Meet the California Life Sciences FAST Fall 2026 Cohort
- The FAST California Fall 2026 cohort comprises 11 early-stage life science companies selected for a 12-week customized advisory program.
- Companies span cell therapy, drug discovery, rare disease, medical devices, and neuroscience, reflecting the depth and diversity of California’s innovation ecosystem.
- Each company works with a curated group of expert advisors to sharpen business models, IP strategy, and milestone-driven scale-up plans.
- The program culminates in the CLS Innovation Showcase, connecting founders directly with investors, pharmaceutical partners, and healthcare systems.
- FAST California cohorts run twice yearly, in spring and fall, with rolling applications open at califesciences.org/fast-california.
California Life Sciences is proud to welcome 11 innovative companies to the FAST California Fall 2026 cohort. FAST California provides founders of early-stage life science companies with a customized advisory program designed to help them perfect their business models, assess strategic focus, maximize intellectual property, and develop a milestone and scale-up plan. Over twelve weeks, each company works with a curated group of expert advisors.
The program culminates in the CLS Innovation Showcase, where companies present to an audience of potential investors, pharmaceutical partners, healthcare systems, and other collaborators. This event provides founders with direct access to decision-makers and creates the momentum and visibility needed to advance their fundraising and partnership efforts.
FAST California welcomes companies across the entire life sciences innovation spectrum: drug discovery and development, diagnostics, medical devices, digital health, cell and gene therapies, and beyond. The program has supported founders developing therapies for oncology, neurodegenerative disease, rare genetic disorders, metabolic diseases, and many other therapeutic areas. Companies graduate from FAST having clarified their strategic direction, strengthened their team, and positioned themselves for the next stage of growth.
Cohorts run twice yearly — in spring and fall. Applications for future cohorts are open on a rolling basis. Interested founders can learn more and apply at califesciences.org/fast-california/.
The Fall 2026 cohort spans cell therapy, drug discovery, rare disease, medical devices, and neuroscience, reflecting the depth and diversity of innovation advancing across California’s life sciences ecosystem.
Let’s meet the FAST California Fall 2026 companies.
Chimera Therapeutics
Cell TherapyAutoimmune Disease
Website: chimeratx.com
Chimera Therapeutics believes its immune reprogramming therapy can be used to treat numerous autoimmune diseases, including lupus, multiple sclerosis, and Type 1 diabetes, because the donor cell processing and patient conditioning regimen remains the same regardless of the indication treated, and that it can even prevent rejection of solid organ transplants. Unlike CAR-T, gene therapy, or gene editing, Chimera’s therapy does not require any genetic manipulation of the donor stem cells.
Chimera is collaborating with City of Hope, its patient treatment center partner, in a Phase 1b proof-of-concept clinical trial for severe aplastic anemia, which is caused by autoreactive immune cells that damage the patient’s bone marrow stem cells. This prevents the bone marrow from producing red blood cells, requiring patients to receive blood transfusions. The first four patients are cured and no longer require blood transfusions to survive, with no clinical signs of Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD/rejection). A fifth and sixth patient will be treated in September.
Chimera is currently raising $15-20M to support its Phase 2 SAA trial.
Leadership: Matthew Lorence, PhD, MBA, CEO
In Their Own Words
Matthew Lorence, PhD, MBA, leads Chimera Therapeutics as CEO. With a doctorate of molecular and cell biology and an MBA in marketing, Dr. Lorence brings interdisciplinary expertise to the team. He has authored 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has been an invited speaker at more than 30 scientific conferences.
“More than 15 million patients suffer from autoimmune diseases, imposing a burden on the U.S. healthcare system that exceeds $100 billion. Current treatments merely address the symptoms without curing the disease,” said Dr. Lorence. “This, coupled with my personal experience of losing my mother and father-in-law to autoimmune diseases, inspired me to commercialize the unique immune reprogramming therapy developed by my colleagues and to get this technology into the clinic where it has the potential to cure numerous autoimmune diseases.”
Ditto Bio
Autoimmune DiseaseDrug Discovery
Website: dittobio.com
Autoimmune diseases affect roughly one in ten people worldwide, yet most treatments suppress immune pathways rather than restore immune tolerance. Ditto Bio takes a different approach: it identifies proteins that parasites have evolved to manipulate human immunity and engineers them into potential medicines.
Ditto’s AI-enabled platform searches millions of proteins from viruses, ticks, worms, and other parasites, predicts their human targets, and prioritizes candidates for laboratory testing. Across six discovery campaigns, approximately 84% of the platform’s predicted protein-target interactions have been confirmed experimentally.
