Led by a seasoned management team with a strong track record in creating robust biopharma businesses and exits, Outrun was spun out of founder Prof. Satpal Virdee’s lab at the world-renowned MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit at the University of Dundee.
Outrun is backed by leading venture capital investors M Ventures and MP Healthcare Venture Management.
Team
Dr Anthony Johnson
CEO
Dr Anthony Johnson MD
CEO
Tony brings over 25 years of academic, industry and venture experience. He currently serves as CEO and Chairman of the Board for Outrun Therapeutics and a Board Director for Nanosyrinx and Find Therapeutics. Tony is the former President and CEO of Domain Therapeutics, and was previously President and CEO of Goldfinch Bio. Prior to that, he was head of early clinical development and chief medical officer of the Innovative Medicines and Early Development Biotech Unit at AstraZeneca, as well as a Fellow at Homerton College, Cambridge University, Cambridge UK. This role was preceded by experience as a venture partner at OrbiMed Advisors and industry positions as vice president, discovery medicine and clinical pharmacology with Bristol-Myers Squibb, vice president, discovery medicine at GlaxoSmithKline and founding director of the GlaxoWelcome Medicines Research Unit. He was a tenured academic at the University of Queensland, Australia prior to his industry experience.
Dr Matthew Fyfe
CSO
Dr Matthew Fyfe
CSO
Matthew has over 25 years’ experience in drug discovery and development, having formerly held Senior Leadership positions at Storm Therapeutics (Cambridge), Sitryx (Oxford), TopiVert (London), Oryzon (Barcelona) and Prosidion (Oxford). He has successfully led diverse research programs in various therapeutic areas, delivering clinical candidates that have reached Phase 2 or further in oncology, immunology, metabolic disease, neurology and ophthalmology. Matthew obtained degrees from the University of Glasgow (BSc), Columbia University (MA) and the University of Birmingham (PhD) prior to postdoctoral studies at UCLA with Nobel prize winner Sir Fraser Stoddart. He is a Chartered Chemist, a Fellow of The Royal Society of Chemistry, an author of more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and an inventor on over 100 published patent families.
Dr Kerry Jenkins
Senior Director of Chemistry
Dr Kerry Jenkins
Senior Director of Chemistry
Kerry has worked in the drug discovery industry for almost 25 years in both large Pharma (Millennium, Takeda, UCB, Celltech) and smaller biotechs and CROs (Domainex, Wren Therapeutics). He is a medicinal chemist with a passion for working on innovative projects in therapy areas with unmet needs.
Dr Mathew Stanley
Principal Scientist & Founder
Dr Mathew Stanley
Principal Scientist & Founder
Mathew has over a decade of experience in synthetic chemistry and chemical biology, specializing in the discovery and development of small molecules for drug discovery campaigns. He has a DPhil in Organic Chemistry from the University of Sussex and his postdoctoral work at the University of Dundee included significant contributions towards novel tools for studying and understanding the ubiquitin system. He is a founder of Outrun and inventor on key underlying patents.
Dr Kuan-Chuan Pao
Principal Scientist & Founder
Dr Kuan-Chuan Pao
Senior Scientist & Founder
Kuan-Chuan (Eric) is a scientist with over 10 years of experience in both chemical and cell biology disciplines. Kuan-Chuan’s experience includes a PhD at MRC-PPU at the University of Dundee, post-doctoral research at UC Berkley and a Medical Liaison role in Roche. He has a track record of publication in high impact journals such as Nature and in-depth knowledge of disease biology across a range of indications. He is an inventor on several patents and a member of Outrun’s founding team.
Dr Iain Phair
Principal Scientist
Dr Iain Phair
Senior Scientist
Iain is a biochemist and cell biologist with experience spanning oncology, autoimmunity and cardiovascular disease. Following a Masters undertaken in Novartis, Basel, Iain carried out his PhD in the lab of Prof Simon Arthur and a post-doctoral position in Prof Graham Rena's lab, both at the University of Dundee.
Dr Lee Armstrong
Scientist
Dr Lee Armstrong
Scientist
Lee completed his PhD at the MRC Protein Phosphorylation & Ubiquitylation Unit in Dundee in the lab of Professor Yogesh Kulathu. His work focused on the structural and biochemical characterization of both the human MINDY deubiquitylases and the papain-like protease from SARS-CoV2. Lee joined Outrun Therapeutics following completion of his PhD.
Board
Dr Anthony Johnson
Chair
Dr Anthony Johnson MD
Chair
Tony brings over 25 years of academic, industry and venture experience. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board for Outrun Therapeutics and a Board Director for Nanosyrinx and Find Therapeutics. Tony is the former President and CEO of Domain Therapeutics, and was previously President and CEO of Goldfinch Bio. Prior to that, he was head of early clinical development and chief medical officer of the Innovative Medicines and Early Development Biotech Unit at AstraZeneca, as well as a Fellow at Homerton College, Cambridge University, Cambridge UK. This role was preceded by experience as a venture partner at OrbiMed Advisors and industry positions as vice president, discovery medicine and clinical pharmacology with Bristol-Myers Squibb, vice president, discovery medicine at GlaxoSmithKline and founding director of the GlaxoWelcome Medicines Research Unit. He was a tenured academic at the University of Queensland, Australia prior to his industry experience.
