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Francesco De Rubertis PhD

Chairman of the Board, Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Co-Founder & Partner, Medicxi

Dr. Francesco De Rubertis, PhD, is Chairman of the Board at Centessa Pharmaceuticals and a Co-Founder and Partner at Medicxi.

Prior to Medicxi, Francesco was a Partner at Index Ventures for nineteen years, having joined the firm in 1997 to launch its life sciences practice. Under his leadership, the asset-centric approach to life sciences investing was conceived and adopted.

Francesco’s prior investments include CellZome (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline, PLC), GenMab (Copenhagen: GEN.CO), GenSight Biologics (Euronext: SIGHT), Micromet (acquired by Amgen), Minerva Neurosciences (NASDAQ: NERV), Molecular Partners (Swiss: MOLN.SW), PanGenetics (acquired by Abbott), Parallele Biosciences (acquired by Affymetrix), Profibrix (acquired by The Medicines Company), and Versartis (NASDAQ: VSAR).

Francesco received a BA in Genetics and Microbiology from the University of Pavia in Italy and a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Geneva in Switzerland after which he became a postdoctoral scientist at the Whitehead Institute at M.I.T. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and serves on the main board of the University of Geneva.

In November 2017, Francesco was named in the first “Bloomberg 50” as one of the Top 50 entrepreneurs and innovators who helped to define Global Business in 2017.

Francesco also serves on the board of Rivus Pharmaceuticals.

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SerpinPC

Overview
SerpinPC is a subcutaneously administered novel inhibitor of APC being developed as a potential treatment for hemophilia, regardless of severity or inhibitor status, and may also prevent bleeding associated with other bleeding disorders. Centessa is advancing the registrational program for SerpinPC in hemophilia B, which includes a set of clinical studies with multiple components. PRESent-5, initiated in late 2022, is an observational feeder study to collect prospective observational data for minimum defined periods before switching to dosing subjects in the interventional studies. The interventional studies include PRESent-2 (moderately severe to severe hemophilia B without inhibitors, and severe hemophilia A with and without inhibitors) and PRESent-3 (hemophilia B with inhibitors). Additional information on the trials can be accessed at www.clinicaltrials.gov  (NCT05605678, NCT05789524, NCT05789537). SerpinPC is an investigational agent that has not been approved by the FDA or any other regulatory authority.

Reason to Believe in Target
Human Genetics Support

Epidemiology
~20,000 persons with hemophilia in the United States
450,000 estimated global prevalence
Disease

Hemophilia B