Ditto’s initial programs focus on checkpoint agonists: therapies designed to activate the immune system’s natural inhibitory pathways and restore immune regulation. The company aims to develop a new generation of autoimmune medicines without the risks associated with chronic, broad immunosuppression.
Leadership: Dennis Sun, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO
In Their Own Words
Dennis Sun, PhD, leads company strategy, operations, and partnerships as Co-Founder and CEO of Ditto Bio. An evolutionary and developmental biologist by training, Dennis has worked across scientific research, computational tools, product development, and organizational leadership, bringing a multidisciplinary perspective to biotechnology company building. He is motivated by translating insights from evolution into new medicines for autoimmune disease.
“I have lived with atopic dermatitis and know how disruptive and distressing a chronic inflammatory condition can be,” Dr. Sun shared. “Existing treatments can provide meaningful relief, but they often control inflammation only while treatment continues. In my experience, symptoms have repeatedly returned, and treatments that initially helped have eventually stopped working. What patients ultimately need is not simply another way to suppress the next flare, but therapies that address why the immune system keeps returning to an inflammatory state. That idea is central to Ditto’s work in autoimmune disease.”
Eye Guardian
Medical DevicesOphthalmology
Website: eyeguardian.ai
Eye Guardian has developed smart eyeglasses that measure intraocular pressure non-invasively using an eye-safe light source, a sound pulse, and an embedded camera.
AI algorithms analyze surface micro-vibrations to calculate IOP, and the device is designed for home use at a fraction of the cost of in-clinic tonometers. The connected app alerts patients, doctors, and caregivers when pressure exceeds safe thresholds, tracks medication adherence and effectiveness daily, and enables personalized treatment adjustments. Because measurements can be taken shortly before and after eye-drop medication, physicians can confirm for the first time whether a therapy is working between visits.
The platform unlocks new reimbursable CPT codes for monitoring, and each additional user strengthens the global dataset. The technology is covered by a portfolio of 19 patents and applications, and the company is preparing for a low-risk FDA De Novo submission.
Leadership: Chad Wasilenkoff, Founder and CEO
In Their Own Words
Serial entrepreneur Chad Wasilenkoff has more than 25 years of experience building and financing companies. With multiple exits over $100 million, one unicorn, and a multiple-time winner of Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Inspired to solve the global leading cause of irreversible blindness, Wasilenkoff is now focused on capital formation, IP licensing, and the regulatory and commercial path for Eye Guardian.
Forta Bio, Inc.
OncologyGene/RNA Therapeutics
Website: forta.bio
Forta Bio is a biotechnology company developing a new generation of programmable oligonucleotide therapeutics that precisely eliminate diseased cells while modulating the immune system. Its proprietary platforms, Oligonucleotide-Dependent Cytotoxicity (ODC™) and Oligonucleotide-Directed Immunomodulation (ODI™), integrate targeting, cytotoxic, and immunomodulatory functions into a single synthetic oligonucleotide, enabling highly targeted medicines with the potential to improve efficacy, safety, and development efficiency.
Its lead program, FORTA-02, is advancing toward clinical development for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and selected solid tumors and has demonstrated compelling preclinical efficacy across diverse animal models. The same platform is being expanded to autoimmune diseases, inflammatory disorders, and endometriosis, creating a scalable technology foundation with broad partnering potential across multiple high-value indications.
Founded by experienced leaders in oncology, nucleic acid therapeutics, and drug development, Forta Bio is building a capital-efficient, platform-based company dedicated to bringing precision oligonucleotide medicines to patients with serious diseases that remain inadequately treated. Its mission is to translate breakthrough science into accessible therapies that improve and extend patients’ lives.
Leadership: Zoya Gluzman-Poltorak, PhD, MBA, Co-Founder and CEO
In Their Own Words
Dr. Zoya Gluzman-Poltorak is a biotech founder, company builder, and drug developer with more than 25 years of experience advancing innovative therapies in gene and cell therapy, genome editing, nucleic acid therapeutics, and biologics. As Co-Founder and CEO of Forta Bio, she is building a new generation of targeted and programmable oligonucleotide medicines based on the company’s first-in-class ODC™ platform to bring transformative therapies to patients with cancer and immune-mediated diseases.
