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).
Dr. Antonio Fortes serves as Chief Financial Officer and a board member of Antharis Therapeutics where he collaborates with the strategic positioning and growth of the company. He has over 20 years of experience in financial markets and is passionate about finding innovative solutions for unmet medical needs and improving the lives of patients suffering from catastrophic diseases.
Dr. Fortes started his career as a researcher at the University of Minnesota and then moved into the financial services industry, where he worked as a partner and senior portfolio manager in several of the world's premier hedge funds, including as Millennium, Citadel and Exoduspoint. In 2020 he founded Cassyni Biopharma, a biotech company that developed biotherapies against infectious and inflammatory diseases, where he served as its Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Fortes oversaw the successful acquisition and merger of Cassyni Biopharma with Antharis Therapeutics in mid-2022. He is involved in various biotech ventures as an advisor, investor and board member.
Dr. Fortes holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and an MBA in Finance (both from Univ. Minnesota; USA).
Mr. Daniel Yazbeck joined the board of directors of Antharis in 2022 after the successful close of its Series A round. He joined the company full time in 2024 as its head of corporate strategy to help accelerate the advancement of its lead assets into the clinic and to help secure commercial partners.
In his capacity at Antharis, he is responsible for the company’s operations and works closely with the members of the leadership team to manage the daily planning and execution of the science and business strategy of the company.
Prior to joining Antharis, Daniel was the Chairman & CEO of MyDx, a diagnostics company that he founded and took public. Prior to this, he spent nearly a decade as a director of new product, market and business development for the healthcare divisions of Panasonic. He started his career as a scientist involved in the development of commercial drug 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 majored in Biochemistry and minored Marketing, and earned his Master’s 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.
Jim (Jinming) Xia, Ph.D., is the Chief Scientific Officer 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)
Ying Buechler, Ph.D., is an accomplished CMC leader. She has been responsible for strategy and execution of biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing, and responsible for building and leading the CMC team. Ying has over 30 years of biopharmaceutical/biotech industrial experience in protein-based therapeutics development and manufacturing. She was the Chief Technology Officer of Ambrx, where for 6+ years she was responsible for developing and implementing CMC and supply chain strategies from IND-enabling to all phases of clinical development and commercialization, with the focus on developing best-in-class/first-in-class antibody-drug conjugates. She was also responsible for technical development of Ambrx technologies and processes. Before rejoining Ambrx in August 2018, she was Executive Director of Biologics Development and Manufacturing at aTyr Pharma, where she led the team comprising upstream and downstream process development, analytical and formulation development functions for 7+ years, successfully executed process development and manufacturing activities for multiple clinical programs. She was with Ambrx during the first 7-years of Ambrx, served as director of process development and characterization and project leader of Ambrx’s first program, leading the advancement of a new molecule to clinical development while maturing the novel Ambrx technology. Ying earned her Ph.D. and M.S. in Chemistry from University of California, San Diego, and B.S. in Chemistry from Peking University in Beijing, China.
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Dr. Paul Frohna is a physician-scientist with over 20 years of leadership in clinical development and translational medicine, spanning oncology, immunology, neurodegeneration, fibrosis, and infectious diseases. As consulting CMO at Antharis Therapeutics, he brings deep scientific expertise and a commitment to advancing innovative therapies.
He has held senior roles at biotech companies such as Endeavor BioMedicines, ImCheck Therapeutics, Bioniz Therapeutics, and Receptos. Over his career, he has led more than 50 clinical trials (Phases I–III), supported global regulatory filings, and contributed to successful fundraising and acquisition efforts. His development experience includes monoclonal antibodies, ADCs, and small molecules.
Dr. Frohna is recognized for his strategic insight, collaborative leadership, and ability to guide programs from early discovery through late-stage development. He has worked with regulatory agencies worldwide and led cross-functional teams across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
He holds a Medical Degree from Georgetown University, a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Pharmacy Degree with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin. He also completed clinical research training at UCSF and earned his Internal Medicine Certificate at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin, Texas.
