Carmine Stengone

Avelas Biosciences, Inc. develops integrated suite of therapeutic and imaging agents for treatment of cancer. It develops AVB-620, an intravenously administered in vivo fluorescent protease activatable peptide that detects, marks, and diagnoses cancer. The company was founded by Yon Chien Tsien, Quyen T. Nguyen and Michael A. Whitney in 2008 and is headquartered in La Jolla, CA.

COI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. provides life science investors. It offers research and development infrastructure and industry mentors to the portfolio companies of Avalon Ventures. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in La Jolla, CA.

Phenomix Corp. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small-molecule product candidates directed toward clinically validated targets in significant therapeutic markets. It's internally discovered product candidates are designed to have improved efficacy, safety or convenience relative to existing therapies and other product candidates in clinical development. Its lead product candidate, dutogliptin tartrate, is a dipeptidyl peptidase-4, or DPP-4, inhibitor that it is developing as an oral, once-daily treatment for Type 2 diabetes. Its Phase 2b clinical trial of dutogliptin demonstrated statistically significant reductions in HbA1c when administered in combination with existing drugs for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. The company commenced its Phase 3 clinical program in the third quarter of 2008. Its second product candidate, PHX1766, is a protease inhibitor currently in Phase 1 of clinical development for the treatment of hepatitis C virus, or HCV, infection. The company intends to maximize the value of its product candidates through independent development, licensing and other partnership opportunities. These may include co-development or co-marketing agreements, licensing agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that possess established development and commercialization capabilities or direct commercialization by building its own sales and marketing force.

Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. develops and manufactures novel small molecule medicines. It engages in developing novel medicines in the areas of hepatitis C and oncology. The firm develops ANA598, a direct-acting antiviral for the treatment of hepatitis C. The company was founded by Stelios B. Papadopoulos and Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos in 1992 and is headquartered in Little Falls, NJ.

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC provides research and development support services. It offers drug discovery and drug development in a variety of therapeutic areas, including CNS, Internal Medicine and Oncology, to address unmet medical needs worldwide. The company is headquartered in Raritan, NJ.

Afraxis, Inc. operates as a contract research organization (CRO), specializes in preclinical efficacy evaluations (in vivo and in vitro), neurotoxicity evaluations, and structure-efficacy relationship (SER)-driven medicinal chemistry. It develops Afraxis ESP, an enhanced spine analysis platform that quantifies the morphology and maturity of synaptic dendritic spines, which are fundamental to information processing by neural synapses in the brain. The company was founded by Jay B. Lichter, Carmine Stengone, Susumu Tonegawa and Ben Vollrath in 2007 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA.