# Terry Rosen

> Terry Rosen is the CEO and co-founder of Arcus Biosciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing combination cancer immunotherapies. A medicinal chemist by training with a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, Rosen has spent over 30 years at the intersection of chemistry and oncology - from Abbott Laboratories and Pfizer to Amgen, and then co-founding Flexus Biosciences which sold to Bristol-Myers Squibb for $1.25 billion in 2015. He immediately used that platform to launch Arcus, which has since secured a landmark 10-year partnership with Gilead Sciences and advanced multiple molecules into pivotal clinical studies, including casdatifan, a best-in-class HIF-2α inhibitor showing strong results in kidney cancer.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Arcus Biosciences
- **Organizations:** Arcus Biosciences, Salk Institute (Board of Trustees), California Life Sciences Association (Board), UC Berkeley College of Chemistry (Advisory Board), Caltech Biology and Biological Engineering (Chair's Council), University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute
- **From:** Chicago, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, UC Berkeley
- **Known for:** Co-founded Flexus Biosciences and sold it to Bristol-Myers Squibb for $1.25 billion in 2015, Co-founded Arcus Biosciences and led its IPO in 2018, raising $138 million, Secured 10-year strategic partnership with Gilead Sciences; Gilead invested $725 million in option exercises

## Career timeline

- **1985** — Earned Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from UC Berkeley under Clayton Heathcock; joined Abbott Laboratories in pharmaceutical research
- **Late 1980s-1990s** — Moved to Pfizer, working in neuroscience research
- **Late 1990s** — Joined Tularik Inc. as medicinal chemist; rose to EVP Operations and VP Medicinal Chemistry
- **2004** — Tularik acquired by Amgen; joined Amgen as VP Therapeutic Discovery, site head South San Francisco
- **2006** — Named Washington site head at Amgen
- **2007** — Headed Chemistry Research and Discovery at Amgen
- **2011** — Became head of Protein Sciences at Amgen
- **2015 (February)** — Co-founded Flexus Biosciences; company immediately acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb for $1.25 billion ($800M upfront + $450M milestones)
- **2015 (May)** — Co-founded Arcus Biosciences with Juan Jaen; became CEO
- **2018 (March)** — Led Arcus Biosciences IPO on NYSE (ticker: RCUS), raising $138 million
- **2019** — Donated $25 million with wife Tori to UC Berkeley College of Chemistry for Heathcock Hall
- **2020 (May)** — Secured landmark 10-year partnership with Gilead Sciences for cancer immunotherapy pipeline
- **2021** — Gilead exercised options totaling $725 million in payments for three Arcus programs
- **2025** — Casdatifan showed 45% confirmed overall response rate and 15.1-month median PFS in kidney cancer at ASCO GU
- **2025** — Named among 100 Most Influential CEOs in Oncology by OncoDaily; Arcus marks 10th anniversary with four molecules in pivotal studies

## Achievements

- Co-founded Flexus Biosciences and sold it to Bristol-Myers Squibb for $1.25 billion in 2015
- Co-founded Arcus Biosciences and led its IPO in 2018, raising $138 million
- Secured 10-year strategic partnership with Gilead Sciences; Gilead invested $725 million in option exercises
- Advanced casdatifan (HIF-2α inhibitor) to show 45% confirmed overall response rate in kidney cancer
- Led Arcus to maintain $1 billion in cash with four molecules in pivotal clinical studies on its 10-year anniversary
- Donated $25 million to UC Berkeley College of Chemistry for Heathcock Hall
- Named among 100 Most Influential CEOs in Oncology in 2025
- Over 30 years of drug discovery experience across Abbott, Pfizer, Amgen, Flexus, and Arcus
- PhD work contributed to synthesis chemistry underlying cholesterol-lowering statin drugs including Lipitor

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Arcus Biosciences reports Q1 2026 financial results; casdatifan PEAK-1 Phase 3 trial actively enrolling
- **2026-02** — Arcus reports full-year 2025 results: $1.0 billion cash runway through at least Q2 2028; four molecules in pivotal studies
- **2025-09** — Quemliclustat (CD73 inhibitor) Phase 3 PRISM-1 trial enrollment completed for pancreatic cancer
- **2025-06** — Casdatifan shows 45% confirmed ORR and 15.1-month median PFS in kidney cancer at ASCO GU 2025
- **2025-04** — On Arcus's 10th anniversary, company has four molecules in pivotal studies; BiotechTV interview discusses HIF-2a market and CD73 in pancreatic cancer
- **2025-02** — Arcus retains rights to casdatifan from Gilead; prices $150 million common stock offering
- **2025-01** — Named among 100 Most Influential CEOs in Oncology in 2025 by OncoDaily

## Links

- Website: https://arcusbio.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-rosen-04466330
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/arcusbio?lang=english
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/arcusbiosciences/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/terry-rosen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-14