Meet 7 Bay Area Scientists Changing the Face of Biotech
June 9, 2017
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
SAN FRANCISCO – The Bay Area is one of the hotbeds of innovation of the biotech and pharma industries. Researchers are developing therapies targeting numerous ailments, from dermatitis to rare diseases. The San Francisco Business Times highlighted seven research scientists and entrepreneurs who have the potential to make a big splash in the coming years.
1. Leah Makley, Viewpoint Therapeutics
The chief scientific officer at Viewpoint, Makley is focused on developing therapeutics for ophthalmological issues such as cataracts. Viewpoint was spun out of Makley’s Ph.D. research at the University of California at San Francisco. In May, Viewpoint snagged $4 million in Series A financing that will be used to develop crystallin stabilizers to prevent and treat cataracts and presbyopia. Makley told the Times she hopes the technology Viewpoint is developing will reduce or eliminate the need for cataract surgery.
2. Emma Taylor, Naked Biome
Emma Taylor, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Naked Biome, is focused on the development of microbiome-based skin therapeutics. The company is building a drug discovery genomics platform for the treatment of skin disease. On its website the company says its “proprietary approach to skin therapy leverages the power of beneficial bacteria on the skin to eliminate harmful bacteria and restore skin to a healthier state.” Naked Biome has raised about $5 million to advance its platform, the Times said. Naked Biome is creating an acne database to help bolster its research. In addition to acne, the Times said the company is eying treatments for other skin problems like eczema, psoriasis and rosacea.
3. Jose Mejia Oneto, Shasqi
The founder and CEO of Shasqi, Mejia Oneto and his five employees at Shasqi are focused on developing a more efficient way for drugs to be delivered to the body. Shasqi’s technology platform, called “molecular Velcro” is in early development to improve the precision of drug delivery, the Times said. Mejia Oneto, a native of Peru, told the Times that only a small percentage of a drug actually gets to its target, which is inefficient. He said the technology he is developing at Shasqi could increase efficacy of drugs, all while decreasing side effects.
4. Desyree Jesus, Audentes Therapeutics
Bay Area-based gene therapy development-company Audentes is developing gene therapy treatments for X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy. The company went public last year and raised $75 million in its IPO. Jesus, a scientist with Audentes, is using viral vectors to treat rare diseases.
5. Christina Hueschen, UCSF
A Ph.D. candidate at UCSF, Hueschen is conducting research on the mechanics of cell biology. She was the grand prize winner at the university’s Grand Slam competition. Her project focused the cell’s spindle, which is formed “when a cell divides and automatically separates and orders DNA,” the Times said. Hueschen is focused on learning more about how the “tiny parts” of a cell know how to build and form into complex organisms, such as an elephant.
6. Agnes Rafalko, Glycomine
The president and CEO of Glycomine, Rafalko is no stranger to the biotech and pharma worlds. Before Glycomine, she had stints at Pfizer and then at BioMarin Pharmaceutical , where she began to focus on rare disease treatments. She told the Times that about 95 percent of the 7,000 or so known rare disorders do not have therapeutic options. Glycomine is developing drugs that target genetic disorders of protein and lipid glycosylation. In November 2016, the company garnered $12 million in Series A financing, which the company is using to complete IND enabling pre-clinical studies and initiate clinical studies of its substrate replacement therapy in patients with Congenital Disorder of Glycosylation Type Ia (CDG-Ia), and to accelerate discovery efforts towards an enzyme replacement therapy for N-glycanase deficiency (Ngly1).
7. Matt DeSilva, Notable Labs
DeSilva, the founder of Notable Labs, may best be known as an analyst associated with Peter Thiel’s hedge fund. It was while working for Thiel that DeSilva began to look for potential therapies for his father, who was diagnosed with three separate brain tumors. In an effort to help his father, DeSilva partnered with researchers in an attempt to replicate the tumors in order to find approved drugs that could be used in combination to help his dad. Now though, the company is working with oncologists to test tumor samples to generate potential drug combinations, the Times said.