STROMATIS PHARMA WAS LAUNCHED OUT OF COLLECTIVE EXPERTISE AND A DESIRE TO CHANGE THE CANCER TREATMENT LANDSCAPE

STROMATIS PHARMA WAS LAUNCHED OUT OF COLLECTIVE EXPERTISE AND A DESIRE TO CHANGE THE CANCER TREATMENT LANDSCAPE

OUR STORY

Stromatis Pharma began as a partnership between a diverse team of clinicians and scientists who allied in the struggle against difficult-to-treat cancers. After nearly a decade of collaboration, Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, Dr. James Michael Pierce, Dr. Cohava Gelber, Dr. Haiyong Han, and Mr. Guy Yachin decided it was time to formalize their collaboration and officially join forces in commercial antibody development. Their collective efforts, along with that of key collaborators and a dedicated research team, have made Stromatis Pharma what it is today: a company developing life-changing, highly-targeted therapeutics for cancer treatment.

Management and Board

Cohava Gelber, PhD, MBA
Co-Chairperson, Founder
Dr. Gelber currently serves as CEO and Executive Chairperson of Serpin Pharma, which she founded in 2011. She has previously held executive positions in multiple biopharmaceutical companies, including ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corporation, Molecular Discoveries, MannKind, and ATCC. She earned her PhD at the Weizmann Institute, completed her postdoctoral research at Stanford University, and her MBA at Cornell University.
Guy Yachin, MBA
Co-Chairperson, Founder
Mr. Yachin currently serves as Executive Chairman of Xerient Pharma. He is a founder and chairperson of multiple biomedical companies, including Chiasma, Enzymotec, MGVS, Remon and Nanopass. Mr. Yachin is an active board member of multiple companies including Serpin Pharma, Exxel Pharma, Orgenesis (ORGS), Enzymotec (ENZY) and Remon Medica. He earned his Bachelor of Science and MBA from Technion Israeli Institute of Technology.
Sujuan Ba, PhD
Board Member
Dr. Sujuan Ba currently serves as President and CEO of the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR). She is the CEO and Co-Founder of the AIM-HI Accelerator Fund, and the Founder and CEO of the Asian Fund for Cancer Research. In addition, Dr. Ba co-founded and serves as a founding board member of the Global Coalition for Adaptive Research (GCAR), the organizing body leading the global implementation of GBM AGILE, a groundbreaking adaptive clinical trial initiative designed to produce new and better treatments for glioblastoma multiforme, a fatal brain cancer. Dr. Ba led the establishment of NFCR’s annual Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research, an international prize in recognition of outstanding scientific achievement in the war against cancer. She was named as one of the “Top 300 Women Leaders in Global Health” in 2015 by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies’ Global Health Programme. She was also awarded as one of the “20 Most Inspiring Women Leaders 2022” by The Women Leaders Magazine.
Chih-Kao Hu, PhD, MBA
Board Member
Chih-Kao is the founder of Qral Group, a life-sciences management consulting firm that helps pre-commercial companies build commercial strategy and operations, with a focus on specialty therapeutics and rare diseases. Chih-Kao and his team have recently helped with the successful launches of dozens of novel pharma products, including some of the first to market gene and cell therapy products.

Prior to his consulting career, Chih-Kao conducted a significant amount of scientific research for EGF-like peptides with Nycomed Pharma AS. His work’s fundamental concept led to the discovery of the anticoagulant Angiomax (bivalirudin). In addition, Chih-Kao worked on evaluating the pharmacokinetic properties of the anti-fibrinolytic protein, Retavase (BM06.022, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator). Chih-Kao is an experienced biotech professional working for over 30 years with top pharmaceutical and biotech companies across more than 50 countries. He received an MBA from Tepper Business School and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University.
Walter Olesiak, MBA
Board Member
Mr. Olesiak has over 28 years’ experience in business development, healthcare consulting and venture investment. He has spent 12 years in venture investments with Mitsui Ventures, during which time he held positions as a board member or observer in 10 portfolio companies. Prior to Mitsui, Walter spent 6 years with Cambridge Pharma Consultancy (an IMS Health company) advising on global pharmaceutical pricing, reimbursement and market access issues to leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Prior to Cambridge, Walter spent 8 years in Tokyo in various roles with Genzyme Japan and SRL, Inc. Walter holds a AB in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University and MBA from Cornell University.

Scientific Advisors

Daniel Von Hoff, MD
Physician-in-Chief, Distinguished prof. Translational Genomics Research Institute; Prof., Mayo Clinic; Chief Scientific Officer of HonorHealth and US Oncology; Led clinical trials for > than 400 agents; (gemcitabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, topotecan, irinotecan, mitoxantrone, nab-paclitaxel, vismodegib and nanoliposomal irinotecan); past positions- FDA’s Oncology Drug Advisory Committee, President Bush’s National Cancer Advisory Board; past president of the AACR; founded and co-founded multiple companies including ILEX Oncology (acquired by Genzyme Corp). MD from Columbia University.
James Michael Pierce, PhD
Mudter Professor in Cancer Research, Director of University of Georgia Cancer Center, University of Georgia. World-renowned expert in carbohydrate research; co-Chair of the Alliance for Glycobiologists for Cancer Detection; the Cancer Biology Chair of the Consortium for Functional Glycomics; Past president of Society for Glycobiology; PhD from Johns Hopkins University
Haiyong Han, PhD
Professor, Molecular Medicine Division, Translational Genomics Research Inst. Over 17 years in cancer drug development; target-based cancer drug discovery lead validation and optimization, and preclinical evaluation and development; member of Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Arizona PhD from University of Texas at Austin
Avery Posey, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. 10 years of expertise in cancer immunotherapy and CAR-T cell development with specific focus on targeting alternatively glycosylated antigens.
Hector Alila, DMV, PhD
Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of Esperance Pharmaceutical Inc. Biopharmaceutical industry veteran with over 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical industry and academia. Experience with drug development for cancer, inflammation, cardiovascular diseases and autoimmune diseases. Held senior management positions in SmithKline Beecham, GeneMedicine, Cell Pathways and Protalex, Inc.
Raju Kucherlapati, PhD
Professor, Harvard & Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Kucherlapati is a renowned leader in the field of human genomics. He was the first Scientific Director of the Harvard Medical School-Partners Healthcare Center for Genetics and Genomics where his research focused on gene mapping, gene modification, and cloning disease genes. He has chaired numerous NIH committees and served on the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research and the NCI Mouse Models for Human Cancer Consortium. He is also a member of the Cancer Genome Atlas project of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Kucherlapati received his B.S. and M.A. in Biology from universities in India, and he received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana, as well as conducting post-doctoral work at Yale University. Dr. Kucherlapati is also a founder of several biotechnology companies including Cell Genesys, Abgenix (acquired by AMGEN), and Millennium (acquired by Takeda). He serves on the Boards of several privately-held biotechnology companies and is a Board member of a publicly-traded company called Puretech Health. He has been active in promoting Precision Medicine in China and is the co-Chair of the International Cancer Precision Medicine Conference that just held its fourth annual meeting in Chongqing.