OnCusp Therapeutics, Inc., headquartered in New York City, is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to transforming cutting-edge preclinical innovation into clinically validated treatments for cancer patients worldwide. OnCusp was co-founded by Dr. Bing Yuan, Dr. Eric Slosberg, and Dr. Andy Fu, and has built a strong team of accomplished veterans with proven track records in building startup biotechs, leading successful preclinical and clinical programs, and creating value through global partnerships. The company is committed to accelerating the advancement of globally competitive oncology assets for patients.
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.
Became a clinical stage company with first patient dosed in Phase 1 clinical trial of CUSP06
Completed an oversubscribed Series A financing for $100 million
Received FDA clearance for the Phase I clinical trial of CUSP06
Showcased potent Anti-Tumor activity of its CDH6 ADC at AACR Annual Meeting 2023
Raised $14M in Series Seed Plus financing
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
Opened New York office
Opened Shanghai office
- Company Founded
- Completed $25 million seed round financing and started operations
Co-Founder, CEO
Dr. Bing Yuan is a seasoned business executive and entrepreneur with 20+ years of biopharma experience, made significant contributions to 14 approved global oncology brands during his career, including blockbusters such as Keytruda and Glivec.
In early 2021, he co-founded OnCusp Therapeutics, a New York based clinical stage biotech company dedicated to transforming cutting-edge preclinical innovation into clinically validated treatments for cancer patients worldwide. He successfully built the team, developed a portfolio of innovative assets, and raised a total of $139M in Seed and Series A financing rounds supported by world leading biotech investors.
Before co-founding OnCusp, he was Chief Strategy and Business Officer at CStone Pharmaceuticals, achieved 10+ deals with leading global companies such as Pfizer, Bayer, Blueprint, Agios and EQRx. As a senior executive from the beginning, he helped to build CStone from startup to successful IPO in just three years and had managed over 10 different business functions.
Prior to joining CStone in 2016, he was Global Lead of Oncology BD&L at Merck (MSD) in New Jersey, led or contributed to 30+ licensing, M&A and Keytruda clinical collaboration deals. Before Merck, he held various global commercial positions with increasing responsibilities at Novartis Oncology, most recently as Executive Director and Head, Brand Life Cycle Strategy. He also played key roles in new product strategy, business development and global launch of a lung cancer drug. He used to be Global Oncology Marketing Lead at Eisai, managing the oncology portfolio.
Dr. Yuan holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Columbia University, an MBA from Cornell University and a BS in Biochemistry from Nanjing University.
Co-Founder, Chief Business Officer
Dr. Andy Fu has over 18 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.
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.
Vice President of Research
Dr. Wei Lu has over 19 years of industrial experience in drug discovery and early developments in oncology and immunology. Over his career, he brought 6 small molecules and antibody-drug conjugate 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 organizations.
Before joining OnCusp, Dr. Lu worked as Senior Director at Skyhawk Therapeutics and KSQ Therapeutics. Prior to that, he held various roles from Senior Research Biochemist to Director of Biology in Forma Therapeutics and Merck Research Laboratory in Boston. He led the mutant selective IDH1 program from target nomination to the entry of Ph1 study of FT-2102 (Olutasidenib), which was approved by FDA in 2022 for the treatment of mutant IDH1-harboring acute myeloid leukemia.
Dr. Lu completed his postdoctoral fellowship training at Harvard Medical School. He holds a Ph.D. 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 a bispecific T-cell engager, 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 small molecule dermal patch and topical products.
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.
Vice President of Clinical Operations
Priya Marreddy has more than 20 years of experience in Clinical Development and Operations spanning multiple therapeutic areas in large and mid-sized Pharmaceutical and Biotech companies as well as CROs and Startups.
Before joining OnCusp, Ms. Marreddy was the Vice President of Clinical Operations at Context Therapeutics, where she focused on advancing both small molecule and bispecific antibody investigational therapies to treat female cancers from preclinical to clinical stage development. Prior to that, Ms. Marreddy served as Head of Clinical Operations at Rafael Pharmaceuticals (now Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals) where she built and led the Clinical Operations organization in planning and executing rare cancer clinical trials. Prior to that, Ms. Marreddy held various leadership roles at Spark Therapeutics, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, and Teva Pharmaceuticals where she managed and led multinational, cross-functional teams in strategy, design, and execution of global clinical development plans as well as the implementation of best clinical practices and quality improvement.
Ms. Marreddy earned her undergraduate degree from George Washington University and completed her Master’s Degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Vice President,
Clinical Development
Daphne Farrington has more than 25 years of drug development experience in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies spanning from target identification to regulatory approval and launch. Her expertise includes biomarker assay development and application, clinical trial design and implementation, and clinical development strategy.
Before OnCusp, Ms. Farrington was Head of Clinical Science, Cellular Therapies at Editas Medicine where she was the Program Lead for renizgamglogene autogedtemcel (EDIT-301), autologous cell therapy for Sickle Cell Disease and Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia, and responsible for the clinical strategy for the early oncology portfolio prior to the sale to Shoreline Biosciences in 2023. Prior to Editas Medicine, she was Head of Clinical Science at Verastem Oncology and played a pivotal role in the registration of COPIKTRA (duvelisib) in the US and the EU. Prior to Veratem Oncology, Ms. Farrington spent almost 20 years at Eli Lilly and Company with increasing responsibilities in preclinical research, translational medicine, and ultimately leading several oncology early phase clinical research programs.
Ms. Farrington holds an Master of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Indiana University.
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.
