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Co-Founder & CEO
Board of Directors, Head of Operations, Business Development
Richard has been in and around startups since 2008, on both sides of the lease and term sheet, as founder, incubator manager, and venture capital principal.
His path to co-founding Abalone Bio started at UC Berkeley in Biophysics and Computer science, and wound its way through protein engineering, structural biology, and then systems biology and synthetic biology at the Molecular Sciences Institute, where he met co-founder Gustavo Pesce.
Abalone Bio grew out of an “a-ha!” moment shared with Gustavo defining a technology that uniquely combines their skillsets and experiences to meet a long-standing therapeutic need- safe and effective drugs for promising yet difficult to drug targets.
Ph.D., Mol. Biochemistry & Biophysics, 2000
Yale University
Favorite Outside Work or Activity:
Making or fixing things around the house or lab, rock climbing, motorcycling, tea and coffee obsessing
CSO
Head of R&D, Academic and Industry Partnerships
Toshi brings over 20 years of industrial experience and expertise in antibody expression and engineering, therapeutic discovery and development, and project and departmental leadership to Abalone Bio.
Prior to joining Abalone Bio, Toshi worked at companies ranging from small startups (Bioren, acquired by Pfizer) to large multinational companies (Bayer). As VP of Discovery Research at XOMA Corporation, he was responsible for selection, engineering and characterization of multiple clinically developed antibodies. Most recently, as VP of Discovery Research at Second Genome, he helped develop therapeutics derived from the human microbiome.
Ph.D., Chemistry 1996
California Institute of Technology
Favorite Outside Work or Activity:
Cycling, playing violin, gardening, meditating and spending time with family (when they tolerate him)
VP of PREclinical development
Antibody Development
Lauren brings a wealth of antibody and immuno-oncology drug development experience to Abalone Bio.
At Xoma and Distributed Bio, she was behind the development of two of the most well-regarded antibody libraries used for antibody drug discovery, and she managed multiple antibody drug discovery and preclinical drug development teams.
At QLSF, she directed three pre-clinical stage bispecific antibody drug development programs for immuno-oncology.
Ph.D., Biochemistry, 2005
Georgia Institute of Technology
Favorite Outside Work or Activity:
Dancing, reading, and coaching a Middle School robotics team
VP of antibody discovery
Platform Technology Development, Antibody Discovery
Monica has a deep background in early discovery and platform development.
At Achaogen, she led the development of a microfluidic B-cell capture and screening platform, in addition to her efforts in target development and characterization.
At Zymergen, she was project and portfolio leads for multiple teams to develop and scale cellular engineering technologies.
Ph.D., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2005, University of California, San Francisco
Favorite Outside Work or Activity:
Hiking and biking
VP of data science & ai
Data and AI Platform
With experiences spanning health tech, synthetic biology, and drug discovery, Dr. Soi has spearheaded initiatives leveraging data and machine learning to drive impact for patients.
At Atomwise, as Director of Drug Discovery Data Science, he led the development of uncertainty quantification methods for deep learning models of small molecule binding as well as tools for evaluating and improving similarity-based searches for hit-to-lead generation.
At Zymergen, he managed the productionization of statistical and machine learning models that supported the company’s portfolio of high- throughput screening projects. Before that, at Grand Rounds (now Included Health) he engineered a platform enabling the scaling of machine learning for clinical outcomes models across indications for which he received a patent.
Ph.D., Genomics & Computational Biology, 2015, University of Pennsylvania
Favorite Outside Work or Activity:
Enjoying visiting museums with his toddler and wine country without his toddler.
SENIOR MEDICAL ADVISOR
Antibody Drug and Neuropathic Pain Drug Development
Dr. Burch has a 35 year history in biotech. His formal training was in pharmacology and chemistry, which was followed by a move to the NIH and then into a prolific biotech and pharma career. Ron has held senior research, director and VP roles at large pharma Zeneca and Purdue, and helpd several C-suite roles (CEO and CMO) and a number of biotechs.
Dr. Burch has acted as CMO and other senior positions for the clinical development of multiple diabetic neuropathic pain and chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain drugs, and has unique insight into pain drug development along the development path from discovery to market from the industry and biotech perspectives. Dr. Burch is leading the clinical development plan for our diabetic neuropathic pain program.
