About Us
Deploying a first-in-class technology for disruptive medicines
Valitor is conquering limitations of established drug targets by leveraging its multivalent biopolymer technology to maximize benefits for patients. The company is engineering disruptive medicines that optimize how and where disease mechanisms are targeted to produce the most significant clinical impact. Valitor is initially focused on improving patient outcomes in ophthalmology and vision-threatening diseases.
Durable treatment for vision-threatening diseases
More effective treatments for cancer therapies
Localized treatment for joint disease
Our Team
We have brought together seasoned biotechnology executives, innovative bioengineers and scientists, and leading drug developers to develop better medicines for patients.
Management
Steven Lo
Chief Executive Officer & Member of the Board
Steven Lo is Chief Executive Officer of Valitor. He has over 25 years of experience in health care, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including over 12 years of C-level experience in publicly traded biotech companies. Prior to Valitor, Mr. Lo was the president, Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors of Zosano Pharma. From 2015 to 2019, he was the Chief Commercial Officer at Puma Biotechnology where he built and led the worldwide commercialization and business development of the company’s first product. Previously, he was Chief Commercial Officer of Corcept Therapeutics, where he formed the commercial organization to launch the company’s first product. Earlier in his career, he spent 13 years at Genentech, the US subsidiary of Roche, in a variety of leadership roles of increasing responsibility in market access, marketing and sales, and drug development, working in numerous therapeutic areas, including oncology, endocrinology and other specialty therapeutics. Mr. Lo started his career in the pharmaceutical industry at AstraZeneca after holding positions in finance and operations at Kaiser Permanente. Mr. Lo obtained a Masters in Health Administration from the University of Southern California and a B.S. in Microbiology from U.C. Davis.
Wesley Jackson, PhD
President, Chief Scientific Officer & Member of the Board
Wesley Jackson, Ph.D., has been actively involved in biotechnology entrepreneurship for over 20 years as a scientist, researcher, and innovator. Dr. Jackson was part of Valitor's founding team and helped to in-license the novel protein-biopolymer conjugation technology, which now forms the basis of Valitor’s MVP platform, from U.C. Berkeley. Since launching Valitor, he has been the principal investigator on nine NIH projects to optimize the manufacturing, characterization, and formulation of multivalent protein conjugate drugs and to evaluate their performance in relevant disease models. Prior to Valitor, Dr. Jackson was a consultant for biotech startups providing expertise in establishing and implementing preclinical and clinical development plans. Prior to his industry tenure, he was a scientist and researcher affiliated with several universities, including U.C. Berkeley, and governmental agencies, such as National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Dr. Jackson has a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the U.C. San Francisco and U.C. Berkeley, an M.S. in Bioengineering from U.C. San Francisco, and a B.S. in Bioengineering from U.C. Berkeley.
William S. (Sandy) White, PharmD, MBA
Chief Development Officer
Sandy White, R.Ph., M.B.A., has over 35 years of broad pharmaceutical industry experience including general management, business development, research and development, and sales and marketing. Mr. White previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of iDrop, Inc., a company focused on the development and commercialization of novel ophthalmic pharmaceuticals. He developed the company’s two initial portfolio product candidates. Prior to that, as CEO of Icon Bioscience, Mr. White established a pipeline of eight ophthalmology products, including the FDA-approved product, Dexycu®, and executed multiple collaboration and partnership agreements. Mr. White was also the CEO of the Research Foundation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and president of Integrated Protein Technologies, a unit of Monsanto. He has held additional technical management positions, including vice president of business development and licensing, Pharmaceutical R&D for Storz Ophthalmics. Mr. White has an M.B.A. from the Virginia Commonwealth University, a B.S. in Pharmacy from the Medical College of Virginia (VCU), and a B.A. in Biology from the University of Virginia.
Omkar Joshi, PhD
Vice President, CMC
Omkar Joshi joined Valitor as Vice President of CMC in July 2023. Prior to joining Valitor, he served as Vice President of Technical Operations at Actym Therapeutics where he was a member of the Executive Leadership Team and was responsible for all aspects of technical development, manufacturing, analytical development and quality. Before Actym, Dr. Joshi held the role of Senior Director, MSAT (Manufacturing Sciences and Technology) at Bayer. In his 16-year career at Bayer, he held roles of increasing responsibility, spanning Drug Substance and Drug Product Process Development, Analytical Development and Preclinical Research. He has extensive experience working across various modalities including recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies, ADCs, cell therapies and gene therapies. Dr. Joshi earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University.
