The engine to put transformative therapeutics at our fingertips
Our Mission
Propel drug discovery into the information age to bridge the gap between discovery and treatment
Our Technology
Premium chemical data at unrivaled scale
The first step to powering an engine is to add the right fuel. We’re generating chemical data purpose-built for drug discovery in the information age.
Our closed loop system generates precise chemical datasets at unrivaled scale that work seamlessly with AI to systematically map biochemical interactions between small molecules and causes of disease. With our unparalleled resolution, we’re finally able to meet the challenge of drug discovery with the power of both scale experimentation and modern computation, deriving insights that lead to new drugs for patients in need. Learn more.
The engine to solve hard problems
When it comes to chemistry data, scale and precision are key. Our integrated computational platform, tNova, runs iterative cycles of virtual molecular design and precise biochemical measurement, feeding forward every experiment to power artificial intelligence and machine learning models, which in turn guide the next cycle of design. Learn more.
Our Team
We are a highly skilled, dedicated, and passionate team that combines specific expertise and experience in AI, medicinal chemistry, biology and preclinical development, automation, and nanotechnology, with the bold vision to create a world where transformative therapeutics are available at our fingertips.
Jacob is a distinguished inventor at the intersection of nanotechnology and synthetic chemistry. Prior to joining Terray full-time, he ran an NIH-funded lab at City of Hope, where he was an associate professor. He has more than 40 publications, 20 patents and over 11 thousand citations associated with his work. He was named one of the “Rising Stars and Young Nanoarchitects in Materials Science” by the Royal Society of Chemistry and was nominated for the Kabiller Young Investigator Award in Nanoscience and Nanomedicine. Jacob received his PhD in organometallic chemistry from CalTech where he studied with Nobel Laureate Bob Grubbs. Jacob completed his postdoctoral training at MIT and Rice University focusing on synthetic chemistry and nanotechnology, and received a BA in chemistry from Harvard University (magna cum laude).
Prior to joining Terray, Vanessa most recently served as Vice President of Biology at Rigel Pharmaceuticals and brings over 19 years of experience in small molecule drug discovery to the company. In this role, she was responsible for leading preclinical research programs from target identification to lead candidate selection as well as support of IND filings and early clinical studies. During her tenure at Rigel, she was directly involved in taking 7 drug candidates into clinical studies focused on inflammatory and rare diseases and partnering of 3 additional programs. Vanessa received her B.S. from Durham University in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, her Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Cambridge and completed her postdoctoral training at Oxford University’s Institute of Molecular Medicine and the University of California, San Francisco
Prior to joining Terray, Narbe was a Senior Scientist at Amgen. In this role, he was responsible for supporting all aspects of computational small molecule drug discovery, including the development of advanced quantum mechanics and machine learning methods, as well as cloud-based solutions to support high-throughput, data-driven workflows. Narbe is a thought leader in quantum mechanics, machine learning, computational chemistry, and closed-loop drug discovery. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley, his Ph.D. in Quantum Chemistry from UC Berkeley, and was a postdoc in Chemical Physics at Caltech.
Prior to joining Terray, Eli was at Parthenon Capital Partners, an operationally focused middle-market private equity firm where he led transactions across healthcare, software, and financial services. Prior to Parthenon, Eli worked at Irving Place Capital and Lehman Brothers. He holds an MBA from Stanford University and a BA with honors from the London School of Economics.
Prior to joining Terray, Carl was Director of New Process Implementation at Recursion. In this role, Carl was responsible for identifying, developing, and onboarding new technologies and methods to further enhance the capabilities and performance of the high throughput screening platform. Carl served as a cross-functional leader managing programs and projects related to on-boarding next-generation integrated automation platforms and driving innovations to increase executional excellence, throughput, and proficiency across Recursion’s core operations. While in graduate school, Carl was involved in a start-up focused on super-resolution microscopy that was acquired by Bruker Nano, where he subsequently led product and application development related to this technology. He received his B.A. from Carleton College, his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Utah, and holds an MBA from UC Berkeley.
