AULOS - Key Persons
Anna Batarina is a partner at ATP and a leader in international business, capital markets, corporate finance and strategy. Anna joined ATP in 2016 from Braeburn, an ATP portfolio company, where she served as vice president of strategic development. Before Braeburn, she was a member of the strategy team at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Prior to that, Anna was senior vice president and head of capital markets and investor relations at Uralkali, a leading global agrochemical business, where she led one of the most successful IPOs on the London Stock Exchange.
Anna received an M.A. in Global Affairs (Global Health track) and a graduate certificate in Global Health, Public Health from Yale University. She holds an M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Lomonosov Moscow State University, a B.S. in Finance from Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, and a CFA charter.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- President
Aron Knickerbocker is president and chief executive officer of Aulos and is a member of the board of directors. Prior to Aulos, he was chairman, chief executive officer and co-founder of RayzeBio, a targeted radiopharmaceutical company. Previously, Mr. Knickerbocker held a variety of executive positions during 10 years at Five Prime Therapeutics, most recently as president and chief executive officer. In this role, he was responsible for licensing bemarituzumab into Five Prime, prioritizing it in the portfolio and driving its advancement into late-stage development as a first-line treatment for advanced gastric cancer, leading to Five Prime's acquisition by Amgen. Mr. Knickerbocker also significantly expanded the clinical pipeline, established multiple transformational strategic alliances and was instrumental in taking the company public. Before Five Prime, he worked at Genentech for more than eight years as head of oncology business development. While there, he orchestrated many key collaborations, including those that led to the marketed products Venclexta®, Cotellic® and Erivedge®. Prior to Genentech, Mr. Knickerbocker worked in commercial development at ALZA (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), corporate development at Amgen and research at Bristol Myers Squibb. He serves as chairman of the board of KAHR Medical Ltd. and is also a member of the board of Phenomic AI.
Mr. Knickerbocker received an A.B. with honors in Biology from Washington University in St. Louis and an MBA with distinction from the University of Michigan.
Dr. Jim Vasselli is chief medical officer of Aulos and brings extensive knowledge and proficiency gained through more than 25 years leading oncology research and development projects across a broad array of tumor types and therapeutic modalities. Most recently, Dr. Vasselli served as senior vice president of clinical development at Maverick Therapeutics (now Takeda), where he progressed a conditionally active CD3 x EGFR bispecific molecule from preclinical studies to a first-in-human clinical trial. Prior to Maverick, Dr. Vasselli served as vice president of clinical research at MacroGenics, developing clinical strategy and overseeing execution of Phase I and 2 studies for multiple immuno-oncology assets, including CD3-engaging bispecifics, monoclonal antibodies and antibody drug conjugate compounds. He also spent nine years at AstraZeneca/MedImmune leading early clinical development of the anti-PD-L1 drug durvalumab and pivotal trials of the kinase inhibitor vandetanib. Dr. Vasselli began his career in academic research with 10 years at the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, in a surgical oncology fellowship evaluating IL-2 in patients with kidney cancer and melanoma and as a Basic Science Research Fellow in the NCI Urology Branch.
Job Titles:
- Member of the American College of Physicians
Dr. Mace Rothenberg has more than three decades of experience in medical oncology, academic research and biopharmaceutical industry leadership. He served as chief medical officer of Pfizer from 2019 to 2021 and before that led Pfizer's oncology development organization for 10 years. During that time, his organization at Pfizer developed and obtained regulatory approvals for 11 new cancer medicines, including Ibrance® (palbociclib), the first CDK 4/6 inhibitor for patients with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer, and Xalkori® (crizotinib), the first targeted medicine developed for patients with ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer. Before joining Pfizer, Dr. Rothenberg served on the faculties of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio. He has received numerous awards recognizing his accomplishments in oncology research and development and his years of service to cancer patients, including the American Cancer Society's Lane W. Adams Quality of Life Award and the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Statesman Award.
