# Tassos Gianakakos

> Tassos Gianakakos is a Greek-American biotech entrepreneur and the co-founder, CEO, and Chair of Kardigan, a cardiovascular drug discovery company he built from the ashes of MyoKardia — the precision-medicine heart company he led to a $13.1 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2020. At Kardigan, he is applying the same playbook: marrying real-world clinical data, AI tools, and deep cardiovascular biology to deliver personalized medicines for heart disease — a field he believes is where oncology was 20 years ago. With $554 million raised and three late-stage clinical programs underway, Gianakakos is on a mission to make cardiovascular disease preventable and curable.

- **Role:** Co-founder, CEO and Chair at Kardigan
- **Organizations:** Kardigan, Prolaio, MyoKardia, MAP Pharmaceuticals, Codexis, Maxygen, LianBio, Evelo Biosciences
- **Nationality:** American (Greek descent)
- **Education:** B.Sc. Chemical Engineering, MIT, B.Sc. Economics, MIT, M.Sc. Biotechnology, Northwestern University, M.B.A., Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Led MyoKardia to a $13.1 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2020 — one of the largest biotech acquisitions ever, Pioneered precision medicine for cardiovascular disease at MyoKardia, resulting in FDA-approved mavacamten (Camzyos) for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Raised $554 million for Kardigan across Series A ($300M) and Series B ($254M) within its first year of public operation

## Career timeline

- **1994-1995** — Process Engineer at Merck & Co. (vaccine division)
- **1995-2001** — Director of Business Development at Maxygen; led vaccine and bio-industrial platforms through IPO
- **2001** — Co-founded Codexis as a spin-off from Maxygen; served as President and SVP Business Development
- **~2010-2013** — SVP and Chief Business Officer at MAP Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Allergan for ~$958M in March 2013)
- **2012-2020** — Co-founder and CEO of MyoKardia; pioneered precision medicine for cardiovascular disease; developed mavacamten
- **2020** — Bristol Myers Squibb acquires MyoKardia for $13.1 billion (BMS bid raised from $185 to $225/share)
- **2021-2025** — Co-founder, CEO and Chair of Prolaio, a cardiac clinical intelligence company
- **2023** — Co-founded Kardigan with Jay Edelberg (CMO) and Bob McDowell (CSO), reuniting the MyoKardia core team
- **2025-01** — Kardigan launches publicly with $300M Series A; acquires BMS-licensed assets including danicamtiv
- **2025-03** — Kardigan acquires Prolaio to integrate real-world cardiac data with drug pipeline
- **2025-10** — Kardigan raises $254M Series B led by Fidelity and T. Rowe Price
- **2026-03** — Positive Phase 2 data for tonlamarsen presented at ACC.26 and published in JACC; 67% mean reduction in angiotensinogen

## Achievements

- Led MyoKardia to a $13.1 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2020 — one of the largest biotech acquisitions ever
- Pioneered precision medicine for cardiovascular disease at MyoKardia, resulting in FDA-approved mavacamten (Camzyos) for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Raised $554 million for Kardigan across Series A ($300M) and Series B ($254M) within its first year of public operation
- Successfully negotiated BMS acquisition price up from $185 to $225 per share for MyoKardia shareholders
- Participated in three successful biotech IPOs: Maxygen, Codexis, and MAP Pharmaceuticals
- Co-founded Codexis (2001), which became a public company and leading biocatalysis firm
- Secured license from BMS for danicamtiv, a cardiac myosin activator originally discovered at MyoKardia
- Demonstrated 67% mean reduction in angiotensinogen with tonlamarsen in Phase 2 data at ACC.26 (2026)

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Presented positive Phase 2 data for tonlamarsen at ACC.26; 67% mean reduction in angiotensinogen published in JACC
- **2025-10** — Kardigan raised $254M Series B led by Fidelity Management & Research and T. Rowe Price
- **2025-03** — Kardigan acquired Prolaio (Gianakakos's prior company) to integrate cardiac data with therapeutics pipeline
- **2025-01** — Kardigan launched publicly with $300M Series A; Gianakakos named CEO and Chair

## Links

- Website: https://kardigan.bio
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tassos-gianakakos-600b06b

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/tassos-gianakakos
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-11