Prior to joining Terray, Craig was a Principal Scientist at Amgen. In this role, he was responsible for designing, testing, and implementing automation solutions across Amgen’s discovery organization. Craig has invented numerous novel technologies that encompass enhancements to both small and large molecule synthesis, purification, and screening. He was the recipient of the “Innovation of the Year” award and was the primary facilitator for out-licensing of three patents which resulted in royalty generating commercial technologies. He received his B.A. from Saint Olaf College and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Washington.
Feroze (Fez) Ujjainwalla brings 26 years of experience in small molecule drug discovery to Terray. Prior to joining the company, Fez was Director of Business Development and Licensing (BD&L) at Merck & Co., Inc. He joined Merck in 1995 as Senior Research Chemist and rose to the rank of Executive Director of Chemistry before joining BD&L. He has led discovery programs from inception to early clinical development, delivering eight preclinical development candidates of which three proceeded to clinical trials – including the discovery of the first-in-class small molecule MC4R agonist, MK-0493, for the treatment of obesity. He has also led the search, scientific evaluation and execution of licensing deals and strategic partnerships, establishing numerous deals across a range of deal-types including dominant platform licenses for DNA-Encoded Library Technology and mRNA Display Technology. Fez earned his BSc in Chemistry and PhD in Organic Chemistry from Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine and completed his postdoctoral training at The University of Texas at Austin. He is an author on over 85 publications and patents.
Brian Kotzin, M.D. is a board-certified rheumatologist and internist with more than three decades of experience in the fields of inflammation and immunology in academia and industry. Currently, Dr. Kotzin is currently Senior Vice President, Clinical Development at Nektar Therapeutics, Inc. Before Nektar, Dr. Kotzin served as Vice President of Global Clinical Development and Head of the Inflammation Therapeutic Area at Amgen, directing the global development efforts for Amgen’s inflammation product candidates. During his 11 years at Amgen, he also served as Vice President of Medical Sciences, which encompassed early development, biomarker development, and clinical immunology. Prior to his industry career, Dr. Kotzin served as Head of Clinical Immunology in the Department of Medicine and Director of the Autoimmunity Center of Excellence at the University of ColoradoHealth Sciences Center in Denver. Dr. Kotzin has authored more than 200 publications in medical journals, books and book chapters, and has served on the editorial boards of Arthritis and Rheumatism, The Journal of Immunology and the Journal of Clinical Investigation. He is an elected member of the American Association of Clinical Investigation, Association of American Physicians, and elected Master of the American College of Rheumatology.
Dr. Kotzin received a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Southern California and an M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in rheumatology and medicine at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is board certified in rheumatology and internal medicine.
With her doctorate degree in Chemistry, Christine spent her early career days in academia where she developed and applied computer-assisted molecular modeling techniques while building the foundation and blueprint for the software Sybyl, later commercialized by Tripos Inc. Her research focused in the Pain, Neurosciences and Cardiovascular areas to elucidate structure-activity patterns for fentanyl, gabapentin, serotonin inhibitors among others.
She transitioned to the Pharmaceutical Industry, initially as an individual contributor and grew into an exceptional scientific and technical leader in her field. Her journey began at Parke-Davis in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since her early days in molecular modeling and drug design, Christine has been a champion and advocate in pioneering the use of structure-based design, 3-dimensional molecular visualization and integrated platforms to analyze target families with ligand-based structure-activity data.
By systematically applying predictive approaches with medicinal chemistry desktop modeling tools, she has positively impacted therapeutics discovery as evidenced by more than 115 publications. Most recently, she led cheminformatics initiatives to transform drug discovery through artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques.
Throughout her career, she has led multiple scientific collaborations with leading academic and industrial partners. She tutored and mentored multiple group members who progressed in successful careers.
