Claire Leurent

Managing Director

2024

Entrepreneur in Residence

2023 - 2024

Supporting the NIH SEED program, Office of the Director // BioHealth EIR team SEED major responsibilities: - Coordinates the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs across HHS (NIH, CDC, FDA, and ACL), backing over 1,500 companies each year with more than $1.2 billion in non-dilutive awards. - Supports entrepreneurial education and training for academic and small business innovators through the Proof of Concept Network, I-Corps at NIH, and other programs. - Offers product development support and mentorship to innovators and NIH staff by teaming with experts in business and commercialization. SEED supports the NIH innovator community in their efforts to validate the potential health impacts of promising scientific discoveries and advance them into healthcare products that improve patient care and enhance health. Developing products across the biomedical spectrum requires NIH’s collaboration with universities and research institutions, small businesses, trade associations and societies, angel investors, venture capitalists, and strategic partners. SEED leads initiatives that develop these relationships and build opportunities for NIH innovators to further their product development efforts.

Principal, Venture Investments @ JJDC

2019 - 2023

Board Observer

2022 - 2022

Locus Biosciences is creating a new class of precision biotherapeutics with clinical-stage, engineered bacteriophage treatments for a diverse set of bacterial and microbiome/inflammatory diseases. A world-leading bacteriophage discovery, synthetic biology, and manufacturing platform powers the company. Locus engineers bacteriophage – naturally occurring viruses that target bacteria – to: 1) kill pathogenic bacteria, while sparing good bacteria, through programmable, precision anti-bacterials with CRISPR-Cas3; and 2) utilize bacteria resident in the body to deliver therapeutic molecules to reduce inflammation or induce other biotherapeutic effects. Its artificial intelligence and machine-learning based discovery engine is targeting bacteria across therapeutic areas including infectious disease, immunology, and oncology. Multiple non-dilutive strategic partnerships validate the company’s platform and programs. These include anti-bacterial alliances with Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for its lead Phase 2/3 asset; and Combatting Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Accelerator (CARB-X). For more on the Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based company, visit www.locus-bio.com.

Investor

2021 - 2022

POINT Biopharma Global Inc. is a globally focused radiopharmaceutical company building a platform for the clinical development and commercialization of radioligands that fight cancer. POINT aims to transform precision medicine by combining a portfolio of radiopharmaceutical assets, a seasoned management team, an industry-leading pipeline, in-house manufacturing capabilities, and secured supply for rare medical isotopes like actinium-225 (225Ac) and lutetium-177 (177Lu). POINT’s active clinical trials include FRONTIER, the phase 1 trial for PNT2004, a pan-cancer program targeting fibroblast activation protein-α (FAP-α), and SPLASH, the phase 3 trial for PNT2002 for people with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) after second-line hormonal treatment. More information about the SPLASH trial can be found at https://www.splashtrial.com/. Learn more about POINT Biopharma Global Inc. at https://www.pointbiopharma.com/.

Investor

2021 - 2022

Paige was founded in 2017 by Thomas Fuchs, Dr.Sc. and colleagues from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). The company builds computational pathology products designed so patients and their care teams can make effective, more informed treatment decisions. With this new class of AI-based technologies positioned to drive the future of diagnostics, Paige created a platform to deliver this novel technology to pathologists to transform their workflow and increase diagnostic confidence and productivity. Paige’s products deliver insights to pathologists and oncologists so they can arrive efficiently at more precise diagnoses for patients. Paige is the first company to receive FDA breakthrough designation for computational pathology products. For additional information, please visit: https://www.Paige.ai, https://www.paigeplatform.com

Board Observer

2020 - 2022

CuraSen Therapeutics, Inc. is developing drugs targeting a novel mechanism in the brain to restore function, improve symptoms and modify disease in a range of neurodegenerative diseases, including orphan disorders as well as Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease. CuraSen was co-founded by Mehrdad Shamloo, PhD, professor of Neuroscience and Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Robert Booth, PhD, former chief executive officer of ViroBay, along with Anthony Ford, PhD, chief executive officer, CuraSen and Ms. Kathleen Sereda Glaub, executive chair, CuraSen. For more information, visit www.curaseninc.com.

Board Observer

2020 - 2022

X-Vax Technology, Inc. is a biotech company committed to developing vaccines against pathogens acquired by mucosal infection such as herpes. X-Vax has created a candidate herpes vaccine ∆gD-2 (delta gD-2) because it is based on an HSV-2 virus genetically deleted for glycoprotein D (gD-2). With it, X-Vax prevented infections caused by herpes type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) in multiple preclinical models. The vaccine induces Fc receptor activating antibodies that mediate antibody-dependent cell-mediated killing (ADCK) as the primary mechanism of protection. ADCK is induced to flag infected cells for destruction by natural immune cells.

Board Observer

2019 - 2020

Vor Biopharma is a cell therapy company that aims to transform the lives of cancer patients by pioneering engineered hematopoietic stem cell (eHSC) therapies to create next-generation, treatment-resistant transplants that unlock the potential of targeted therapies. By removing biologically redundant proteins from eHSCs, we design these cells and their progeny to be treatment-resistant to complementary targeted therapies, thereby enabling these therapies to selectively destroy cancerous cells while sparing healthy cells.

Managing Director

2018 - 2019

Bio Sector Investment Director - Samsung Ventures America

2017 - 2019

Samsung Ventures is the venture capital arm of the Samsung Group ($2b AUM).