Dr Bauke Anninga
Non-executive Director
Dr Bauke Anninga
Non-executive Director
Bauke joined M Ventures in 2019 and is currently an Investment Director in the Biotechnology team. He represents M Ventures on the boards of Immunitas, Nucleome, NanoSyrinx, Pictor Labs, Multitude, Outrun Therapeutics and Rewind. Before joining M Ventures, Bauke worked at Jefferies International in the Healthcare Investment Banking group in London (UK). During his time at Jefferies he advised on several financings and M&A transactions across the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical devices sectors. Bauke has a PhD in Cancer Studies from King’s College London (UK) and is based in Amsterdam.
Dr Jeffrey Moore
Non-executive Director
Dr Jeffrey Moore
Non-executive Director
Jeff is President of MP Healthcare Venture Management (MPH), the VC firm of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, and Board of Director member of Diamond Edge Ventures (DEV), the VC arm of Mitsubishi Chemical Group. MPH is a Boston-based life sciences venture capital firm investing in companies developing innovative therapeutics, platform technologies and vaccines. Jeff led MPH’s investments in F-Star, Covagen, Forge, Blacksmith, Genocea, Korro, QurAlis, Thrasos, Ribometrix, miRagen, Outrun, PharmEnable, Draupnir and TrimTech. Previously, he held various business and scientific roles at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Scriptgen Therapeutics. He received his DPhil from the University of Oxford, studying virus vaccines, and then did postdoctoral training in infectious disease at Harvard Medical School. Jeff received his MBA as a Sloan Fellow at MIT, and his BSc in Biology from the University of New Brunswick.
Prof. Satpal Virdee
Founder & Non-executive Director
Prof. Satpal Virdee
Founder & Non-executive Director
Satpal is a leader in the discovery, mechanism, and structural biology of E3 ligases. His lab has pioneered the development of engineered protein sensors for studying these pivotal enzymes, along with numerous other technologies for probing the ubiquitin system. He holds a Personal Chair in Chemical Biology at the University of Dundee, where he is based in the world-renowned MRC Protein Phosphorylation & Ubiquitylation Unit. He started his lab in 2011, and by developing and applying innovative technologies, he has uncovered a striking and unanticipated diversity in the ubiquitin system. Before that, he completed his postdoctoral research at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in the labs of Jason Chin FRS and David Komander. Professor Virdee received his PhD in Chemical and Structural Biology at Birkbeck/UCL in the lab of Gabriel Waksman FRS.
Dr Chris Roberts
Non-executive Director, SAB member
Dr Chris Roberts
Non-executive Director, SAB member
Chris brings 25 years of leadership experience and company building to the discovery and development of novel therapies for oncology, immunology, virology and other indications. He was most recently the CEO of Civetta Therapeutics, a private start up focused on drugging protein protein interactions. Chris joined Civetta after his role as the CSO of Black Diamond Therapeutics, a publicly traded precision oncology company where his team discovered and advanced 3 clinical candidates. Prior to joining Black Diamond, Chris served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at SR One, a healthcare focused venture capital fund. Previous roles also include VP of Chemistry and Early Development at Syros Pharmaceuticals and VP and Head of Host Defense Discovery at GSK. Chris’ work has been extensively published and he is an inventor on over 20 issued patents. He has a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California, completed a post-doc in University of Bern and has a B.A. in Chemistry from Whitworth University.
Scientific Advisory Board
The team is supported by world-leading Scientific Advisors.
Biology
Prof. Glenn Hanna
Director of the Center for Cancer Therapeutic Innovation, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Prof. Glenn Hanna
Director of the Center for Cancer Therapeutic Innovation, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Professor Hanna is a medical oncologist specializing in head and neck cancers, with a focus on precision medicine, immunotherapy, and early-phase clinical trials. He directs the Center for Cancer Therapeutic Innovation (Dana-Farber’s early drug development program) and the Center for Salivary and Rare Head and Neck Cancers, focusing on precision medicine approaches for head and neck malignancies. His clinical and translational research integrates molecular and immunologic biomarker discovery to improve outcomes for patients with rare and HPV-associated malignancies.
Prof. Kevin Harrington
Professor of Biological Cancer Therapies, Institute of Cancer Research
Prof. Kevin Harrington
Professor of Biological Cancer Therapies, Institute of Cancer Research
Professor Harrington is internationally recognized for his work in head and neck cancer, with a focus on developing targeted therapies including oncolytic viruses, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and radiosensitisers. As Head of the Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging at ICR, he leads translational research that bridges laboratory innovation with clinical application. Professor Harrington is also a NIHR Senior Investigator and chairs several national initiatives in advanced radiotherapy.
