Unlocking Powerful Biology with Multifunctional Biologics
About Us
At Tentarix Biotherapeutics we are bringing powerful biology selectively to cell types that drive therapeutic benefit with multifunctional biologics that are manufacturable.
Powerful biology
Powerful biology, such as that generated by growth factors, cytokines, and morphogens, can activate a cell, change the fate of a cell, make a cell proliferate, and even extend the life of a cell. However, since this type of activity is rarely cell type specific, if administered systemically this activity not only impact cells that drive therapeutic benefit but also other cells that severely limit these benefits.
Multifunctional biologics
Most powerful biology works through combinations of two or more cell surface receptors, engaged in concert to activate a pathway. The Tentarix multifunctional biologics selectively bind to these cell surface receptors along with other cell surface proteins, specific to the cell type of interest, so that only when targeted cell surface binding conditions are met is the pathway activated.
This targeted, conditional activity allows Tentarix to harness powerful biology and direct it to the cell type that drives therapeutic benefit. This requires the screening of millions of molecules and a platform based on cell surface proteomics (CellSurf), binder generation (HuTARG), and combinatorial assembly and identification of multifunctional biologics (FunctionSeq).
Manufacturable
Molecules that drive powerful biology, such as growth factors, cytokines, and morphogens, are also notoriously difficult to manufacture. Tentarix multifunctional biologics are not based on natural ligands. Rather, Tentarix molecules are based on fully human antibody components, which when combined, recapitulate powerful biology. Thus, their manufacturing is based on decades of robust, industrialized process development.
Leadership
Stephen Demarest
Stephen Demarest has over 20 years of antibody and multi-specific protein development experience in both biotech and pharma. He contributed to more than 10 molecules that reached IND-enabling studies and managed departments that moved many more. Stephen’s career began as a scientist at Syngenta and Diversa before moving into the role of Associate Director of Protein Sciences at Biogen Idec. Before coming to Tentarix, Stephen was the head of Lilly’s Protein Engineering and Computational Biotherapeutics Departments and a liaison to Immunology and Oncology. Stephen is a co-developer of Lilly’s OrthoMab bispecific technology with partners at UNC Chapel Hill and used the technology to bring many bispecific monoclonal antibodies into development, including with external partners. The technology has also been licensed by AbCellera. Stephen has >45 publications and is an inventor on >20 granted patents and applications.
Stephen holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from SUNY Stony Brook. His postdoctoral studies were at The Scripps Research Institute.
Margaret Karow
Margaret Karow is a founder of Tentarix and brings over 25 years of experience in the generation and engineering of protein therapeutics. Prior to joining Tentarix, Margaret was the CSO for Gensun Biopharma, and before that she was the Senior Vice President of Pre-Clinical Development for Xilio Therapeutics (formerly Akrevia Therapeutics) where her contributions helped secure $30M Series A funding. Before joining Xilio Therapeutics, she was an Executive Director at Amgen for 10 years, and held multiple positions including leadership roles for Biosimilars Process Development, Amgen Thousand Oaks Protein Sciences, Biologics Optimization, and Site Head for Amgen Burnaby, Canada. Margaret started her career in biotech at Regeneron, over the course of a decade, had a variety of roles including Vice President and co-lead for the development of the VelocImmune mouse platform.
Margaret holds a B.A. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Utah.
Brady Johnson
Brady joins Tentarix from Cidara Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CDTX), a publicly listed biotechnology company, where he was Vice President of Finance and Principal Accounting Officer from January 2015 to April 2022. At Cidara, he led the accounting and finance functions and contributed to several critical corporate initiatives, including the company’s initial public offering and important pre-clinical and clinical collaborations with Janssen Pharmaceuticals (part of Johnson & Johnson) and Mundipharma with a combined value of over $1.3 billion. Brady began his career with Grant Thornton, LLP and is a certified public accountant in California. He holds an M.A. and B.A. in Accounting from the University of San Diego.
Board of Directors
Donald Santel
Donald Santel served as Executive Chairman of Adicet Bio, Inc., a private allogeneic cell therapy oncology company, from October 2017 through its business combination with resTORbio, Inc. in September 2020. From March 2018 through April 2019, Mr. Santel also served as Adicet Bio’s interim Chief Executive Officer. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Hyperion Therapeutics, a public biopharmaceutical company, from June 2008 until the sale of the company to Horizon Pharma in May 2015 and was a member of Hyperion’s board of directors from March 2007 through the company’s sale. Previously, Mr. Santel was a co-founder, member of the board of directors and the Chief Executive Officer of CoTherix, Inc., from January 2000 through its sale to Actelion in January 2007. Prior to joining CoTherix, Mr. Santel was employed by several medical device companies, including Cardiac Pathways Corporation (acquired by Boston Scientific) and Medtronic, Inc. Mr. Santel has served as chairman and independent director of Ocelot Bio, Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company, since June 2021, and as chairperson of Oyster Point Pharma, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, since July 2021. Mr. Santel has also served as an independent director of Consonance-HFW Acquisition Corporation from November 2020 through the completion of its business combination with Surrozen, Inc., in August 2021. Mr. Santel previously served on the board of directors and the audit and compensation committees of Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and as a director of ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Srini Akkaraju, Ph.D.
