OnCusp Therapeutics is a global biopharmaceutical company translating a focused portfolio of first-in-class oncology assets from promising research into proven medicines. The company is led by a founding team that has deep experience in business development, clinical development and building start-up biopharmaceutical company. OnCusp continually strives to optimize the largest value inflection point in the drug development value chain and believes that accelerating oncology drug innovation is the best way to deliver help and hope to cancer patients worldwide. OnCusp completed a $25m seed round from investors including Sequoia Capital China, BioTrack Capital, Oriza Seed Capital, and AIHC Capital. OnCusp has offices in New York and Shanghai.
We deliver
help and hope to
cancer patients worldwide.
The OnCusp Therapeutics team has deep experience in the science and business of global medical innovation. We have shaped our company culture to draw on this knowledge, combining crisp, goal-oriented strategy with an emphasis on societal benefit and win-win partnerships. Our team works quickly but holds each other accountable so that quality is never compromised. We take smart risks and bet big when the situation calls for it. We value honesty. We structure our partnerships to share risk and reward in a fair, transparent manner while working to maximize value using our deep experience and global networks. We always keep an eye on results, not only in terms of value creation but, importantly, on our vision of the societal bottom line—the improved patient outcomes our work enables.
Established global partnership (excluding China) with a Chinese biotech, to develop CUSP06
Established global partnership (excluding China) with a Chinese biotech to discover and develop CUSP03
Initiation of first In-House Program CUSP02
Established global partnership with a US biotech to develop CUSP01
Opened New York office
Opened Shanghai office
- Company Founded
- Completed $25 million seed round financing and started operations
Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO
Dr. Bing Yuan is a leading entrepreneur and executive in oncology drug development, BD&L, and commercialization. Over his career he has made key contributions to over a dozen globally successful oncology drugs, including blockbusters Keytruda and Glivec.
Dr. Yuan has led or substantially contributed to over 50 oncology M&A, licensing, and clinical collaboration deals while driving drug development strategies, brand lifecycles, and product launches.
Before co-founding OnCusp, Dr. Yuan was Chief Strategy and Business Officer at CStone Pharmaceuticals, helping to build the company from an early-stage startup through a successful IPO and eventually to commercialization stage. Prior to CStone, Dr. Yuan was Executive Director and Global Lead of Oncology BD&L at Merck, Global Head of Life Cycle Strategy and Executive Director at Novartis Oncology, and Global Oncology Marketing Lead at Eisai, all based in the United States.
Dr. Yuan holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from Columbia University, an MBA from Cornell University, and a B.S. of Biochemistry from Nanjing University.
Co-Founder, Chief Development Officer, and Head of Research and Development
Dr. Eric Slosberg has over 20 years of experience leading oncology drug research and development for global pharmaceutical companies. His expertise includes design of clinical development plans, execution of clinical trials, and strategic drug portfolio development.
Before co-founding OnCusp, Dr. Slosberg was Vice President and Head of Oncology Global Translational Development at Daiichi Sankyo, where he directed the clinical and translational strategy and execution for all early oncology assets. Prior to Daiichi Sankyo, Dr. Slosberg spent almost 20 years at Novartis with increasing responsibilities in preclinical research and early and late-stage clinical development. In addition, he oversaw the US medical affairs activities of all benign hematology and multiple myeloma assets, and he developed and co-led the influential Signature personalized medicine clinical trial program.
Dr. Slosberg holds an M.S., M.Phil., and a PhD from Columbia University, as well as a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University.
Co-Founder, Chief Business Officer
Dr. Andy Fu has over 15 years of experience in healthcare, finance, management consulting, and biotech.
Before co-founding OnCusp, Dr. Fu was Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Strategy at CStone Pharmaceuticals. As a member of the founding management team, Dr. Fu played a critical role in designing CStone’s corporate strategy and leading the business development function. He closed eight partnerships in three years, including in-licensing, out-licensing, and multi-spectrum/equity deals. Prior to CStone, he was at Monitor Deloitte China, where he specialized in Life Sciences strategy and M&A and helped to build the Healthcare M&A practice working with some of the largest Chinese healthcare companies. Prior to Monitor Deloitte, Dr. Fu was deputy CEO at Yanlord Financial Services based in Sydney, Australia, where he co-led multiple M&A deals. Prior to Yanlord, Dr. Fu practiced as a pharmacist at Walgreens Pharmacy.
Dr. Fu holds both a Bachelor of Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Connecticut, and an MBA from INSEAD.
Senior Vice President, Clinical Development
Dr. Nenad Sarapa has over 27 years of experience in pharmaceutical R&D (IND through NDA) in the US, EU, and Asia. He has worked in multiple pharmaceutical companies ranging from small biotech to multinational companies. Dr. Sarapa is experienced in the development of small molecules and biologics in the therapeutic areas of Oncology, Anti-inflammatory, CV/Diabetes, and Infectious Diseases.
