Markus Goebel

Locus Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company focused on developing novel, small molecule therapeutics to address major unmet medical needs. Locus utilizes powerful and proprietary computational technologies running on Linux-based supercomputer clusters to simultaneously identify relevant binding sites on protein disease targets and rapidly generate novel, small molecules that bind specifically to those protein sites. In contrast to other computational approaches, the Locus technology requires only a high-resolution, 3-dimensional structure of the target protein to implement its drug discovery process. Locus Pharmaceuticals is synthesizing and testing novel drug candidates for the treatment of debilitating and life-threatening human diseases, including HIV/AIDS, cancer, arthritis and inflammation.

Intellikine LLC develops and manufactures small molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer. The company focused on the development of potent, selective small molecule inhibitors of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune disorders. Intellikine was founded on May 2nd, 2007 and is headquartered in La Jolla, CA.

Founded in 1996, Novartis Venture Funds (USA) is a venture capital firm located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The firm is a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Novartis Venture Funds and their ultimate parent is Novartis AG, a Switzerland-based company that engages in the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of healthcare products. Novartis Venture Funds manages the Bermuda domiciled biotechnology venture fund, Novartis BioVentures Ltd

Sorbent Therapeutics, Inc. develops therapies for cardiovascular and renal diseases. It focuses on the development of non-absorbed polymeric drugs to satisfy unmet clinical needs in large cardiovascular and renal markets such as heart failure, chronic kidney disease and hypertension. The company was founded by William R. Rajski, Dean Abrassart, Donald W. Joseph and Lee W. Henderson on January 25, 2005 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA.

EraGen Biosciences, Inc. is a venture-backed biotechnology company. It designs, develops, manufactures and markets molecular diagnostic testing products and software for the research and clinical testing markets. The firm in-market and pipeline products, based on its novel, patented MultiCode platform chemistry, are the next generation of nucleic acid-based testing for the early detection and monitoring of cancer, genetic and infectious diseases. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Madison WI.

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a GSK company, is developing small molecule drugs that target the sirtuins, a family of seven enzymes associated with diseases of aging. Modulation of these enzymes offers the promise of drug discovery in multiple therapeutic areas. Sirtris was one of the pharmaceutical companies focused on the sirtuin platform and remains the innovative drug discovery. Preclinical research indicates that the sirtuins play important roles in pathways for multiple diseases of aging, including Type 2 Diabetes, as well as neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Sirtris researchers are working to translate this research into a potential new class of pharmaceuticals to treat diseases of aging, offering the ability for people to live longer, healthier lives. Sirtris has focused on developing many novel small molecule activators of SIRT1, the most studied member of the sirtuin family. These new chemical entities or NCEs are novel compounds that are chemically unrelated to resveratrol, a naturally occurring compound that was used as an early proof-of-concept for SIRT1 activation. Besides being structurally differentiated from resveratrol, the NCEs are more specific for the target SIRT1 and have improved drug-like properties. The company has completed several early stage translational clinical studies with the first generation NCEs and has several active clinical trials under way. Sirtris operates as an independent Discovery Performance Unit (DPU) within GSK and is located in Technology Square, Cambridge, Mass. Sirtris' culture mixes scientific curiosity with a dynamic, fast-paced environment, resembling its biotech roots while harnessing all of GSK's broad discovery, development, and commercialization capabilities. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA.