VENTYX BIOSCIENCES, INC.
12790 El Camino Real
Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92130
Ventyx Biosciences is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative oral therapies for patients with autoimmune, inflammatory, and neurodegenerative diseases. Our expertise in medicinal chemistry, structural biology, and immunology enables the discovery of differentiated small molecule therapeutics for conditions with high unmet medical need, and our extensive experience in clinical development allows the rapid progression of these drugs through clinical trials. Our lead portfolio of NLRP3 inhibitors includes VTX2735, a peripherally restricted NLRP3 inhibitor in Phase 2 development for recurrent pericarditis, and VTX3232, a CNS-penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor in Phase 2 development for neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic diseases. Our inflammatory bowel disease portfolio includes tamuzimod, an S1P1R modulator, and VTX958, a TYK2 inhibitor, both of which have completed Phase 2 clinical trials.
Mark serves as our Chief Medical Officer. Mark is a physician scientist with deep expertise in clinical drug development. Prior to joining Ventyx, Mark served as Chief Medical Officer at Passage Bio, where he oversaw and managed their research and development portfolio focused on gene therapies for central nervous system disease. Dr. Forman has nearly two decades of experience in translational research for neurological disorders, including positions of increasing responsibility at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, Acadia Pharmaceuticals, and Merck. Earlier in his career, Mark was an Assistant Professor of Pathology at the University of Pennsylvania. Mark received his Ph.D. at Rockefeller University, M.D. at Duke University and B.S. at Yale University.
Raju founded Ventyx Biosciences and has served as a member of our board of directors since the company’s inception. Prior to Ventyx, Raju founded Akarna Therapeutics, which was acquired by Allergan for up to $1.2B. In addition to Ventyx, Raju has founded Oppilan Pharma, Zomagen Biosciences, Escalier Biosciences and Vimalan Biosciences, all immunology-focused specialty pharmaceutical companies. From 2006 to 2011, Raju served as Vice President and head of the San Diego site for Exelixis and Vice President of Chemistry at X-Ceptor Therapeutics (acquired by Exelixis). Raju started his pharmaceutical career at Berlex Biosciences, a subsidiary of Bayer/Schering AG, where he held positions of increasing responsibility. Raju is responsible for the discovery of multiple small molecule drug candidates that have entered clinical trials. He is the inventor of MINNEBRO®, an approved therapeutic for hypertension. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and is an inventor on 64 issued US patents. Raju received a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Illinois and a Master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology.
Matthew is our Chief Operating Officer and has over 25 years of transactional and operational experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Before joining Ventyx, he served as Chief Business Officer at Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc., where he led corporate strategy, business development and project management functions. Earlier in his career, Matthew held positions of increasing responsibility at AbbVie, Allergan and its predecessor companies, Actavis and Forest Labs, where he was responsible for creating and executing business development growth strategies across multiple therapeutic areas including medical aesthetics, neuroscience, anti-infectives, and critical care. Matthew started his career in the healthcare investment banking group at CIBC Oppenheimer. Matthew earned his BA in psychology from Trinity College.
John brings more than 25 years of small molecule drug discovery and development experience to the company, primarily in the areas of immunology, inflammation, oncology and metabolic disease. Prior to joining Ventyx, John was Vice President of Drug Discovery at the Ferring Research Institute where he was responsible for global drug discovery activities. John also previously served as Senior Vice President of Chemistry at Exelixis. Under his leadership, his teams have advanced more than 30 molecules into the clinic. He is the co-inventor of the approved therapeutics COMETRIQ®/CABOMETYX® and MINNEBRO®, and led the team that discovered COTELLIC®. Earlier in his career, he held positions of increasing responsibility in discovery at Chiron and served as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Riverside. John has more than 80 publications and 30 issued patents. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Kansas, a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and was an NIH postdoctoral fellow in organic synthesis at Stanford University.
Rosa Ferrão is our SVP of Regulatory Affairs. She is an accomplished executive with over two decades of global expertise in pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Known for her impactful work in Oncology, Neuroscience, Nephrology and Rare Diseases, Rosa has guided teams through complex regulatory submissions spanning early-stage drug development to late-stage approvals. Her portfolio also includes managing strategic alliances with partners like Kirin, Johnson & Johnson, and PTC Therapeutics.
Prior to joining Ventyx, Rosa led regulatory efforts for treatments targeting genetic diseases at Ionis and Akcea Therapeutics. At Mirati Therapeutics, she led the U.S. approval of Krazati for colorectal cancer and secured authorization for non-small cell lung cancer in Europe, achieving a pivotal reversal of an EU regulatory decision through strategic advocacy. At Amgen, she held progressively senior roles, including establishing and leading the UK-based International Expansion Regulatory Affairs group advancing to a Global Regulatory Leader role based in the U.S., where she played a pivotal role in product strategy teams. Rosa holds a Bachelor’s in Pharmacy from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Postgraduate Certificate in Business Administration from the University of Nottingham.
