Xaira Therapeutics Appoints Jeff Jonker as President and COO to Scale AI-Driven Drug Discovery Platform
Key Insights
Xaira Therapeutics (search) has appointed biotech veteran Jeff Jonker (search) as President and Chief Operating Officer to help scale its AI-enabled drug discovery platform and drive the next phase of growth.
Jonker brings over two decades of leadership experience, having served as CEO of Belharra Therapeutics (search) and Ambys Medicines (search), and President of NGM Biopharmaceuticals (search) where he formed strategic partnerships with Merck (search).
The appointment comes as Xaira aims to fundamentally reimagine drug discovery by integrating machine learning, biological insight, and therapeutic development to accelerate medicine discovery.
Xaira Therapeutics (search) announced the appointment of Jeff Jonker (search) as President and Chief Operating Officer, marking a significant leadership addition as the AI-driven biotechnology company scales its drug discovery platform. Jonker, a biotech industry veteran with more than two decades of experience, will report to CEO Marc Tessier-Lavigne (search) and oversee all operational functions while aligning them with Xaira's scientific vision.
Leadership Transition to Drive AI Innovation
In his new role, Jonker will work closely with Tessier-Lavigne to shape company strategy and drive growth as Xaira builds what it describes as the next generation of AI-driven drug discovery. He will be responsible for scaling the organization and helping integrate cutting-edge machine learning with therapeutic development to accelerate the discovery of life-changing medicines.
"Jeff is an accomplished biotech executive with extensive experience as an operator, director, senior advisor, and more. At Belharra Therapeutics (search), he didn't just lead the company as CEO, he built it from the ground up as its first employee, shaping its vision, assembling its team, and guiding the organization through critical milestones," said Marc Tessier-Lavigne (search), CEO of Xaira Therapeutics (search). "That kind of entrepreneurial leadership and operational excellence is exactly what Xaira needs as we scale our AI-powered discovery engine and push the boundaries of therapeutic innovation."
Extensive Industry Experience
Jonker brings leadership experience spanning public and private companies at every stage of growth. He most recently served as President and CEO of Belharra Therapeutics (search), where he was the company's first employee and helped establish its vision and team. Prior to that role, he served as CEO of Ambys Medicines (search) and President of NGM Biopharmaceuticals (search) (NASDAQ: NGM), where he played a key role in expanding the company's therapeutic pipeline and forming a significant strategic partnership with Merck (search).
Earlier in his career, Jonker held leadership roles at Genentech and began his professional journey at Wilson Sonsini (search), advising life sciences and technology clients. He holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School and an M.Litt. from the University of St. Andrews.
Vision for Transforming Drug Discovery
Jonker expressed enthusiasm about joining Xaira's mission to fundamentally reimagine drug discovery processes. "What drew me to Xaira is the scale of its ambition. This company is not just aiming to make better medicines, but to fundamentally reimagine how we discover them. By uniting the best of machine learning, biological insight, and therapeutic development, Xaira has the potential to uncover treatments that were previously unimaginable and bring them to patients faster than ever before," said Jeff Jonker (search).
Recent Scientific Contributions
The appointment comes as Xaira continues to advance its AI-driven approach to drug discovery. Earlier this month, the company published a preprint introducing X-Atlas/Orion, described as the largest publicly available genome-wide Perturb-seq dataset, profiling over 8 million single cells. The dataset is designed to power next-generation foundation models in biology and reflects Xaira's commitment to open science and advancing AI-driven drug discovery.
Company Mission and Approach
Xaira Therapeutics (search) positions itself as an integrated biotechnology company built to deliver on the promise of artificial intelligence to transform drug discovery and development. The company seeks to rethink the drug discovery and development process from end-to-end by bringing together leading talent across three core areas: machine learning research to better understand biology, expansive data generation to power new models, and robust therapeutic product development to treat disease. Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area.