Favorite Outside Work or Activity:
Avid orchid collector and hybridizer
Co-Founder & CEO
Board of Directors, Head of Operations, Business Development
Richard has been in and around startups since 2008, on both sides of the lease and term sheet, as founder, incubator manager, and venture capital principal.
His path to co-founding Abalone Bio started at UC Berkeley in Biophysics and Computer science, and wound its way through protein engineering, structural biology, and then systems biology and synthetic biology at the Molecular Sciences Institute, where he met co-founder Gustavo Pesce.
Abalone Bio grew out of an “a-ha!” moment shared with Gustavo defining a technology that uniquely combine their skillsets and experiences to meet a long-standing therapeutic need- safe and effective drugs for promising yet difficult to drug targets.
Ph.D., Mol. Biochemistry & Biophysics, 2000
Yale University
Favorite outside work or activity:
Making or fixing things around the house or lab, rock climbing, motorcycling, tea and coffee obsessing
CSO
Head of R&D, Academic and industry partnerships
Toshi brings nearly 20 years of industrial experience and expertise in antibody expression and engineering, therapeutic discovery and development, and project and departmental leadership to Abalone Bio.
Prior to joining Abalone Bio, Toshi worked at companies ranging from small startups (Bioren, acquired by Pfizer) to large multinational companies (Bayer). As VP of Discovery Research at XOMA Corporation, he was responsible for selection, engineering and characterization of multiple clinically developed antibodies. Most recently, as VP of Discovery Research at Second Genome, he helped develop therapeutics derived from the human microbiome.
Ph.D., Chemistry 1996
California Institute of Technology
Favorite outside work or activity:
Cycling, playing violin, gardening, meditating and spending time with family (when they tolerate him)
VP of PREclinical development
Antibody development
Lauren brings a wealth of antibody and immuno-oncology drug development experience to Abalone Bio.
At Xoma and Distributed Bio, she was behind the development of two of the most well-regarded antibody libraries used for antibody drug discovery, and she managed multiple antibody drug discovery and preclinical drug development teams.
At QLSF, she directed three pre-clinical stage bispecific antibody drug development programs for immuno-oncology.
Ph.D., Biochemistry, 2005
Georgia Institute of Technology
Favorite outside work or activity:
Dancing, reading, and coaching a Middle School robotics team
director of antibody discovery
Platform Technology Development, Antibody Discovery
Monica has a deep background in early discovery and platform development.
At Achaogen, she led the development of a microfluidic B-cell capture and screening platform, in addition to her efforts in target development and characterization.
At Zymergen, she was project and portfolio leads for multiple teams to develop and scale cellular engineering technologies.
Ph.D., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2005, University of California, San Francisco
Favorite outside work or activity:
Hiking and biking
SENIOR MEDICAL ADVISOR
Dr. Burch has a 35 year history in biotech. His formal training was in pharmacology and chemistry, but quickly moved to the NIH and then into a prolific biotech and pharma career. In addition to senior research, director, VP, and C-suite roles (CEO and CMO) at large pharma Zeneca and Purdue.
He was a founder or founding team member in numerous neurological and pain related biotech companies, including spectacular successes like Naurex, which developed an antibody-derived NMDA receptor partial antagonist for depression and was acquired by Allergan for $560M upfront in 2015, and was CMO at Pacira Pharmaceuticals and AlgoRx.
Having developed two CIPN drugs through clinical trials, he has unique insight into particular clinical pain points and issues along the whole development path from discovery to market.
Dr. Burch is leading the clinical development plan for our CIPN program, and providing general drug development and clinical development from his combined successful startup and large pharma experiences.
He also currently serves as CMO of Gate Neurosciences.
Favorite outside work or activity:
Avid orchid collector and hybridizer
Senior ScIentist
Antibody discovery
Ph.d., Genome Science and Technology, 2016
University of British Columbia
Favorite outside work or activity:
Walking, cooking, listening to podcasts, and reading
Scientist II
Antibody Development
Ph.D.,Pharmacology, 2015 Phillips University, Germany
Favorite outside work or activity:
Spending time with Family and traveling
Executive assistant
Favorite outside work or activity:
Scuba diving, cooking, and spending time with family.