Kye is our Senior Vice President of Biometrics (Biostatistics, Data Management, Statistical Programming, Medical Writing) and has over 20 years of clinical development and operational experience in oncology, obesity, inflammatory bowel diseases, dermatology, cardiovascular diseases, and medical devices/procedures for the spine. Before joining Ventyx, Kye served as Vice President of Biometrics at Arena Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer in 2022) and Orexigen Therapeutics, was Head of Biometrics at NuVasive, and held positions of increasing responsibility at Biogen Idec. Prior to entering the biopharmaceutical industry, he spent 14 years on active duty in the United States Coast Guard.
Kye received his Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Rhode Island, M.S. in Statistics and M.S. in Operations Research from Stanford University, and B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Roy is our Senior Vice President of Finance and our Principal Financial and Accounting Officer. He has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, medical device, transportation, and consumer electronics industries. Before joining Ventyx, he began his career at KPMG LLP and has also served in various finance leadership roles with companies such as Dexcom, Arena Pharmaceuticals, and Landos Biopharma. Outside of the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, he also held positions at Norfolk Southern Corporation, Sony Electronics, and a contract role at Invesco US. Roy received his MBA from UCLA, a BSBA from Old Dominion University, and a BA from Virginia Tech. He is also a licensed CPA in the state of Virginia.
Snehal Naik, PhD is Senior Vice President, Clinical Development. Snehal’s diverse career has spanned 20 years in the biopharmaceutical industry with roles of increasing responsibility at Arena Pharmaceuticals, Prometheus Laboratories, Pfizer, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Merck. Snehal has a PhD in Pharmacology from Temple University School of Medicine, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from University of Kentucky.
Kathy is Senior Vice President, Translational and Non-Clinical Research for Ventyx Biosciences. She leads the effort to predict the effects of potential therapeutics in the human body (i.e., pharmacology, DMPK and toxicology). Over her 25-year career in San Diego pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, she has received several performance-related awards, led or made major contributions to more than 15 clinical candidates, published more than 40 papers, and mentored numerous scientists to promotions and graduate school. In the community, Kathy serves on board of the San Diego Children’s Choir.
Sheila Gujrathi, MD
Executive Chair
Sheila is the co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Gossamer Bio, Inc. She serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of ADARx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and as a Director at Janux Therapeutics, Inc. She previously served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Turning Point Therapeutics, Inc. and on the Board of Directors at Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Amgen Inc.) and Ambrx, Inc. (acquired by a consortium of investors). Prior to Gossamer Bio, Sheila served as Chief Medical Officer of Receptos, Inc. (acquired by Celgene Corp.). At Receptos, she built the development, regulatory and quality organizations and advanced the pipeline of drug candidates, including Zeposia®, which is approved for multiple sclerosis and for ulcerative colitis. Prior to Receptos, Sheila was Vice President of the Global Clinical Development Group in Immunology at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), where she led clinical development and supported numerous global regulatory filings and approvals for Orencia® and Nulojix®. She was also an immunoscience franchise leader with strategic oversight over the BMS immunology clinical and discovery pipeline and business development activities. Prior to BMS, Sheila held roles in the immunology, tissue growth and repair clinical development groups at Genentech, Inc. where she worked on Ocrevus®, Rituxan®, Xolair®, and a number of other programs across all stages of development and served as the Avastin® franchise team leader. Earlier in her career, she was a management consultant in McKinsey & Company’s healthcare practice. Sheila received both her MD in the accelerated Honors Program in Medical Education and her BS in Biomedical Engineering with highest distinction from Northwestern University. She completed her internal medicine internship and residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and additional fellowship training in allergy/immunology at UCSF and Stanford.
Raju Mohan, PhD
Founder, CEO & Director
Raju founded Ventyx Biosciences and has served as a member of our Board of Directors since the company’s inception. Prior to Ventyx, Raju founded Akarna Therapeutics, which was acquired by Allergan for up to $1.2B. In addition to Ventyx, Raju has founded Oppilan Pharma, Zomagen Biosciences and Vimalan Biosciences, all immunology-focused specialty pharmaceutical companies. From 2006 to 2011, Raju served as Vice President and head of the San Diego site for Exelixis and Vice President of Chemistry at X-Ceptor Therapeutics (acquired by Exelixis). Raju started his pharmaceutical career at Berlex Biosciences, a subsidiary of Bayer/Schering AG, where he held positions of increasing responsibility. Raju is responsible for the discovery of multiple small molecule drug candidates that have entered clinical trials. He is the inventor of MINNEBRO®, an approved therapeutic for hypertension. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and is an inventor on 64 issued US patents. Raju received a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Illinois and a Master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology.
