Granzyme B PET imaging to monitor immune response in real time

Cytosite Bio has developed and validated the first and only commercial clinical PET agent to detect and quantify T cell and NK cell activation for investigative use. Our products detect active Granzyme B, the primary element responsible for the killing of target cells by the immune system. Our preliminary clinical data demonstrates greater than 95% sensitivity and specificity at predicting clinical outcomes, permitting a unique and rapid evaluation of new drugs and drug combinations, using non-invasive, whole-body PET imaging.

CytoSite Bio’s founders bring success in biotechnology, world leadership in science and unique access to top clinical and research thought leaders in immuno-oncology. Click to learn more about our team:

• BENJAMIN LARIMER, PhD, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

  • Dr. Larimer is a scientist entrepreneur and President and Chief Executive Officer of Cytosite Biopharma. Dr. Larimer was a co-discover of the lead Cytosite technology and guided it through successful first-in-human clinical trials. He also oversaw the developmental chemistry program of Cytosite, resulting in two additional clinical molecules. In 2023, Dr. Larimer was named to the Chief Executive Officer position to guide the commercialization of the granzyme B PET imaging program.

  • Ben holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Missouri, and did his postdoctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital in the lab of Dr. Mahmood. Following his fellowship, he began his own academic research lab at the University of Alabama Birmingham. He has been recognized for his scientific achievements through the NIH Directors’ New Innovator Award, Hal O’Brien Rising Star Award, and named One to Watch by the Society of Nuclear Medicine.

• UMAR MAHMOOD, MD, PhD, Co-founder

  • Dr. Mahmood is a world-renowned expert in application of nuclear medicine to tumor imaging and leading researcher of the application of Granzyme B as a predictor of immunotherapy response. He is a co-founder of CytoSite and co-inventor of the CytoSite technology.

    Umar is Division Chief of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (NMMI) at Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School. He has received more than $20 million in grant funding as principal investigator, and has focused on translational efforts to better understand drivers of cancer, including the tumor microenvironment, cancer signaling pathways, changes in cancer metabolism, and the interaction of the immune system with tumors. He has received the Distinguished Investigator award from the Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research and has delivered the SNMMI Henry N. Wagner Jr., M.D., Highlights Lecture in Oncology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Radiology and a Fellow of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

    Umar earned his bachelor's degree from the California Institute of Technology, and his medical degree and doctorate in biophysics and physiology from Cornell University. His doctoral and postdoctoral work at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center focused on tumor energetics and membrane physiology. He performed his radiology residency at MGH, and has served on the Radiology faculty at MGH for more than 15 years.

• ERIC P. WEHRENGERG-KLEE, MD, Co-founder

  • Dr. Wehrenberg-Klee is a interventional radiologist and molecular imaging researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and an expert in molecular imaging of cancer surface receptors. He is a co-inventor of the Granzyme B PET imaging probe and a co-founder of CytoSite.

    Eric completed his radiology residency and interventional radiology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. He received his medical education at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine after earning his undergraduate degree in Chemistry at Harvard University.

• JAMES KRONAUGE, PhD, Pharmaceutical Development

  • Dr. Kronauge has thirty years of experience developing radiopharmaceuticals for medical imaging, most recently as Senior Director at InviCRO, a contract research organization preeminent in the use of imaging for translational drug discovery and development. Prior to InviCRO, Jim was at Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, first as Director of Research and Development and later specializing in chemical process development for pre-clinical and clinical studies. Earlier in his career, Jim was Assistant Professor of Radiology at the Harvard Medical School for 13 years. He earned an PhD in inorganic chemistry from MIT.

• GEOFFREY BILCER, PhD, Medicinal Chemistry

  • Dr. Bilcer has more than 20 years experience working in the aspartic protease field with more than a decade in the pharmaceutical industry. In 2003, as a founding member of Zapaq, Inc., a predecessor to CoMentis and Alpharmagen, Geoff directed the medicinal chemistry group in its discovery of BACE inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, resulting in the first BACE inhibitor to enter human clinical trials. During this process, he managed the medicinal chemistry efforts in the US and, from 2008, with partners in Japan. In addition to the BACE program, he also managed the discovery efforts for the Alpharmagen α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor projects. Throughout his medicinal chemistry career, Geoff has also been responsible for maintaining the company’s extensive patent portfolio.

    Geoff completed his BA degree in chemistry at Northwestern University and his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a co-author of more than 15 scientific publications as well as an inventor on numerous patents in the US and worldwide.

• TERENCE A. KELLY, PhD, Medicinal Chemistry

  • Dr. Kelly is a scientific leader with both Pharma and Biotech experience and a track record of delivering high quality compounds into advanced clinical studies. He is expert in chemistry, disease biology and the enabling technologies needed for innovative and efficient drug discovery from lead identification through clinical development.

    Between 1990 and 2009, Terry served in various scientific and executive positions at Boehringer Ingelheim, where after a successful early career developing LFA-1 antagonists, he led its US-based medicinal chemistry department comprising 145 scientists. From 2010 – 2016 he was the CEO and CSO of CoMentis, Inc, a venture-backed biotech focusing on treating cognitive disorders. He is a founder of Kelly Pharma Research Consulting, LLC and has served as a director of Cardax, Inc. since June 2014.

    Terry holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin. He completed postdoctoral work in natural products synthesis at Yale University and holds an MBA from New York University. He is the co-author of over 25 scientific publications and served on the College of Natural Sciences Advisory Council for the University of Texas.

