Scientific Visionaries Propelling Life Science Innovation

Peter Svennilson founded The Column Group in 2007 and has worked in venture capital and finance for over 35 years. He was the Chairman of Aragon Pharmaceuticals from startup until it was sold to Johnson & Johnson in 2013 and was the Chairman of Seragon Pharmaceuticals until it was sold to Genentech/Roche in 2014.

Mr. Svennilson has been a Board Director of biotech companies such as: NGM (“NGM”), Constellation (“CNST”), Revolution Medicine (“RVMD”), RAPT (“RAPT”), ORIC (“ORIC”), Immune Design (“IMDZ”), Rosetta (“RSTA”), PTC (“PTCT”), Chemocentryx (“CCXI”), Tercica (“TRCA”) and Somalogic (“SLGC”). He was also a Board Observer of Arcus (“RCUS”).

Prior to TCG, he was the Founder and Managing Partner of Three Crowns Capital where he helped found and/or finance large parts of the venture capital for biotech companies such as: Tularik (“TLRK”), Rosetta (“RSTA”), PTC (“PTCT”), Chemocentryx (“CCXI”), Rinat, Tercica (“TRCA”), Somalogic (“SLGC”), Infinity (“INFI”) and Fiveprime (“FPRX”).

Prior to Three Crowns Capital, he was the Associate Managing Director in charge of European Investment Banking Origination for Nomura in Europe.

Mr. Svennilson is a Trustee at The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He received an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics with further studies at the MBA programs at INSEAD in Fontainebleau and London Business School.

Dr. Goeddel was the first scientist hired by Genentech and from 1978 to 1993 served in various positions, including Staff Scientist, Director of Molecular Biology and Genentech Fellow. His pioneering work in the fields of gene cloning and expression of human proteins was the basis for five marketed therapeutics developed by Genentech, including human insulin, human growth hormone, interferon-alpha, interferon-gamma, and tissue plasminogen activator.

Dr. Goeddel co-founded Tularik in November 1991, was Vice President of Research until 1996 and CEO from 1996 – 2004, when Tularik was acquired by Amgen. Dr. Goeddel has received numerous scientific awards including the Scheele Medal, the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, the Inventor of the Year Award, the Jacob Heskel Gabbay Award, the Howley Prize for Arthritis Research and the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holds a B.A. in Chemistry from UCSD and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from U. of Colorado.

Tim Kutzkey, Ph.D., is a Managing Partner of The Column Group. Since joining the firm in 2007 he has contributed to the conception, formation, and management of more than a dozen portfolio companies. Formerly, he was the founding CEO of Peloton Therapeutics and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nurix Therapeutics. Prior to joining The Column Group, Dr. Kutzkey was a scientist at KAI Pharmaceuticals where he focused on the discovery and development of selective protein kinase C inhibitors. Before KAI, he worked at UC Berkeley as a graduate student and postdoc in the lab of Dr. Robert Tjian, completing his Ph.D. in 2005. Dr. Kutzkey was previously educated at Stanford University.

Dr. Lasky joined The Column Group in 2014. He has worked in the biotechnology industry for over 30 years. In 1981, he was a founding scientist of Genetics Institute, acquired by Wyeth, one of the earliest biotechnology companies.

He was subsequently a leading scientist at Genentech and eventually a Genentech Fellow. He worked in various disciplines including vaccinology, immunology, stem cell biology, cellular signaling mechanisms, and monoclonal antibody therapy of tumors. He is a co-author on over 135 publications and a co-inventor on 37 issued and pending patents.

Dr. Chen joined The Column Group in 2019. Previously, he was a Venture Partner at OrbiMed focusing on company creation and investing in early stage biotech companies. In this capacity he took on interim management roles at E-Scape Bio, TranscripTx and Adicet. He also served on the board of Pionyr Immunotherapeutics and Logic Bio. Prior to that Dr. Chen was a Partner at Skyline Ventures and an entrepreneur in residence at Venrock.

