatening eye diseases. Founded in 2023 and launched publicly in September 2025 with $100M in Series A financing, Ollin in-licenses validated drug candidates and races them through head-to-head trials against the market leaders. Its lead program, OLN324, is a VEGF/Ang2 bispecific antibody for wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema that posted superior anatomic results versus Roche's blockbuster Vabysmo in a Phase 1b study.
OncoC4, Inc. is a Rockville, Maryland clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company building first-in-class and best-in-class antibody therapies for hard-to-treat cancers and Alzheimer's disease. Founded by immunologists Yang Liu and Pan Zheng, the company discovered the innate immune checkpoint CD24-Siglec-10 and is advancing a pipeline led by gotistobart (ONC-392), a next-generation anti-CTLA-4 antibody partnered with BioNTech, alongside SIGLEC10, PD-1/VEGF, and CD24-targeting programs.
Heidi Gillmore is a commercial leadership executive at TerSera Therapeutics, the Deerfield, Illinois specialty pharmaceutical company she helped build from its 2016 inception. Across roles spanning marketing, strategy, business development and running TerSera's US oncology business, she has helped turn a portfolio of 'one-and-only' therapeutics, including the prostate and breast cancer drug Zoladex, into a durable commercial enterprise. A University of Northern Iowa graduate with a University of Chicago credential, she sits on the board of the Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization and has spent her career taking specialty and orphan medicines from acquisition to market.
Synnovation Therapeutics is a Wilmington, Delaware precision medicine company building small-molecule cancer drugs aimed at validated oncology targets where greater potency and selectivity could beat the current standard of care. Founded in 2024 by a team of former Incyte medicinal chemistry leaders, it launched with a $102 million Series A led by Third Rock Ventures. Its lead programs are SNV1521, a CNS-penetrant, highly selective PARP1 inhibitor, and SNV4818, a mutant-selective PI3K-alpha inhibitor whose subsidiary Pikavation Therapeutics was acquired by Novartis in March 2026 for $2 billion upfront.
TerSera Therapeutics is a privately held biopharmaceutical company based in Deerfield, Illinois, focused on acquiring, developing, and commercializing specialty medicines in oncology, rare disease, and non-opioid pain. Launched in 2016 with backing from private equity firm GTCR, TerSera builds its portfolio through targeted acquisitions of approved and late-stage assets, including ZOLADEX, XERMELO, PRIALT, and VARUBI, with a stated mission of building 'the new cornerstones of care' for patients with limited treatment options.
Julia C. Owens is a biopharmaceutical executive who in October 2025 became CEO of Basking Biosciences, a clinical-stage company building the first reversible thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke. With a UCSF Ph.D. and more than 25 years in the industry, she co-founded and ran Millendo Therapeutics for nearly a decade through its NASDAQ debut, later led Ananke Therapeutics, advises GV (Google Ventures) on women's health, chairs Sena Therapeutics, and co-founded the Biotech CEO Sisterhood to put more women in the corner office.
Larry Brown, Sc.D., is Executive Vice President of R&D and Chief Scientific Officer at Noveome Biotherapeutics, the Pittsburgh clinical-stage biopharma he joined in 2012. He is leading the translation of ST266, a cell-free secretome of hundreds of proteins harvested from amnion-derived cells, from proof of principle into the clinic. Trained at MIT under Robert Langer and in Judah Folkman's surgical research lab at Children's Hospital Boston, he spent 35-plus years inventing drug-delivery systems at Baxter, Alkermes and biotech startups, accumulating more than 100 publications and a thick stack of patents along the way.
TORL BioTherapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in Culver City, California developing antibody-based cancer therapies, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and monoclonal antibodies. Built on discoveries from the UCLA laboratory of Dennis Slamon - the scientist behind Herceptin and Ibrance - TORL is advancing a pipeline against novel cancer targets such as Claudin 6, Claudin 18.2, CDH17, and DLK1. Its lead program, TORL-1-23 (ixotatug vedotin), a CLDN6-targeted ADC, is in pivotal trials for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The company has raised over $450 million across multiple rounds, including a $96 million Series C in October 2025.
Olatec Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in New York developing a platform of oral NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors to treat acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. Its lead compound, dapansutrile (OLT1177), is a selective small-molecule NLRP3 inhibitor that has shown clinical benefit and a clean safety profile across gout, heart failure and a broad range of inflammatory and neuroinflammatory conditions, positioning oral inflammasome blockade as a potential alternative to injectable IL-1 biologics.
Shankar Ramaswamy is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Kriya Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company building one-time gene therapies for common, highly prevalent chronic diseases rather than only rare ones. A physician by training who started his career evaluating drug candidates at Roivant Sciences and helping launch Axovant's record biotech IPO, he founded Kriya in 2019 and has since raised more than $600 million to vertically integrate gene therapy design, computational biology and in-house GMP manufacturing.
Abdera Therapeutics is a precision oncology biotech engineering antibody-based radiopharmaceuticals that deliver therapeutic radioisotopes directly to tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue. Built around its proprietary ROVEr platform, the company is advancing ABD-147 in Phase 1 trials for small cell lung cancer and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, with a second program, ABD-320, on deck.
NGM Biopharmaceuticals is a private South San Francisco biotech translating biology into first-in-class medicines, anchored by its GDF15/GFRAL antagonist NGM120 in Phase 2 trials for cancer cachexia and hyperemesis gravidarum.
Dinesh V. Patel, Ph.D. is the President and CEO of Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PTGX), a Newark, California-based biopharmaceutical company he has led since December 2008. With over 38 years spanning medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, venture capital co-founding, and three CEO stints, Patel has guided Protagonist from a peptide-platform startup to a company with its first FDA-approved drug - ICOTYDE (icotrokinra), approved March 2026 as the world's first targeted oral peptide for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, partnered with Johnson & Johnson.
Cheng Liu is the founder, President, and CEO of Eureka Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in Emeryville, California. A molecular cell biologist trained at UC Berkeley and Peking University, Liu invented a novel class of TCR mimic antibodies that allow engineered T cells to recognize intracellular tumor antigens - a major challenge in treating solid tumors. Since founding Eureka in 2006 after a decade at Chiron/Novartis, he has built a pipeline of ARTEMIS T-cell therapies targeting liver cancer, multiple myeloma, and neuroblastoma, with the company's ECT204 program earning FDA RMAT Designation in January 2026 - one of the highest-priority designations the FDA gives to regenerative medicine therapies. Eureka has raised over $168 million in total funding and holds more than 500 patents worldwide.
Joe Belanoff is the co-founder and CEO of Corcept Therapeutics, a Redwood City-based biopharmaceutical company he has led since 1999. A physician-scientist trained at Amherst College, Columbia University, and Stanford, Belanoff pivoted from academia to entrepreneurship after co-developing intellectual property on cortisol modulation with Stanford psychiatry chair Alan Schatzberg. Under his leadership, Corcept achieved two landmark FDA approvals: Korlym in 2012 for Cushing's syndrome and Lifyorli in 2026 for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer - the first selective glucocorticoid receptor antagonist ever approved. He maintains an adjunct professorship at Stanford while steering a company with over $760 million in annual revenue and more than 30 ongoing clinical studies.