On Stage with Silicon Valley's Biotech Founders and VCs: Pharmasaga Shared Its Journey at "Research to Startup" 🌉
Earning a seat on this panel was no small feat.
This past Tuesday evening (June 30), our CEO, Sunny Lee, Ph.D., was invited to join "Research to Startup: Translating Academic Science into Venture-Backed Companies," hosted by Berkeley Pharma Tech Foundation and co-hosted by MBC BioLabs in San Carlos, CA. Dr. Lee shared the stage with Neal Amin, M.D., Ph.D. (Stanford-trained neuroscientist and clinician, Founder & CEO of Sculpta Bio), Jay Sarkar, Ph.D. (serial biotech entrepreneur, Co-Founder of reThink64 Bionetworks), and Taras Romaniuk, Ph.D. (investor at Golden Gate Syndicate, focused on AI, healthtech, and early-stage ventures).
Berkeley Pharma Tech Foundation is a respected nonprofit in the Bay Area biotech community, known for convening roundtables and speaker panels that connect emerging scientists with industry leaders—with a mission to launch a funded research program within two years and establish a state-of-the-art lab in the Bay Area within five. Co-host MBC BioLabs is one of the region's premier biotech incubators, having supported countless startups on their path from idea to impact. The evening drew nearly 200 attendees, including graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and translational scientists from institutions such as Stanford and UC Berkeley, alongside AI-healthcare founders and angel investors actively scouting early-stage life science innovation.
During the panel, Dr. Lee walked the audience through Pharmasaga's path from academic science to a commercially viable drug candidate, PS1—a first-in-class therapy designed not only to treat diabetes, but potentially to induce disease remission. Through candid conversations with fellow founders, VCs, and investors in the room, we were able to introduce Pharmasaga's vision for diabetes care to a truly international audience.
The road from bench to bedside takes strong science—and the right stage and partners along the way. Thank you to Berkeley Pharma Tech Foundation and MBC BioLabs for the invitation. We look forward to deepening our ties with the Silicon Valley biotech ecosystem.