Management
Keith M. Olivia, J.D., LL.M.
General Counsel, Senior
Vice President of Corporate
Affairs & Secretary
Keith M. Olivia, J.D., LL.M.
Kevin S. Litwiler, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
of DMPK and Clinical
Pharmacology
Kevin S. Litwiler, Ph.D.Investors
Collaborators
Nicholas A. Saccomano, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Nicholas A. Saccomano is the Chief Executive Officer of OnKure. He is a biopharmaceutical professional with nearly 35 years of extensive research, development and management experience across multiple therapeutic areas. He most recently worked at Pfizer R&D, Inc. as Chief Science Officer and Site Head at its Boulder facility, where he led a 170-person research and development team that advanced a portfolio of small molecule drug programs from inception to proof-of-concept. Prior to working at Pfizer, Dr. Saccomano served as Chief Science Officer at Array Biopharma Inc., where he was responsible for creating and advancing ten clinical-stage compounds, with seven drug approvals to date. Dr. Saccomano also served as Chief Technology Officer at SomaLogic Inc., where he managed scientific and technical teams in charge of advancing elements of the company’s proteomic platform. He currently serves as a scientific advisor to several innovative companies. Dr. Saccomano received a B.S. from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Columbia University under the direction of Gilbert Stork.
Anthony D. Piscopio, Ph.D.
President
& Head of Research and Development
Tony is the Co-Founder and Head of Research and Development and has served as President of OnKure, Inc. since 2011. He is a serial entrepreneur with executive leadership experience spanning more than two decades in the life sciences industry. Most recently, Dr. Piscopio served as Board Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Chemizon, Inc., a global drug discovery organization where he was responsible for managing operations in the U.S., Seoul, Korea, and Beijing, China, and oversaw the acquisition of the company to Taihan Electric Wire Co. after two years of operation. Previously, Dr. Piscopio co-founded Array BioPharma (ARRY;NASDAQ), where he served as Vice President of Chemistry and was responsible for strategy, new product development, GMP manufacturing, process research, parallel synthesis on an industrial scale and oncology drug discovery. Prior to Array, Dr. Piscopio was a founding member of Amgen’s small molecule drug discovery division in Boulder, Colorado, and served as a research scientist at Pfizer. He was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at The Scripps Research Institute and received a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Jim Winkler, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Jim Winkler is Chief Scientific Officer at OnKure, Inc., where he leads a team of experienced drug discovery and development scientists, with a focus on creating a pipeline of novel, best-in-class oncology drugs. Together this team matches the company’s unique drugs to the right patient populations and moves those drugs into clinical development. He has spent 40 years in the field of drug discovery and development, working at companies of varying size including Johnson & Johnson, SmithKline Beecham, GlaxoSmithKline, Array BioPharma, Arvinas and FORMA Therapeutics. While working for these companies, he gained extensive experience building and leading teams through target validation, early drug discovery, preclinical and clinical development.
Dr. Winkler joined Arvinas as Chief Scientific Officer, helping the new company focus on a novel technology, validating and further advancing this technology and building a preclinical pipeline, which enabled Arvinas to go public. At Array, Dr. Winkler served as Vice President of Biology and led the discovery and early development division, advancing 16 drugs into the clinic, several of which are in Phase 3 or approved. Dr. Winkler has significant experience in oncology and inflammatory diseases, as well as proficiency in business development and collaboration management. He did his postdoctoral training with Dr. Stanley Crooke at SmithKline Beecham and received a Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the Medical College of Pennsylvania.
Duncan Walker, Ph.D.
Chief Development Officer
Duncan Walker is the Chief Development Officer at OnKure, Inc. He has a proven track record in cancer drug discovery and development, including contributing to the discovery and development of four FDA-approved medicines. Before joining OnKure, Dr. Walker was Head of Oncology at Kymera Therapeutics, and prior to that he worked at Forma Therapeutics, where he built and led the preclinical and early development group, and helped drive multiple novel small molecule drugs into and through Phase 1 studies. Dr. Walker was head of Translational Medicine and Development Program Lead at Array BioPharma, where he played key roles in the development and partnering of several molecules, including the MEK inhibitor binimetinib, and the Her2 inhibitor tucatinib. Earlier in his career, Dr. Walker held senior roles in several pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including Sunesis, Roche and Glaxo. He did his postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Jim Maller at the University of Colorado and received a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Washington University in St. Louis.
