Ysios Capital

Arturo Urrios leads early-stage investments and company creation at Ysios Capital. He previously worked at M Ventures and Wellington Parties, where he was involved in financings including Riffyn, Plexium, eGenesis, Themis Biosciences and Seamless Therapeutics. He helped create Seamless Therapeutics in 2022, leading its business development and corporate strategy and securing a collaboration with Lilly. He holds a BSc in Human Biology, an MSc in Biomedical Research, an MBA, and a PhD in Biomedicine, and co-founded the YVC Collective.

Cristina Garmendia supports institutional relations, investor relations, and fundraising at Ysios Capital. She previously served as Spain's Minister for Science and Innovation (2008–2011), where she oversaw reforms including the Spanish Innovation Strategy and the Law for Science, Technology and Innovation. She holds a Bachelor's in Genetics from the University of Seville, a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and an MBA from IESE at the University of Navarra.

Guillem Laporta makes and manages investments at Ysios Capital and handles investor reporting. He has 15 years of venture capital experience and previously worked at the Edmond de Rothschild Group (now Andera Partners) in Paris, where he was involved in investments across Europe and the United States, including Reviral, Axonics Modulation, Sanifit and Verona Pharma. He is a CFA charterholder and holds bachelor's degrees in Biotechnology from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and in Business Administration from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

Joël Jean-Mairet is Managing Partner at Ysios Capital, where he oversees management, strategy and day-to-day operations. In 2001 he co-founded Glycart Biotechnology and served as its CEO until its sale to F. Hoffmann-La Roche four years later; Glycart originated the anti-CD20 antibody obinutuzumab/Gazyva. He holds an MSc in Biotechnology and a PhD in Cell Biology and Immunotherapeutics, both from ETH Zürich.

Josep Ll. Sanfeliu is legal- and structuring-savvy in health and life sciences, combining law, KPMG consulting and private equity as managing partner and one of Spain’s most active angel investors.

Julia Salaverría is Managing Partner at Ysios Capital, where she oversees investor relations and corporate development. She previously spent 2000–2007 as a Director at Spanish venture capital group Talde, handling fundraising, investor relations and biotech investments, and earlier served as Principal Economist in the Research Department of the Bank of Spain. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, an MBA from the University of Deusto, and a PADE degree from IESE at the University of Navarra.

Karen Wagner is a Managing Partner at Ysios Capital, where she works on therapeutic investments and helps identify and evaluate opportunities. She joined Ysios in 2008 after more than a decade in biotech and pharma business development, having begun her career as a management consultant in McKinsey & Company's healthcare practice and later served as Director of Business Development at Ingenium Pharmaceuticals. She previously worked at Glycart Biotechnology and, following its acquisition by F. Hoffmann-La Roche, led business development and alliance management at Roche; she holds a Master's in Molecular Biology and a PhD in Cell Biology from the University of Konstanz.

Antoni Ribas, M.D., Ph.D., is a physician-scientist and Professor of Medicine, Surgery, and Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA, where he directs the Tumor Immunology Program at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Center. His research focuses on malignant melanoma, gene-engineered T cells, PD-1 blockade, and BRAF-targeted therapies, and he contributed to the clinical development of several FDA-approved drugs including pembrolizumab, vemurafenib, and dabrafenib. He currently serves as President of the American Association for Cancer Research and is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Garcia-Echeverria has held senior scientific and executive roles at biopharmaceutical companies including EQRx, Sanofi, and Novartis, with a focus on drug discovery and early-stage clinical development. He currently works as a scientific and strategic advisor to biopharma companies and venture capital firms, advising on drug discovery programs, development strategies, and partnerships. He holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Barcelona and has authored 190 peer-reviewed publications and secured 45 granted patents.

Dr. Carlos Paya has held leadership roles across academic medicine, large pharmaceutical companies, and biotech startups, focusing on strategic execution, pipeline growth, product lifecycle management, and fundraising. He previously served as president and CEO of Immune Design Corp. until its 2019 acquisition by Merck, and held senior roles at Elan Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly. Earlier in his career he spent nearly a decade at the Mayo Clinic-Rochester as a professor of medicine, immunology, and pathology and vice dean of its clinical investigation program.

Dr. David Lacey spent 17 years at Amgen, where he led the company's Discovery Research organization and its team of over 1,200 scientists working on drug discovery across haematology, oncology, inflammation, metabolic disorders, and neuroscience. He contributed to bone biology research underlying the development of Prolia (denosumab) and XGEVA, and previously served on the faculty at Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology and an MD from the University of Colorado and is board certified in anatomical pathology.

