| Name | Title | Contact Details |
|---|
Kezar co-founder Christopher Kirk, Ph.D. began his work on the unique function of the immunoproteasome at Proteolix in 2005, while working on the compound that would become the successful multiple myeloma drug KYPROLIS™ (carfilzomib). As VP of Research at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, which acquired Proteolix in 2009, Christopher led the efforts to develop the first selective inhibitors of the immunoproteasome and designed multiple studies demonstrating their profound immunomodulatory effects. In parallel with this work, Christopher and Kezar co-founder Jack Taunton, Ph.D. collaborated on several research projects involving protein secretion. This collaboration inspired a belief in the strong synergies between protein degradation and protein secretion, two fertile areas for drug discovery with platform potential. In 2014, Christopher and Kezar co-founder John Fowler began developing the business plan for Kezar, acting on a longstanding desire to work together and build a world-class company. In 2015, John and Christopher raised $23M and negotiated a worldwide, exclusive license agreement with Amgen for the Onyx immunoproteasome inhibitor patent estate. Now underway, John and Christopher are excited to leverage their complementary skill sets to build Kezar into a leader in small molecule drug development.
GeneSage is a San Francisco, CA-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.
HealthSource Solutions is a Hopkins, MN-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.
ALSP Inc. (American Life Science Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), is a privately held company based in San Diego, California, developing new small molecule drugs for treating neurodegenerative disease initially focused on traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer`s disease. Our approach is to identify key enzymes in the brain, called proteases, which produce biologically active peptides, proteins or processes that are thought to underlie the disease. We then use those enzymes as targets for screening compounds that inhibit these proteases and thereby prevent the harmful effect caused by these peptides, proteins and processes to treat the disease. By using this innovative process, our goal is to create and advance highly-effective drug development strategies and products for treating not only traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer`s disease, but other Neurodegenerative Conditions such as Huntington`s disease, Parkinson`s disease and MS, and recover quality of life for those patients and their families.
Pharmathen is a Hammond, LA-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.