Board of Directors
Anthony Aiudi, PharmD
Anthony Aiudi, Pharm.D., MBA, has been part of the investment team at Morningside Technology Advisory since 2020. He has experience providing operational and managerial oversight to early-stage biotechnology companies. Dr. Aiudi serves on the boards of several biotechnology companies across a broad spectrum of therapeutic areas. He has also facilitated company creation, completed multiple financings for private companies, and provided operational support for portfolio companies. In 2014, Dr. Aiudi completed a Fellowship in Clinical Research at Cubist Pharmaceuticals and Northeastern University, where he was also adjunct faculty. He later was a senior clinical research scientist at Merck & Co. From late 2015-2020, he was a Director at Stealth BioTherapeutics, where he led the clinical development for numerous rare disease programs through their global Phase 3 program and supported the company through its IPO. Dr. Aiudi received his Pharm.D. and MBA from the University of Rhode Island and an MS in Finance from Northeastern University, all with highest distinctions.
Wesley Jackson, PhD
Wesley Jackson, Ph.D., has been actively involved in biotechnology entrepreneurship for over 20 years as a scientist, researcher, and innovator. Dr. Jackson was part of Valitor's founding team and helped to in-license the novel protein-biopolymer conjugation technology, which now forms the basis of Valitor’s MVP platform, from U.C. Berkeley. Since launching Valitor, he has been the principal investigator on nine NIH projects to optimize the manufacturing, characterization, and formulation of multivalent protein conjugate drugs and to evaluate their performance in relevant disease models. Prior to Valitor, Dr. Jackson was a consultant for biotech startups providing expertise in establishing and implementing preclinical and clinical development plans. Prior to his industry tenure, he was a scientist and researcher affiliated with several universities, including U.C. Berkeley, and governmental agencies, such as National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Dr. Jackson has a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the U.C. San Francisco and U.C. Berkeley, an M.S. in Bioengineering from U.C. San Francisco, and a B.S. in Bioengineering from U.C. Berkeley.
Steven Lo
Steven Lo is Chief Executive Officer of Valitor. He has over 25 years of experience in health care, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including over 12 years of C-level experience in publicly traded biotech companies. Prior to Valitor, Mr. Lo was the president, Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors of Zosano Pharma. From 2015 to 2019, he was the Chief Commercial Officer at Puma Biotechnology where he built and led the worldwide commercialization and business development of the company’s first product. Previously, he was Chief Commercial Officer of Corcept Therapeutics, where he formed the commercial organization to launch the company’s first product. Earlier in his career, he spent 13 years at Genentech, the US subsidiary of Roche, in a variety of leadership roles of increasing responsibility in market access, marketing and sales, and drug development, working in numerous therapeutic areas, including oncology, endocrinology and other specialty therapeutics. Mr. Lo started his career in the pharmaceutical industry at AstraZeneca after holding positions in finance and operations at Kaiser Permanente. Mr. Lo obtained a Masters in Health Administration from the University of Southern California and a B.S. in Microbiology from U.C. Davis.
Gail Maderis
Gail Maderis is Chairman and former CEO of Antiva Biosciences, Inc., a venture-backed biopharmaceutical company pioneering topical therapies to treat cervical pre-cancers. Previously, Ms. Maderis led BayBio, Northern California’s life science industry organization. From 2003-2009, she served as President and CEO of Five Prime Therapeutics, a protein discovery company focused on immuno-oncology. Ms. Maderis held senior executive positions at Genzyme Corporation, including founder and president of Genzyme Molecular Oncology (GZMO). Ms. Maderis also practiced management and strategy consulting with Bain & Co. She serves on the corporate boards of DURECT (DRRX), Allarity Therapeutics (ALLR) and Antiva Biosciences, as well as on the non-profit boards of BIO (Emerging Company and Health Sections), CLS, The Termeer Foundation, and the University of California Berkeley Foundation Board of Trustees. She received a B.S. in business from U.C. Berkeley, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Walter Moos, PhD
Walter Moos, Ph.D. is Managing Director of Pandect Bioventures, with more than three decades of experience in executive roles in pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations. Dr. Moos has served as CEO of ShangPharma Innovation. He has also previously served as president of SRI Biosciences (Stanford Research Institute), where he worked closely with academic, industry and government partners to bring new medicines and devices closer to market. Previously, he was chairman and CEO of MitoKor (Migenix) and a vice president at Chiron (Novartis) and Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis (Pfizer). Dr. Moos has served on numerous boards and as an advisor to government, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and he has held faculty positions at several major universities, including serving as an adjunct professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco since 1992. He has served as a consultant to industry in North America, Europe, and Asia, and has worked as an advisor or committee member for organizations including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and Red Abbey Venture Partners. Dr. Moos has co-founded several scientific journals, co-authored and edited a number of books, and has published and patented widely. He holds an A.B. in chemistry from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from U.C. Berkeley.
