Biography

Raju founded Ventyx Biosciences and has served as a member of our board of directors since the company’s inception. Prior to Ventyx, Raju founded Akarna Therapeutics, which was acquired by Allergan for up to $1.2B. In addition to Ventyx, Raju has founded Oppilan Pharma, Zomagen Biosciences, Escalier Biosciences and Vimalan Biosciences, all immunology-focused specialty pharmaceutical companies. From 2006 to 2011, Raju served as Vice President and head of the San Diego site for Exelixis and Vice President of Chemistry at X-Ceptor Therapeutics (acquired by Exelixis). Raju started his pharmaceutical career at Berlex Biosciences, a subsidiary of Bayer/Schering AG, where he held positions of increasing responsibility. Raju is responsible for the discovery of multiple small molecule drug candidates that have entered clinical trials. He is the inventor of MINNEBRO®, an approved therapeutic for hypertension. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and is an inventor on 64 issued US patents. Raju received a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Illinois and a Master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology.