About

At eFFECTOR Therapeutics, we possess an unrelenting drive to improve outcomes for patients with cancer.

This is why we are pioneering the development of
selective translation regulator inhibitors (STRIs):
a new class of cancer therapies designed to overcome cancer’s complexity.

Our Approach

STRIs simultaneously block production of multiple disease-driving proteins as a single drug. This is possible through targeting a central node (eIF4F) where two major cancer signaling pathways converge and activate a burst of protein synthesis that drives multiple disease processes.

In cancer, processes that are normally tightly controlled become dysregulated, including translation. This leads to the aberrantly high production of multiple proteins that cause uncontrolled growth, immune evasion and metastasis. We believe that our STRIs can inhibit the production of key disease-driving proteins, which tumors have hijacked for their benefit, all while preserving the cell’s normal, healthy state. Our STRIs, which can be synergistic with existing therapies and those in development, are specifically designed to block production of oncoproteins, immune suppression factors and resistance mechanisms that cancer uses to evade therapeutic intervention.

eFFECTOR was founded on pioneering research in the laboratories of Drs. Davide Ruggero and Kevan Shokat and subsequently licensed proprietary applications of translational profiling technology from the University of California, San Francisco. Our scientific founders and management team comprise industry veterans who have played important roles in the discovery and development of marketed small molecule drugs, monoclonal antibody therapeutics and cellular immunotherapies in oncology and other disease areas.

Leadership

Our leadership team’s in-depth understanding of translation regulation biology and oncology drug development is matched by our expertise in building and leading life science companies. This has given us our key advantage in pioneering the emerging field of translation regulation therapeutics and developing first-in-class agents in this pathway.

Steve Worland, Ph.D.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Doug Warner, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Mike Byrnes

Chief Financial Officer

Mayank Gandhi, M.D.

Chief Business Officer

Mark Densel

Vice President, Development Operations

Gary Chiang, Ph.D.

Vice President, Translational Science

John O’Neil

Vice President, Finance

Sam Sperry, Ph.D.

Vice President, Preclinical Development and Clinical Pharmacology

Board of Directors

LIZ BHATT

Chief Operating Officer,
Septerna

Caroline Loewy

Former biotech company Chief Financial Officer and sell-side Analyst

Clinical & Scientific Advisors

KEVAN SHOKAT, PH.D.
(CO-FOUNDER)

Professor, Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, UCSF
and Department of Chemistry, UC Berkeley
Howard Hughes Medical Investigator

DAVIDE RUGGERO, PH.D.
(CO-FOUNDER)

Professor, Department of Urology and Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology
Helen Diller Family Endowed Chair in Basic Cancer Research, UCSF

JOAN BRUGGE, PH.D.

Director of the Ludwig Center
Louise Foote Pfeiffer Professor of Cell Biology
Harvard Medical School

SARAT CHANDARLAPATY, M.D., PH.D.

Patricia and James Cayne Chair for Junior Faculty
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

KAPIL DHINGRA, M.D.

Former Head, Roche Oncology

JENNIFER A. DOUDNA, PH.D.

Li Ka Shing Chancellor Chair and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UC Berkeley
Howard Hughes Medical Investigator
2020 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

FUNDA MERIC-BERNSTAM, M.D.

Chair, Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics
Nellie B. Connally Chair in Breast Cancer
MD Anderson Cancer Center

NEAL ROSEN, M.D., PH.D.

Enid A. Haupt Chair in Medical Oncology
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

ROBERT SCHNEIDER, PH.D.

Associate Director, NYU Cancer Institute
Co-Director, Breast Cancer and Translational Cancer Research
Albert B. Sabin Professor of Molecular Pathogenesis
NYU School of Medicine