Haitao Zhu, PhD
Haitao Zhu, Ph.D., is a partner at First Spark Ventures. Prior to joining First Spark, Haitao was a Partner at SVE Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm specializing in investments in early-stage biotech and med-tech companies. Before joining the venture capital world, Haitao was a group leader at Genentech, the US subsidiary of Roche, where she led drug discovery programs from inception to clinical development and evaluated many new technologies as acquisition targets. She is currently an advisor to the Spark Program in Translational Research at Stanford School of Medicine and serves on the boards of a number of startups. Throughout her career, Haitao authored numerous research papers in high profile journals, such as Nature, Cell, and Science Translational Medicine. Haitao trained as a postdoctoral fellow in Neuroscience at Stanford University and holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Stony Brook University.
Technology
Valitor’s Multivalent Polymer (MVP) technology platform was created for improved therapeutic potency, durability, and safety.
Valitor’s groundbreaking technology platform is based on proprietary multivalent biopolymers that can be loaded with multiple copies of bioactive molecules. The biopolymers and bioactive molecules are interchangeable, which enables Valitor to assemble novel macromolecular entities that are engineered to overcome a multitude of specific drug design challenges for their target indications. This approach allows for independent control of multiple drug attributes, including pharmacokinetic/ pharmacodynamic properties, improved target engagement/tissue localization, therapeutic durability, and improved safety.
Engineered to overcome the limitations of conventional therapeutics:
Extended Target Tissue Retention (superior pharmacokinetics)
Protection from Deactivation/Reactivity (superior pharmaco-stability)
Engineered for High Potency (superior pharmacodynamics)
Pipeline
Novel compounds have shown >1,000-fold increases in potency, up to 10-fold increases in tissue retention, and excellent preclinical safety
Valitor’s lead product candidate, VLTR-557, is in development to become as a long-acting treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Current anti-VEGF treatments require frequent intravitreal injections, and poor compliance has been linked to losses in efficacy over the long-term. VLTR-557 is designed to be the second-generation anti-VEGF therapy dosed just twice yearly, with the goal of improving long-term efficacy.
VLTR-751 is being advanced for the treatment of chronic uveitis. This disease typically requires long-term steroid administration, which is associated with significant side effects. By generating a sustained anti-inflammatory response with minimal systemic exposure, VLTR-751 may enable the use of anti-TNFα biologics as a steroid-sparing treatment strategy to improve the long-term efficacy outcomes and reduce the overall side effect rate in patients receiving treatment for chronic uveitis.
Based on the broad potential applicability of our technology platform, including in geographic atrophy, cancer and joint diseases, Valitor has several earlier-stage programs to fuel a growing pipeline.
VLTR-557
Anti-VEGF for wet AMD, DME, DR, and RVO
- Description:
- Anti-VEGF for wet AMD, DME, DR, and RVO
- Phase:
- IND-Enabling,33%
VLTR-751
Anti-TNF for chronic non-infections uveitis
- Description:
- Anti-TNF for chronic non-infections uveitis
- Phase:
- Preclinical,66%
VLTR-85x
Bifunctional mechanism for wet AMD/DME
- Description:
- Bifunctional mechanism for wet AMD/DME
- Phase:
- Discovery,75%
VLTR-125xx
Undisclosed mechanism for geographic atrophy
- Description:
- Undisclosed mechanism for geographic atrophy
- Phase:
- Discovery,50%
News
July 19, 2023
Valitor Expands Leadership Team with Appointment of Omkar Joshi, Ph.D. as Vice President of CMC
Select News Articles
Bakar Labs
Tenant Spotlight: Valitor Aligns Its Stakeholders to Develop Biopolymer Therapeutics
October 06, 2022
SF Business Times
Berkeley startup raises $28M, nabs ex-Zosano chief as CEO as it aims for the eye
October 05, 2022
Endpoints
A dozen years in the making, a UC Berkeley spinout nabs funds to take on the eye
Careers
We’re motivated by the opportunity to make an impact.
We have established a corporate culture based on collaboration, communication and creation. We are here to create new medicines for patients, meaningful experiences for employees and value for stakeholders.
For our employees, we offer an attractive compensation package along with medical, dental, and vision insurances. We also enjoy spending time together at company events and we take pride in being responsible members of the community through company-hosted volunteer work and STEM-related activities.
Job openings
We are not seeking to fill any positions at this time, but we are always interested in qualified candidates. Feel free to send your resume and cover letter to careers@valitorbio.com.