Portrait No. 001
Laura Hix Glickman
Co-Founder & CEO
Adjuvia Therapeutics
Adjuvia Therapeutics is a seed-stage biopharmaceutical company based at the J&J incubator MBC BioLabs in San Francisco. We are developing ATI-105, a proprietary oral astaxanthin nanoparticle therapeutic to treat chronic, rare inherited, and neurodegenerative diseases driven by mitochondrial dysfunction. ATI-105 profoundly inhibits oxidative stress and chronic inflammation, regenerates damaged cells, reverses organ fibrosis, and extends life. ATI-105 is currently in clinical development with trials to initiate later this year in rare inherited mitochondrial diseases, with other chronic disease indications planned in metabolic/MASH, infertility, and neurodegeneration. This mission is deeply personal to me, as I previously co-invented a synthetic version of this molecule over 20 years ago that while promising, missed its primary endpoints in a clinical trial. The opportunity to revist this molecule, now in a form with superior potency and bioavailability and the potential to address the root causes of these debilitating diseases, is deeply motivating to me.
In her words
“My hope is that in 30 years, the barriers to female founded and led companies feel as distant as the barriers used to be 30 years ago for female scientists.”
Chapter I
The toughest challenges you've faced as a founder.
Being a female founder in the life sciences comes with its own unique challenges, where venture capital funding for female-founded companies has been stuck at 1.7% for decades. Raising money for my last biotech company came with the additional challenge of also having a toddler and preschooler at home. Compounding that, I was trying to finalize an oversubscribed $34M Series A in April 2020, while sheltering in place with my family as the world ground to a halt. I was proud to perservere through this crisis, and to be named later that year as the #5 top female Series A founder across all industries (Female Founder’s Fund). This time around, trying to close just $2.9M of a $8M Seed round in the age of Trump (again) feels even more difficult, as the bar is continuously being raised for women. It does feel more promising though in other ways, as evidenced by the massive gathering of pink-clad women at JP Morgan last month. There are so many more female founder and CEO groups to lend each other support and advice, so it doesn’t feel as lonely. The struggle continues for women founders, but if we stick together, nevertheless we will persist!
Chapter II
Your vision.
Chronically accumulated or inherited damage to your mitochondria, the powerhouse of your cells, is a core contributor to the global healthcare crisis in obesity, infertility, and lethal degenerative diseases. Our vision at Adjuvia Therapeutics is to deliver safe and effective oral therapeutics that repair mitochondrial damage, reverse infertility and organ degeneration, and significantly extend lifespan. We are excited to enter the clinic later this year to treat rare inherited mitochondrial diseases, and we look forward to a time when these transformative pills can be available to everyone to lead a longer and healthier life.
Chapter III
The impact you want to leave behind — for your industry, your community, and the women who come next.
My hope is that in 30 years, the barriers to female founded and led companies feel as distant as the barriers used to be 30 years ago for female scientists. Mentoring women and removing barriers to their development, even finally achieving a leadership position where I could reverse a gender pay gap, are the ways I have demonstrated my commitment to never pulling the ladder up for other women when I reach the top. Saying you support women and doing the difficult and uncomfortable work to enable their success are very different things. Words are lovely, but actions make change.