carolyn-bertozzi
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Grace Science, LLC
Grace Science, LLC is a Palo Alto-based biotechnology company founded in 2017 by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Matt Wilsey and Nobel laureate chemist Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi to develop therapies built on the biology of NGLY1, an enzyme central to protein quality control. The company grew out of a father's search for a treatment after his daughter Grace was diagnosed with ultra-rare NGLY1 Deficiency. Its lead program, GS-100, is an AAV9 gene replacement therapy now in a Phase 1/2/3 clinical trial and holds FDA RMAT designation. Grace Science also pursues small-molecule and biomarker work that extends NGLY1 biology into oncology and neurodegeneration.
Lycia Therapeutics
Lycia Therapeutics is a South San Francisco biotech building lysosomal targeting chimeras (LYTACs) - bifunctional molecules that drag disease-driving extracellular and membrane proteins into the cell's lysosomes for destruction. Founded in 2019 out of the lab of Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi, Lycia is advancing a pipeline of autoimmune and inflammatory disease therapies, backed by $226M+ in venture capital and a strategic discovery collaboration with Eli Lilly.
Matt Wilsey
Matt Wilsey is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned biotech founder and CEO of Grace Science, a company building gene therapy and small-molecule programs for NGLY1 deficiency, an ultra-rare genetic condition that his daughter Grace was diagnosed with in 2013. A Stanford BA and MBA who started his career at the White House and the Department of Defense before co-founding Zazzle and CardSpring (acquired by Twitter), Wilsey applied a startup operator's playbook to drug discovery, funding roughly 75 scientists across 20 medical centers in five countries and partnering with Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi to turn a tiny patient community into a research enterprise.
Sofia Touami
Sofia Touami, Ph.D., is the Chief Business Officer of Lycia Therapeutics, a South San Francisco biotech pioneering lysosomal targeting chimeras (LYTACs) - a platform invented by Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi to degrade disease-causing extracellular proteins. A trained organic chemist who earned her Ph.D. at Stanford and did postdoctoral work at The Scripps Research Institute, Touami has built a career as one of biotech's sharpest dealmakers, having orchestrated major transactions including Frontier Medicines' landmark global collaboration with AbbVie before joining Lycia in July 2023. She helped close Lycia's oversubscribed $106.6 million Series C in May 2024, positioning the company to bring its LYTAC-based autoimmune therapies into clinical trials.