Srini Akkaraju is a founder of Tentarix and also serves as a Director of Seattle Genetics, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Versartis and aTyr Pharma. Previously, he served as a director on the boards of Barrier Therapeutics, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, ZS Pharma, Synageva Biopharma, and Amarin Corporation. Srini founded Samsara BioCapital in 2016. His vast experience in the industry includes being a general partner at Sofinnova Ventures, Managing Director of New Leaf Ventures, Managing Director of Panorama Capital, partner at J.P. Morgan and senior management at Genentech.
Srini holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and Computer Science from Rice University, and an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Immunology from Stanford University.
Jerel Davis, Ph.D.
Jerel Davis is a Managing Director of Versant Ventures based in Vancouver, Canada. Since joining Versant in 2011, he has been instrumental in establishing the company’s presence in Canada and has been involved in launching and investing in a number of Versant’s portfolio companies including BlueRock (sale), Crispr (2016 IPO), Inception 4 (sale), Inception 5 (sale), Quanticel (sale), Akero (2019 IPO), Northern (sale), Turnstone, Repare (2020 IPO), Chinook, Ventus, Integral, and VenatoRx. He has focused on company creation, syndicated deals, and creative corporate transactions with multiple pharmaceutical partners including Celgene, Roche, and Bayer. Jerel was promoted to Managing Director at Versant in April 2016.
Jerel holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Biology from Pepperdine University and a PhD in Genetics from Stanford University.
Allyson Tighe
Allyson Tighe is a Co-Founder and Investor at Amplitude Ventures, a capital catalyst for highly innovative companies at the point of value acceleration. Amplitude is a full-stack venture capital firm employing a unique growth model to build companies with novel science, world-class management teams, and big visions and to scale those companies to breakout potential. With over $500M under management and offices in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, Amplitude applies a proven, evidence-based approach to investing in leading precision medicine companies. Allyson is also a former medical device entrepreneur and health technology commercialization advisor committed to advancing great science and passionate about creating, building, and growing world class healthcare companies in Canada. She was previously an investor at the BDC Healthcare Fund where their team managed $270 million in capital with investments in the drug, devices, diagnostics and digital health sectors. Prior to joining BDC, Allyson worked as Business Development Manager at the Centre for Drug Research and Development in Vancouver.
Allyson holds a Bachelor in Science in Genetics and a Masters in Science in Physiology, both from Western University, and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business.
Tom Bumol, Ph.D.
Following a 35-year career at Lilly, Dr. Bumol joined the Allen Institute as Executive Vice President and Director of the Allen Institute for Immunology, which was created by the late philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen. At Lilly, Dr. Bumol was the Senior Vice President of Biotechnology and Immunology Research and the Site Head of Lilly’s Biotechnology Center in San Diego. Dr. Bumol’s teams and collaborators advanced over 100 molecules into clinical development, including Trulicity® (dulaglutide), Taltz® (ixekizumab), Emgality® (galcanezumab), Mounjaro® (terzepatide) and mirikizumab. Through strategic alliances, he and his teams also helped develop and support Reopro® (abciximab) with Centocor as well as Olumiant® (baricitinib) with Incyte. Dr. Bumol has over 50 publications and reviews and eight issued U.S. patents. He earned a Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota and received the Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fellowship for his postdoctoral research in the Department of Molecular Immunology at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, California.
Paul Kang
Paul Kang is a founder of Tentarix and has been involved in the development and application of antibody generation technologies for over 20 years, with time at ImmGenics Pharmaceuticals, Abgenix Inc., and Amgen Inc. Paul has played an instrumental role in the development and deployment of novel first-in-class antibody discovery technologies, including ImmGenics’ SLAM technology (Selected Lymphocyte Antibody Method) and Abgenix’s XenoMouse Technology, which was subsequently acquired by Amgen. At Amgen, Paul oversaw Amgen British Columbia’s Preclinical In Vitro Cellular Assay and In Vivo Pharmacology research teams, whose primary responsibilities were the screening and characterization of XenoMouse-derived antibodies. After leaving Amgen, Paul was a co-founder of Innovative Targeting Solutions (ITS). As CSO of ITS, Paul oversaw the advancement of the company’s HuTARG protein engineering platform and the company’s six pharma collaborations. Paul is also a co-founder of A2 Biotherapeutics and an inventor on over 15 pending or granted patents.
Paul holds a B.S. from Simon Fraser University.
Scientific Advisory Board
Thomas F. Bumol, Ph.D.