Lance Berman has over 20 years of operational experience across large pharmaceutical companies and biotech start-ups. Before joining Ysios Capital, he served as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President at Relypsa, where he built and led clinical development, medical affairs, and drug safety functions and contributed to the company's fundraising and IPO; the company secured FDA and EMA approval for Veltassa under his clinical leadership. He previously held roles including Chief Medical Officer at Aelix Therapeutics, CMO and Head of Business Development at CPEX Pharmaceuticals, leadership positions at Pfizer, and Director of Clinical Research at Schering-Plough. He holds Bachelor's degrees in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Cape Town and an MSc in Pharmaceutical Medicine from Hibernia College–Harvard University–Royal College of Surgeons (Dublin).

Dr. Pamela M. Klein is founder and principal of PMK BioResearch, providing advisory and strategic consulting to the biotechnology industry, and serves as consulting Chief Medical Officer of Olema Oncology. She previously held Chief Medical Officer roles at several biotech companies, including Intellikine (acquired by Takeda), and worked at Genentech from 2001 to 2008, ending as Vice President of Development where she oversaw development of drugs such as trastuzumab, rituximab, pertuzumab and erlotinib. She earlier co-founded and served as research director for the National Cancer Institute–Navy Breast Care Center, holds a biology degree from California State University Northridge and a medical degree from Loyola University Chicago's Stritch School of Medicine, and trained in internal medicine and medical oncology.

Almudena Méndez is an Associate on the Advisory team at the Telescope Biotech Fund, where she works on sourcing and analyzing investment opportunities across scientific and business dimensions. She previously spent more than five years at the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB-CSIC) as an FPU fellow, researching T cell-based cancer immunotherapies, and completed an internship in cancer immunotherapy at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Bellinzona, Switzerland. She holds a Bachelor's in Biotechnology, an MSc in Computational Biology, and a Master in International Leadership from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, plus a PhD in Molecular Biosciences from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Catalina Cuchy provides administrative and operational support to the Managing Partners and investors at Ysios Capital, handling office operations and logistics from the San Sebastián office. She previously worked as Assistant Manager at Bois et Fer and as Administrative Assistant at the Gipuzkoa Mercantile Federation. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Management Assistance from the University of Navarra's ISSA School of Management Assistants.

Íñigo oversees financial and compliance matters at Ysios, bringing over a decade of experience in the financial sector. He previously served as an audit manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), working with banking and capital markets clients including collective investment funds and venture capital firms in Spain. He holds a Business Administration degree and MBA from Universidad de Deusto (La Comercial), a Master's in Auditing from Universidad de Alcalá, and completed a management development program at ESADE.

Laura Argelich helps identify and evaluate investment opportunities at Ysios Capital from scientific and business angles. Before joining the firm, she worked in the Stem Cells and Neurogenesis unit at Ospedale San Raffaele in Milan, where her research focused on direct reprogramming approaches and dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease. She holds a master's degree in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedicine from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a PhD in Molecular Medicine from the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele.

Malgorzata Rogalska evaluates investment opportunities at Ysios Capital from scientific and business angles, with more than 15 years in life sciences and expertise in RNA therapeutics and gene regulation across genetic diseases, oncology, and metabolic disorders. She previously worked as a senior researcher at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona and has published research including first-author papers in Nature and Science. She holds a Bachelor's and MSc in Biotechnology from the Technical University of Lodz and a PhD in Molecular Biology from ICGEB in collaboration with the University of Cambridge.

Míriam Cortés supports Ysios Capital's Managing Partners and investors, and handles media relations along with office operations including IT and administrative support. She has over 10 years of experience as an executive assistant supporting C-suite executives, coordinating international logistics and events, and assisting with investor relations, and previously worked as assistant to the Legal and Fleet Director at Vueling Airlines. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Media and Communication and a graduate degree in Business Communication from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, plus a graduate degree in Social Media & Community Management from the University of Barcelona.

Sriram Balusu is an Associate on the Advisory team at the Telescope Biotech Fund, where he sources and analyzes investment opportunities combining scientific and business perspectives. He previously spent over a decade in research at VIB in Belgium, with doctoral work on the blood–central nervous system barrier and postdoctoral research on Alzheimer's disease, including developing mouse models and therapeutic strategies. He has authored more than 20 publications, including papers in Science, Neuron, and Acta Neuropathologica, and holds a PhD in Biotechnology and Biochemistry from Ghent University.