Before joining OnCusp, Dr. Sarapa was the VP of Clinical Development at SpringWorks Therapeutics. Prior to SpringWorks, he worked at Sarah Cannon Research Institute, Molecular Templates, Bayer Healthcare, Hoffmann-La Roche, Johnson & Johnson PRD, Daiichi Sankyo, Pfizer/Pharmacia/SUGEN, and GlaxoWellcome. Dr. Sarapa has held various prestigious titles and responsibilities including SVP and Head of Clinical Pharmacology/Oncology, Global Head of Clinical Pharmacology, and Clinical Research Physician. His leadership experience includes oversight of global program development, people management, and leading cross-industry working groups.
Dr. Sarapa obtained his MD and MS degrees at the University of Zagreb with a residency in Internal medicine and a fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University Hospitals in Zagreb. He has published 40 peer-reviewed papers on topics in clinical development, clinical pharmacology, and drug safety.
Vice President of Research
Dr. Wei Lu has over 16 years of experience in drug discovery and early developments in oncology and immunology. Over his career, he brought 5 small molecules from drug discovery to clinical trials. Dr. Lu is also experienced in recruiting, building up and leading research teams at multiple biotech and large pharma.
Before joining OnCusp, Dr. Lu worked as Senior Director at Skyhawk Therapeutics and KSQ Therapeutics. Previous to Skyhawk and KSQ, he held various roles from Senior Research Biochemist to Director of Biology in Forma Therapeutics and Merck Research Laboratory in Boston. He also had his postdoctoral fellow from Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Lu holds a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology from Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, an M.S of Biochemistry from Bowling Green State University, and a B.S. of Polymer Science and Engineering, East China University of Chemical Technology.
Vice President,
Technical Operations
Amy Penticoff brings 30 years of product development, manufacturing, quality control, regulatory strategy and supply chain of small molecule and biologic drugs to OnCusp.
Most recently she was VP of Technical Operations at Amphivena Therapeutics, where she was responsible for drug substance and drug product, as well as the development of a prefilled syringe. Before that, at ARMO BioSciences (now Eli Lilly), she was responsible for drug product manufacture in support of the company’s clinical trials, as well as the development of a prefilled syringe. Following ARMO’s acquisition, Ms. Penticoff oversaw the transfer of the product manufacturing technology from ARMO to Eli Lilly. Prior to ARMO, at Intarcia Therapeutics, she worked on a peptide-based implantable product for the treatment of diabetes and the development of a sterile implantation kit intended for commercialization. Before that, at NeurogesX, Inc., she supported the development and commercialization of a Dermal Patch.
Ms. Penticoff holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA from Pepperdine University, and holds patents in formulation and manufacturing.
Dr. Funda Meric-Bernstam is the Chair of the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, the Medical Director of the Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy (IPCT), and The Nellie B. Connally Chair in Breast Cancer at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her basic and translational research focuses on molecular therapeutics to delineate the mechanism of action agents targeting this pathway. As Medical Director of the IPCT, she leads large genomic testing efforts assesses actionability of genomic alterations and created databases and alert systems to facilitate accrual to genotype-selected trials. She leads and participates in investigator-initiated trials, cooperative group trials, and Phase I / II trials in advanced cancers. Her clinical research is focused on Phase I / II trials with focus on novel mechanisms of action, novel combination therapies and biomarkers to predict and monitor drug response. She completed her MD from the Yale University School of Medicine, her residency at the University of Michigan Medical Center, and her fellowship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in surgical oncology.
Dr. Gary Schwartz is Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology and Associate Director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University School of Medicine. He is a recognized leader in translational and clinical research, including the development and testing of new anticancer drugs, the molecular and cellular mechanisms of cancer, and its unique behavior in different tissues. Previously he was Chief of the Melanoma Sarcoma Oncology Service and director of the Laboratory of New Drug Development at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where he led laboratory research in anticancer therapies ranging from fundamental basic research, novel phase I clinical trials, and molecularly targeted treatments of organ-specific cancers. Dr. Schwartz is associate editor at both the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Clinical Cancer Research and has published over 200 peer-review articles. He completed his MD at Albany Medical College of Union University, his residency at North Shore University Hospital, and his fellowship at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in medical oncology.
Dr. John Hohneker is a biotechnology leader with deep experience leading research assets from discovery phase to clinical development and has advanced several drugs from pre-clinical evaluations through Phase I-IV trials. His research interests include drug development experience in the pharmaceutical industry across a broad range of therapeutic areas including oncology, immunology, dermatology, rheumatology, and organ transplantation. He currently serves on the board of directors at Aravive, Evelo Bioscience, and Trishula Therapeutics. Previously he was CEO at Anokion and President of Research and Development at FORMA Therapeutics Inc., both privately held biotechnology companies. Prior to FORMA, he was Senior Vice President and Global Head of Development for Immunology and Dermatology at Novartis AG. Prior to joining Novartis, he held positions of increasing responsibility at Glaxo Wellcome and its legacy company, Burroughs Wellcome. Dr. Hohneker completed his MD from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, his residency at North Carolina Memorial Hospital, and his postdoctoral fellowship at UCSD Medical Center & University of North Carolina in hematology and oncology.
