Company

Purpose-driven

Thetis is developing TP-317, a first-in-class, proprietary oral therapy based on Resolvin E1 (RvE1), an endogenous lipid that promotes tissue and immune homeostasis. Our targets — ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and cancer — represent significant unmet medical needs.

Expert-led

Thetis combines pharmaceutical industry leadership with deep expertise in resolution biology to advance the first stable, oral RvE1 therapy into the clinic.

Leadership Team

Gary Mathias

Mr. Mathias co-founded Thetis in 2011 and became CEO in 2016, leading the company’s development of TP-317 in IBD and cancer. He previously was Managing Director at Carter Morse & Mathias, senior vice president at GE Equity Capital, Chief Operating Officer of Diabetes Support Systems, and executive vice president of Premier Healthcare, a healthcare private equity firm. Mr. Mathias has a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard College and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He completed post-graduate work in economic development as a Fulbright Fellow.

Gary Mathias
Co-Founder and CEO

John Parkinson, PhD

Prior to joining Thetis in 2021, Dr. Parkinson was the Senior Scientific Director and Head of IBD Drug Discovery at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in his career, Dr. Parkinson led the discovery and development of the Lipoxin analog program at Berlex Laboratories. Dr. Parkinson completed post-doctoral studies in hematology and oncology at the Indiana University School of Medicine and in cardiovascular drug discovery at the Lilly Laboratories for Clinical Research and received a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Bristol, Bristol, U.K.

John Parkinson, PhD
Chief Science Officer

Joyce Steinberg, MD, FACP

Dr Steinberg is a Board-Certified Medical Oncologist who has over 22 years of biopharma industry experience in drug development. Prior to joining Thetis Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Steinberg held key medical development roles at Searle, Fujisawa, NeoPharm, Abbott, and Astellas specializing in the development of cancer therapies including small molecules and biologics. She has experience in designing, overseeing, and conducting global clinical trials and representing development positions at global regulatory agencies. Dr. Steinberg holds an MD from the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University. Her medical oncology fellowship was done at the University of Toronto.

Joyce Steinberg, MD, FACP
Chief Medical Officer

Beverly Paperiello

Ms. Paperiello is a biopharmaceutical executive with over 25 years of experience in the management of clinical development programs and related departments, with responsibility for global clinical research, for large and small molecules and gene therapy, spanning from early stage to late stage development. Her experience includes numerous global development programs and regulatory filings, with portfolio management in excess of ~$1 billion. Ms. Paperiello previously was Senior Vice President, Biopharmaceutical Product Development at Akebia Therapeutics, Head of Clinical Science Oncology at Astellas, Director of Clinical Program Management at Abbott Laboratories, and Manager of Clinical Research at D. Searle/Pharmacia/Pfizer.

Beverly Paperiello
SVP, Development Operations

Gerald Nabozny, PhD

Dr. Nabozny is an immunologist and inflammation biologist with close to 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical R&D. Prior to joining Thetis, he was a Highly Distinguished Research Fellow in the Department of Immunology and Respiratory Diseases Research at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. As a member of the department's executive leadership team, Dr. Nabozny played a central role in the discovery, development and approval of Skyrizi and Spevigo, and served as research lead for the clinical development of Skyrizi across psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease. He established and led a group focused on disease positioning and early biomarker discovery, developing target engagement, pharmacodynamic and disease-associated biomarker strategies for transfer into clinical trials. He completed a Research Fellowship in the Department of Immunology at the Mayo Clinic and Medical School and holds a Ph.D. in immunology.

Gerald Nabozny, PhD
Director, Biomarker Strategy

Belinda Hightower, RN, PhD

Dr. Hightower joined Thetis in 2023 with nearly forty years of pharmaceutical industry experience as an expert in clinical quality management. She has held leadership roles in quality management and made significant contributions towards the development and marketing of several drugs and has held positions with Abbott Laboratories (AbbVie), Upjohn and GH Besselaar. Dr. Hightower is a Registered Nurse and holds a dual Doctorate and Masters in International Business from the Keller Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor’s of Science degree from DePaul University.