Don Payan, MD, is an experienced hands-on biotechnology physician-scientist-executive. During the past 30 years in biotechnology in the two companies he has founded (Khepri and Rigel), he has hired, organized and led highly productive multi discipline target and drug discovery and development teams in the areas of Immunology, Oncology and Muscle Wasting diseases. His teams have discovered and developed the first FDA approved oral SYK inhibitor for an autoimmune disease, as well as an additional 12 IND candidates. Moreover, he was instrumental in establishing multiple collaborations with pharmaceutical companies.
He received his BS in Physics and MD from Stanford University, and his MS in Physics from MIT. His residency in Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease fellowship were done at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. An additional fellowship in Allergy Immunology was done at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, also at HMS. Following his training at Harvard, he joined the faculty of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is an author of over 200 published articles and chapters, and an inventor on over 90 issued patents. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation.
Dr. Fiona Black has over 20 years of expertise in the biotechnology and biomedical industries, focusing on interdisciplinary technology development of both market-leading end-to-end product solutions and operationally efficient and scalable manufacturing processes. Most recently, Fiona led Illumina’s Array portfolio R&D organization. Under her leadership, the portfolio transitioned back to accretive growth, delivering 40% growth in revenue and a double-digit reduction in cost basis over four years. This was achieved via a multi-pronged strategy covering operational streamlining, consolidation of the on-market product portfolio, and focused technology innovation to drive emerging global markets. Before this, Fiona has thrived in roles across the genomics, pharma, and agrochemical industries that required strategic and technology planning, product, process, and manufacturing infrastructure development, design transfer, and supplier development.
Fiona’s passion lies in working at the intersection of scientific fields, as is evident from her published patents. These range from polymeric drug delivery systems for biologics to low volume fluidic transfer for biochemical assay, and methods to detect ligands on beads.
Fiona has a Ph.D. in Biophysics and Surface Chemistry from the University of Nottingham, U.K., and a Bachelor of Sciences, with first-class honors, in Medical and Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Loughborough University, U.K. As a 6-sigma black belt, she is committed to quality and continuous improvements of products and processes. Through the mentorship of high school girls and volunteering at her local school, Fiona shares her love of all things STEAM to foster the next generation of scientists and engineers.
Dr. Ian Watson has more than 25 years of experience applying machine learning to small molecule drug discovery. Ian spent more than 20 years at Eli Lilly working across Lilly business units on business problems involving Analytics and Statistics, Machine Learning, High Performance Computing. As part of Discovery Chemistry, he built a substantial portion of the computational infrastructure currently used by Lilly to support small molecule drug discovery. This includes leading edge tools for substructure searching, very fast, and large-scale chemical similarity tools as well as SVM machine learning models. Dr. Watson implemented and now maintains the Lilly Medchem Rules, widely used for filtering compounds for biological testing. Ian most recently spent 3 years at Google where he worked with the Google Accelerated Science team on early phase small molecule drug discovery including extensive work on chemical similarity, clustering, enumeration and analysis, and hit follow-up. Dr. Watson has a BSc with honors from the Australian National University and a PhD from Cornell in Physical Chemistry.
News
Sudha Parasuraman, MD, experienced biotech leader with a strong track record of therapeutic development, joins as Independent Board Director
Pasadena, Calif., May 16, 2023 – Terray Therapeutics, a biotechnology company accelerating drug discovery through the application of computational approaches to precisely generated chemical data at scale, today announced the appointment of Sudha Parasuraman, MD, as an Independent Director.
“We are tremendously excited to have Sudha join our Board of Directors,” said Jacob Berlin, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Terray. “As Terray’s internal and partnered programs move towards the clinic, we are fortunate to be able to draw on Sudha’s deep clinical and strategic expertise.”
