# Tom Smart

> Tom Smart is a biotech executive with a 25-year run of taking cancer companies from the lab bench to Wall Street and back again. He currently leads Actym Therapeutics, a cancer-immunotherapy company building bacteria-delivered gene therapies, after a career that ran through AnaptysBio, XOMA, Cell Genesys and Genetics Institute. He helped shepherd the PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor that became GSK's Jemperli, founded and sold an antifungal company, and is named in industry records as a CEO and board member at oncolytic-virus company Seneca Therapeutics. His specialty is the unglamorous middle: financings, partnerships, IPOs and acquisitions that decide whether a promising molecule ever reaches a patient.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer, Actym Therapeutics
- **Organizations:** Actym Therapeutics, Seneca Therapeutics, Gravitas Therapeutics, AnaptysBio, XOMA, GenVec, Cell Genesys, Genetics Institute, Searle, RIGImmune
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S., Cornell University, M.B.A., University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- **Known for:** Helped advance the immuno-oncology PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor dostarlimab toward FDA and EU approval as GSK's Jemperli during his time at AnaptysBio, Founded Gravitas Therapeutics and led the acquisition and subsequent sale of the antifungal asset GR-2397 to Basilea Pharmaceutica in October 2023, Led companies through transitions from private to public and from research to clinical stage

## Career timeline

- **early career** — Held roles at Genetics Institute (now Pfizer), Searle (now Pfizer) and Cell Genesys
- **—** — Served in leadership at GenVec (now Precigen)
- **—** — Chief Business Officer at XOMA (NASDAQ: XOMA)
- **—** — CEO and Board Chair at AnaptysBio (NASDAQ: ANAB); helped advance the PD-1 inhibitor that became Jemperli/dostarlimab (GSK)
- **—** — Founder, CEO and Board Chair of Gravitas Therapeutics
- **2023-10** — Orchestrated the sale of Gravitas's clinical-stage antifungal asset GR-2397 to Basilea Pharmaceutica
- **2024-04** — Appointed Chief Executive Officer of Actym Therapeutics
- **—** — Listed as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of Seneca Therapeutics in industry records

## Achievements

- Helped advance the immuno-oncology PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor dostarlimab toward FDA and EU approval as GSK's Jemperli during his time at AnaptysBio
- Founded Gravitas Therapeutics and led the acquisition and subsequent sale of the antifungal asset GR-2397 to Basilea Pharmaceutica in October 2023
- Led companies through transitions from private to public and from research to clinical stage
- Executed private financings, IPOs, corporate partnerships and M&A across a 25-year career

## Latest updates

- **2024-04** — Appointed Chief Executive Officer of Actym Therapeutics.
- **2024-06** — Oversaw expansion of Actym's management team with a new Chief Scientific Officer and SVP of Clinical Development.

## Links

- Website: https://senecatherapeutics.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomsmart1/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/tom-smart
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-04