Senior Scientist
Antibody Development
Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering, 2012, Tianjin University
Favorite outside work or activity:
Cooking, baking, camping, and spending time with family.
Research Associate II
Lab Operations
BA in Molecular and Cell Biology, 2021, University of California, Berkeley
Favorite outside work or activity:
Brewing homemade cider.
Research associate I
Lab Operations
BS in Microbiology, San Francisco State University
Favorite outside work or activity:
Playing video games, airsoft, mixing every flavor at the soda fountain.
SCIENTIST II
Antibody Development
Ph.D. Biochemical Sciences, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Favorite outside work or activity:
Cooking, watching series, listening to music.
SCIENTIST I
Antibody Development
Ph.D., 2022, Iowa State University
Favorite outside work or activity:
Cooking and hiking.
LAB MANAGER
Lab Operations
Biotechnology, 2017, UC Davis
Favorite outside work or activity:
Reading, hiking, and spending time with family.
CEO, Founder - Abalone bio
Director
CBO, Candel Tx
Independent Director: BD, Executive Strategy
CBO & COO, JUVENA TX
Independent Director: BD, Executive Strategy
CSO, Founder - Kyverna TX
Biotechnology, immunology, drug development
Professor, UCSF
Antibody technologies and drugs, biotech
Professor, UCSD
GPCR and chemokine structure-function; I/O
Associate professor, UCSF
GPCR drug development; GPCR nanobodies
CEO, Epalex, Origen; FoUNDING ROLES, GenPharm/Medarex, Genetics Institute/Wyeth
Expertise: Executive, growth and business development
Dr. Kay is nearly a 40 year veteran in the biotech industry. He was an early member of Genetics Institute, acquired by Wyeth, in the early 80s at the dawn of the biotech era, and quickly ascended to executive roles at GenPharm (VP), acquired by Medarex; Origen (CEO), and Epalex (CEO). Some of these companies were involved in cutting-edge platform technologies in the therapeutic antibody space, including some of the first biologic drugs and the first transgenic animals to produce humanized antibodies. He has a broad experience base across multiple indication areas, from discovery to clinical trials, with a firm rooting in antibody discovery platform technologies.
CCO, Arena; VP of Discovery, Senomyx; CEO/CSO Ab-vax
Expertise: Executive, drug discovery and development
Dr. Beeley is a 30+ year veteran in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. His scientific background started in organic chemistry, but over his years grew into both small molecule and antibody drug development, with particular experience in oncology and in GPCRs. Most relevant to Abalone, he was VP and Chief Chemical Officer at Arena Pharmaceuticals, a GPCR drug company; VP of Discovery at Senomyx, finding GPCR and ion channel small molecule agonists; and as CSO and CEO of Ab-Vax, which developed therapeutic antibodies. His experiences in both small molecules and antibodies gives us insight into the relative advantages of each and gives us clarity into indications and drug profiles that are especially well-suited for our discovery platform (i.e., functional antibodies). Dr. Beeley has co-authored over 70 scientific publications and abstracts and is a co-inventor on over 90 patent applications, including over 40 issued US patents.
CEO, Acrigen; Redwood Biosciences/Catalent
Expertise: Startup operations and growth, antibody drug development, and business development
Dr. Rabuka is a returning therapeutics biotech entrepreneur. Most relevant to Abalone Bio, his first company, Redwood Biosciences, developed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology that was acquired by Catalent (2014). Through his run at Redwood as CEO then CSO, then at Catalent, he saw development of multiple programs, including the development from discovery to clinical trials of an anti-CD22 ADC for lymphoma. He has an amazing perspective from growing Redwood in its early days during the last financial crisis, so he has a lot of insights into creating value quickly and inexpensively, leveraging select pharma partnerships and non-dilutive grant funding.
Clinical Developer and Vice President, BioMarin; Ultragenyx, Intermune
Expertise: Portfolio development, clinical and regulatory guidance.
