Chemistry Departmental Seminar – Wassana Yantasee, PhD, MBA

About the event

Speaker: Wassana Yantasee, PhD, MBA

Host: Rishi Sharma, PhD, Director of Business Development

Title: PDX Pharmaceuticals’ Journey in Developing Next-Generation Cancer Therapies: Opportunities and Challenges of Building an Academic Startup

Abstract: PDX Pharma’s mission is to find cures for cancer. Increasingly, the field recognizes that targeting cancer cells alone is not sufficient, as cancer is heterogeneous, constantly evolving, and often develops resistance to conventional drugs, which frequently create an immunosuppressive environment. PDX Pharma’s strategy is to develop next-generation cancer drugs that not only kill cancer cells but also train the immune system to fight cancer while modulating the immunosuppressive environment to achieve durable responses and, potentially, cures. This is made possible by its proprietary drug delivery platform (PDX-NP™), which enables the delivery of multiple types of drugs to both cancer cells and the appropriate immune cells. PDX Pharma has raised almost $14M in grants and investments to support five cancer drug candidates in the pipeline. The company’s work has resulted in numerous high-impact publications, more than 40 patent applications, and the training of many next-generation cancer researchers. Dr. Yantasee, the CEO, will share her experience transitioning from academia to entrepreneurship in developing these drug candidates, covering topics such as fundraising, intellectual property protection, and the opportunities and challenges of launching a biotech startup.