Welcome to Partnology’s Biotech Leader Spotlight Series, where we highlight the remarkable accomplishments and visionary leadership of biotech industry pioneers. This series is about showcasing the groundbreaking strides made by exceptional leaders who have transformed scientific possibilities into tangible realities. Through insightful interviews, we invite you to join us in following the inspiring journeys of these executives who continue to shape the landscape of the biotech industry. This week we are recognizing:
Dr. Raphael Ribeiro-Pinaud is the Founder, CEO and Chairman of Antharis Therapeutics, where he has launched and grown the company to significant success, spearheaded M&A transactions with Cassyni Biopharma and Galileo Biotech, and expanded Antharis’ asset portfolio and multinational presence. His expertise in the biotech/biopharma sector resides at the intersection of science, finance,business management and regulatory affairs. Before Antharis, he founded GB, a pioneering GMP-certified diagnostics company in Latin America, and served as a partner at Leste Global Investments, managing global biotech investments. Dr. Ribeiro-Pinaud has also held roles as an academic scientist and advisor to governmental health agencies. He holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from OHSU, completed postdoctoral work at Duke in Bioengineering/Proteomics, earned an MBA in Economics and Business Management from FGV Business School in Brazil, and graduated from Harvard’s Finance Leadership program.
Walk me through your career; highlighting the most pivotal moments throughout:
I began my career with a classical science education, initially focused on academia. After earning an undergraduate degree in genetics, I moved to North America for graduate studies, obtaining a master’s in molecular biology in Canada before relocating to the United States, where I earned a PhD in neuroscience. I then pursued postdoctoral training in biomedical engineering and proteomics at Duke University, eventually becoming a professor and principal investigator. As an academic, I led a well-funded, successful research group, securing federal, state, and private foundation grants, which helped build a strong scientific foundation and facilitated my rise through the academic ranks.
Despite this success in academia, due to career development opportunities, skill diversification, financial incentives, and, most importantly, the appeal of high-impact work, I transitioned into financial markets. I joined a leading asset management company, initially in equity research, before being promoted to trader and, eventually, to portfolio manager in a hedge fund. There, I leveraged my scientific background to run an event-driven portfolio of global biotech and pharma stocks and derivatives, focusing on scientific and regulatory events at key clinical trial inflection points. Essentially, I used my background to estimate the likelihood of publicly listed biotech and pharma companies successfully advancing on clinical trials, which often creates significant value for the companies, which is reflected in stock prices.
In parallel, I pursued an MBA in economics and strategic business management, further equipping me for this new career path. I ultimately became a partner in the asset management company in 2014, also taking responsibility for all healthcare, biotech, and pharma venture capital and private equity investments. Through our venture fund, I launched an in vitro diagnostics company to capture value in Latin America, becoming CEO and Chairman of this company. It became the first GMP-certified facility in Brazil authorized for the full workflow of development, production, and manufacturing of immunochemical kits for various sectors, including human health and food safety. This company was later acquired, which further diversified my background to include business management in the biotech sector.
As unique and robust opportunities started emerging in the biopharmaceutical sector, I then moved to California to launch Antharis Therapeutics, where I currently serve as CEO and Chairman. Antharis is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative monoclonal antibodies for various unmet oncological needs. I am dedicated to guiding the company’s mission, which has seen significant success and growth to date. In sum, I believe my successes are rooted in my multidisciplinary background, combining a strong foundation in science, finance, business management and regulatory affairs.
Tell me more about Antharis Therapeutics – what are you currently working on?
I launched Antharis in 2020 after leaving the hedge fund world, and it has been my primary focus and a major success story to date. Antharis is a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in developing biotherapeutics—particularly cutting-edge monoclonal antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates— aimed at treating various cancer types.
Founded with the belief that the future of cancer treatment lies in the recruitment and activation of immune cells to fight the disease, Antharis focuses on a unique angle: targeting immune system cells rather than the cancer cells directly. By harnessing the immune system’s ability to dynamically combat cancer, we aim to overcome the numerous immune evasion mechanisms employed by cancer cells. While many companies concentrate on therapies that target cancer cells, a large fraction of our assets focus on empowering healthy immune cells by developing monoclonal antibodies that counteract these immune evasion strategies.
While other approaches, like CAR-T cell therapy for example, also exploit the immuno-oncological interface, we at Antharis believe that monoclonal antibodies offer a promising pathway to selectively modulate immune responses with fewer side effects. Additionally, monoclonal antibodies are off-the-shelf and highly scalable, enabling us to deliver accessible and reasonably priced treatments to a broader patient base. With our innovative science and efficient development processes, we maintain success rates above industry standards and have assembled one of the largest portfolios of monoclonal antibodies targeting solid tumors in the industry.
Our advanced programs are at a pivotal stage. We are focused on optimizing the efficacy of our most promising monoclonal antibodies and are set to initiate clinical trials in the next year, marking our transition into a clinical-stage company. Alongside these advancements, we are also preparing our regulatory framework and expanding our biotherapeutics pipeline to explore additional applications, such as treatments for inflammatory diseases. We believe Antharis is strategically positioned to make significant contributions to healthcare over the mid to long term, and we are excited about the impact our therapies can have on patients with critical needs.
