Stephen joined Samsara BioCapital as a Venture Partner in 2019. He is a pharmaceutical scientist with over 30 years’ experience in the UK, US and Canada biotech industry, 17 years of which have been in C-level positions. He has directed multiple small molecule therapeutics research programs, primarily in cancer, and also in I&I, metabolic disorders and infectious diseases.
Prior to Samsara, Stephen was CSO and, latterly, joint COO/CSO of Karus Therapeutics, UK, and was the founding scientist of the company’s two small molecule oncology programs. At Karus, he designed and directed the research and preclinical development of the PI3K-beta/delta inhibitor, KA2237 (CVL-237, acquired by Convalife), and the HDAC6 inhibitor, KA2507, from concept to Phase I clinical trials. Prior to Karus, he was Head of New Projects Development at Cancer Research UK, London. Before CRUK, he was Director of Chemistry at Piramed Pharma, UK. He directed the company’s pan-PI3K and PI3K-delta research programs and, notably, he designed and led the research and preclinical development of the pan-PI3K anti-cancer agent Pictilisib (PI-728/GDC-0941), which was partnered with Genentech. Piramed was subsequently acquired by Roche for $160M, a 9-x ROI. Prior to Piramed, he was Associate Director, Chemistry at Tularik, South San Francisco, and, beforehand, Research Leader, Chemistry at BioChem Pharma, Quebec. He began his industrial career at Chiroscience, UK. He has published extensively in the literature, primarily in small molecule therapeutics R&D and in medicinal and synthetic organic chemistry, and has been an invited speaker at a number of international conferences. He is an inventor on 50 US patents, and on multiple patent applications. He received his BSc (Hons) and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Liverpool, and in 2007 was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.