John Edwards Email & Phone Number

Executive Chair, board member, and senior adviser to start-up and clinical-stage biotechnology companies. I often work with the CEO and board to advance a company's strategic direction and positioning for the next stage in its evolution. Together with the CEO, I often play a significant role in financing and business development, as well as in product development, pipeline optimization, finance, and commercial opportunity assessments.

Austin, Texas, Us

PanTher Therapeutics is a clinical-stage oncology company offering transformational localized treatment of cancer. This is accomplished through its platform which enables continuous, high-dose treatment of potent oncology agents exclusively at the site of a tumor. PanTher’s lead clinical candidate, PTM-101, has successfully been evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial in treatment naïve localized non-metastatic pancreatic cancer patients. PanTher is now preparing to initiate a Phase 1b trial of PTM-101, to further assess safety, tolerability, and anti-tumor activity across two different dose levels. As Executive Chair, I have been working with the board and management team to put together a later-stage drug development team, establish long-term strategies and plans for the lead program (PTM-101), as well as prepare for a Series B financing of the company.

Boston, Massachusetts, Us

Strand Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company utilizing synthetic biology to genetically program mRNA to deliver truly revolutionary therapies.I provide drug development, business development, and financing-related support to Strands senior team, including participating in all board meetings.

Bedford, Massachusetts, Us

Verseau is focused on developing immunotherapies directed at broad and potent reprogramming of the tumor microenvironment to attack tumors. This is accomplished by stimulating macrophages to shift their phenotype from immunosuppressive to a pro-inflammatory, anti-tumor state in a process called macrophage repolarization. Verseau developed a unique target discovery engine that leveraged patient data and computational biology to discover and validate over 20 novel macrophage targets. I built the development team and put together a strategy for Verseau's lead program, which culminated in a successful IND submission. I also led the financing efforts, where unfavorable biotech market dynamics in late 2021 necessitated a pivot to business development. Despite receiving multiple offers to acquire Verseau's assets, the company decided to complete an internal financing round in 2023.

Abcuro is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing treatments for autoimmune and cancer indications that are modulated by cytotoxic T and NK cells. The company’s platform is based on targeting KLRG1 (killer cell lectin-like receptor G), which is a receptor that evolved as the body’s control switch for the most cytotoxic T and NK cells. Abcuro has a first-in-class program, ABC008, which is a highly selective KLRG1 monoclonal antibody which depletes pathogenic cytotoxic T and NK cells for treating T cell driven autoimmune disorders. I led the $42M Series A-1 financing in 2020 (MGB, Pontifax, RA Capital, Samsara, and Sanofi Ventures), which was then followed by a $20M financing in 2022 and $36M financing in 2023. Other accomplishments included putting in place the management team (e.g., CEO, CMO, CDO), establishing the development strategy and team to bring Abcuro's lead program through preclinical studies and into the clinic. The program was then advanced into a phase II/III IBM clinical study, where it is currently being evaluated. ABC008 is also being assessed in a phase I/II study in patients with T cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia (T-LGLL).

Cambridge, Ma, Us

Metera Pharmaceuticals was founded on the vision of making a major difference in serious respiratory diseases. In 2018, Metera completed a license agreement with RespiVert, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Janssen Biotech, to develop and commercialize novel therapies for severe respiratory diseases. This license led to the creation of Metera’s lead program, MPX-111 for the treatment of IPF. This program leveraged a clinically proven mechanism of action with the benefits of inhaled delivery. Despite excellent progress developing MPX-111 toward an IND filing, our financing efforts were no longer possible after another biotech company unexpectedly announced they had been developing a virtually identical product in stealth mode that was significantly ahead of Metera's MPX-111 program.

Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Gb

Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Gb

Working with the board and CEO we effectively transitioned F-star from a technology-focused discovery company into a clinical-stage, product-focused research and development organization, with a significant emphasis in the area of immuno-oncology. I helped build the development team and strategy, put in place a senior management team, and grew the company to 100 employees. Multiple internal bi-specific programs were put into the clinic, three of which continue to advance into later stage clinical trials. My responsibilities also included establishing Europe's first biotech asset-centric vehicle financial structure (LLC-type structure). This was utilized in a preclinical bispecific antibody deal I was responsible for negotiating with Bristol-Myers Squibb ($50M upfront, with $475M total deal value). This financial structure was then used to complete three additional ACV deals, which have resulted in over $200M in cash payments, with multi-billion dollar milestone potential. In 2018, F-star Gamma (discovery stage company) was acquired by Denali for $24M upfront with up to $450M in contingent milestone payments. The lead program from this transaction is currently in a phase III Hunter Syndrome clinical study, with a second program now in phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment of Sanfillipo Syndrome.

