Innovative Leaders Lecture Series
PDX Pharmaceuticals’ Journey in Developing Next-Generation Cancer Therapies: Opportunities and Challenges of Building an Academic Startup
Dr. Wassana Yantasee
Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and the Founder & CEO of PDX Pharmaceuticals
Monday, September 15, 4:10 p.m.
Fulmer Hall, Room 201
PDX Pharma’s mission is to find cures for cancer. Recognizing that targeting cancer cells alone is not enough, the company develops next-generation drugs that kill cancer cells, train the immune system, and modulate the immunosuppressive environment for durable responses and potential cures. Its proprietary PDX-NP™ platform enables delivery of multiple drug types to cancer and immune cells. With nearly $14M in grants and investments, five drug candidates in the pipeline, 40+ patent applications, and numerous publications, PDX Pharma is advancing cancer research while training the next generation of scientists. Dr. Yantasee, CEO, will share her experience transitioning from academia to entrepreneurship, including fundraising, IP protection, and launching a biotech startup.
Dr. Wassana Yantasee is Professor of Biomedical Engineering at OHSU and Founder & CEO of PDX Pharmaceuticals. She earned her PhD in Chemical Engineering and MBA from Oregon State University in 2001, then worked at PNNL (2001– 2009) with accelerated promotions to Level 4. She joined OHSU as an Oregon Nanomedicine Signature Researcher and has received numerous honors, including the Ronald L. Brodzinski Early Career Scientific Achievement Award, the Council of Outstanding Early Career Engineer Award, and two corporate philanthropy awards. A Fellow of AIMBE and member of the National Academy of Inventors OHSU Chapter, she has published 70+ peer-reviewed papers and served on 40+ federal grant review panels.
Sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and Washington Research Foundation