“I started Forta Bio because I believed patients deserve therapies that are both smarter and more accessible,” said Dr. Gluzman-Poltorak. “After more than 25 years developing innovative medicines, I saw firsthand how promising scientific discoveries often take too long to reach patients or fail because existing technologies are too complex or difficult to scale. I founded Forta Bio to change that by building a programmable oligonucleotide platform that combines precision, simplicity, and versatility in a single therapeutic. My goal is to translate breakthrough science into medicines that can reach patients faster and make a meaningful difference in their lives.”
Lucina Biotherapeutics
OphthalmologyDrug Discovery
Website: lucina.bio
Lucina Biotherapeutics is developing a first-in-class therapy for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of irreversible vision loss with no approved treatment options for earlier-stage disease. Its lead program replaces a critical retinal lipid that declines with age and is required for normal photoreceptor and retinal pigment epithelium function.
In preclinical studies, a single ocular injection rapidly improved retinal structure and visual function while shifting retinal gene expression toward a more youthful profile. Lucina has selected a stabilized development candidate and is advancing formulation optimization and key preclinical studies in preparation for IND-enabling development.
Leadership: Christopher Chavez, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO
In Their Own Words
As Co-Founder and CEO of Lucina Biotherapeutics, Christopher Chavez, PhD, leads the company’s development of a first-in-class retinal lipid replacement therapy for dry AMD. Before founding Lucina, he held scientific and executive roles at companies including Visgenx and Beeline Therapeutics.
“After more than 15 years working in retinal biology, gene therapy, and ocular drug development, I became increasingly frustrated by the lack of treatment options for people with earlier-stage dry AMD,” Dr. Chavez said as he shared his extensive experience in the space. “Patients are often told to monitor the disease while irreversible vision loss progresses. At the same time, emerging research showed that retinal aging is associated with the loss of a critical lipid required for normal vision, and that this deficiency may be reversible. I co-founded Lucina Biotherapeutics to translate that insight into a practical therapy. Our goal is to intervene earlier, restore retinal function, and change dry AMD treatment from managing decline to recovering function.”
ResNovas Therapeutics
Drug DiscoveryOncology
★ Servier FAST Discovery Award Winner
Website: resnovastx.com
ResNovas Therapeutics is an early-stage biotechnology company pioneering a new generation of targeted protein degradation therapies based on a biologically validated mechanism of induced proximity. ResNovas is developing molecular glue degraders capable of selectively eliminating previously undruggable disease-driving targets in oncology and other therapeutic areas. The company’s platform integrates deep expertise in cancer biology, chemical biology, medicinal chemistry, and advanced screening approaches, including AI-enabled discovery strategies, to accelerate the development of next-generation degraders with strong therapeutic potential and reduced resistance risk.
ResNovas was founded by a team of leading scientists and drug developers, including Nobel Laureate Carolyn Bertozzi, UCSF Vice Dean for Research Technology and Entrepreneurship Michelle Arkin, targeted protein degradation pioneer Ian Churcher, and cancer biologist and Technical CEO Gabriele Sulli. The company has received recognition through programs including the MBC Platinum Program sponsored by Eli Lilly and ONO Pharma, MBC Golden Tickets from ONO Pharma and AbbVie, the AIM-HI Venture Competition, StartX, Microsoft for Startups, and NVIDIA Inception.
Leadership: Gabriele Sulli, PhD, Founder and CEO
In Their Own Words
Gabriele Sulli, PhD, is a cancer biologist and entrepreneur with 15 years of experience in oncology research, therapeutic discovery, and platform development. He trained at leading institutions including the Salk Institute, UC San Diego, and the European Institute of Oncology, with publications in top scientific journals including Nature. Throughout his scientific career, he has been fascinated by understanding biological mechanisms that can be therapeutically targeted and discovering new ways to modulate their activity to treat disease.
“This mindset ultimately led me to found ResNovas Therapeutics,” Dr. Sulli explained. “While working in cancer biology and drug discovery, I became increasingly interested in the challenge of targeting disease-driving proteins that have historically been considered inaccessible to conventional approaches. I saw an opportunity to develop new therapeutic strategies inspired by natural mechanisms of protein regulation and translate these insights into medicines. Building ResNovas has allowed me to combine my passion for fundamental biology with the opportunity to create therapies that could address significant unmet needs for patients. Our mission is to expand the universe of druggable biology and unlock new possibilities for diseases where current treatment options remain limited.”
Selene Nanorobotics, Inc.
Medical Devices
Website: selenenanorobotics.com
Selene Nanorobotics is a preclinical medical-device company developing a microrobotic platform for active biofilm intervention in hard-to-reach confined environments. The company is initially focused on root-canal disinfection, where complex anatomy can limit the ability of conventional instruments and passive irrigation to reach persistent bacteria and biofilm.