Prof. Gigi Lozano
Professor and Chair of Genetics, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Prof. Gigi Lozano
Professor and Chair of Genetics, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Professor Lozano is a leading cancer biologist and is internationally recognized for her pioneering research on the p53 tumour suppressor pathway, a critical regulator of cell growth and a key player in cancer development. Her lab was among the first to demonstrate that p53 functions as a transcriptional activator. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has received numerous honours for her scientific and advocacy contributions.
Dr Donald Ogilvie
Framingham Consultancy
Dr Donald Ogilvie
Framingham Consultancy
Dr. Ogilvie is a UK-trained biochemist and drug discovery expert who previously spent twenty years in oncology drug discovery and early clinical development at AstraZeneca. He later founded and led the Drug Discovery Unit at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, building a portfolio of cancer therapeutics and collaborating with industry partners. He now works as an independent scientific consultant, advising academic groups, biotech companies, and investors on cancer drug discovery.
Prof. Martin Scheffner
Professor of Biochemistry, University of Konstanz
Prof. Martin Scheffner
Professor of Biochemistry, University of Konstanz
Professor Scheffner is a molecular biologist renowned for his pioneering work in the field of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation. He is best known for co-discovering the role of the E6AP ubiquitin-protein ligase in targeting the tumour suppressor p53 for degradation—a key insight into how human papillomavirus (HPV) contributes to cancer development.
Prof. Satpal Virdee
Chair of the SAB
Prof. Satpal Virdee
Chair of the SAB
Satpal is a leader in the discovery, mechanism, and structural biology of E3 ligases. His lab has pioneered the development of engineered protein sensors for studying these pivotal enzymes, along with numerous other technologies for probing the ubiquitin system. He holds a Personal Chair in Chemical Biology at the University of Dundee, where he is based in the world-renowned MRC Protein Phosphorylation & Ubiquitylation Unit. He started his lab in 2011, and by developing and applying innovative technologies, he has uncovered a striking and unanticipated diversity in the ubiquitin system. Before that, he completed his postdoctoral research at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in the labs of Jason Chin FRS and David Komander. Professor Virdee received his PhD in Chemical and Structural Biology at Birkbeck/UCL in the lab of Gabriel Waksman FRS.
Chemistry
Stefan Knapp
Structural Genomics consortium
Stefan Knapp
Structural Genomics consortium
Stefan Knapp is Professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main and Chief Scientific Officer of the Structural Genomics Consortium Frankfurt node. He is a medicinal chemist and structural biologist with an interest in developing innovative, first-in-class small molecules for the discovery of new therapies. He pioneered the development of the first inhibitors for acetyl lysine reader domains of the epigenetic code (bromodomains), and has developed many highly selective kinase inhibitors using structure-based, rational ligand design approaches. Recently, his research team has also been targeting E3 ligases for the development of the next generation of PROTAC degraders.
Chris Swain
Cambridge Medchem consulting
Chris Swain
Cambridge Medchem consulting
Dr Chris Swain is the founder and Director of Cambridge MedChem Consulting (est. 2006). Previously, he spent 20 years at Merck as Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry, leading the discovery and development of the NK1 antagonist Emend and overseeing computational chemistry research. He now provides medicinal and computational chemistry support to pharma, biotech, academia, and VC funders, having collaborated with over 60 organisations, many in long‑term partnerships leading to clinical candidates. Chris is an active RSC leader, advisor to multiple companies and charities, a committed educator in drug discovery, and author of over 110 peer‑reviewed publications.
Mike Waring
University of Newcastle
Mike Waring
University of Newcastle
Mike is Chair of Medicinal Chemistry at Newcastle University and Cancer Research Horizons. Previously he was Principal Scientist at AstraZeneca. He has contributed to the discovery of 14 drug candidates including the covalent mutant EGFR inhibitor osimertinib. His expertise lies in physicochemical property-based optimisation and new methods of hit finding with a particular focus on covalent inhibitors and new modalities using fragments, DNA encoding and diversity-based approaches. His work has been recognised by numerous awards including the 2022 EFMC UCB Ehrlich Prize, 2018 ACS Heroes of Chemistry and the 2017 RSC Malcolm Campbell Medal.
Richard Weaver
Drug Discovery Solutions
Richard Weaver
Drug Discovery Solutions
Richard Weaver is a DMPK consultant and entrepreneur having both significant Pharma (AZ) and CRO experience. Richard founded XenoGesis in 2011 after spotting a gap in the DMPK CRO market. Having grown the company organically and through reinvestment, and building a team of over 40 skilled scientists, Richard successfully led the sale of XenoGesis to Sygnature Discovery in 2020. Richard founded Drug Discovery Solutions in 2022, a highly experienced team of DMPK consultants.
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