Dr. Rothenberg is a member of the American College of Physicians and the American Society of Clinical Oncology and is board-certified in internal medicine and medical oncology. He currently also serves on the board of Tango Therapeutics. Dr. Rothenberg received an M.D. from New York University School of Medicine, followed by a residency in internal medicine at Vanderbilt University and a fellowship in medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Chief Scientific Officer
- Venture Partner
Dr. Michael Ehlers is chief scientific officer and a venture partner at ATP, applying expertise gained through a successful career leading research and development at major biopharmaceutical companies. As executive vice president for research and development at Biogen, he led discovery sciences, translational medicine, clinical development and regulatory sciences, with a focus on neurological, immunological and rare diseases. He significantly expanded and diversified Biogen's clinical portfolio, transformed its research and development productivity, advanced more than 20 novel clinical candidates, and oversaw global filings and approvals of Spinraza™️ (nusinersin), the first drug approved for spinal muscular atrophy. Prior to Biogen, Dr. Ehlers was biotherapeutics group senior vice president and neuroscience chief scientific officer at Pfizer, where he created and advanced the neuroscience and rare disease portfolios; directed global development activities in biologics design, synthesis and manufacturing; steered academic collaborations focused on immunology and oncology; and successfully brought 22 compounds into the clinic. Before entering industry in 2010, Dr. Ehlers was a professor and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Duke University Medical Center, where he pioneered studies on neuronal organelles and the trafficking of neurotransmitter receptors. He has authored more than 100 scientific papers and served on multiple editorial boards as well as advisory boards for the National Institutes of Health, private foundations and other organizations spanning industry, academia and government.
Dr. Ehlers received a B.S. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and holds an M.D. and Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Scientist and Physician, and Co - Founder of Biotechnology Companies Prilenia
Dr. Michael Hayden is an accomplished scientist and physician, and co-founder of biotechnology companies Prilenia, NeuroVir Therapeutics, Xenon Pharmaceuticals, Aspreva Pharmaceuticals and 89bio. As president of global research and development and chief scientific officer at Teva, he led development and approval of approximately 35 new products in major markets. Dr. Hayden has been named one of the 50 Canadians born in the 20th century who have changed the world, for his research identifying 10 disease-causing genes, including the major gene underlying high-density lipoprotein. Dr. Hayden also identified the first mutations underlying lipoprotein lipase deficiency and developed gene therapy approaches to treat this condition, resulting in the first approved gene therapy product (Glybera®) in a major market. For his outstanding contributions and leadership in medicine and medical science, Dr. Hayden has been inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and awarded the Diamond Jubilee Medal by HRH Queen Elizabeth II, the Order of Canada, the Prix Galien, the Canada Gairdner Wightman Award and the Margolese National Brain Disorders Prize. He has authored approximately 900 peer-reviewed publications and invited submissions, and currently serves on the boards of multiple biotechnology companies, including Ionis and AbCellera. Additionally, he chairs the scientific advisory board of Camp4 Therapeutics.
Dr. Hayden received Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees and a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He also holds honorary doctorates of science from the University of Alberta and University of Gottingen. He is a Killam professor at the University of British Columbia.
Job Titles:
- Founder and Managing Partner at ATP
Dr. Seth Harrison is founder and managing partner at ATP. He began investing in life sciences in 1991 as a venture partner at Sevin Rosen Funds and went on to be a general partner at Oak Investment Partners before starting ATP in 1999. Some of his earlier investments include Aileron Therapeutics, Akero Therapeutics, ArQule, Coelacanth, Corvidia Therapeutics, Cyrano Sciences, Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, HeartWare International, Informed Access, SGX Pharmaceuticals, Stoke Therapeutics, Syntimmune, Tendyne, Ultracision and ViroPharma. Dr. Harrison currently serves on the boards of Akero Therapeutics and Stoke Therapeutics as well as the 15 portfolio companies created within ATP V, ATP's current fund, to date. From 2002 to 2010, he was a member of the board of the International Partnership for Microbicides, a nonprofit product development partnership focused on women's health and HIV prevention.
Dr. Harrison received an A.B. from Princeton University and holds an M.D. and MBA from Columbia University. He completed a surgery internship at the Presbyterian Hospital in the City of New York.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Head
- Senior Vice President
- Senior Vice President and Head of Early Development
Dr. Tim Wyant is co-founder of Aulos and senior vice president and head of early development. He has over 20 years of biotech and pharmaceutical experience focusing on translational research bringing drugs from preclinical studies into the clinic. Previously, Dr. Wyant served as vice president of immunology at Abpro and senior director of immunology at Curis, where he led the advancement of lead drug candidates into the clinic. He also spent 14 years at Millennium Pharmaceuticals/Takeda, where he led the translational strategy for multiple antibody and small molecule drugs, overseeing pre-Investigational New Drug activities and first-in-human studies through regulatory filings and approval. Dr. Wyant was the translational lead for Entyvio® (vedolizumab) for its worldwide approvals and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency approval lead for Adcetris® (brentuximab vedotin), an antibody drug conjugate oncology therapeutic jointly developed by Millennium/Takeda and Seattle Genetics (now Seagen).
