For more than 20 years, CLS has recognized the state’s leaders from across the pharmaceutical, biotech and other allied industries to pay tribute to those making exceptional contributions to the life sciences industry. The Pantheon awards celebrate the achievements of leading life sciences innovators representing therapeutic, diagnostic, medical device, and industrial biotechnology companies.
2026 Pantheon Award Honorees
Industry Pioneer Award
Fifty years ago, Genentech launched the biotechnology industry in South San Francisco by bringing molecular biology into drug discovery and development. Today the company has more than 40 approved medicines on the U.S. market and 66 new molecules in clinical development — and helped make California the epicenter of life sciences innovation.
leadership Award
Dr. Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD
Director, Sanford Stem Cell Institute, UC San Diego
A leading physician-scientist in pre-cancer and cancer stem cell biology, Dr. Jamieson discovered RNA missplicing, hyper-editing and splice isoform switching as mechanisms that keep cancer stem cells alive — work that is reshaping how leukemia and related disorders are treated.
Academic Discovery of the year
Dr. Ziad Obermeyer, MD | UC Berkeley
A deep learning–derived ECG biomarker for sudden cardiac death risk
Published in Nature, this AI model reads routine electrocardiograms — from a hospital or a smartwatch — to find people at risk of sudden cardiac death. More than 85% of those it flagged were missed by the standard risk measure doctors use today.
biopharma product of the year
RASONQUE™ (daraxonrasib)
An investigational RAS(ON) multi-selective inhibitor in development for pancreatic cancer and other RAS-driven cancers.
convergent technology of the year
The Teal Wand
The first FDA-approved device that lets women self-collect a sample for cervical cancer screening at home.
ai catalyst for health
An AI-native biotechnology company that applies self-supervised machine learning and foundational AI models to human tumor biology datasets to develop precision cancer immunotherapies.
elizabeth schar inspiring future leaders award
A nonprofit developing the next generation of STEM leaders. Through its Fellows, Scholars and Interns programs, SD2 connects students from high school through college with mentorship, scholarships, paid internships and real-world industry experience.
2026 Emerging Innovator Award Finalists
A clinical-stage company working to preserve vision in progressive eye diseases, using its Character Arc™ disease intelligence system to develop new medicines — starting with age-related macular degeneration.
Targeting a root cause of age-related disease: toxic oxidized cholesterol. Its lead small molecule, UDP-003, binds and extracts it from cells, starting with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
An immuno-ophthalmology company developing targeted, locally delivered therapies for inflammation throughout the eye. Its first asset, ILYX-002, is Phase 3-ready for autoimmune-driven dry eye disease.
The frontier AI lab for biology, building foundation models for life’s molecules. Profluent created OpenCRISPR-1, the first AI-designed gene editor to edit the human genome.
A Silicon Valley medtech company behind Sylvee, an AI-powered chest wearable built to catch COPD early — a disease that goes undiagnosed in about half of U.S. cases.