Jason Leverone, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Jason Leverone is the Chief Financial Officer of OnKure, Inc. He brings over 25 years of strategic finance and operational experience across multiple industries, including the last 16 years in life sciences. Prior to joining OnKure, Mr. Leverone served as the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of miRagen Therapeutics, Inc, a publicly traded biotechnology company acquired in 2021. During his tenure at miRagen, he held roles of increasing responsibility in operations, corporate finance and strategic planning, including key roles in the Company’s public offering, strategic license transactions, and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining miRagen, Mr. Leverone served as Senior Director of Finance and Controller for Replidyne, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company acquired in 2009. He also served as Corporate Controller for CreekPath Systems, Inc., a private international software development company. Mr. Leverone began his professional career in public accounting at Ernst and Young LLP and continued with Arthur Andersen LLP. He is a Certified Public Accountant and earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Bryant University.
Samuel Agresta, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Samuel Agresta is the Chief Medical Officer of OnKure, Inc. Dr. Agresta brings over 15 years of extensive experience with global, oncology drug development from IND to Phase 4 design and execution, approval, medical and regulatory affairs strategic planning.
Prior to joining OnKure, Dr. Agresta served as Foghorn Therapeutics, Inc.’s Chief Medical Officer. In that role, Dr. Agresta built Foghorn’s clinical development team and lead the team in three IND filings through Phase 1 development in acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, uveal melanoma, and synovial cell sarcoma. Dr. Agresta also served as a Director and Chief Medical Officer at Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he was responsible for the Phase 1 and 2 developments of the PI3Ky inhibitor, IPI-549. Prior to his roles as Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Agresta served as Vice President and Head of Clinical Development at Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he was accountable for clinical oncology development and lead the FDA submissions for TIBSOVO® and IDIFA® in acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. Dr. Agresta also served as Senior Medical Director at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Genentech, Inc. where he worked in the HER2 franchise.
Dr. Agresta received a B.S. from Georgetown University, an M.P.H. and T.M. from Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, an M.D. from Tulane University Medical School and an M.S. in Clinical Investigation from the University of South Florida. He served his residency in Internal Medicine at Tulane University Health Science Center and completed a Fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at the Moffitt Cancer Center.
Keith M. Olivia, J.D., LL.M.
General Counsel, Senior
Vice President of Corporate
Affairs & Secretary
Keith Olivia is the General Counsel, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Secretary at OnKure, Inc. He has over 20 years of extensive legal experience spanning a range of industries, including life sciences. Prior to joining OnKure, Mr. Olivia practiced transactional law with international, regional and boutique business law firms in Boulder and Denver, Colorado since 1997, including serving as OnKure’s corporate counsel since its founding in April 2011. He has also taught as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Colorado School of Law’s Entrepreneurial Law Clinic and an adjunct faculty member at the Colorado State University’s Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise MBA Program. Mr. Olivia received a B.S. in Finance with a Minor in Economics from the Pennsylvania State University, Smeal College of Business, a J.D. with honors from The Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law, and an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida, Fredric G. Levin College of Law. He has been admitted to practice law in the State of Colorado since 1995.
James Blake, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
of Computational Drug
Discovery
James Blake is the Senior Vice President of Computational Drug Discovery at OnKure, Inc. Over his thirty-year career, Dr. Blake has been a key member of numerous drug discovery efforts, bringing expertise in structure- and ligand- based design, physical property optimization, virtual screening, and library design, with particular emphasis on oncology targets. Prior to joining OnKure, Dr. Blake was a Senior Research Fellow at Pfizer Boulder Research & Development, and was a key team member with Array BioPharma, where he contributed to the design of 13 clinical candidates, including 5 marketed drugs to date. Dr. Blake began his career at Pfizer Central Research, where he focused on neuroscience targets. He is a co-inventor on over 60 patents and is a co-author on 68 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Dr. Blake did his postdoctoral research at Yale University and received a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at Purdue University.
Kevin S. Litwiler, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
of DMPK and Clinical
Pharmacology
Kevin S. Litwiler is the Senior Vice President of DMPK and Clinical Pharmacology at OnKure. He brings over three decades of diverse biopharmaceutical experience in clinical pharmacology, drug metabolism and pharmacometrics spanning a variety of drug targets and therapeutic areas. Prior to joining OnKure, Dr. Litwiler served as Executive Director, Clinical Pharmacology Global Product Development, Oncology at Pfizer Inc., where he was responsible for the late-stage advancement of Boulder-based assets, including two commercialized products. Prior to joining Pfizer, he served as Executive Director and head of Clinical Pharmacology at Array BioPharma Inc. During his tenure at Array, he oversaw strategy, productivity, compliance and budget for the department. Dr. Litwiler also contributed to INDs for 23 Array candidates and the design and conduct of over 40 clinical trials. He started his career at DuPont Biotechnology, where he held numerous research roles of increasing responsibility. Dr. Litwiler received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo and B.S. in Chemistry from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
Richard Woessner, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
of Pharmacology
Rich Woessner is Senior Vice President of Pharmacology at Onkure Therapeutics, working with discovery and clinical development teams to guide and implement in vivo pharmacology strategies for evaluation of preclinical stage compounds, and provide translational pharmacology data to inform clinical development strategies. He has over 30 years of experience in oncology drug discovery and pre-clinical pharmacology and has held roles at biotech and at large pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi, MedImmune, Array BioPharma, AstraZeneca, and Blueprint Medicines. He has led the preclinical in vivo pharmacology effort on multiple projects that have resulted in advancement of compounds into the clinic, including ipatasertib (AKT inhibitor), filanesib (KSP inhibitor), AZD4205 (JAK1 inhibitor), and danvatirsen (STAT3 inhibitor). While at Blueprint Medicines, he established in-house in vivo pharmacology capability and led the in vivo pharmacology group, supporting multiple projects that led to nomination of development candidates. Dr. Woessner received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Illinois, followed by postdoctoral training at SmithKline Beecham, where he studied the biology of topisomerases I and II and mechanisms of resistance to the topoisomerase I inhibitor topotecan.
