Initial Therapeutics Names Peter DiLaura as CEO

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Initial Therapeutics Inc., a life sciences company discovering and developing new small-molecule therapeutics with a novel platform to selectively modulate translation of pathogenic proteins in the ribosome, has appointed Peter DiLaura as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the company's Board of Directors, effective immediately. Spiros Liras, Ph.D., a Venture Partner at Apple Tree Partners (ATP) and founding CEO of Initial, will continue to serve on Initial's Board of Directors and the company's Scientific Advisory Board.

"Peter has a strong senior leadership track record in biopharmaceuticals and significant expertise in strategy, funding, and business development at emerging companies on the leading edges of science. We are delighted that he is taking the helm at Initial as our first programs progress," Liras said. "His expertise across a range of therapeutic modalities and indications and his sharp instincts about how to move companies forward all match very well with Initial's talented team, versatile platform, and growth opportunities."

"For some time, I have been following Initial Therapeutics with keen interest—the company is doing exciting and original work focused on protein modulation in the ribosome that is unlike any other approach I have seen," DiLaura said. "It's an honor to join Initial and work with the company's scientists, founders, and Board members to advance the promise of Initial's platform and programs and ultimately, to introduce new classes of small-molecule therapeutics to fight cancers and other intractable illnesses."

Peter DiLaura brings to Initial nearly three decades of experience in life sciences company creation and building, financing, strategy, and operations. Most recently, he was Chief Business and Strategy Officer at Sonoma Biotherapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing engineered regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies to treat serious autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. At Sonoma Bio, he drove financing and corporate development efforts and built Sonoma Bio's finance, legal, intellectual property, investor relations, program and portfolio management, and human resources functions. Before joining Sonoma Bio, DiLaura was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Third Rock Ventures involved in company creation activities. Prior to that, he served as CEO of Second Genome, Inc., a pioneering microbiome therapeutics company. DiLaura holds a B.A. in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Character Biosciences and is an advisor to several biotherapeutic companies and venture groups.

About Initial Therapeutics Inc.

Initial Therapeutics discovers and develops new small molecule treatments focused on known, rationally selected targets that play key roles in cancer and other serious illnesses. With its STOPS (Selective Termination of Protein Synthesis) platform, Initial selectively modulates  translation of pathogenic proteins in the exit tunnel of the ribosome, when the proteins are in their linear sequence stage and before they are fully formed. This approach makes possible a new kind of therapeutic with the potential to interrupt disease processes in their "initial" or earliest stages.

Initial, based in South San Francisco, was created by the life sciences venture capital firm Apple Tree Partners (ATP) with $75 million in Series A funding and co-founders Jamie H.D. Cate, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology at the University of California (UC) Berkeley; Brian Paegel, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, and Biomedical Engineering at UC Irvine; and Kevan Shokat, Ph.D., Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at UC San Francisco (UCSF) and Chemistry at UC Berkeley. Initial's proprietary platform brings together technologies from its founders into uniquely enabling combinations of capabilities in ribosome biochemistry, proteomics, medicinal chemistry, DNA-encoded library technology, and chemical genetics.

For more information, visit initialtx.com.

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SOURCE Initial Therapeutics