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Aaron Royston

Managing Partner at venBio Partners

San Francisco Bay Area

Overview 

Aaron Royston is the Managing Partner at venBio Partners in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a background in investments, investment banking, and expertise in lifesciences and neuroscience. He has served on the Board of Directors for various companies in the healthcare sector and has made significant investments in companies like Marea Therapeutics and Akero Therapeutics across different funding stages. Royston's career highlights include his role as Managing Partner at venBio Partners, overseeing strategic partnerships and portfolio management, as well as his extensive experience serving on the Board of Directors for multiple healthcare companies, showcasing his expertise in due diligence and private equity within the life sciences industry.

Work Experience 

  • Managing Partner

    2015 - Current

    venBio is a life science venture capital firm that focuses on novel therapeutics for unmet medical needs. Since inception in 2011, venBio has raised nearly $1.5 billion in capital commitments and led investment rounds in 35+ companies, including: Labrys Biologics (acquired by Teva); ALX Oncology (NASDAQ: ALXO); Aragon Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Johnson & Johnson); Seragon Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Roche); Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AUPH); Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: APLS); Turning Point Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TPTX, acquired by BMS); Precision Biosciences (NASDAQ: DTIL); Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AKRO); Harmony Biosciences (NASDAQ: HRMY); Pharvaris (NASDAQ: PHVS); Ventyx Biosciences (NASDAQ: VTYX); CinCor Pharma (NASDAQ: CINC, acquired by AstraZeneca), and RayzeBio (NASDAQ: RYZB, acquired by BMS).

VenBio is a life sciences investment firm that partners with industry leaders to build medicines and technologies.

  • Board of Directors

    2023

Attovia Therapeutics develops a pipeline of biotherapeutics for immune-mediated diseases.

Raised $165,000,000.00 from Marshall Wace, Redmile Group, Nextech Ventures, EcoR1 Capital, Logos Capital, venBio Partners, Illumina Ventures, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Frazier Life Sciences and Cormorant Asset Management.

  • Board of Directors

    2022

  • Board of Directors

    2021

  • Board of Directors

    2021

HistoWiz provides automated histopathology for biomedical researchers.

Raised $36,765,000.00 from Vivo Capital, Asahi Kasei and venBio Partners.

  • Board Of Directors

    2017

A private biopharmaceutical company .

Raised $105,000,000.00 from Samsara BioCapital, Vivo Capital, RTW Investments, Marshall Wace, 5AM Ventures, venBio Partners and OrbiMed.

  • Board of Directors

    2020 - 2023

    IPO in September 2023 (NASDAQ: RYZB) Acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb in December 2023 for $4.1B

RayzeBio is a pharmaceuticals company that develops targeted radiopharmaceutical drugs for cancer.

Raised $418,000,000.00 from Soleus Capital, Ally Bridge Group, Viking Global Investors, Laurion Capital Management, Wellington Management, Sands Capital Ventures and Sofinnova Investments.

  • Board of Directors

    2021 - 2023

    IPO in October 2021 (NASDAQ: VTYX)

Ventyx is a biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing oral therapies for patients living with autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.

Raised $468,600,000.00 from Sanofi, Redmile Group, Surveyor Capital, Farallon Capital Management, Cormorant Asset Management, EcoR1 Capital, CaaS Capital Management, Acuta Capital Partners, Boxer Capital and Redmile Group.

  • Board Of Directors

    2017 - 2020

    IPO in August 2020 (NASDAQ: HRMY) FDA approvals for Wakix in Aug 2019, Oct 2020, and Jun 2024.

Harmony Biosciences is a pharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes novel therapies for rare neurological disorders.

Raised $1,683,000,000.00 from Blackstone Life Sciences.

  • Board Of Directors

    2018 - 2019

    IPO in June 2019 (NASDAQ: AKRO)

Akero Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on reversing the NASH epidemic by restoring the body’s metabolism to a balanced state.

Raised $951,100,000.00 from Hercules Capital.

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