Who   We   Are

Our mission is to make the most effective living biotherapies ever created by taking advantage of millions of years of evolutionary interplay between microbes and immune cells.

 
 
 

In pursuit of this mission, we are guided by these values:

 
  • Be Curious - Always try to understand the why, whether it's in the clinic, the lab, the meeting room, or the boardroom. We are driven by curiosity and ask questions to uncover the why, and use the why to develop strategies to learn the how.
  • Be Wayfinders - Use the knowledge gained from past experience, but don't be confined by it. We imagine what's possible and find new ways to get there.
  • Be Best-In-Class - If it’s worth doing, it's worth doing to the absolute best of our abilities. This extends from bench to bedside - we give our best effort for each other and patients.
  • Be Supportive - Care deeply about our work and one another. We ensure that everyone has what they need to succeed, whether it's a helping hand for a colleague, or the best possible medicine for patients.

Jonathan Kotula, PhD

CEO and Co-Founder

Russell Carrington, PhD

COO and Co-Founder

Prof. Dan Portnoy, PhD

Distinguished Professor UC Berkeley and Co-Founder

Barbara Troupin, MD/MBA

Fractional CMO

Ed Lemmens, MS

Immunology

Joel Berry, PhD

Microbiology

Chris Shu

Advisor and Investor (Partner @ Pac8)

Mike Whittaker, JD

IP Counsel

Ser-Chen Fu, MD

Advisor and Investor (Partner @ Pac8)

Mohan Iyer

Advisor and Investor (Partner @ SOSV)

Head of R&D / CSO

Hiring

Head of CMC

Hiring

Our   Investors

Copyright © Laguna Biotherapeutics Inc.  All rights reserved.

 

Designed and developed at Xebra design studio.

 

 
 

Jonathan Kotula, PhD

CEO and Co-Founder

Jonathan Kotula, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Laguna Bio, is a distinguished leader and innovator in biotech. After receiving training at Duke University and Harvard Medical School, he has spent 10 years leading R&D, BD, and Investment teams to develop living therapeutics that transform patient care at leading companies such as Laguna Bio, Caribou Biosciences, Synlogic, Spero Therapeutics and Felix Bio.

Russell Carrington

PhD - COO and Co-Founder
Russell Carrington, PhD, COO and co-founder of Laguna Bio, is a scientist and entrepreneur with deep business expertise. Prior to Laguna, he served as Chief Technology Transfer Officer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where he led a diverse team of PhDs, JDs, and MBAs to commercialize scientific discoveries and support collaborations.

Prof. Dan Portnoy

PhD - Distinguished Professor UC Berkeley and Co-Founder
Prof. Dan Portnoy, PhD, co-founder of Laguna Bio, is the world’s foremost expert on Listeria monocytogenes and has made seminal contributions to multiple aspects of bacterial pathogenesis, cell biology, innate immunity, cell-mediated immunity, and immunotherapy. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Barbara Troupin, MD/MBA

Fractional CMO
Barbara Troupin, MD, MBA, Laguna Bio Fractional CMO, is an experienced emerging biotech company executive and board member with expertise in drug development and regulatory strategy, pre-commercial positioning for early pipeline optimization, and stage/resource appropriate company growth. Her experience covers 10+ therapeutic areas and multiple modalities at companies like MyoKardia (acquired by BMS), Aquinox, Apricus, VIVUS, and Equillium.

Ed Lemmens

MS - Immunology
Ed Lemmens has over 20 years of laboratory research experience in the field of Immunology, including 10 years investigating Listeria-immune system interactions. He is an independent research contractor collaborating with Laguna Bio and other innovative organizations.

Joel Berry

PhD - Microbiology
Joel Berry PhD, Principal Scientist, has 8 years of experience leading development of platform technologies. Joel strives to help patients with unmet medical needs through tool and process development. Prior to joining Laguna Bio he served as Director of Biology at Felix Bio.

Chris Shu

Advisor and Investor (Partner @ Pac8)
Chris Shu is a Partner at Pacific 8 Ventures and is a seasoned venture investor in the healthcare tech and biotech space. Previously Chris was a global partner at McKinsey & Company’s Technology Practice. Chris helped lead investments in Mammoth Biosciences, BilliontoOne, BunkerHill, Laguna Bio, etc.

Mike Whittaker

JD - IP Counsel
Mike Whittaker, of Acuity Law Group, is Laguna’s IP counsel. He has 25 years of experience in IP law, both in private practice and as in-house counsel, and deep expertise in the Listeria patent landscape, having drafted and prosecuted most of the patents in Laguna’s portfolio.

Ser-Chen Fu

MD - Advisor and Investor (Partner @ Pac8)
Ser-Chen Fu is a Partner at Pacific 8 Ventures. Ser-Chen was trained as a clinical neurologist and practiced as an attending physician prior to joining Pacific 8 Ventures. With more than 10 years of experience working in the clinical setting, Ser-Chen works closely with early stage portfolio companies in a number of areas, including understanding clinical unmet need, selecting clinical indications, strategizing clinical trials, etc.

Mohan Iyer

Advisor and Investor (Partner @ SOSV)
Mohan is a General Partner at IndieBio San Francisco. He brings deep operational experience with over 25+ years as an entrepreneur and leader at several life science startups where he enjoyed developing strategy, building successful teams, executing against complex operational goals, fundraising in good times and bad, and forging creative sell-side strategic partnering and M&A deals.