Dr. Parasuraman is an accomplished biopharmaceutical executive who brings more than 20 years of clinical development, operations, and business experience in immunology, inflammatory, oncology, hematology and rare diseases. She is currently the Chief Medical Officer at Ribon Therapeutics leading the clinical strategy and development of novel, first-in-class therapeutics targeting the stress response pathways in oncology and Inflammatory diseases. Prior to joining Ribon in 2019, she was the Chief Medical Officer at X4 Pharmaceuticals where she led their immuno-oncology and rare disease programs. Dr. Parasuraman previously held leadership positions at uniQure Inc, Novartis and Millennium/Takeda and played a pivotal role in the successful approvals of subcutaneous VELCADE® (bortezomib), KISQALI® (ribociclib), and HEMGENIX® (etranacogene dezaparvovec-drlb). Before joining industry, Dr. Parasuraman was a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and staff physician at Children’s Hospital of Boston, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She received her medical degree from the University of Madras, India, completed her pediatric residencies at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center, and fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN.
“I am thrilled to join the Terray Board of Directors and work with the talented team of scientists they have assembled,” said Dr. Parasuraman. “Their unique platform has the potential to advance novel small molecule programs to address unmet need in multiple therapeutic areas. I look forward to bringing my strategic perspective on translational science, clinical development, and company-building to Terray.”
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About Terray Therapeutics
Terray Therapeutics is a biotechnology company operating at the convergence of AI, biology, medicinal chemistry, automation, and nanotechnology to propel drug discovery into the information age. Terray’s proprietary integrated computational and experimental platforms generate massively scaled, powerfully agnostic chemical data that are purpose-built to power computational learning and reveal new interactions. This foundation is building an iterative, flexible chemistry engine that delivers more precise therapies to patients faster than ever before. To learn more about Terray, visit terraytx.com.
Media Contact
Peg Rusconi, Verge Scientific: prusconi@vergescientific.com
John Maraganore, Ph.D., founding CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and veteran biotech industry leader, joins Terray as Strategic Advisor to the Board of Directors and Leadership Team
Pasadena, Calif., December 13, 2022 – Terray Therapeutics, a biotechnology company accelerating drug discovery through the application of computational approaches to precisely generated chemical data at scale, today announced that John Maraganore, Ph.D., former founding CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, has been appointed as Strategic Advisor to the Board of Directors and Leadership Team.
“We are thrilled to welcome John to the Terray team,” said Jacob Berlin, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Terray. “John brings a singular expertise grounded in his experience pioneering an entirely new therapeutic modality. Patients’ lives around the world changed with the emergence of RNAi therapeutics. His eye for excellence and dedication to bringing the best science forward is unparalleled and an inspiration to our team and industry. I welcome his experience and guidance to Terray as we continue bridging the gap between discovery and treatment.”
“I am a firm believer in the power of insight-driven platforms to deliver sustainable innovation,” said John Maraganore. “Terray’s leaders have fearlessly addressed the pervasive need for quality, scaled data that has plagued drug discovery efforts for years by generating their own premium data at a scale, speed and precision not seen before. I’m energized by the progress made so far and look forward to supporting Terray’s trajectory from here.”
Maraganore, a veteran in the biotech industry, brings decades of experience and scientific and strategic insight to his role. He served as the founding CEO and a Director of Alnylam from 2002 to 2021, where he built and led the company from pioneering early platform research on RNA interference (RNAi) through global approval and commercialization of the first four RNAi therapeutic medicines, ONPATTRO®, GIVLAARI®, OXLUMO®, and Leqvio®. He also led the company’s value creation strategy, building $25B in market capitalization, and forming over 20 major pharmaceutical alliances. He continues to serve on the Alnylam Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Maraganore received his M.S. and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Chicago. He is currently a Venture Partner at ARCH Venture Partners, a Venture Advisor at Atlas Ventures, an Executive Partner at RTW Investments, and a Senior Advisor for Blackstone Life Sciences. In addition to his VC roles, Maraganore chairs the boards of several privately-held and public companies, as well as foundations.