Dr. Chen started his career in 2002 as a founder of KAI Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Amgen in 2012 and led to the approval of Parsabiv in US, Europe, and Japan. He earned his BA in Biochemistry from UC Berkeley, PhD in Molecular Pharmacology from Stanford School of Medicine, and MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Ray joined The Column Group in 2017. Previously, Dr. Ray was an Associate of Business Development at Foghorn Therapeutics, which she helped launch with Flagship Pioneering. Dr. Ray helped develop and execute the scientific, business and operating plans for Foghorn Therapeutics. Dr. Ray helped establish the first onsite next-generation sequencers for Ebola viral surveillance with Dr. Pardis Sabeti’s lab at Harvard University and the Broad Institute. Previously, Dr. Ray completed her PhD at Harvard University with Dr. Robert Kingston, studying the effects of long non-coding RNAs on epigenetic regulation. Dr. Ray holds undergraduate degrees in Biology and Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she also performed embryonic stem cell research in the lab of Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch.

Dr. Hymowitz joined The Column Group in 2021.  Previously, she spent 22 years at Genentech rising to Vice President of Protein Sciences. In this role, she oversaw the large molecule drug discovery portfolio and mentored project teams on the identification and optimization of more than 35 clinical candidates. Earlier, as a member of the Genentech Small Molecule Leadership Team, she supported teams in advancing more than 25 molecules to IND-enabling studies and led a collaboration with AbbVie and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute that resulted in the discovery of Venclexta.  Dr. Hymowitz earned a B.A. in Chemistry from Swarthmore College, followed by a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of California, San Francisco prior to joining Genentech in 1999 as a postdoctoral fellow.

Mr. Evangelista joined The Column Group in 2012 and has almost two decades of venture capital industry experience. Previously, he was with Three Arch Partners, and prior to that, Lightspeed Venture Partners. He began his career working for several large money management firms including Fisher Investments and Barclays Global Investors.

Mr. Evangelista is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in the state of California and is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the California Society of CPAs.

Jeff Goater joined The Column Group as a Venture Partner in 2021. Previously, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Surface Oncology.  During his tenure at Surface, the company fostered an award-winning culture, advanced four programs into clinical development, completed its initial public offering and secured multiple strategic collaborations, including a transformative partnership with GlaxoSmithKline.  Prior to Surface, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Voyager Therapeutics where he was one of the members of the founding management team. While at Voyager, he led its crossover financing, initial public offering and strategic partnership with Sanofi Genzyme.  Previously, Mr. Goater spent nearly a decade in investment banking, most recently as a managing director at Evercore Partners, advising on more than $100 billion in strategic transactions in the biopharma industry. He began his career as a research scientist in the field of AAV gene therapy and holds master’s degrees in microbiology/immunology (M.S.), pathology (M.S.) and business administration (M.B.A.) from the University of Rochester.  Mr. Goater serves on the boards of Surface Oncology, Vaccinex and LogicBio Therapeutics.  He also serves on the board of advisors of Life Science Cares in Boston.

Dr. Hui Tian joined The Column Group in 2022 as a Venture Partner.  Previously he was a founding member of NGM Biopharmaceuticals and most recently served as Senior Vice President of Research.  In this role, he was responsible for discovery research across multiple therapeutic areas including metabolic diseases, retinal diseases and cancer.  In a span of 14 years, he led the discovery and advancement of more than a dozen clinical candidates.  Prior to NGM, he was a Scientific Director at Amgen and Tularik leading discovery research in the areas of metabolic disorders and orphan G protein-coupled receptors. Dr. Tian received a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and did his post-doctoral training at Harvard University.

Ms. Daniel joined The Column Group in 2015 and assists the firm’s portfolio companies in recruiting their scientific teams.  After completing her Master’s Degree in Biology at UC Santa Cruz, Ms. Daniel joined the Immunology group at Tularik. She later became a Human Resources Manager and helped to build Tularik’s scientific team. After Tularik she worked for larger biotechnology companies like Genentech and a life science focused Executive Search Firm.