CITRIS and the Banatao Institute

Creating information technology solutions for society's most pressing challenges

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Xixi Zhu on “Building a Gene Therapy Company with Scarce Resources”

Biotech * Gene Therapy * Startups

“Building a Gene Therapy Company with Scarce Resources”

Xixi Zhu

Vice President, Business Development and Operations

DNAlite Therapeutics

About the Speaker:

Xixi Zhu brings her operation and business development expertise to DNAlite Therapeutics. She was previously an analyst for venture capital funds Laurel Ventures (China), Forbion Capital Partners (The Netherlands), and 4Bio Capital Partners (United Kingdom) investing in early-stage therapeutics companies. Xixi holds an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise from Cambridge University and an MPhil in Neuroscience from University College London.

DNAlite Therapeutics is an early-stage preclinical biotechnology company committed to bringing the next-generation of drugs to organs protected by mucus barriers.

The company was accelerated in the seventh cohort of the CITRIS Foundrystartup program and co-founded by UC Berkeley graduates Mubhij Ahmad, M.S. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (’16) and Timothy Day, Ph.D. Neuroscience (’17).

Talk Abstract:

The outstanding innovation hubs arising throughout the Bay Area has made starting a biotechnology company as graduate students possible. Much like a science project, the life of a start-up company is not straightforward, but there are some common milestones from birth to growth and success or failure. Success is hardly replicable, but we can learn how to not fail by learning from our predecessors’ mistakes. After all, the only real preparation to build a company is by building a company.

About the Series:

Launched in 2008, the CITRIS Research Exchange delivers fresh perspectives on information technology and society from distinguished academic, industry, and civic leaders. Join us this fall to celebrate 10 years of innovative ideas and dialogue.

Learn more about CITRIS and the Banatao Institute at the University of California.

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The CITRIS Research Exchange is free and open to the public. Each one-hour seminar starts at 12pm Pacific time and is hosted live at Sutardja Dai Hall on the UC Berkeley campus, unless otherwise noted. Register online by Monday prior for a complimentary lunch inside the auditorium.