About Terray Therapeutics
Terray Therapeutics is a biotechnology company operating at the convergence of AI, biology, medicinal chemistry, automation, and nanotechnology to propel drug discovery into the information age. Terray’s proprietary integrated computational and experimental platforms generate massively scaled, powerfully agnostic chemical data that are purpose-built to power computational learning and reveal new interactions. This foundation is building an iterative, flexible chemistry engine that delivers more precise therapies to patients faster than ever before. To learn more about Terray, visit terraytx.com.
Media Contact
Peg Rusconi, Verge Scientific: prusconi@vergescientific.com
Bassil Dahiyat, Ph.D., CEO of Xencor and biotech industry leader, joins the Board of Directors
Pasadena, Calif., November 30, 2022 – Terray Therapeutics, a biotechnology company accelerating drug discovery through the application of computational approaches to precisely generated chemical data at scale, today announced the appointment of Bassil Dahiyat, Ph.D., as an Independent Director.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have Bassil join the Terray team,” said Jacob Berlin, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Terray. “He is a true biotech pioneer who has shifted the paradigm in protein engineering. His deep experience in both the field and in company building will be invaluable to Terray during this period of growth.”
Bassil Dahiyat has been Xencor’s president and chief executive officer since the Company’s incorporation in August 1997, and is the co-founder of Xencor, and co-inventor of Xencor’s breakthrough XmAb® technology. He has led the Company in creating a diverse clinical-stage portfolio of engineered antibodies and cytokines for the treatment of life-threatening and debilitating diseases, and has established alliances with leading biopharmaceutical companies that have resulted in three marketed drugs. Dr. Dahiyat has co-authored numerous scientific papers in the fields of protein design and drug delivery, is an inventor of over 30 U.S. and numerous foreign patents and has received scientific awards from the American Chemical Society, the Controlled Release Society, the Protein Society and Caltech. Dr. Dahiyat also serves as a member of the board of directors of Kodiak Sciences, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Caltech and B.S. and M.S.E. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University.
“I am thrilled to join the Terray Board of Directors and work with the talented team of scientists they have assembled,” said Dr. Dahiyat. “Drug discovery has long been constrained by challenges in scale and resources. Terray’s novel platform can overcome these barriers by combining massively scaled experimental screening and advanced computation to discover drug candidates that expand what’s possible for new therapeutics and for patients.”
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About Terray Therapeutics
Terray Therapeutics is a biotechnology company operating at the convergence of AI, biology, medicinal chemistry, automation, and nanotechnology to propel drug discovery into the information age. Terray’s proprietary integrated computational and experimental platforms generate massively scaled, powerfully agnostic chemical data that are purpose-built to power computational learning and reveal new interactions. This foundation is building an iterative, flexible chemistry engine that delivers more precise therapies to patients faster than ever before. To learn more about Terray, visit terraytx.com.
Media Contact
Peg Rusconi, Verge Scientific: prusconi@vergescientific.com
Collaboration combines Calico’s deep expertise in target biology with Terray’s proprietary drug discovery and development platform to identify novel therapeutics for patients affected by serious diseases of aging, including cancer
PASADENA, Calif. and SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., October 12, 2022 – Terray Therapeutics, a biotechnology company accelerating drug discovery through the application of computational approaches to precisely generated chemical data at scale; and Calico Life Sciences, a biotechnology organization focused on age-related interventions and founded by Alphabet and Arthur D. Levinson, today announced a research collaboration to discover and develop small molecule therapeutics for diseases of aging, including cancer.
Under the terms of the agreement, Terray and Calico will identify small molecule leads against a set of targets nominated by Calico using the Terray tNova platform, with Calico subsequently assuming responsibility for development and commercialization. Terray will receive an upfront payment and is eligible to receive milestones as well as tiered royalties on net sales.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Calico and look forward to applying our discovery engine to identify modulators of previously intractable disease targets,” said Jacob Berlin, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Terray. “Our combined expertise will leverage the scale, precision, and speed of our tNova platform to rapidly discover and advance therapeutics for patients.”
