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.
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.
Moriah Katherine Nachbaur is the Chief Business Officer at Pheast Therapeutics, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company in Redwood City, California, pioneering macrophage checkpoint inhibitors to teach the immune system to destroy cancer cells. Drawing on two decades of cross-functional biopharma experience - from lab benches at Genentech to executive boardrooms at Coherus BioSciences and her own consulting firm MKN Biotech - she brings a rare blend of scientific literacy, operational depth, and strategic vision to one of oncology's most promising new frontiers: the innate immune system's untapped power against solid tumors.
Roy Maute is co-founder and CEO of Pheast Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech in Redwood City, CA, developing macrophage-targeted cancer immunotherapies. Trained at UC Berkeley, Columbia (PhD, Genetics), and Stanford (postdoc under Irving Weissman), Maute has built a career at the intersection of innate immunology and drug development. Before Pheast, he co-founded Ab Initio Biotherapeutics (acquired by Ligand in 2019) and led translational research at Forty Seven Inc. ahead of its $4.9B acquisition by Gilead in 2020. At Pheast, he is advancing PHST001, a novel anti-CD24 antibody that teaches macrophages to eat cancer cells, currently in Phase 1 clinical trials with FDA Fast Track Designation for ovarian cancer.