Tilos Therapeutics was founded in 2016 based on research on LAP (latency-associated peptide of TGFβ) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The company was focused on developing new therapies for the treatment of cancer, fibrosis, and related disorders.While working with the CEO to complete a Series A financing, we were able to attract Merck's interest in our lead program. These conversations eventually lead to the acquisition of Tilos for total potential consideration of up to $773M, including an upfront payment as well as contingent milestone payments. As part of my role as Executive Chair, I was responsible for leading the negotiations and completing the Merck transaction.

Siamab Therapeutics was a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen cancer therapies. I supported the CEO and board to help build Siamab, which lead to a discovery collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim in 2017 and a successful exit for the company with the sale of its lead program in 2019 to Seagen valued at up to $200M.

Exonics Therapeutics was launched in 2017 to develop treatments for patients with neuromuscular diseases based on the work of its scientific founder, Dr. Eric Olson and his laboratory at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. I worked with the board to pull together the company positioning, strategy, and senior team. We then completed a successful $40M Series A financing in 2017. The company went on to be sold to Vertex for $245M upfront and over $1B in milestones in 2019.

Lexington, Massachusetts, Us

ImmuneXcite was a biopharmaceutical company developing a broadly applicable immuno-oncology platform that utilized the power of both the innate and adaptive immune system. The technology was based on ImmuneXcite’s research, which identified a unique fungal carbohydrate that can be used in conjunction with a tumor-targeted antibody to mount a potent attack on cancer cells. To support an assessment of the underlying technology, I completed a small financing (Sanofi Ventures, Partners Innovation Fund, and Cormorant Capital). Unfortunately the feasibility studies did not support moving forward with the company.

Lawrence Township, Nj, Us

Successfully led the transition of Adnexus from a private biotech company to a wholly-owned subsidiary of BMS. Transformed our technology and operational efficiency, while increasing our portfolio from 3 to 20 ongoing discovery programs within a company of only 100 employees. This led to at least 1 new product IND filing each year post-acquisition. In 2010, Adnexus was recognized by the Boston Globe as one of the “100 Best Companies” to work for in Massachusetts. In addition to my responsibilities at Adnexus, I had the opportunity to lead the senior team responsible for creating the long-term biologics strategy for BMS.

Lawrence Township, Nj, Us

Responsible for playing a leadership role in building Adnexus, which included three rounds of venture financing (Atlas, Flagship, Polaris, and Venrock) and advancing the lead program into the clinic. In 2007 Adnexus was acquired for $450M by BMS, representing a >8x return in less than 4 years.

Tokyo, Jp, Jp

Responsible for North American sales, marketing, and medical affairs. This included all pre-launch planning, hiring the sales force and MSLs, and conducting phase IV clinical studies for Replagal (Fabry disease), as well as program leadership and commercial planning for Elaprase (Hunter syndrome). The company went on to be sold to Shire for $1.6B in 2005.

I led the effort to build a global biopharmaceutical business in hematology at Genetics Institute/Wyeth, which represented Genetics Institute’s most successful business unit in its 20-year history (peak sales eventually reached >$1B).I also led the global commercial launches of four biopharmaceuticals: two hematology products (BeneFIX, ReFacto), one transplantation product (Rapamune), as well as the North American launch of the industry's first approved ADC-oncology product (Mylotarg).

Responsible for leading Genetics Institute’s first approved product, BeneFIX (recombinant factor IX), from discovery, into clinical trials, and through regulatory approvals, which included being the first product in our industry to file for simultaneous approval in US and Europe using the Common Technical Document. We established the biopharmaceutical industry record for the fastest time for a biologic to proceed from start of phase I clinical trials to FDA approval, which was completed in only 24 months.

Responsible for establishing and then managing Genetics Institute’s Andover and Cambridge, Massachusetts pilot, clinical, as well as commercial-scale manufacturing operations, which produced products such as EPO, Factor VIII (Recombinate), and BMP-2 (Infuse).

Paris, France, Fr

One of the first 20 employees at Genzyme in Boston. I was one of the original scientists involved in the hyaluronic acid program, which eventually led to the development of the FDA approved drug, Synvisc.

Mba, Marketing

Bs, Chemical Engineering