VantAI, a leader in generative AI and drug discovery, today announced the appointment of John Cuozzo, PhD as SVP, Head of Drug Discovery. Cuozzo is an experienced scientific leader with a strong track record of building novel discovery platforms and leading successful drug discovery programs. He brings over 20 years of drug discovery experience in both pharma and machine learning enabled biotech companies to VantAI and its mission.
Cuozzo joins VantAI from Relay Therapeutics, a clinical-stage precision medicine company, where he served as VP, Discovery Technologies and led teams who leveraged machine learning and high-throughput selection technologies to discover novel small molecule drugs for challenging targets. Prior to Relay, Cuozzo was Head of Drug Discovery at ZebiAI, a company that applied massive DNA-encoded library datasets to power machine learning for drug discovery. ZebiAI spun out of X-Chem, where as VP of Therapeutic Discovery, Cuozzo initiated and led small molecule inhibitor and degrader programs in multiple therapeutic areas, with experience driving innovative targets from target selection stage through IND clearance. Cuozzo earned his PhD at Tufts University, completed his postdoctoral training at MIT, and has co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and patents.
As Head of Drug Discovery, Cuozzo will lead drug discovery strategy and technology development to expand the company’s research capabilities. These expanded capabilities will further accelerate the development of VantAI’s pipeline of novel proximity modulators, proprietary structural data, and industry leading AI models. Cuozzo will also work closely with the CEO and CTO to drive scientific strategy and enable the incorporation of disruptive new technologies into the platform to increase the impact of VantAI’s technology on drug discovery for traditionally intractable targets.
“John’s depth of experience as a builder in machine learning-enabled biotech and proven ability to drive innovative targets from selection through IND makes him uniquely qualified to lead our drug discovery efforts,” said Founder & CEO, Zach Carpenter. “His expertise will be essential in unlocking the full potential of our platform and in delivering on our mission to unlock proximity modulation as a new chapter in medicine.”
“I’m very excited to become part of the VantAI team during this key time,” said Cuozzo. “With its potential to revolutionize drug development across multiple therapeutic areas, this organization stands at the forefront of innovation. The current platform provides an unmatched innovative data stream with the power to unlock entirely new capabilities through structural mapping of interactions that drive normal cellular functions and are altered in disease states. I am thrilled to work alongside this exceptional team, leveraging the platform’s capabilities to drive our drug discovery efforts.”
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