Onaiza Cadoret-Manier
Independent Director
Ms. Onaiza Cadoret-Manier currently serves as CEO of a stealth biotech company and as an advisor to Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Previously she was an Executive Vice President, Chief Global Product Strategy and Operations at Ionis. Prior to Ionis, she served as the Chief Commercial Officer for Grail Biosciences. Prior to Grail, she served as Vice President of the immunology franchise at Genentech. Ms. Cadoret-Manier also has held multiple senior management positions overseeing corporate strategy, alliances and marketing and sales for Genentech, Pfizer and Amylin Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Cadoret-Manier currently serves on the board of Ardelyx. Onaiza has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in economics and accounting from Queens College of City University of New York.
Allison J. Hulme, PhD
Independent Director
Dr. Allison Hulme currently serves as Chief Executive Officer, President and a board member of Aeovian Pharmaceuticals. Prior to this, she served as Chief Operating Officer, Head of Research and Development and a board member at Sophiris Bio. Prior to joining Sophiris, Dr. Hulme served as the Executive Vice President and Head of Global Development at Elan Corporation. Before Elan, Dr. Hulme held several positions in clinical research at Glaxo Wellcome Pharmaceuticals and was a lecturer in biological sciences at University of Bedfordshire. Dr. Hulme holds a PhD in Biotechnology from Cranfield Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Combined Sciences from Luton University in 1985.
Somu Subramaniam
Board of Directors
Somu is the co-founder and Managing Partner of New Science Ventures (NSV). Somu serves on the Board of Directors of Achronix Semiconductor Corporation, BrightVolt, Cambridge Epigenetix, Dali Wireless, Ferric, Inc, NorthSea Therapeutics, Oxyrane, ProterixBio, Ralexar Therapeutics, Resolve Therapeutics, Svelte Medical Systems, Vascular Therapies and Zeotap GmbH. Somu has also served on the Boards of Dezima Pharma (acquired by Amgen), Ception Therapeutics (acquired by Cephalon), BioVex (acquired by Amgen), Lightwire (acquired by Cisco), K2M (acquired by Welsh Carson) and Akarna Therapeutics (acquired by Allergan). Prior to founding NSV, Somu was a Director at McKinsey & Company where he advised leading multinational companies in the pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, photonics, software and semiconductor industries. At McKinsey, Somu was leader of the Strategy Practice, the Technology Practice, the Biotechnology Group, and the Healthcare Practice. He also served on the firm’s Investment Committee and led its Equity Portfolio Committee. Somu holds a B.Tech. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
William White, JD
Independent Director
Bill currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Akero Therapeutics, a publicly traded biotechnology company. Prior to joining Akero, Bill spent 18 years as a life-science-focused investment banker. He was most recently Head of US Life Sciences Investment Banking at Deutsche Bank, and previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Prior to his time on Wall Street, Bill was an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell, and a Law Clerk to the Honorable Kimba M. Wood of the Southern District of New York. He holds an AB from Princeton University, MPP from Harvard University, and a JD from Columbia University.
Paul Cremer, MD
Dr. Cremer is an associate professor in the departments of medicine and radiology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He serves as the director of multimodality cardiac imaging and the associate director of the clinical trials unit at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in molecular biology from Princeton University, his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and a masters degree in clinical science from Case Western Reserve University. Following completion of his internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, he continued his postdoctoral training with a 3-year fellowship in cardiovascular medicine and a subsequent 2-year fellowship in advanced cardiovascular imaging, both at the Cleveland Clinic. His clinical and research interests include multimodality cardiovascular imaging and auto-inflammatory cardiovascular disease. He has led multiple randomized clinical trials as well as cardiovascular core imaging lab studies, and is a senior associate editor for Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging.
Ted Dawson, MD, PhD
Dr. Dawson is the Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Professor in Neurodegenerative Diseases and Director of the Institute for Cell Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Dawson’s laboratory focuses on neurodegenerative diseases. His laboratory has made important discoveries on how neurons die in genetic and sporadic models of Parkinson’s disease (PD). He is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Dawson’s discoveries are enabling clinical strategies for disease modifying therapies for PD and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Don Frail, PhD
Don has extensive experience in preclinical drug discovery and early clinical development. He is currently CEO of Alceptor Therapeutics, a Senior Advisor at Frazier Healthcare Partners, and sits on the board of Iolyx Therapeutics. He also sat on the board of directors of Pandion Therapeutics, which was acquired by Merck in 2021. Don spent over 30 years in drug discovery research and development at Allergan, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Pharmacia, Wyeth and Abbott. Most recently, Don was a Senior Vice President in R&D at Allergan where he led an organization responsible for research and preclinical functions, clinical pharmacology, and the scientific arm of business development, while also co-leading the governance of the pre-POC clinical development portfolio.
Don has been involved in the entry of over 25 compounds into clinical development across multiple therapeutic areas. Don has also been involved in more than 25 business development deals since 2015, including sizeable compound and company acquisitions, licensing partnerships, option deals, build to buys, and outlicenses. He created unique drug repositioning units at AstraZeneca and Pfizer, and groundbreaking partnership models for drug development with the National Institutes of Health and the Medical Research Council UK.
Don received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec a B.S. in Biology and Mathematics from SUNY at Stony Brook, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Pharmacology and Neuroscience at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. He has published over 70 peer reviewed articles and patents.
Vipul Jairath, MBCHB, DPHIL, FRCP, FRCPC
Dr. Vipul Jairath is a Gastroenterologist and Professor of Medicine in the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry and holds the John and Susan McDonald Endowed Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Clinical Research at Western University, Canada.
Dr Jairath leads the IBD Center at University Hospital (London Health Sciences Center) and is Director of the IBD Clinical Trials Unit, Director of the IBD Fellowship program and Research Chair for the Department of Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry. His research interests are centered around design, conduct and execution of clinical trials, outcome measures and index development and validation for use in clinical trials, including patient reported outcome measures, as well as methodological research in the design and analysis of clinical trials. He has over 500 peer reviewed publications. He has supervised multiple students and research fellows at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Dr. Jairath is principal investigator for multiple randomized controlled trials in IBD including investigator-initiated trials, collaborative trials and industry sponsored trials. He has served on multiple clinical trial steering committees, data monitoring committees and trial management groups.
Alexa Kimball, MD
Alexa is CEO and President of Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a large academic multi-specialty group that includes Harvard Medical School faculty. A Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School, Alexa’s areas of research include psoriasis and hidradenitis suppurativa. She has published over 340 papers, conducted over 150 clinical trials, has extensive experience in drug development and was recognized by Fierce HealthCare with a Women of Influence Award in 2020. Alexa received her MD from the Yale School of Medicine, her MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and her Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and Public and International Affairs from Princeton University.
James G. Krueger, MD, PhD
James is the Director of the Milstein Medical Research Program and D. Martin Carter Professor in Clinical Investigation at Rockefeller University in New York. James’ group at Rockefeller was the first to conduct clinical trials with specific, targeted immune antagonists in psoriasis. Recent focuses of his group include definition of new inflammatory pathways, as well as new types of inflammatory cells in psoriasis lesions that are now being targeted with new biologic drugs. James is certified by the American Board of Dermatology. He earned his PhD in Virology and Cell Biology from the Rockefeller University. He earned an MD from Cornell University Medical College, where he also completed his internship in internal medicine and residency in dermatology.
Mohamed Lamkanfi, PhD
Mo Lamkanfi is Full Professor of Medical Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of Ghent University. He previously served as Director of Innate Immunity at Johnson & Johnson and, before that, led the NOD-like receptor and inflammasome laboratory of the Flanders Institute of Biotechnology (VIB) in Belgium. Mo was the first to identify small molecule inhibitors of the NLRP3 inflammasome. He is widely recognized for his expertise in inflammasome biology, and authored over 180 research publications, book chapters and patents. He earned his MS and PhD from Ghent University and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan Medical School, and at Genentech in South San Francisco.
Martin Pomper, MD, PhD
Martin Pomper is Professor and Chair of Radiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He received undergraduate, graduate (organic chemistry) and medical degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Postgraduate medical training was at Johns Hopkins University, including internship on the Osler Medical Service, residencies in diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine and a fellowship in neuroradiology. His interest is in the development of new imaging and therapeutic agents for cancer, central nervous system disease, and other disorders.
Bruce Sands, MD, MS
Bruce is the Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. After completing a GI fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital, he joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School and served as the Acting Chief of the Gastrointestinal Unit at MGH before moving to Mount Sinai in 2010 as Chief of the Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology. Bruce is widely recognized for his clinical investigations of new therapeutics for the inflammatory bowel diseases and has published over 250 original manuscripts. He was the lead investigator of the landmark studies ACCENT 2, UNIFI and VARSITY, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Bruce received his BA and MD from Boston University, and trained in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
VENTYX BIOSCIENCES, INC.
12790 El Camino Real
Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92130