Belinda Hightower, RN, PhD
VP, Clinical Quality Management

Chris Cimarusti, PhD

Dr. Christopher Cimarusti brings strong leadership experience in pharmaceutical discovery, development and manufacturing gained over a 37 year career at Squibb Corporation and Bristol-Myers Squibb. As a discovery chemist, Dr. Cimarusti synthesized the anti-hypertensive nadolol and the antibiotic aztreonam for the first time and designed their commercial processes. As a discovery leader, he co-led the antibiotic effort with Richard Sykes and became Director of Organic Chemistry for the Squibb Institute for Medical Research. Subsequently, he was responsible for all biological and chemical process development within Squibb Corporation, including technology transfer directly to manufacturing, monitoring ongoing production and optimization of existing processes. After the merger with Bristol-Myers, he became Vice President of Process R&D within the Pharmaceutical Research Institute. He was appointed Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development and led a global staff of 1,200 engaged in the CMC disciplines for small and large molecules. He also had responsibility for global Clinical Supply Operations, Project Management and Portfolio Management.

Chris Cimarusti, PhD
Senior Dir., Drug Substance

Robert Lipper, PhD

Dr. Lipper has 30+ years of experience in research and development in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to his present consulting work, Dr. Lipper held international line-management responsibility for Pharmaceutics R&D with Bristol Myers Squibb over a 24 year career. His experience spans the entire R&D pipeline, from compound selection through technology transfer and marketed product support. Dr. Lipper began his industrial career with Pfizer Central Research, Groton, CT, where he was primarily involved with liquid and sterile product development for human and veterinary pharmaceutical products. Dr. Lipper has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Michigan and B.S. in Pharmacy from Purdue University.

Robert Lipper, PhD
Senior Advisor, Drug Product

Tracy Jennings

Ms. Jennings joined Thetis in 2023 as Senior Director of Clinical Operations with over 20 years of experience in all phases of clinical trials. She has led high-impact studies involving both large and small molecules, as well as gene therapies. Ms. Jennings excels in managing complex clinical programs, navigating the intricacies of global regulatory environments, and driving operational excellence. She previously held clinical operations roles at Intellia Therapeutics and Johnson & Johnson Regenerative Medicine and at several small biotech companies.

Tracy Jennings
Senior Dir., Clinical Operations

Board of Managers

Fabio Cataldi, MD

Dr. Cataldi joined Thetis as an independent board member in July 2024 and currently serves as chief medical officer (CMO) of Abivax SA. Prior to Abivax, he was CMO at Landos Biopharma through its sale to AbbVie in 2024. He brings deep clinical, medical, and scientific knowledge and expertise in immunology and gastroenterology, having served in senior research and development roles at Arena Pharmaceuticals, AbbVie, Shire, Pfizer, Biogen, and Novartis. He received his medical degree from the Second University V Division of General Surgery in Naples, Italy, and completed post-doctoral research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Fabio Cataldi, MD
Independent Board Member

David N. Cook, PhD

Dr. Cook is a veteran biotech executive with more than three decades of leadership in clinical development, scientific strategy, and corporate growth. He currently is the CEO of Edgewood Oncology and has served as CEO or CSO at several companies, including Forma Therapeutics, Seres Therapeutics, Anza Therapeutics, Eligix, and Cerus Corporation. Over the course of his career, he has helped raise more than $1 billion through IPOs, follow-on financings, partnerships, and non-dilutive funding, and played a central role in multiple corporate acquisitions. Dr. Cook has contributed to the development and commercialization of five licensed products. He earned his A.B. in American studies from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.

David N. Cook, PhD
Independent Board Member

Gary Mathias

Mr. Mathias has more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry as an entrepreneur, investor and banker. Over the course of his career, he has raised over $250 million in debt and equity for pharmaceutical and healthcare companies. Prior to co-founding Thetis, Mr. Mathias was Managing Director and Healthcare Group Lead at Carter Morse & Mathias, SVP in the Healthcare Group of GE Equity Capital, Chief Operating Officer of Diabetes Support Systems, and EVP of Premier Healthcare, a healhcare private equity firm. Mr. Mathias has a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard College, an MBA from the Yale School of Management, and was a Fulbright Fellow in Colombia, South America.