Dr. Wyant received a B.S. in Biology from Arizona State University and a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Arizona. He trained as a postdoctoral fellow in vaccines at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Chief Scientific Officer
- Co - Founder
Dr. Yanay Ofran is co-founder and chief scientific officer of Aulos and chief executive officer of Biolojic Design. A computational biophysicist and biotech entrepreneur, his scientific work focuses on the application of artificial intelligence and computational biology to the study of genomes, diseases and drugs. As founder of Biolojic Design, Dr. Ofran developed the company's proprietary artificial intelligence discovery platform to predict and design the interactions between antibodies and proteins. He is also co-founder and chairman of Ukko, a venture capital-backed biotech company that designs healthy and safe proteins for the food and agricultural sectors.
Job Titles:
- Head of Clinical Operations
Jenny Tang is head of clinical operations at Aulos. She has over 10 years of clinical research and operations experience focusing on early phase development of immuno-oncology trials from the sponsor and investigational site perspective. Ms. Tang joined Aulos from Maverick Therapeutics (now Takeda) where she served as head of clinical operations and led efforts to advance a conditionally active bispecific molecule to a first-in-human clinical trial. Prior to that, she held various operational positions at Macrogenics and Genentech, where she supported early and late phase programs for monoclonal antibodies, small molecule inhibitors and CD-3 engaging bispecifics. She also has investigational site experience running clinical trials at University of California, San Francisco, in the Early Phase Unit and holding research positions at University of California, Los Angeles, investigating antibody drug conjugates.
Ms. Tang received a B.S. and M.S. in Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Financial Officer of Aulos and Brings
Leo Redmond is chief financial officer of Aulos and brings to the company nearly three decades of financial experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Aulos, he was chief financial officer for Allakos, a publicly-held antibody therapeutics company. Previously, he served for 11 years as president, chief financial officer and secretary of Presidio Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Redmond also spent nearly 16 years at Genentech, where he held senior leadership positions, including senior director of finance, and served as chief financial officer and secretary for the Foundation of Biomedical Sciences. Earlier in his career, he held various financial roles at the GTE Corporation. Mr. Redmond has served as a member of Presidio Pharmaceuticals' board of directors since 2011.
Mr. Redmond earned a B.S. in Accounting and Business Administration from the University of Kansas and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Co - Founder
Micah Pearlman is co-founder and chief operating officer of Aulos. He has been a senior business and finance executive driving growth and value for over a decade. Since 2018, Mr. Pearlman has served as chief operating officer at Biolojic Design, overseeing business development and financing activities with leading pharma, biotech and venture capital firms. Prior to joining Biolojic, Mr. Pearlman was director of strategy and transformation at Teva Pharmaceuticals. In this capacity, he played a key role in forming Teva's overall specialty medicine strategy, prioritizing its pipeline and shaping the company's research and development initiatives. Mr. Pearlman began his career as an economist in the ministry of finance in Israel, where he served as head of the higher education and innovative industry sectors. In this capacity, he co-founded the Israel Innovation Authority, spearheaded tax incentive legislation for angel investors, and led negotiations with public and private entities. He regularly represented the minister of finance in Israel's parliamentary and government meetings and served on investment committees and boards of several binational funds.
Mr. Pearlman earned a B.A. with honors in Economics, Philosophy and Political Science and an M.A. in Public Policy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Raj Chopra is head of oncology and a venture partner at ATP. At The Institute of Cancer Research in London, as director of the Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit, he led one of the largest academic drug discovery groups in the world and focused on targeted protein degradation and complex 3D cell culture models. Dr. Chopra also worked at Celgene as corporate vice president of translational and early drug development, leading an international team of more than 100 scientists. Before joining Celgene, he held leadership positions in AstraZeneca's oncology therapeutics group in the U.K. and U.S. Dr. Chopra began his academic career as the director of hematological oncology at Christie Hospital and was group leader at the Paterson Institute of Cancer Research, both located in Manchester, U.K. He was a non-executive director of Artios Pharma, established to develop a next-generation DNA damage response target pipeline of cancer therapeutics, and co-founder of Monté Rosa Therapeutics, a biotech focused on targeted protein degradation.
Dr. Chopra trained in medicine at University College London, where he received a Ph.D. in medicine, cell and molecular biology. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London, the Royal College of Pathologists and the Royal Society of Biology.