You’ve successfully led key M&A deals, including the acquisition of Galileo Biotech. What strategic factors influenced these acquisitions, and how have they shaped the company’s long-term growth?
Antharis was launched as a preclinical company with a focus on capturing value through our strength in research and development rather than clinical trials or navigating the regulatory landscape. Following a successful Series A and the addition of C-level executives, the company professionalized and advanced its portfolio. As we grew, we recognized the potential we would miss if we did not transition to a clinical-stage company. This shift brought additional regulatory and manufacturing demands, and we decided, as best as we could, not to outsource our manufacturing or R&D capabilities to enter the clinic. Instead, we acquired Galileo Biotech through an M&A deal because of its GMP-certified facilities, meeting several of Antharis’ manufacturing needs. Importantly, this acquisition provided more than manufacturing solutions; with Galileo’s state-of-the-art R&D facilities, we could expand our research capabilities and bring high-quality scientists from Latin America into our programs in a cost-effective way. This strategic acquisition enhanced our financial scalability, our R&D programs, and our manufacturing infrastructure, making it a highly advantageous move for Antharis.
With a multidisciplinary background, spanning science, business management, and finance, how do you integrate these diverse perspectives when steering Antharis Therapeutics through critical business decisions?
I believe my multidisciplinary background has been crucial to my decision-making process and associated successes to date. The biotech sector is unique, as you often find exceptional scientists who may lack financial expertise and do not have experience with investor interactions or business decisions. Similarly, finance experts might lack the deep scientific understanding needed to assess and mitigate biotech risks, make scientific and strategic decisions, and regulatory specialists may not have the breadth of scientific experience or the finance and business management acumen essential for running a company.
My career has given me depth across these areas: I have had a solid scientific foundation as a professor and lab head, leading and mentoring PhD students, post-doctoral fellows and more senior scientists. I spent many years as a partner in a top investment firm, working with both liquid and illiquid biotech investments. Additionally, leading biotech businesses has immersed me in regulatory affairs at a high level. This combination has made me a true multidisciplinary professional, which is critical in startups, where resources are limited, and every decision counts.
At Antharis, I actively engage in scientific discussions, make high-level financial and risk decisions, and navigate strategic challenges comfortably due to my comprehensive background. This well-rounded experience allows me to make the best possible decisions for the company. Embracing this diverse path, even when it might seem risky, has been my greatest advantage—driving continuous learning and adaptation across fields.
Given your experience sitting on multiple biotech company boards, how do you balance the distinct responsibilities and strategic needs of these organizations?
Different companies have unique demands, and my advisory role in the biotech sector centers on guiding strategic decisions that can propel technology or science from concept to clinical impact. These contributions span scientific and regulatory guidance, strategic planning, and fundraising, which is particularly rewarding when collaborating with innovative teams tackling high-impact health challenges.
I generally advise in three key areas: early-stage biotech startups, portfolio management and investment strategy, and corporate strategy for mid-stage companies. In early-stage biotech, I guide teams in refining their focus on unmet medical needs, helping them create robust preclinical and clinical designs. I also support these companies in building strong, data-backed narratives that highlight their unique value, essential for securing early funding and partnerships. In portfolio management, I leverage my scientific and clinical trial risk assessment background to help venture capital, private equity and hedge funds assess asset pipelines, optimizing investment timing, risk, exposure and evaluating clinical success likelihood.
Finally, I assist mid-stage companies with corporate strategy, especially as they prepare for larger funding rounds, partnerships, or market entry. This transition requires careful scalability planning, regulatory compliance, and sometimes navigating acquisitions—as with Antharis, where we have completed two acquisitions to date. I am particularly passionate about advising companies targeting challenging cancers and untreatable conditions that could redefine patient outcomes. In all these roles, I draw from my background in academia, financial markets, and corporate biotech leadership to help companies anticipate challenges, prioritize resources, and position themselves within a highly competitive landscape.
As someone with deep experience in venture capital and private equity investments in the biotech sector, what are the key attributes you look for in early-stage biotech companies when considering potential investments?
Yes, I do invest in biotech, biopharma, and pharma ventures, in addition to other sectors for diversification. For me, there are two dominant factors when evaluating startups, particularly smaller companies. The first, and most crucial, is leadership—essentially, the team. Are these the best individuals to lead the company within its specific mandate? Do they have the experience needed to generate value with limited resources, mitigate risks, rapidly adapt to the numerous challenges that will certainly present themselves along the way and guide products or ideas to key inflection points crucial for value creation? In startups, the investment is largely in the team itself.
The second factor is the product. Is there a platform, product series, or, as is in our case, a group of antibodies or scientific assets with differentiators that could separate them from the competition and potentially transform the field? Once these two elements—strong leadership and innovative products with high potential—are in place, I carefully analyze potential risks and their associated returns. When I invest in a company with great leadership and promising products, I usually aim to join in an advisory or board-level role. This enables me to support the company’s leadership in navigating risks efficiently, increasing the likelihood of successful outcomes for those investments.
