The Resurgence of Theranostics: Challenges and Successes of Clinical Application

Deborah Charych, Ph.D. is a Founder and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of RayzeBio, Inc, an oncology company focused on targeted delivery of radionuclides. Dr. Charych led the scientific strategy for RayzeBio leading to successful Series A financing and launch in August, 2020 and Series B round in October 2020. Prior to launching RayzeBio, she held a number of scientific leadership positions in biotech, focused on translational drug development. At Nektar Therapeutics, she conceived of and led the pre-clinical and early clinical development of an Immuno-Oncology pipeline, starting with NKTR-214, a next-generation IL-2 receptor agonist, currently in several pivotal Phase 3 oncology trials and later an IL-15 receptor agonist and TLR 7/8 agonist. At FivePrime Therapeutics, she led a team that contributed to the clinical development of novel biologics for pan-FGF and CSF1 inhibition for oncology. While at Chiron Corporation she initiated and led a large proteomics effort to guide oncology target discovery, including the discovery of peptide-mimetic binders ('peptoids'). At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, she assumed an academic leadership role as a tenured Principal Investigator, focusing on new biomaterials. Dr. Charych’s formal education is in Chemistry, earning a Ph.D. from University of California at Berkeley and a B.S. in Chemistry from Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA where she also learned to fly small airplanes.

Germo Gericke, M.D. is Chief Medical Officer of Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA), a Novartis company. Prior to joining AAA in 2018, Dr. Gericke led global drug development programs and served in strategic, commercial and general management roles. Dr. Gericke joined Novartis in 2001 from McKinsey & Company where he was a member of the Global Healthcare Practice. Dr. Gericke holds a Medical Doctorate from the University of Heidelberg and studied medicine at Charité Berlin.

Ohad Ilovich, Ph.D. leads the Scientific and Medical Science department's oncology and systemic disease effort. In this role, he oversees the scientific aspects of development and utilization of imaging biomarkers first-in-human and late phase clinical studies. Dr. Ilovich is an expert in the development and evaluation of novel radiolabeled agents for both imaging and targeted radiotherapeutics with a focus on oncology and immuno-oncology. Dr. Ilovich holds a Ph.D. in molecular imaging from The Hebrew University.

John Valliant, Ph.D. is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fusion Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Valliant has been instrumental in securing both investment and scientific and medical collaborations with the industrial and academic partners of Fusion. Prior to Fusion, Dr. Valliant founded the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC), a radiopharmaceutical research and development centre of excellence established in 2008 through funding from the Federal and Provincial governments, industry and academic partners. The CPDC is focused on discovering, developing and distributing the next generation of molecular imaging probes. The CPDC also plays an important role in Canada’s health care system, manufacturing and delivering a reliable, daily supply of imaging probes to hospitals and clinics nationally and internationally. Dr. Valliant is also a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at McMaster University. Dr. Valliant completed his Ph.D. at McMaster University, and followed with a post-doctoral fellowship under the joint supervision of professors Alun G. Jones (Harvard) and Alan Davison (MIT).