Gary Mathias
Co-Founder and CEO

Walter Ogier

Mr. Ogier has been an advisor to Thetis since 2012 and joined the board in 2016. He has more than 30 years of experience developing therapeutic medical products ranging from pharmaceuticals to medical devices, stem and immune cell therapies and gene therapies. He has served in multiple CEO roles including Genetix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now bluebird bio, Inc.) and Acetylon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which Celgene Corporation acquired in 2016. He also was a director of Eledon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ELDN), Biothera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Nemucore Medical Innovations, Inc., and a Board advisor to Kodikaz Therapeutic Solutions, Inc. and ME Therapeutics, Inc. Mr. Ogier earned a Master of Business Administration from Yale School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Williams College.

Walter Ogier
Independent Board Member

Frank C. Sciavolino, PhD

Dr. Sciavolino has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including a distinguished 35 year career at Pfizer Global R&D. At Pfizer, Dr. Sciavolino held various management roles and responsibilities in drug discovery, development, registration and licensing, culminating in a role as Vice President of R&D Operations, in which he oversaw a team of 1,000 scientists in the United States, Europe and Asia. He was the enabling force behind two of Pfizer’s most notable franchises, Zithromax and Celebrex. After leading the discovery chemistry team responsible for the initial macrolide antibiotic research, he served as principal investigator leading the Phase I evaluation of 11 compounds in first-in-human (FIH) studies, which led to the identification and development of Zithromax, an antibiotic considered one of the most important new drugs of the 20th century. He also played a major role in the licensing of Celebrex, a COX-2 inhibitor that reached $3 billion in peak annual sales globally.

Dr. Sciavolino has served on numerous editorial boards including Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and the Journal of Antibiotics. Dr. Sciavolino has more than 30 issued patents and has a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Michigan and B.S. in Pharmacy from St. John’s University.

Frank C. Sciavolino, PhD
Co-Founder and CSO Emeritus

Dennis Willson, JD

Mr. Willson has been a board member of Thetis since 2012. He previously was President & CEO of ITF Pharma, Inc. and co-founder and chairman of Hsiri Therapeutics, LLC, a start-up company focused on the development of new antibiotics for drug-resistant infections. Prior to his time at ITF, he was co-founder, President & CEO of Cytokine PharmaSciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on women’s health, inflammation and cancer. Mr. Willson spent 19 years in leadership positions at Cytokine, managing the successful development and licensing of several products, including Cervidil, one of the world’s leading obstetric products. In October 2011, he led the company in a strategic sale to Ferring S.A.

Before joining Cytokine, Mr. Willson held management, finance and business development positions at Abbott Laboratories, Rorer International, and Carrington Laboratories. Mr. Willson graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in psychology and modern languages and has a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Dennis Willson
Independent Board Member

IBD Scientific Advisory Board

Silvio Danese, MD, PhD, San Raffaele University and Hospital, Milan

Stephen Hanauer, MD, Northwestern Medicine

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet, MD, PhD, Nancy University Hospital

Walter Reinisch, MD, Medical University of Vienna

Bruce Sands, MD, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai

Bram Verstockt, MD, PhD, University Hospitals Leuven, Brussels

Cancer Scientific Advisory Board

Wayne Klohs, PhD, SAB Chair

Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, NYU Langone / Perlmutter Cancer Center

Sui Huang, MD, PhD, Institute for Systems Biology

Eileen O’Reilly, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

David Parkinson, MD, ESSA Pharma

Mario Sznol, MD, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Univ. of Miami

Chris Takimoto, MD, PhD, FACP, START Center for Cancer Research

Funding

Thetis is supported by private investors, the National Institutes of Health, the Helmsley Charitable Trust, the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation. This backing underscores the company's dedication to advancing groundbreaking therapies for patients with IBD and cancer.