• COLIN G MILLER, PhD, Clinical Operations and Regulatory

  • Dr Miller is a seasoned executive, providing medical/scientific consulting and leadership for over 25 years. For 16 years he was Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs at Bioclinica where he was responsible for the scientific and operational execution of the clinical trials. Prior to that had roles in increasing responsibility at Syntex, Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals and Bona Fide Ltd.

  • Colin studied physiology and zoology as an undergraduate at the University of Sheffield in the UK and went on to complete his PhD at the University of Hull (UK).He has co-authored over 70 peer reviewed publications, holds 3 patents and has published 3 books including “Medical Imaging in Clinical Trials” (Springer).He is a fellow of the Institute Physics and Engineering in Medicine (FIPEM) and is a Chartered Scientist (CSci) in the UK.

• ELLEN M. CORDO, CPA, Treasurer

  • Ms. Cordo has managed financial operations with venture-backed and privately funded startup companies in the life sciences and technology industries since 2001.  During this time, Ellen was finance consultant for Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc., both before and after its successful IPO, and for Semma Therapeutics, Inc., which was acquired in 2019 by Vertex Pharmaceuticals for $950M.  Prior to that, she spent 12 years, most recently as Audit Manager, at Wolf & Company, P.C., among New England’s top CPA firms. Ellen is a CPA and holds a B.S.B.A. degree from Stonehill College.   

• JIM JENSON, PhD, Co-founder, Advisor to the Board, and Past Chief Executive Officer

  • Dr. Jenson is a life-science entrepreneur and executive with over 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

    Previously, Jim was CEO and co-Founder of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dicerna is developing novel therapeutics for multiple indications based on ‘Dicer Substrate’ technology, which makes use of the RNA interference mechanism (RNAi). Dicerna had a highly successful IPO in 2014 (DRNA), and was acquired by Novo Nordisk in 2021 for $3.3 Billion.

    Jim holds a PhD in Biology and Biochemistry from Cornell University and a BA in Biology from Macalester College.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CytoSite Bio’s Board of Directors support our team with deep knowledge of the science and business of innovation in life sciences.

• MICHEL CHU

  • Michel Chu is General Partner of Acorn Campus Taiwan, a venture fund focusing on early-stage life science opportunities. He is a serial entrepreneur with deep domain expertise in drug development and medical devices, as well as in diverse fields from mobile internet to cloud computing. 

  • Prior to his fifteen years financing early stage ventures, Michel founded GigaMedia (NASDAQ: GIGM).  He led the company through a $4.5 billion IPO in 2000, the largest non-US Internet IPO at that time. Michel also serves as the Chief Innovation Officer of BioMedTW, the Taiwan government’s task force to oversee, facilitate and accelerate Taiwan’s life science industry.  Michel is on the adjunct faculty of National Taiwan University, where he teaches courses on BioDesign for Medical Devices, Multi-sided Platforms, Entrepreneurship, Group Dynamics and Leadership.

• ROBERT GAILUS

  • Bob Gailus is a venture investor with 35 years of venture investing experience. In 1983 he was a founding member of Schroder Ventures/U.S., the venture affiliate of Schroders, London. Bob has invested in 80 early-stage companies; in the biotech sector, investments have included the Seed and/or A Round in Celgene, Cell Therapeutics, Incyte Pharmaceuticals, and Neurogen; and more recently Cognition Therapeutics, TetraGenetics and Thrive Bioscience.  He has served on the boards of numerous companies at all stages of development.  Bob earned a BA from Columbia College, where he was an Academic All-American, and an MBA from the Columbia University Business School.

• MIKE BERGLUND

  • Mike Berglund, MBA, is Senior Director, Transactions, Corporate Business Development at Eli Lilly and Company. He has held several business development roles at Lilly for nearly 20 years. Mike received his MBA from Marquette University.

• STEPHEN SANDS

  • Stephen Sands is Vice Chairman of Investment Banking and Chairman of the Global Healthcare Group at Lazard, the world’s largest independent investment bank.  He has provided strategic and financial advice to senior executives and boards of directors at leading healthcare and life sciences companies for over 25 years. Prior to joining Lazard, Stephen was a Partner in the health care practice of McKinsey & Company. During his career, he has co-founded two life sciences companies: Enzytech (acquired by Alkermes) and Opta Food Ingredients (acquired by Stake Technology). Stephen has also served as director on the boards of several life sciences companies, including National Imaging Associates, Inc. (Acquired by Magellan Health Services company), Isogen LLC (acquired by Monsanto), and Cognition Therapeutics (Alzheimer’s disease).  He has served as board member or advisor to numerous non-profits, academic and professional counsels, and advisory committees.  He earned a B.A. in Biology from Oberlin College, a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, and a M.B.A. in Finance from New York University

• BENJAMIN LARIMER

  • Dr. Larimer is a scientist entrepreneur and President and Chief Executive Officer of Cytosite Biopharma. Dr. Larimer was a co-discover of the lead Cytosite technology and guided it through successful first-in-human clinical trials. He also oversaw the developmental chemistry program of Cytosite, resulting in two additional clinical molecules. In 2023, Dr. Larimer was named to the Chief Executive Officer position to guide the commercialization of the granzyme B PET imaging program.

  • Ben holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Missouri, and did his postdoctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital in the lab of Dr. Mahmood. Following his fellowship, he began his own academic research lab at the University of Alabama Birmingham. He has been recognized for his scientific achievements through the NIH Directors’ New Innovator Award, Hal O’Brien Rising Star Award, and named One to Watch by the Society of Nuclear Medicine.