Avelos Therapeutics is a Seoul-based clinical-stage oncology biotech founded in 2021 that designs small-molecule drugs for 'undruggable' cancer targets using synthetic lethality, DNA damage response (DDR), and cell-cycle biology. Its lead program, AD1208, is a first-in-class oral MASTL kinase inhibitor now in a Phase 1/2a solid-tumor trial. Backed by KRW 30 billion (~$21.7M) across seed, Series A, and a 2024 Series B, the roughly nine-person team is building a biomarker-driven pipeline of four anti-cancer candidates aimed at a future KOSDAQ listing.
Mohit Rawat is the Boston-based CEO of Myricx Bio, a UK-US biotech building a first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate platform based on NMT inhibition to treat cancer. He arrived in September 2025 fresh off Fusion Pharmaceuticals' $2.4 billion sale to AstraZeneca, where he was President and Chief Business Officer. With a Harvard MBA, an MIT chemical engineering master's, and stints at Novartis, AbbVie and McKinsey, he is steering Myricx toward its first human clinical trials in 2026.
Vishwanath Lingappa is the CEO and CTO of Prosetta Biosciences, a San Francisco-based biotechnology company he founded in 2003 after 22 years as a faculty member at UCSF. An MD-PhD with a doctorate from The Rockefeller University under Nobel laureate Gunter Blobel, Lingappa developed a proprietary Cell-Free Protein Synthesis System (CFPSS) drug discovery platform that targets transient multi-protein complexes - a class of drug targets largely ignored by traditional pharma. His company is pursuing small-molecule therapeutics across neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's, ALS, Parkinson's), oncology, and infectious diseases (COVID-19, HIV, influenza), and won an ARPA-H Dash competition for a pan-cancer drug candidate. With over 157 publications and 12,800+ citations, Lingappa bridges rigorous academia with commercial biotech ambition.
Chris Varma, Ph.D., is Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Frontier Medicines, a clinical-stage biotech attacking cancer's 'undruggable' proteins using chemoproteomics, covalent chemistry, and machine learning. A serial biotech founder with 20+ years in life sciences, he previously co-founded Blueprint Medicines (acquired by Sanofi for $9B+ in 2025) and Warp Drive Bio (acquired by Revolution Medicines in 2018), and held investor roles at Third Rock Ventures, Flagship Pioneering, and MPM Capital. His career spans the FDA, Novartis, and three successful company builds - with Frontier Medicines now advancing FMC-376, a first-in-class dual KRAS G12C inhibitor, through Phase 1/2 clinical trials.