Robbie Alton, Pharm
Vice President of Clinical Operations
Roberta (“Robbie”) Alton is the Vice President of Clinical Operations at OnKure, Inc. She has nearly two decades of global clinical development and operations experience across various therapeutic areas, focusing primarily on the oncology space. Prior to joining OnKure, Mrs. Alton most recently served as Head of Clinical Operations at Denovo Biopharma LLC, where she developed timelines and infrastructure needed to operationalize global clinical trials that led to successful preparation and completion of NDA submissions. Prior to Denovo, she served as the Senior Director of Clinical Operations and Project Management at Halozyme, Inc., where she oversaw the implementation of Phases 1 – 3 studies across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Previously, Mrs. Alton held the role of Global Clinical Trial Manager at PRA Health Sciences Inc., where she built and managed a cohesive clinical team, managed vendors and monitored the quality of clinical deliverables. Mrs. Alton received her B.S. and Pharm. in Pharmacy and Biochemistry from the University of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Mark L. Boys, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President of Discovery Chemistry
Mark Boys is the Senior Vice President of Discovery Chemistry at OnKure, Inc. Dr. Boys is a seasoned pharmaceutical professional with more than 25 years of research and managerial expertise within large and small life science companies and experience in both medicinal and process chemistry. In his most recent position prior to joining OnKure, Dr. Boys worked at Pfizer Inc. as a Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry and was responsible for more than 75 (internal and CRO) medicinal, synthetic and development chemists.
While at Pfizer, Dr. Boys’ teams successfully delivered preclinical and clinical candidates including an ALK5 inhibitor for treatment of dermal scarring and he successfully initiated and formed a Synthesis Development Group to facilitate the smooth transition of projects and compounds from research into process development. Prior to Pfizer, Dr. Boys worked at Array BioPharma, Inc. and lead a team that discovered a CSF1R inhibitor (ARRY-382) as part of a collaboration with Celgene Corporation, and which has been undergoing clinical trials in an oncology setting. While at G.D. Searle, LLC, Dr. Boys successfully delivered chemical processes to the pilot plant for multi-Kg production. Dr. Boys has also worked at Glaxo plc and Pharmacia Corporation and has been involved with numerous other programs that have delivered preclinical and clinical candidates.
Dr. Boys received his BSc from University of York (UK) and his Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from Colorado State University.
Ann Howell, Pharm.D.
Vice President of Regulatory Affairs
Ann Howell is the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs of OnKure, Inc. She brings an abundance of experience managing regulatory affairs activities for both small and large biopharmaceutical companies, with global regulatory responsibilities across a variety of therapeutic areas, including oncology. Prior to OnKure, Dr. Howell served as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Forma Therapeutics, Inc. At Forma, she built a regulatory department and oversaw critical regulatory strategies for the development programs in rare disease and oncology, including Forma’s first NDA submission and approval for Rezlidhia for the treatment of relapsed or refractory AML. After the acquisition of Forma by Novo Nordisk A/S in 2022, Dr. Howell also served as the Integration Lead to integrate regulatory, clinical, biometrics, pharmacovigilance and other development functions. Previously, she was the Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs at Shionogi Inc., where she led U.S., European and Japanese regulatory strategies and was key in the development and execution of innovative expedited strategies and pathways. She also held regulatory affairs positions of increasing responsibility at Forest Laboratories, Inc. and Schering-Plough Corporation. Throughout her career, Dr. Howell has successfully led five NDA submissions with first round approvals, managed a successful FDA advisory committee meeting, and guided teams through complex regulatory challenges, including novel endpoint development, new approval pathways and labeling challenges. She holds M.S. and Pharm.D. degrees from the University of Oklahoma and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Rutgers University.