Chemical datasets generated using Terray’s novel ultra-dense microarray technology are analyzed with Terray’s integrated machine learning and computational platform to systemically map biochemical interactions between small molecules and disease targets. Terray’s chemistry engine operates at a massive scale, measuring billions of interactions daily and becoming increasingly precise with each cycle of design and experimentation. Combining these capabilities with wet lab and computationally-driven drug development workflows, Terray enables and accelerates small molecule drug discovery across a wide variety of targets.
“Terray’s platform offers a new opportunity to more precisely assess the biochemical dynamics between disease targets and small molecules at a very large scale,” said Jonathan W. Lewis, Ph.D., Chief Business Officer at Calico. “We look forward to partnering with the team at Terray to jointly discover first-in-class therapeutics against age-related diseases.”
About Calico
Calico (Calico Life Sciences LLC) is an Alphabet-founded research and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies and model systems to increase our understanding of the biology that controls human aging. Calico will use that knowledge to devise interventions that enable people to lead longer and healthier lives. To learn more about Calico, visit www.calicolabs.com.
About Terray Therapeutics
Terray Therapeutics is a biotechnology company operating at the convergence of AI, biology, medicinal chemistry, automation, and nanotechnology to propel drug discovery into the information age. Terray’s proprietary integrated computational and experimental platforms generate massively scaled, powerfully agnostic chemical data that are purpose-built to power computational learning and reveal new interactions. This foundation is building an iterative, flexible chemistry engine that delivers more precise therapies to patients faster than ever before. To learn more about Terray, visit terraytx.com.
Terray Therapeutics Media Contact
Peg Rusconi, Verge Scientific: prusconi@vergescientific.com
Calico Media Contact
Minna Kane, mkane@calicolabs.com
Fiona Black, PhD to join Terray’s Scientific Advisory Board
PASADENA, Cali., July 12, 2022 – Terray Therapeutics, a biotechnology company propelling drug discovery into the information age, today announced the appointment of Fiona Black, PhD to its Scientific Advisory Board, adding valuable expertise in interdisciplinary technology development of both market-leading, end-to-end product solutions and operationally efficient and scalable manufacturing processes.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Black to our Scientific Advisory Board,” said Chief Executive Officer Jacob Berlin, PhD. “Fiona’s work integrating diverse fields of science and engineering, for things such as polymeric drug delivery systems and rapid, low-cost biochemical ligand detection, will further support Terray’s mission to bridge the gap between discovery and treatment for patients.”
Dr. Fiona Black has more than 20 years of notable experience at leading biotechnology and biomedical organizations. Most recently, Fiona led Illumina’s Array portfolio R&D organization. Fiona has a Ph.D. in Biophysics and Surface Chemistry from the University of Nottingham, U.K., and a Bachelor of Sciences, with first-class honors, in Medical and Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Loughborough University, U.K.
“I am very impressed with the expertise of the team and the work they are doing here at Terray,” said Dr. Black. “The ability to measure precise chemical-biological interaction data at scale addresses a longstanding pain point in drug discovery. This, combined with a machine learning approach, provides exponential potential to transform the field. I am delighted to join the Scientific Advisory Board at this pivotal stage for the company.”
In addition to hiring in key leadership and strategic functions, Terray Therapeutics continues to build on the momentum of their recent $60 million Series A financing by expanding their operational and laboratory capabilities in a new facility in Greater Los Angeles. The company’s new headquarters will occupy nearly 50,000 square feet of combined lab/office space at the Monrovia Technology Campus. This is a significant expansion in footprint and will enable the company to support their next phase of growth.
About Terray Therapeutics
Terray Therapeutics is an emerging biotechnology company led by pioneers and long-time leaders in AI, medicinal chemistry, biology and preclinical development, automation, and nanotechnology to propel drug discovery into the information age. Terray’s proprietary integrated computational and experimental platforms generate massively scaled, powerfully agnostic chemical data that are purpose-built to power computational learning and reveal new interactions. This foundation is building an iterative, flexible chemistry engine that aims to deliver more precise therapies to patients faster than ever before. Visit terraytx.com to learn more.
