About
Endeavor
to Help People Feel Better and Live Longer
John Hood, PhD
Dr. Hood is a veteran of the California life science community who has founded and led several successful biotechnology companies in his 20-year career. He is currently Founder, CEO and Executive Chairman of Endeavor Biomedicines, a company funded in 2021 to develop novel therapeutics for oncology and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Prior to that, John was the Founder and CEO of Impact Biomedicines (now owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb), the developer of fedratinib, which has subsequently been approved worldwide for the treatment of myelofibrosis. He began his career as Director of Research at TargeGen in 2001, where he co-discovered fedratinib and led a team identifying small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and eye disease. John is an inventor on 100+ patents and the author of 50+ scientific articles. He received his Ph.D. in Medical Physiology and a B.S. in Biochemistry from Texas A&M University.
John Hood, PhD
/in ManagementDr. Hood is a veteran of the California life science community who has founded and led several successful biotechnology companies in his 20-year career. He is currently Founder, CEO and Executive Chairman of Endeavor Biomedicines, a company funded in 2021 to develop novel therapeutics for oncology and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Prior to that, John was the Founder and CEO of Impact Biomedicines (now owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb), the developer of fedratinib, which has subsequently been approved worldwide for the treatment of myelofibrosis. He began his career as Director of Research at TargeGen in 2001, where he co-discovered fedratinib and led a team identifying small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and eye disease. John is an inventor on 100+ patents and the author of 50+ scientific articles. He received his Ph.D. in Medical Physiology and a B.S. in Biochemistry from Texas A&M University.
Miguel de los Rios, PhD
/in ManagementMiguel de los Rios is an entrepreneur focused on developing novel therapeutics to satisfy unmet needs in human medicine. Prior to Endeavor, he was Founder and CEO at Rift Biotherapeutics, a therapeutic antibody company focused on cancers. Prior to that Miguel served as Vice President of Research and Development at Sevion Therapeutics (formerly Fabrus, Inc.), a clinical stage therapeutics company focused in oncology and autoimmune disorders. Miguel founded Chimeros, Inc., a venture-backed biologics therapeutic company in 2003 while working to complete his PhD. He is lead author or inventor on 50+ publications, patents and patent applications. He received his PhD in Biophysical Chemistry and a B.S. in Cell Biology, both at UC Santa Barbara.
Raghu Saripalli
/in ManagementPrior to joining Endeavor, Mr. Saripalli was co-founder of Impact Biomedicines. Before that he was the CFO of Rocket Gaming Systems and HemoLife Medical. Previously he was an investment banker specializing in mergers & acquisitions at Wasserstein Perella & Co., Deutsche Bank and Barclays Capital. He has an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and dual MS degrees in Engineering and Computer Science from Virginia Tech.
Paul A. Frohna, MD, PhD
/in ManagementPaul A. Frohna, M.D., Ph.D., PharmD, is a physician-scientist with expertise in all facets of drug development from the bench to bedside that has been applied to the development of novel small molecules, biologics, peptides, and cell therapies in immuno-oncology, immunology, hematology, and neurodegenerative diseases for over 20 years. Prior to Endeavor, he served as the Chief Medical & Scientific Officer of ImCheck Therapeutics where he was responsible for all research and discovery activities for the pipeline of butyrophilin-targeted mAbs, including multiple Phase I/II clinical trials in solid and hematologic malignancies with the γ9δ2 T cell activating mAb, ICT01. Previously, he served in senior development roles at Bioniz Therapeutics (CMO), Receptos (VP), and Genentech (Sr MD) where he designed and conducted over 50 Phase I-III clinical trials, with the successful associated regulatory filings (IND, CTA, BLA), including 4 approved drugs. Serves as an Independent Director for Accure Therapeutics (Barcelona, SP) since 2017 and on the Scientific Advisory Board of IAMA Therapeutics (Genoa, IT) since 2023. Dr. Frohna trained in internal medicine after graduating with an M.D. from Georgetown University, a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from PENN, and a Pharmacy Degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
Anita DiFrancesco
/in ManagementMs. DiFrancesco has over 25 years of industry experience; primarily with small to mid-size biotech companies. She has designed and managed numerous clinical trials from Phase 1 to Phase 3 in therapeutic areas including Oncology, Pulmonology, Musculoskeletal and Pain. Ms. DiFrancesco has built teams and clinical departments from inception to fully functional independent internal teams. Prior to joining Endeavor, Anita was the Vice President of Clinical Operations for Samumed, LLC, where she was responsible for the management and leadership of the Clinical Operations department. Prior to that she worked at Huya Bioscience, Cypress Bioscience and Chiron Corporation. She received her BS from Georgetown University.
Sunil KC, PhD
/in ManagementDr. KC is an experienced chemist who has over two decades of experience in drug discovery and CMC with a proven track record of successfully leading medicinal chemistry and CMC projects in every stage of drug discovery and development processes spanning from HTS to process validation and cGMP manufacturing of registration/PPQ batches of drug substance to support approval and post approval commercialization. Previously, Dr. KC was the Vice President of Chemistry at Samumed LLC where he played a key role in discovering and advancing seven NCEs to the clinic, and led CMC operational and strategic activities that included process development and cGMP manufacturing of drug substances to support phase 1-3 clinical trials of seven NCEs for eight different indications. At Samumed, Dr. KC successfully oversaw the design and execution of PPQ enabling multifunctional projects and PPQ campaign of Lorecivivint drug substance. Prior to Samumed, Dr. KC was the Associate Director of Chemistry at Avanir Pharmaceuticals, where he led a team of medicinal chemists working in drug discovery of various therapeutic areas. His team at Avanir discovered two NCEs that entered into the clinic and delivered two projects that were successfully out-licensed to Novartis and AstraZeneca. Dr. KC is an author of 21 peer reviewed scientific publications and inventor on more than 400 pending and issued patents. Dr. KC received his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Regensburg, Germany and M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
Hutch Humphreys
/in ManagementMr. Humphreys is an experienced regulatory professional with over 15 years of increasing responsibility for programs in all phases of product development, from pre-IND to NDA submission and post-approval lifecycle management. Prior to Endeavor, Hutch was at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Therapeutics, Inc., Samumed, LLC, and Intercept Pharmaceuticals, all in San Diego, CA, serving in expanding regulatory leadership roles for compounds in a wide variety of therapeutic areas, including metabolism/endocrinology, dermatology, rheumatology, oncology and pulmonology. Hutch is also an adjunct faculty member at the Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) in Claremont, CA, teaching a course on current issues in regulatory affairs.
Hutch earned a BS in Chemical Engineering at the University of Kansas. After college, he spent 5 years as a nuclear-trained submarine officer in the US Navy, serving onboard the USS Helena, homeported in Pearl Harbor, HI, and San Diego, CA. Following military service, he attended KGI, earning a Master of Bioscience degree prior to entering the pharmaceutical industry.
Gabriela Tobal
/in ManagementMs. Tobal has over 25 years of industry experience in the life sciences with a career spanning research, business development, corporate venture capital, alliance management, and organizational culture. She most recently served in business development and alliance management for Everest Medicines and held similar roles at La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company and The Scripps Research Institute. Previously, she worked in business development and corporate venture capital at Amgen. She has enjoyed her roles at every stage of the drug development process and is passionate about working with motivated scientists and great teams to develop therapeutics that bring health to patients.
Ms. Tobal received her B.Sc from the University of California: Santa Cruz; her M.Sc in Marine Biology from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California: San Diego and an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.