Dr. Szwarcberg is a clinical researcher and biotech executive with an exceptionally rich set of experiences in clinical research and drug development. He has led more than 22 clinical trials, many successful ones, for a variety of drugs, including small molecules, peptides and biologics. While trained as a pulmonologistr, his work spans many fields, including lung fibrosis and infectious disease (HIV). In recent years, Dr. Szwarcberg has worked in orphan diseases, and has directed and managed preclinical and clinical pipelines, comprising small molecules, antibody drugs, enzyme therapies and gene therapy approaches. Dr. Szwarcberg presented and defended results at the FDA multiple times, including four drug approvals, one for pirfenidone (Esbriet) for lung fibrosis.
Dr. Szwarcberg advises Abalone in pre-clinical and clinical drug development, and also in target and indication choices and program and portfolio strategies, including research of unmet needs, market adoption, competition and risk assessment. Through his extensive network, Dr. Szwarcberg has provided invaluable connections to discovery, development and clinical researchers and business development and other executives in biotech companies.
Faculty Director, NSF iCorps
Expertise: Business development, and partnerships.
Todd is currently leading the NSF iCorp program, a national program that teaches customer discovery and company development to early stage technical startup companies. His background in pharma and biotech finance at Burrill and Craves led to VP sales, executive, and senior BD development roles. Most important for Abalone, his roles at platform drug discovery biotech companies Trellis Biosciences and Crystal Biosciences (another antibody platform company acquired by Ligand Pharmaceutics) gives him unique insights and opinions in our early business development efforts as a therapeutics platform company ourselves.
Professor of Psychiatry, Director, Molecular and Neural Basis of Psychiatric Disease, Perelman School of Medicine, U.Penn
Neurobiology of obesity, food intake, and weight regulation
Professor, Associate Director of the Moores Cancer Center, UC San Diego
GPCRs and cancer
Professor in Residence, Dept. of Medicine; Chief, Cardio-oncology and Immunology, UCSF
GPCRs and cancer
Distinguished Professor, Jack and Linda Gill Chair at the Gill Center for Biomolecular Science, Indiana University
Pain biology; cannabinoid receptor biology
Professor, Jack and Linda Gill Chair at the Gill Center for Biomolecular Science, Indiana University
CB2 biology; CIPN preclinical studies
CMO, Gate Neurosciences; former CMO, Naurex
Neurology antibody drug development; neuropathic pain clinical trial design and coordination
Professor, Dean for Therapeutic Discovery and Chief of the Division of Liver Diseases, Mt Sinai School of Medicine
Liver fibrosis
President and CEO, Integrated Quality Resources
Former CMO & Head of R&D, Intercept Pharmaceuticals
Liver physiology and disease; liver fibrosis
Sr. Technology Expert, VIB, Belgium
Camelid development, optimization, and engineering
CEO, Epalex, Origen; Founding Roles, GenPharm/Medarex, Genetics Institute/Wyeth
Executive, growth and business development
CEO, Spruce Biosciences; Biomarin, Ultragenyx, Intermune
Portfolio development, clinical and regulatory guidance
Faculty Director, NSF iCorpsBusiness development, and partnerships
Co-Founder and founding CSO
August 4, 1967 - February 18, 2021
Abalone Bio carries on the legacy of co-founder Gustavo Pesce. His scientific vision, rigor, and curiosity - and one-of-a-kind personality- are deeply encoded in Abalone Bio's DNA.
Gustavo started his scientific journey working on gene regulation with Alberto Kornblihtt at the University of Buenos Aires and then in cell biology and genetics with Peter Walter at UCSF. He then expanded his research toolset into experimental and computational systems biology and synthetic biology with Roger Brent and Sydney Brenner at the Molecular Sciences Institute, where he met co-founder Richard Yu in 2003. He co-founded the algae biofuel startup GPB in 2008 with Rich, and then worked on industrial synthetic biology projects at Bolt Threads and Amyris Biotechnologies before starting Abalone Bio in 2018.
Abalone Bio was seeded by his shared desire with Rich to apply their complementary skillsets, experiences, and personalities to developing uniquely impactful therapeutics. The company is the namesake of the delicacy that Gustavo, an avid open ocean swimmer and diver, used to hunt in Northern Californian waters.
