Chicago, IL, and Hangzhou, China – April 25, 2025 – METiS Pharmaceuticals (“METiS”), a leading AI-driven drug delivery and drug discovery biotechnology company today announces the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), ahead of the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Chicago.
The newly established SAB will provide scientific guidance to advance METiS's mission of building a world-class, AI-powered predictive platform to redefine drug discovery and develop targeted delivery systems for small molecules, RNA and gene therapies.
The SAB comprises four globally recognized leaders in drug development, immunology, oncology, and autoimmune research:
Dr. Kerry Blanchard, M.D. – Co-founder of Perpetual Medicines, a peptide therapeutics and computational AI platform company. With over four decades of experience as a drug developer and entrepreneur, Dr. Blanchard has held key leadership roles, including Board Member of Eli Lilly China, Co-Chair of the Investment Committee at Lilly Asia Ventures, Chief Scientific Officer of Innovent Biologics, and CEO of Everest Medicines.
Dr. Jacques Banchereau – Chief Innovation Officer at Georgiamune, a biotech company pioneering next-generation immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. A trailblazer in immunology, Dr. Banchereau has served as SVP and Head of Inflammation & Virology at Roche Nutley, Director of Immunological Sciences at the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, CSO of Immunai, and Adjunct Professor of Immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine.
Dr. Eric Rowinsky – Board Director of Biogen and a distinguished oncologist with extensive leadership in academia and industry. Formerly Executive Chairman of Inspirna, he has held senior roles at Stemline Therapeutics, Primrose Therapeutics, and ImClone Systems, where he was Chief Medical Officer and EVP. He also served as Adjunct Professor of Medicine at New York University.
Dr. Virginia Pascual, M.D. – Founding Director of the Drukier Institute for Children's Health at Weill Cornell Medicine and recipient of the Lupus Research Alliance Global Team Science Award. A board-certified pediatric rheumatologist, Dr. Pascual leads NIH-funded research programs in autoimmunity and lupus, including the Baylor Human Immunology Program Consortium Center.
“We are honored to welcome these preeminent scientists to our Scientific Advisory Board, marking a pivotal milestone in our mission to develop groundbreaking therapies for patients with serious diseases,”said Dr. Chris Lai, Co-founder and CEO of METiS Pharmaceuticals. “AI-driven drug discovery and delivery represents a transformative convergence of disciplines. We look forward to collaborating with the SAB to pioneer new frontiers in AI and biological innovation.”