Media Contact:
Darby Pearson
dpearson@vergescientific.com
New appointment adds deep expertise in small molecule drug discovery, business development, and strategic partnerships
Dr. Ujjainwalla joins an executive team of pioneers and long-time leaders in artificial intelligence, biology and preclinical development, automation, and nanotechnology
PASADENA, Cali., March 1, 2022 – Terray Therapeutics, a biotechnology company propelling drug discovery into the information age, today announced the appointment of Feroze (Fez) Ujjainwalla, PhD, as Head of Business. He joins an expanding lineup of industry veterans including Vanessa Taylor, Terray’s Head of Biology and Preclinical Development, Narbe Mardirossian, Terray’s Head of Computational and Data Science and Craig Schulz, Terray’s Head of Automation. The combined expertise of the executive team will advance Terray’s mission to deliver premium chemical data at unrivaled scale, unlocking the potential of AI-driven small molecule drug discovery.
“We are thrilled to welcome Fez to the team as we start this new chapter in the Terray story,” said Chief Executive Officer Jacob Berlin, PhD. “Fez brings over 20 years of drug discovery and development experience to our interdisciplinary team of highly skilled computational scientists, biologists, chemists and engineers. With the addition of Fez’s keen insights and business acumen for deals and partnerships, grounded in his medicinal chemistry background, we have the right mix of skills and perspectives on the leadership team that will help us bridge the gap between drug discovery and treatment.”
“I’m very excited to join the Terray team at this momentous stage,” said Dr. Ujjainwalla, “Having focused on cutting-edge biomedical technologies and strategic partnerships at Merck, I was immediately drawn to Terray’s sophisticated platform approach to developing quality chemical data at scale. Datasets like these, combined with the speed and power of machine learning, have the opportunity to open so many doors to research, collaborations, and transformative therapies.”
Dr. Ujjainwalla joins Terray from Merck, where he was most recently Director of Business Development and Licensing, having transitioned into Business Development after nearly two decades as a Medicinal Chemist. In 26 years of experience in small molecule drug discovery, he has led programs from inception to early clinical development, including the discovery of the first-in-class small molecule MC4R agonist, MK-0493, for the treatment of obesity. His licensing deals and strategic partnerships established numerous deals across a range of deal-types.
Dr. Ujjainwalla joins the following on the executive leadership team with Dr. Jacob Berlin, CEO, and Eli Berlin, Chief Financial and Operating Officer;
Dr. Vanessa Taylor, Head of Biology & Preclinical Development. Dr. Taylor joined Terray from Rigel Pharmaceuticals, where she led preclinical programs and was involved in taking seven drug candidates into clinical studies focused on inflammatory and rare diseases, and partnering of additional programs.
Dr. Narbe Mardirossian, Head of Computational and Data Sciences. A thought leader in quantum mechanics, machine learning, computational chemistry and closed-loop drug discovery, Dr. Mardirossian joined Terray from Amgen, where he supported computational small molecule drug discovery, including the development of advanced quantum mechanics and machine learning methods, as well as cloud-based solutions to support high-throughput, data-driven workflows.
Dr. Craig Schulz, Head of Automation. Dr. Schulz most recently was a Principal Scientist at Amgen responsible for designing, testing, and implementing automation solutions across Amgen’s discovery organization. He has invented numerous novel technologies that encompass enhancements to both small and large molecule synthesis, purification, and screening.
About Terray Therapeutics
Terray Therapeutics is an emerging biotechnology company led by pioneers and long-time leaders in AI, medicinal chemistry, biology and preclinical development, automation, and nanotechnology to propel drug discovery into the information age. Terray’s proprietary integrated computational and experimental platforms generate massively scaled, powerfully agnostic chemical data that are purpose-built to power computational learning and reveal new interactions. This foundation is building an iterative, flexible chemistry engine that aims to deliver more precise therapies to patients faster than ever before. Visit terraytx.com to learn more.
