Steven Gillis, Ph.D., is a Managing Director with ARCH Venture Partners.
Dr. Gillis joined ARCH as a Venture Partner in 2005. He is focused on the evaluation of new life science technologies and the development and growth of ARCH’s biotechnology portfolio companies.
He is a director of Homology Medicines, Inc. (FIXX), Carrick Therapeutics, Nohla Therapeutics, ImmusanT, Pulmatrix, Inc. (PULM), Codiak Biosciences, Inc., Faraday Pharmaceuticals, Just. Biotherapeutics, ImmusanT, and Accelerator. He serves as director and Chairman of eGenesis, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals, OncoResponse, Lycera, and VBI Vaccines (VBIV). Dr. Gillis was a founder and director of Corixa Corp. and served as CEO from its inception and as its Chairman from 1999 until its acquisition in 2005 by GlaxoSmithKline. Prior to Corixa, Dr. Gillis was a founder and director of Immunex Corp., the most successful venture-funded biotech company in the state of Washington. From 1981 until his departure in 1994, he served as Immunex’s Director of Research and Development, Chief Scientific Officer, and as CEO of Immunex’s R&D subsidiary. Dr. Gillis was interim CEO of Immunex Corp. following its majority purchase by American Cyanamid Co. and remained a member of the board until 1997. Amgen, Inc. acquired Immunex in 2002.
Dr. Gillis is an immunologist by training with over 300 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of molecular and tumor immunology. He is credited as being a pioneer in the field of cytokines and cytokine receptors, directing the development of multiple marketed products including Leukine, (GM-CSF), Prokine (IL-2) and Enbrel (soluble TNF receptor-Fc fusion protein) as well as the regulatory approval of Bexxar (radiolabeled anti-CD20). Dr. Gillis received a B.A. from Williams College and a Ph.D. from Dartmouth College.
Colin Goddard, Ph.D., currently serves as executive chairman and chief executive officer of Coferon, chairman of Mission Therapeutics and is a director of biopharmaceutical companies Endocyte (NASDAQ: ECYT), Azelon Pharmaceuticals and PanOptica. Previously, he served as CEO of OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from 1998 until its $4 billion acquisition by Astellas in 2010.
Dr. Goddard is actively involved in organizations that promote the advancement of cancer therapeutics and the biotechnology industry. He has served on the Boards of the New York Biotechnology Association (Chairman 2000-2002), Cancer Care of Long Island and is a member of the American Association of Cancer Research.
Dr. Goddard received a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of York, in York, United Kingdom and a Ph.D. in cancer pharmacology from Aston University in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Dr. Jacobs is an experienced executive in drug development with expertise in several indications and over 30 years’ experience in Biotechnology/Pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Jacobs has achieved regulatory success in several product approvals and is currently President and Chief Medical Officer of Achieve Life Sciences. Prior to joining Achieve Life Sciences in 2017, Dr. Jacobs served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. since August 2008, and had been Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of OncoGenex Technologies Inc. from September 2005 to August 2008. From 1999 to July 2005, Dr. Jacobs served as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, Clinical Development of Corixa Corporation.
Prior to 1999, Dr. Jacobs held Vice President, Clinical Research positions at two other biopharmaceutical companies. Dr. Jacobs received her Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from Montana State University, her Master’s degree and Ph.D. degree in Veterinary Pathology/Microbiology from Washington State University and an M.D. degree from the University of Washington Medical School. She has in-depth biotechnology experience in preclinical development, pharmacokinetic/drug metabolism studies, toxicology studies, clinical operations, Phase 1-4 trials in a variety of therapeutic areas, regulatory affairs, biostatistics, data management, medical information and quality assurance. Based on her preclinical work at Immunex Corporation, she is one of 2 inventors on the patent for Enbrel.
Jim Sullivan, PhD., is a Venture Partner with Orbimed and CEO of Vanqua Bio. Prior to joining Orbimed, he was the Vice President of Research at AbbVie where he was responsible for AbbVie’s research efforts in a variety of therapeutic/disease areas including oncology, immunology, neurology, hepatitis C and cystic fibrosis.
Jim has advanced more than 100 compounds into clinical development across a number of disease states and technology platforms. These include recently launched combination products for HCV (Mavyret and Viekira), the-first-in-class Bcl2 selective inhibitor, Venclexta, and multiple compounds currently in Phase II or III clinical trials. He has authored/co-authored more than 130 scientific publications and is an inventor on 11 patents. Jim is an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University and serves on the board of a number of companies and foundations including Regis Technologies, MATTER Healthcare Incubator, Chicago Biotechnology Accelerator, Pistoia Alliance and C2ST. He earned his bachelor’s degree and PhD. in biochemistry from Trinity College Dublin and conducted post-doctoral research in neurobiology at Northwestern University.
Ari Nowacek, M.D, Ph.D., is a Partner with ARCH Venture Partners. Dr. Nowacek focuses on identifying/evaluating new life science technologies, forming new companies, and provides operational assistance to early-stage portfolio companies. Dr. Nowacek is a physician-scientist by training with publications in the areas of neuroscience, virology, and antiretroviral therapeutic development. His research has led to 3 issued and 2 pending patents for therapeutic and R&D applications.
Ari holds a B.S. in Biology and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Indiana-Bloomington where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He also holds an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and an M.B.A. from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He subsequently completed a medical residency in pathology and post-doctoral research at The University of Chicago, Harvard Medical Schools and Massachusetts General Hospital.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Jonathan Lanfear, is an accomplished biopharmaceutical executive with more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry and has demonstrated distinct success in creating and driving strategies, building and developing teams, establishing R&D partnerships, and creating new business opportunities. Prior to joining HiberCell, Jonathan was a Principal at Lanfear Advisors LLC, where he provided Corporate Strategy and Operations consultancy services to public and private sector biotech and bio/pharmaceutical companies. Prior to establishing his consulting practice in 2020, he was the Global Head of R&D Business Development at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, based in Cambridge, MA.
Before joining Takeda, Jonathan spent approximately eight years at Pfizer Inc as a Senior Director and Transactions Lead in the Worldwide Business Development, Strategy, & Innovation (WWBDS&I) organization based in New York. His prior roles also include Biotechnology Equity Research at AG Edwards/Wachovia and Team Leader, GMP Operations and Downstream Processing at Searle/Pharmacia (prior to the company’s acquisition by Pfizer). Over his career, Jonathan has led hundreds of transactions of all types, integrated acquired entities, lead operations, and managed strategic alliances/partnerships. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Bioengineering, both from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), along with an MBA from Washington University (St. Louis).