One To Watch
Yatiri Bio
Company Overview
Yatiri Bio is a precision medicine company focused on oncology drug discovery and development. The company uses unbiased proteomics, deep learning, and patient-derived cellular systems to create predictive models for cancer treatment. Its proprietary ProteoCharts platform identifies molecularly defined cancer subtypes and predicts therapeutic responses, enabling biomarker-based patient stratification for clinical trials. Yatiri Bio has raised $4.55 million in total funding and has approximately 10 employees. The company is transitioning from a platform services model into therapeutic development, having recently in-licensed its first clinical-stage drug candidate.
Headquarters and Global Presence
Yatiri Bio is headquartered in San Diego, California. The company operates primarily in the United States and has established partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies. In March 2026, Yatiri Bio entered an exclusive global option to in-license agreement with South Korea-based Oscotec for the worldwide development and commercialization of denfivontinib in acute myeloid leukemia.
Founding and History
Yatiri Bio was co-founded in 2020 by Pilgrim Jackson and Afshin Mahmoudi. Jackson, a biophysicist, established the company after spending over 13 years at Celgene (now a subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb), where his drug discovery research delivered six therapeutics to the clinic and four patents, including work on Revlimid (lenalidomide) for multiple myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes. In November 2025, Yatiri Bio acquired NGeneBioAI, a San Diego-based proteomics company, gaining CLIA-compliant diagnostics capabilities. The company has been raising a Series A funding round, with a target of closing by the first quarter of 2026.
Therapy Areas and Focus
Yatiri Bio focuses on hematologic and solid tumor oncology. The company's primary therapeutic area is acute myeloid leukemia (AML), where it has both predictive biomarker capabilities and an in-licensed clinical-stage drug candidate. The company plans to expand its ProteoCharts platform across additional tumor types in 2026, including myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.
Technology Platforms and Modalities
Yatiri Bio's core platform combines three capabilities: ProteoCharts, an AI-driven proteomic tool that maps patient molecular landscapes to predict drug responses; ProteoModels, a portfolio of patient-derived cellular models tailored to match molecularly defined cancer subtypes for drug discovery and clinical trial patient matching; and CLIA-compliant diagnostics capabilities acquired through NGeneBioAI. In a blinded study using Foghorn Therapeutics' FHD-286 (camibirstat) in relapsed or refractory AML patients, ProteoCharts achieved 100% concordance between predictions and observed clinical responses.
Key Pipeline and Programs
Denfivontinib (SKI-G-801) is a potent multikinase inhibitor in-licensed from Oscotec under an exclusive global option agreement announced in March 2026 for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. Yatiri Bio also has a collaboration agreement with Foghorn Therapeutics for FHD-286 (camibirstat) in AML and MDS, including clinical and sales milestones valued at over $40 million. The company is using its ProteoCharts platform to guide patient selection and clinical development strategy for both programs.
Key Personnel
Pilgrim Jackson, Ph.D., is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. He holds a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from UC Santa Cruz and a B.S. in Molecular Biochemistry and Biophysics from Yale University. He spent 13 years at Celgene in drug discovery roles spanning inflammation and oncology. Mahan Abbasian serves as Chief Operating Officer. Afshin Mahmoudi is Co-Founder and Vice President of Business Development. Salvador de Bartolome serves as Head of Bioinformatics.
Strategic Partnerships
In March 2026, Yatiri Bio entered an exclusive global option to in-license agreement with Oscotec for the worldwide development and commercialization of denfivontinib (SKI-G-801) in AML. The company also signed a collaboration agreement with Foghorn Therapeutics following a blinded study demonstrating 100% concordance between ProteoCharts predictions and clinical responses for FHD-286, with the deal including clinical and sales milestones valued at over $40 million. In November 2025, Yatiri Bio acquired NGeneBioAI to gain CLIA-compliant diagnostics test development capabilities. The company is actively pursuing additional partnerships with biopharmaceutical companies seeking to integrate biomarker-based patient selection into clinical development.
FAQ Section
Yatiri Bio's central challenge is completing its Series A funding round to finance the clinical development of denfivontinib while scaling its ProteoCharts platform across multiple tumor types, transitioning from a biomarker services company into a clinical-stage therapeutic developer.
Proteomics measures the actual functional molecules (proteins) driving cancer rather than relying solely on genomic data. This enables more accurate prediction of which patients will respond to specific therapies, potentially improving clinical trial success rates and enabling precision treatment selection.
Yatiri Bio's ProteoCharts platform demonstrated 100% concordance between predicted and observed clinical responses in a blinded AML study, validating its ability to stratify patients prior to treatment. This predictive accuracy, combined with in-house CLIA diagnostics, positions the company to both discover drugs and develop companion diagnostics.
Denfivontinib (SKI-G-801) is a potent multikinase inhibitor with clinical data in AML, a disease with poor five-year survival rates and limited treatment options for relapsed or refractory patients. Yatiri Bio's global rights to the compound provide a clinical-stage asset that can be developed alongside its predictive biomarker platform.
The pipeline centers on hematologic malignancies, with AML and MDS as the primary indications for both denfivontinib and the Foghorn FHD-286 collaboration. Expansion into solid tumors including ovarian, prostate, breast, and colorectal cancer is planned for 2026 through the ProteoCharts platform.
Yatiri Bio is in early clinical development. Its in-licensed asset denfivontinib has existing clinical data from Oscotec's prior development, and the Foghorn FHD-286 collaboration includes clinical milestone payments. The company is raising its Series A to fund the next stages of therapeutic development.
Key watchpoints include completion of the Series A funding round, clinical development plans and timelines for denfivontinib in AML, expansion of ProteoCharts validation studies across additional tumor types, and the Foghorn FHD-286 collaboration milestones.
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