Following a 35-year career at Lilly, Dr. Bumol joined the Allen Institute as Executive Vice President and Director of the Allen Institute for Immunology, which was created by the late philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen. At Lilly, Dr. Bumol was the Senior Vice President of Biotechnology and Immunology Research and the Site Head of Lilly’s Biotechnology Center in San Diego. Dr. Bumol’s teams and collaborators advanced over 100 molecules into clinical development, including Trulicity® (dulaglutide), Taltz® (ixekizumab), Emgality® (galcanezumab), Mounjaro® (terzepatide) and mirikizumab. Through strategic alliances, he and his teams also helped develop and support Reopro® (abciximab) with Centocor as well as Olumiant® (baricitinib) with Incyte. Dr. Bumol has over 50 publications and reviews and eight issued U.S. patents. He earned a Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota and received the Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fellowship for his postdoctoral research in the Department of Molecular Immunology at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, California.
Brian A. Kuhlman, Ph.D.
Dr. Kuhlman is an Oliver Smithies Investigator, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Co-Director of the Molecular and Cellular Biophysics Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Kuhlman is an expert in protein biophysics and computational protein design. As a postdoctoral fellow in David Baker’s laboratory at the University of Washington, Dr. Kuhlman developed new computational protocols for protein design in the modeling program Rosetta that led to the first de novo designed protein of novel architecture with atomic level precision. Dr. Kuhlman’s laboratory at UNC continues to develop and apply new algorithms in Rosetta for protein design and has focused on the creation of new protein-protein interfaces, photoactivatable protein switches, and tertiary structures. Over the last several years, his laboratory collaborated with Eli Lilly to redesign the key interfaces within IgG antibodies to enable the direct expression of fully assembled IgG Bispecific antibodies. He is a recipient of the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland prize and the Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology. He earned his Ph.D. at Stony Brook University and obtained the Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Washington.
John R. Teijaro, Ph.D.
Dr. Teijaro is an Associate Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbology at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. During Dr. Teijaro’s graduate and post-graduate training, his research specialized in molecular and temporal immunologic features linked to viral infection and autoimmunity publishing many papers on costimulation and cytokine activation in the laboratories of Donna Farber and Michael Oldstone, respectively. As an independent investigator, Dr. Teijaro is recognized as a world leader in viral immunology and cytokine biology with breakthrough research that is leading to new concepts for the immunotherapy of cancer as well a deeper understanding of the immunology of viral infections including COVID-19. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine and completed his postdoctoral research at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
Introducing the Tentacles™ platform
Tentacles™—Tentarix’s multifunctional biologics—are targeted, synergistic and conditional, which means they activate a target cell population only when all desired receptors are present.
At Tentarix, we break away from the traditional screening paradigm by sifting through millions of candidates upfront. That allows us to efficiently identify molecules that meet our multifunctional biologics criteria.
Multifunction
Biologics
Targeted
Targeted cell surface proteins enable selectivity with desired function
Synergistic
Cell surface proteins that, when combined, act synergistically
Conditional
There is only biological activity in a cell when all targets are engaged
Main components of the Tentacles™ platform
CellSurf™
Our proprietary method for quantification of cell surface protein expression to identify the ideal receptor combinations.
HuTARG™
Our innovative mammalian display system for antibody variable domains harnesses nature’s most powerful diversity engine, VDJ recombination, to generate functional binding units.
FunctionSeq™
Rapid combinatorial assembly of millions of potential multifunctional molecules, followed by empirical selection directly for conditional functional activity.
Programs
Not only are Tentacles™ highly-effective multifunctional biologics, the Tentacles™ platform is modular, so it can be used to create biologics that treat a range of diseases. The classes of molecules or pathways currently in the pipeline include T cell co-agonists, regulatory T cell reprogramming, cell-specific internalizers, and T cell activators. Tentarix looks forward to the seemingly endless opportunities this platform brings.
Our leading program activates IL2R specifically on tumor-reactive T cells in the tumor-microenvironment using a combination of receptors chosen for selectivity and function. The leading Tentacles™ are designed to activate and expand tumor-reactive T cells while enhancing their effector capabilities and metabolic fitness through a synergistic secondary signal.
News
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Tentarix Biotherapeutics Completes Series B Financing Bringing Total Equity and Upfront Deal Consideration to $132 Million Read the full story
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Gilead and Tentarix to Discover and Develop Novel Therapies to Address Unmet Medical Needs Across Cancer and Inflammation Read the full story
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Tentarix Biotherapeutics LP, a biotechnology company developing first-in-class targeted, conditional antibody-based multifunctional biotherapies, today announced the formation of a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and appointments to its Board of Directors and leadership team. Read the full story
Careers
Tentarix Biotherapeutics is led by an executive team with years—often decades—of expertise in the field of multifunctional drug discovery. We are looking to hire highly-qualified, motivated individuals who, like us, want to revolutionize the disease therapy landscape.
Tentarix team members are creative, self-driven, and team-oriented. They’re also effective communicators determined to contribute to the company’s success.
We know that our employees are our most valuable asset, so we provide desirable benefits and compensation accordingly. And we offer a modern, flexible work culture with the tools to ensure that we succeed not only as individuals but as a collective.
Tentarix is committed to equal opportunity in the terms and conditions of employment for all employees and job applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or gender expression, national origin, disability or veteran status.
Tentarix Biotherapeutics, Inc. also complies with all applicable national, state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act and IRCA. We are an E-Verify employer.