Dr. Raphael Ribeiro-Pinaud founded Antharis Therapeutics in 2020 where he serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Board of Directors. His expertise in the biotech/biopharma sector resides at the intersection of science, regulatory affairs, finance and business management.
During his tenure at Antharis, the company has been utilizing cutting-edge scientific approaches to build a one-of-a-kind portfolio of therapeutically-efficacious monoclonal antibodies directed at devastating diseases, including multiple cancer types. Dr. Ribeiro-Pinaud led the successful M&A of Antharis and Cassyni Biopharma in one of the largest pre-clinical private transactions in the USA in the first half of 2022. Since the completion of this transaction, Antharis has grown significantly, more than doubled its portfolio of assets and expanded its strategic interests into other disease domains. In mid-2023, Dr. Ribeiro-Pinaud also led Antharis through the successfully acquisition of Galileo Biotech, a move that brought GMP capacity, cost savings, enhanced productivity, in-vitro diagnostics capabilities, and further strategic advantages to Antharis. This M&A also officially turned Antharis into a multi-national company and moved it one step closer to the clinic.
Prior to founding Antharis, Dr. Ribeiro-Pinaud was the founder, President and CEO of GB, an in-vitro diagnostics company with offices in the USA and Brazil. Under his leadership, the company became the first GMP-certified facility in Latin America authorized to develop, locally produce and commercialize immunochemical diagnostic kits for the human health, agrivet and food safety markets.
Dr. Ribeiro-Pinaud was also a partner of Leste Global Investments, where he ran an event-driven portfolio of global biotech/pharma equities and derivatives for the company’s hedge fund. In the Leste Group, he was also responsible for venture capital and private equity investments in the healthcare and biotech sectors. Prior to moving into financial markets and business management, Dr. Ribeiro-Pinaud was an academic scientist and Professor, as well as an invited expert for multiple governmental agencies in the US and abroad. Dr. Ribeiro-Pinaud obtained a Ph.D. degree in Neuroscience (OHSU; USA), carried out Post-Doctoral training in Bioengineering/Proteomics (Duke; USA), earned an MBA in Economics and Strategic Business Management (FGV; Brazil), and is a graduate of the Finance Leadership program (Harvard; USA).
Mr. Yazbeck, in his capacity, advises and reports to Dr. Ribeiro-Pinaud regarding corporate strategy, business development, administrative and commercial efforts of the company. In addition, he plans, executes and provides oversight to corporate strategic projects of high relevance.
Prior to joining Antharis as its head of corporate strategy, Daniel was the Founder and CEO of MyDx, a diagnostics company that he took public. Prior to this, he spent nearly 15 years as a director of new product, market and business development for the healthcare division of Panasonic as well as a scientist for Pfizer.
His multidisciplinary background has enabled him to build strong teams across multiple departments, executing strategic partnerships with key market players and successfully launching products from concepts to profitable businesses.
Mr. Yazbeck earned both his B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Marketing, and his M.Sc. in Medicinal Chemistry, from McGill University in Canada.
Patric Nelson, MBA, joined Antharis from Viracta, where he served as Senior Vice President, Business Development and Corporate Strategy. Prior to his time at Viracta, he served as Vice President, Business Development and Alliance Management at Esperion Therapeutics. At Esperion, Mr. Nelson led the company’s global business development strategy, closing over $2 billion in licensing transactions. Furthermore, he created Esperion’s alliance management function, where he led Esperion’s global partnerships with Daiichi Sankyo and Otsuka. Additionally, Mr. Nelson previously held management positions at Amgen, Amylin Pharmaceuticals (acquired by AstraZeneca), Allergan (acquired by Abbvie) and Ionis. During his tenure, he contributed to the development of multiple commercially available therapies such as Byetta®, Symlin®, Restasis®, Tegsedi®, and Repatha®. Mr. Nelson earned his MPH in Public Health from the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine and his MBA with distinction from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.
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Jim (Jinming) Xia, Ph.D., is the Vice President of Scientific Research at Antharis Therapeutics, where he leads a team of talented scientists towards the development of biotherapeutic monoclonal antibodies for oncological and immuno-oncological applications. He has more than 20 years of expertise working on antibodies. In particular, he has extensive experience in antibody generation, antibody characterization, target identification and validation, drug discovery, pre-clinical and clinical development applied to oncology. Dr. Xia also has significant experience working with bispecific antibodies and antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). He has led multiple projects from conception and antibody discovery to lead optimization, and has made key contributions to four clinical stage ADCs.
Before joining Antharis Therapeutics, Dr. Xia was a Principal Scientist at Tanabe Research Labs USA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp, for six years. Prior to this role, he worked for five years as a Senior Scientist at Ambrx Biopharma Inc., a publicly-listed biopharmaceutical company, where he developed therapeutic proteins, bispecific antibodies and ADCs. Dr. Xia obtained his Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Sciences (Peking University Health Sciences Center; China), conducted post-doctoral work in biochemistry (Missouri-Columbia; USA), and was a Research Associate in immunology (Stanford; USA).
Dr. Xia obtained his Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Sciences (Peking University Health Sciences Center; China), conducted post-doctoral work in biochemistry (Missouri-Columbia; USA), and was a Research Associate in immunology (Stanford; USA)
Cass Morrison serves as the Vice President of Operations at Antharis Therapeutics, overseeing the day-to-day functions of the company under the guidance of CEO Dr. Raphael Ribeiro-Pinaud.
Before joining Antharis Therapeutics, Cass Morrison held the position of Senior Manager of Commercial Operations & Business Analysis at G&L Health Advisors for 4 years. In this role, he successfully led the development of KPIs and conducted financial forecasting for the company. Prior to that, he served as the Special Projects General Manager at Symbotic for 4 years, where he played a key role in developing crucial processes and protocols that the company continues to implement today. Additionally, he led several Kaizen events to stabilize the company's initial beta system. Cass Morrison's dedication to the industry is evident through his active membership in esteemed organizations such as the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) and the Drug Information Association (DIA).
Cass Morrison obtained his Business Degree at MiraCosta College and has obtained several certifications, including PMP (Project Management Professional), Scrum Master, and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
