Ken SongFounder

United States - San Diego County, California

I am currently Chairman, President & CEO of Candid Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on becoming the leader in T-cell engagers for B cell depletion to treat autoimmune diseases.

My experience spans clinical medicine, basic science research, venture capital, and entrepreneurship. Prior to Candid, I was the President and CEO of RayzeBio, a radiopharmaceutical company focused on innovative treatments for solid tumors. Having raised over $750 million in equity capital since launching the company in August 2020, I led RayzeBio from a concept company to a leading radiopharmaceutical company with the first Phase 3 program using Actinium-225. Following an IPO in September 2023, RayzeBio was then acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb at the end of 2023 for $4.1 billion. I was the co-founder and CEO of Ariosa Diagnostics from 2010 to 2016 where I led the organization from early research to product development to global commercialization of the Harmony Prenatal Test in over 100 countries. Ariosa was acquired by Roche in early 2015 for $625M. From 2016 to mid-2020, I was President and CEO of Metacrine, Inc. where I led the organization from research to mid-stage clinical development of a best-in-class drug for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and prepared the company to go public. From 2017 to 2021, I was Executive Chairman of Omniome, a company developing a disruptive sequencing technology, which was acquired in 2021 for $800M.

I trained in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and then went on to specialize in gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Washington along with a scientific research fellowship at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. I also spent several years as a consultant at McKinsey & Company focusing on early stage life science companies and was a venture capital investor at Venrock prior to becoming an entrepreneur.