🧬 Staying Focused During Biotech Funding Ups & Downs | Roy Maute (Part 4/4)
February 26, 2026
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, we follow Roy Maute’s journey from the Gilead acquisition of Forty Seven Inc. through COVID-era corporate life—where he spent over a year at Gilead without meeting colleagues in person—to co-founding Pheast Therapeutics in 2021, clarifying his passion for early-stage company building. He unpacks how he, Amira Barkal, Irving Weissman, and Ravi Majeti rallied around CD24 as the next macrophage checkpoint target, explains PHST001 and why macrophage checkpoint inhibitors could form a new class of immunotherapy, and reflects on building a lean, 34-person clinical-stage company, navigating a tougher post-COVID fundraising environment, and charting the road ahead as Pheast generates pivotal clinical data.
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“This is where the real scientific innovation and the impact meet. So for me, it's the most exciting type of opportunity to have, and I'm not looking anywhere else.”
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, we follow Roy Maute’s journey from the Gilead acquisition of Forty Seven Inc. through COVID-era corporate life—where he spent over a year at Gilead without meeting colleagues in person—to co-founding Pheast Therapeutics in 2021, clarifying his passion for early-stage company building. He unpacks how he, Amira Barkal, Irving Weissman, and Ravi Majeti rallied around CD24 as the next macrophage checkpoint target, explains PHST001 and why macrophage checkpoint inhibitors could form a new class of immunotherapy, and reflects on building a lean, 34-person clinical-stage company, navigating a tougher post-COVID fundraising environment, and charting the road ahead as Pheast generates pivotal clinical data.
Key topics covered:
- Getting the Band Back Together: How Roy, Amira Barkal, Irving Weissman, and Ravi Majeti co-founded Pheast Therapeutics around the CD24 macrophage checkpoint target
- The Science of PHST001: Why macrophage checkpoint inhibitors represent a new class of immunotherapy and how PHST001 addresses the toxicity and potency limitations of prior approaches
- Navigating the Biotech Funding Cycle: How Pheast stayed lean and capital-efficient through the post-COVID investment downturn and what the fundraising landscape looks like today
- Building a Clinical-Stage Company: How the Pheast team has evolved from a group of bench scientists to a full clinical-stage organization, including the hiring of a Chief Medical Officer
- Pipeline Strategy and Partnerships: How Pheast is thinking about external collaborations, early-stage partnerships, and advancing its next-generation pipeline programs alongside its lead asset
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Find our guest, Roy Maute at these links:
Website: https://www.pheast.com/
Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
Learn more about Excedr:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:
Website: https://flow.page/kyojin
Resources & Articles:
CD24 Macrophage Checkpoint Discovery https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1456-0
Biotech Funding Cycles & Market Impact https://www.fortrea.com/insights/biotech-funding-challenges
Phase I Clinical Trials: Dose Escalation Methods https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2684552/
Cancer Biomarkers in Drug Development https://www.abcam.com/en-us/knowledge-center/oncology/cancer-biomarkers
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:
Gilead Sciences: https://www.gilead.com/
Pfizer: https://www.pfizer.com/
Amira Barkal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amira-barkal-md-phd
Irving Weissman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Weissman
​Ravi Majeti: https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/ravindra-majeti
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:17 Deciding to Leave Gilead After the Forty Seven Acquisition
05:35 Navigating COVID's Impact on Biotech
06:40 Co-Founding Pheast Therapeutics and Assembling the Team
09:57 The Macrophage Checkpoint Opportunity and PHST001
13:40 Pipeline Strategy and Partnering Philosophy
17:43 Evolving Capital Raising Strategies in a Post-Boom Market
21:25 How Pheast Has Grown and Evolved as a Company
24:13 Building the Right Investor Base
28:05 One to Two Year Outlook for Pheast
32:22 Closing Advice for Founders
The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.