Our Mission
Alessa Therapeutics is focused on development, clinical validation, and commercialization of localized, sustained drug delivery for early interception of cancer and other solid organ disease.
Our Story
Alessa was founded by Dr. Pamela Munster, a leading oncologist at UCSF. Dr. Munster has advised thousands of women on how to cope with the realities of breast cancer, from diagnosis through treatment and recovery.
But Dr. Munster’s world turned upside down when, at age 48 and in otherwise perfect health, she got a call saying that her own mammogram showed “irregularities.” Worse, not only did she have cancer, she carried the feared BRCA gene mutation.
Suddenly, Dr. Munster realized that being a true “expert” in a disease was far beyond the scope of her medical training. She had a lot to learn—and do— if she wanted to hold onto her precious life.
Dr. Munster decided to establish Alessa Therapeutics to build on her dual experiences as a practicing doctor and as an active patient. With an appropriate sense of urgency, she and her team gathered the resources, experience, and thinking of UCSF and other leading healthcare organizations. Their goal: uncover new early-interception and treatment of cancer and other solid organ diseases.
Our Leadership
Pamela Munster
MD, Founder, Director
Dr. Munster, is a Professor in the Department of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology), at UCSF. She has served as the Director of the Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit, as well as the Co-leader of the Center for BRCA Research. Dr. Munster also led the Experimental Therapeutics Program at UCSF’s Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
John F. Maroney
CEO, Director
Mr. Maroney is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Medical Technology Consulting Services (MTCS). Mr. Maroney currently serves as a Director for Innovein, Inc., Radiant Oximetry, and GraftWorks, Inc. Mr. Maroney was formerly CEO of ForSightVision5, a General Partner of Delphi Ventures, and CEO/Chairman of Endotex Interventional Systems, Inc.
Peggy McLaughlin
VP Clinical Affairs
Ms. McLaughlin is a consulting Clinical and Regulatory lead for Biotech and Health-Tech companies. Prior to joining Alessa, Ms. McLaughlin has served as VP Clinical & Regulatory Affairs at companies including Autonomic Technologies, Cierra, Inc, and acting VP for ForSight Vision5, Gauss Surgical and Symic Bio.
Hector Casab
CFO
Mr. Casab is a Consulting CFO for Biotech and Health-Tech companies and Band Member at Band of Angels. His previous roles include CFO and VP Finance at ForSightVision5, VP Finance at ICON Bioscience, Sr. Director of Financial Planning and Administration at Onyx Pharmaceuticals.
Maithili Rairkar
PhD, Sr. Director, R&D
Ms. Rairkar is Sr. Director, R&D with over 16 years of experience in developing drug device combination products. Her former experience includes Chrono Therapeutics, Incline Therapeutics (acquired by The Medicines Company), Alza Corporation (J&J) and Discovery Laboratories in varying CMC roles.
Board of Directors
Pamela Munster
MD, Founder, Director
John F. Maroney
CEO, Director
Doug Crawford
PhD, Managing Partner & Director, Mission Bay Capital
General Manager, MBC BioLabs
Peter Parker
Venture Partner, Mission Bay Capital
Managing General Partner, BioInnovation Capital
Learn more about how we are turning possibility into progress
by contacting media@alessatherapeutics.com