Selene is developing a single-use microrobotic adjunct designed to introduce active microscale motion and localized interaction within the root-canal environment. The company is currently advancing preclinical efficacy, safety, manufacturing, and product-development work toward a commercially viable endodontic system.
Endodontics provides Selene with a focused clinical and regulatory beachhead to validate the platform. Longer term, the company intends to evaluate applications in other dental and medical environments where biofilm persistence and limited physical access create similar intervention challenges.
Leadership: Babak Tousifar, Founder and CEO
In Their Own Words
Babak Tousifar is a bioengineer and entrepreneur with experience spanning microsystems engineering, biotechnology, sensing, microfluidics, nanopore sequencing, and single-cell technologies. As Founder and CEO of Selene Nanorobotics, he leads product strategy, scientific and clinical integration, fundraising, commercialization, and evidence planning for the company’s microrobotic endodontic platform.
“The idea for Selene started with a conversation with a friend in endodontics about why root-canal treatments can still fail despite modern instrumentation and irrigation,” said Tousifar. “I began looking at whether a different technology could address the problem. During graduate school, I had been introduced to microrobotics through a class project, when the field was still relatively early. Years later, I revisited the technology and found that it had advanced significantly. That search led me to the work of Professor Joseph Wang and other leading researchers in microrobotics. Selene grew from connecting a real clinical problem with a technology that had finally matured enough to investigate as a potential solution.”
Terrapeutics Pharma
Drug Discovery
Website: terrapeuticspharma.com
Terrapeutics discovers novel small molecules from soil bacteria to drug the hardest targets. Its groundbreaking discovery platform, AIM-N (pronounced “AMEN” – Activated Induction of Metabolites in Nature), unlocks the soil’s full potential and discovers novel small molecules that can target “undruggable” targets, mainly Protein-Protein Interactions (PPIs). Its AIM-N platform turns a predefined target into a microbial survival challenge, activating soil microorganisms to produce molecules against undruggable PPIs (Protein-Protein Interactions). Its lead pan-KRAS inhibitor, TRP-001, outperforms its leading peers in key oncogenic mutations across tumor types and in patient-derived organoid (PDO) experiments. Critically, TRP-001’s unique mechanism of action enables activity against tumors resistant to existing KRAS drugs, positioning it as the second-line treatment of choice.
Backed by Peregrine Ventures, BMS, and Illumina, the company is raising its seed round to scale.
Leadership: Eddie Sadan, CEO
In Their Own Words
Eddie Sadan is a business development and finance executive with extensive interdisciplinary experience across life sciences, renewable energy, climate tech, and beyond. Previously holding C-suite positions at both private and public companies like Ormat Technologies, Polaris Infrastructure, Lumos, and Ultrasight, Sadan has a strong track record of fundraising, strategy, and international business development. His advice to other startup founders? “Be patient, stay focused, and keep your spirits high during the hard times. Always make sure you have people around you that are smarter than you.”
Therna Biosciences
Gene/RNA TherapeuticsRare Disease
★ Chiesi FAST Discovery Award Winner
Website: therna.com
Therna Biosciences is a biotechnology company pioneering programmable RNA medicines by uniting artificial intelligence with deep RNA biology and hands-on experimental execution. Its proprietary platform, RNA-Logix™, is the only recursive AI platform with agentic integration that reasons over biological systems, uncovers new insights, and designs novel medicines as mRNA therapeutics or ASO/siRNA modalities. A “lab-in-the-loop” approach continuously feeds proprietary experimental data back into the models, sharpening predictive accuracy and shortening the path from sequence design to validated candidates.
Therna is advancing a pipeline across immunological, metabolic, and cardiovascular diseases, alongside selective single-patient programs for ultra-rare conditions such as pulmonary fibrosis and Lamb-Shaffer Syndrome, where conventional clinical development is not feasible. The company’s team brings together decades of experience across RNA biology, AI, and drug development, and is backed by seasoned advisors and board members to support its objectives.
Leadership: Nazli Azimi, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO
In Their Own Words
Nazli Azimi, PhD, is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Therna Biosciences, where she leads the development of AI-designed programmable RNA medicines for a variety of diseases, as well as ultra-rare conditions. A serial biotech entrepreneur, she previously founded and led two companies as CEO, Bioniz Therapeutics and Dermaheal, both focused on immunological diseases, guiding each from early scientific concept through successful acquisition.
