ShennonBio Names Cyril Konto CEO After $12M Raise

Following a $12 million financing round led by Future Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners, Samos Investments, Atypical Ventures and Saras Capital, with continued support from existing investors DCVC, Foundation Capital, and AV8 Ventures, Shennon Biotechnologies (ShennonBio), a biotechnology company developing precision immunotherapies for cancer, has named veteran Cyril Konto, M.D. as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Founder and current CEO Li Sun, Ph.D., will transition to President and Chief Technology Officer, continuing to lead the Company’s scientific strategy, technology development and pipeline innovation.

“ShennonBio was founded to address fundamental challenges that have limited the development of precision immunotherapies, from identifying differentiated targets and highly functional therapeutic binders to predicting potential safety risks before candidates reach the clinic,” said Li Sun, Ph.D., Founder, President and Chief Technology Officer, ShennonBio. “We have built an integrated technology platform, generated proprietary human datasets and begun translating those capabilities into a pipeline of precision immunotherapies. With $25 million raised to date, and Cyril joining as CEO, we are entering an important new stage for ShennonBio as we advance our first TCE programs toward the clinic.”

About Cyril Konto

Konto brings more than 20 years of experience in oncology drug development, company building and strategic transactions. Most recently, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ichnos Glenmark Innovation (IGI), where he led a strategic and operational transformation of the organization, focused its portfolio on oncology and built its multispecifics franchise.

He previously held senior oncology development leadership roles at Allogene Therapeutics, Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb.

“ShennonBio has spent the last several years building a differentiated foundation spanning proprietary human data, target discovery, functional screening, therapeutic design and safety prediction,” said Konto. “What attracted me to the Company is the opportunity to translate those capabilities into a new generation of precision immunotherapies. I look forward to working closely with Li and the team to advance our pipeline toward the clinic, establish strategic partnerships and build ShennonBio for its next stage of growth.”