Media Contact:
Darby Pearson
dpearson@vergescientific.com
tNova platform leverages the world’s most dense and precise microarray to discover and develop transformative therapeutics
Series A Financing led by Madrona Venture Group with strong investor syndicate
PASADENA, Cali., February 15, 2022 – Terray Therapeutics, a biotechnology company propelling drug discovery into the information age, today announced the closing of a $60 million Series A financing to advance its novel tNova platform and deliver therapies to patients faster than ever before. The financing was led by Madrona Venture Group with participation from a broad syndicate of new and existing investors, including Two Sigma Ventures, Digitalis Ventures, KdT Ventures, Goldcrest Capital, XTX Ventures, Sahsen Ventures, Greentrail Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments. This financing follows a previously unannounced $20 million seed round co-led by Digitalis Ventures and Two Sigma Ventures.
“Even the most powerful artificial intelligence can’t get past insufficient or unclear data,” said Jacob Berlin, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Terray. “Current chemical data lacks the scale and quality to enable AI-driven drug development. We’re building a future where the speed, precision and scale of our engine enable us to predictably create drugs that meet urgent patient needs.”
In today’s emerging frontier of AI-led drug discovery, Terray’s chemistry engine operates at an unrivaled scale, measuring billions of interactions daily and becoming increasingly precise with each cycle of design and experimentation. Chemical datasets generated using Terray’s novel ultra-dense microarray technology work seamlessly with Terray’s integrated machine learning and computational platform to systematically map biochemical interactions between small molecules and causes of disease. Combining these capabilities with unique resynthesis capabilities and broad biology infrastructure, Terray can answer an unprecedented array of questions to accurately navigate vast chemical space and deliver therapeutics for previously inaccessible targets.
“The right chemical data at scale is the only way to fuel a modern drug discovery engine. We’ve seen the impact that scaled data can deliver in other industries, and we are now leveraging that power and promise to deliver more precise therapies to patients faster than ever before,” said Eli Berlin, Chief Financial and Operating Officer of Terray.
Terray brings together a highly skilled, world-class team with deep pharma expertise and experience in AI, synthetic chemistry, biology, automation, and nanotechnology with the bold vision to harness the power of their discovery engine and put transformative therapeutics at our fingertips.
“Madrona is thrilled to support Terray’s mission of revolutionizing drug discovery and accelerating cures to patients,” said Chris Picardo, Partner at Madrona Venture Group. “We are excited by the Company’s world-class team of scientists and machine learning experts and the broad therapeutic potential of the tNova platform to drive solutions to our greatest medical problems.”
“Leveraging more than a decade of research from its founders, Terray has constructed a chemistry platform that systematically integrates high-throughput experimentation and computation at an unprecedented scale,” said Geoffrey W. Smith, Managing Partner of Digitalis Ventures. “This integration sets Terray apart by addressing a key industry pain point, generating clean and relatable data that enables AI-driven models to succeed in the highly complex space of chemical compounds,” added Dusan Perovic, Partner at Two Sigma Ventures.
The financing will be used to advance the Company’s preclinical pipeline of therapeutics and the Company’s discovery partnerships.
About Terray Therapeutics
Terray Therapeutics is an emerging biotechnology company led by pioneers and long-time leaders in AI, synthetic chemistry, automation, and nanotechnology to propel drug discovery into the information age. Terray’s proprietary integrated computational and experimental platforms generate massively scaled, powerfully agnostic chemical data that are purpose-built to power computational learning and reveal new interactions. This foundation is building an iterative, flexible chemistry engine that delivers more precise therapies to patients faster than ever before. Visit terraytx.com to learn more.
Media Contact:
Darby Pearson
dpearson@vergescientific.com