“My path to Therna started with a question that stayed with me throughout my career in immunology and biotech: why does it still take so long, and cost so much, to turn a promising biological insight into a medicine that actually reaches a patient?” said Dr. Azimi. “At the NIH, I saw firsthand how much we understand about disease biology, and how much of that understanding never makes it past the lab bench. Founding and later selling Bioniz Therapeutics and Dermaheal taught me that the bottleneck isn’t ideas, it’s the slow, trial-and-error process of translating biology into a working therapeutic. That’s the problem Therna is built to solve. By combining AI models with our own experimental data, in a continuous loop between the computer and the lab, we’re compressing years of trial and error into a much faster, more rational design process, so patients with immunological, metabolic, cardiovascular, and even ultra-rare diseases can get access to treatments sooner.”
Third Element Bio
Neuroscience
Website: thirdelementbio.com
Third Element Bio is developing RNA therapeutics that target the upstream biological drivers of brain aging and neurodegeneration. Its human-first discovery platform integrates multiomic data from the aging and diseased brain to identify regulators of dysfunctional cellular states and translate them into new medicines.
Its lead molecule targets a key regulator of chronic neuroinflammation and has demonstrated durable in vivo target engagement and biomarker modulation. The company is initially advancing the program in a rare neurodegenerative disease population, with the potential to expand into larger indications including Alzheimer’s. The company is led by a founding team with neuroscience, computational biology, and drug development expertise.
Leadership: Carter Palmer, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO
In Their Own Words
As Co-Founder and CEO of Third Element Bio, Carter Palmer, PhD, is building medicines designed to change how neurodegenerative disease is treated. He leads the company’s strategy, fundraising, partnerships, and development of first-in-class therapeutics targeting the biological drivers of brain aging. Throughout his career, Dr. Palmer has consistently focused on translating ambitious science into real-world technologies, from early efforts at Vaxess Technologies to pioneering single-cell and multiomic studies of the aging human brain during his PhD at UC San Diego.
“My motivation to start Third Element Bio is both personal and scientific. Watching my grandmother battle Alzheimer’s disease made the impact of neurodegeneration deeply personal and gave me an early appreciation for how desperately patients and their families need better treatments.
This drove me to study the aging human brain, and I became increasingly convinced that many therapeutic approaches were addressing the consequences of disease rather than the biological changes that make the brain vulnerable in the first place. At the same time, advances in human multiomics and RNA therapeutics were creating an opportunity to identify those upstream drivers and intervene directly.
Third Element Bio grew from the belief that we could make an impact with meaningful first-in-class therapeutics. We wanted to build a company capable of translating discoveries about why the brain loses resilience with age into medicines that could meaningfully change the course of our aging brains.”
TLR Biosciences, Inc.
OncologyImmunotherapy
TLR Biosciences is a preclinical immuno-oncology company developing selective TLR ligands as first-in-class immunotherapies for cancer. Its lead program targets skin cancer, the most common cancer in the US, with over 5 million cases annually, where current topical options remain limited by tolerability and durability. TLR Bio’s lead candidate, TLRB-001, is a selective TLR8 agonist that activates innate immune cells in the skin to drive a durable, cell-mediated antitumor response while reversing the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, a mechanism distinct from, and potentially superior to, existing TLR7 therapies. The program follows a capital-efficient path to IND and a Phase 1 study in treatment-refractory patients, protected by composition-of-matter patents, and is led by the team that pioneered the TLR agonist class.
Leadership: John P. Vasilakos, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO
In Their Own Words
John P. Vasilakos, PhD, brings over 30 years of experience in drug and business development to TLR Biosciences. With deep expertise in cancer immunotherapy, chronic viral disease, and vaccine adjuvants, Dr. Vasilakos has generated nonclinical IND packages for three cancer immunotherapies, built and led immunology research programs and advisory boards, engaged FDA through pre-IND and end-of-Phase II meetings, and driven five out-licensing agreements and 30+ drug and drug-device deals.
“My drug development work with TLR ligands began in the early 2000s at 3M Pharmaceuticals. Over the years since, I’ve seen both successes and many failures — and that experience convinced me these therapies have real clinical utility across multiple indications,” said Dr. Vasilakos. “That conviction inspired me not just to start a company, but to build one dedicated to developing TLR ligand therapies.”
California Life Sciences congratulates the FAST Fall 2026 cohort and looks forward to supporting each company through the program. To learn more about FAST California and future cohort applications, visit califesciences.org/fast-california/.