The team at Third Harmonic Bio is on a mission — we are driven to advance the next wave of medicine for allergy and inflammation. We are grounded in our purpose: developing a medicine that can meaningfully improve the lives of the patients we serve. We cultivate transparency and accessibility, with the knowledge that we can only achieve great things if we are in this together. And we keep going. Because we have something important to offer. And if it were easy, everyone would do it. Come join us.
Overview
Third Harmonic Bio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is advancing the next wave of medicine for allergy and inflammation for the treatment of dermal, respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases.
Our lead program, THB-001, is a potent and highly selective, oral small molecule inhibitor of KIT, the master regulator of mast cell function and survival. Mast cells have long been known to be the central driver of allergic inflammatory processes. By inhibiting KIT, THB-001 has been shown to inactivate and deplete mast cells in multiple preclinical models and early clinical trials, providing the potential for broad symptomatic relief across a range of inflammatory diseases.
With “pipeline-in-a-product” potential, THB-001 is entering Phase 1b clinical trials for chronic urticaria, a dermatologic disease affecting up to 1% of the population that is driven by mast cell activation, resulting in red, itchy, painful welts or hives that can severely impact patients’ quality of life.
Our Commitment & Values
Patients are at the center of our work, day-in and day-out.
Our singular purpose is to create a breakthrough treatment for people living with severe allergy and inflammation—debilitating conditions that can take a significant toll on patients’ overall health and well-being.
Our values provide the scaffolding for our culture and our operating principles —with each other, with our collaborators, and with the global medical and patient community at large.
We are grounded in our purpose,
developing a medicine that can meaningfully improve the lives of the patients we serve.
We cultivate transparency and accessibility,
with the knowledge that we can only achieve great things if we are in this together.
And we
keep going.
keep going.
Because we have something important to offer. And if it were easy, everyone would do it.
Management team
Third Harmonic Bio is led by a proven executive team with a successful track record of building great companies, developing impactful medicines, and delivering value to all stakeholders: our patients, our employees, and our shareholders.
Third Harmonic Bio is led by an executive team with a proven track record of building great companies, developing impactful medicines, and delivering value to their patients, employees, and shareholders.
Natalie Holles
Chief Executive Officer
Edward R. Conner, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Robert Ho
Chief Financial Officer
Julie Person
Chief Administrative Officer
Adrian S. Ray, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Steve Sweeney
Executive Vice President, Development Operations
Natalie Holles
Chief Executive Officer
Natalie is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Third Harmonic Bio. She has more than 20 years of executive leadership, business development, corporate strategy, and commercial experience gained in a range of therapeutic areas.
Prior to Third Harmonic Bio, Natalie served as President and CEO of Audentes, an Astellas company. She joined the company as Senior Vice President (SVP) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) in August 2015 and was subsequently promoted to President and COO in May 2018, and then to President and CEO in January 2020. Prior to joining Audentes, Natalie served as SVP, Corporate Development at Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Horizon Pharma in 2015). Before that, she provided executive-level strategy and business development advisory services to a number of privately held biopharmaceutical companies. Earlier in her career, Natalie served as Vice President, Business Development at KAI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired by Amgen in 2012) and held corporate development and commercial roles at InterMune, Inc. (acquired by Roche in 2014) and Genentech, Inc.
Natalie holds an A.B. in human biology from Stanford University and an M.A. in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute predoctoral fellow.
Edward R. Conner, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Edward is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Third Harmonic Bio where he oversees the clinical development strategy for the company. Edward has extensive experience in clinical development, translational medicine, and clinical strategy, including broad experience in early- to late-stage and post-marketing products.
Edward joined Third Harmonic Bio from Locanabio, where he served as CMO. Prior to Locanabio, Edward was Site Lead and Division Head of Medical and Development for Astellas Gene Therapies (formerly Audentes Therapeutics). Prior to Astellas’ acquisition of Audentes, he served as CMO and Senior Vice President of Audentes Therapeutics, where he led functions including clinical development and operations, medical affairs, regulatory, drug safety, and patient advocacy. Before Audentes, Edward served as CMO of Sangamo Therapeutics. Earlier in his career, he was a Medical Director at Genentech, Inc. (now a member of the Roche Group) where he led clinical development programs for XOLAIR® (omalizumab) for the treatment of chronic urticaria and allergic asthma.
Edward earned a M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan and his fellowship in Clinical Immunology and Allergic Diseases at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He earned a B.S. degree in biology from Duke University.
XOLAIR® is a registered trademark of Novartis AG.
Robert Ho
Chief Financial Officer
Bob is Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Third Harmonic Bio. Previously, he served as CFO at Neoleukin Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly held biopharmaceutical company, where he oversaw finance, information technology and business operations. Prior to Neoleukin, Bob was a Vice President in the Investment Banking Division of Morgan Stanley & Co, where he advised companies on financing and strategic matters. In this role, he successfully executed more than $9 billion in financings and participated in the completion of more than $5 billion in M&A transactions. Bob also served as a Senior Finance Director at Davita, Inc., a leading provider of kidney dialysis services. He received his B.B.A. in accountancy and computer applications from the University of Notre Dame and his M.B.A. from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Julie Person
Chief Administrative Officer
Julie Person is the Chief Administrative Officer at Third Harmonic Bio. She brings more than 20 years of experience in building biopharma organizations that align people practices with strategy to drive successful outcomes for patients and teams. In her role, Julie oversees human resources, corporate communications, and facilities.
Julie joined Third Harmonic Bio from Neumora Therapeutics, where she served as Chief People Officer and oversaw human resources and internal communications. Prior to Neumora, she was Head of Human Resources at Audentes Therapeutics and Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to Sangamo, Julie was the Global Head of Talent Management at Shire Plc, where she played a key role in the integrations of both Baxalta International Inc. to Shire, and Shire into Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. Prior to Shire, she spent 12 years at McKesson Corp. in various HR roles of increasing responsibility.
Julie received her undergraduate degree in communications from Saint Mary’s College of California and completed the University of Michigan Ross School of Business Executive Leadership Program.
Adrian S. Ray, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Adrian is Chief Scientific Officer at Third Harmonic Bio. He joined Third Harmonic Bio with more than 25 years of scientific and biotech industry experience, with a focus on the discovery and clinical translation of transformative medications from target selection to registrational filing. Before joining Third Harmonic Bio, he served as Senior Vice President Biology and Translation at Morphic Therapeutic, where he built the translation function and shaped the discovery pipeline in fibrosis, immunology, and oncology. Earlier, Adrian spent 15 years at Gilead Sciences, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in research and development. He has directly contributed to regulatory filings including over a dozen IND and NDA filings across therapeutic areas. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and is an inventor on over 30 US-granted patents. Adrian graduated with highest honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a B.A. in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology and received his Ph.D. for his work in the pharmacology department at Yale University.
Steve Sweeney
Executive Vice President, Development Operations
Steve is Senior Vice President, Development Operations at Third Harmonic Bio. He began his career in clinical research over 20 years ago and held leadership positions in clinical operations and clinical technology at both Pfizer and Infinity Pharmaceuticals before making the transition to biotech start-ups. Since 2012, he has worked as Head of Development Operations at several Atlas-seeded companies including Arteaus Therapeutics (migraine), Annovation BioPharma (sedation and general anesthesia), Quartet (pain), and Rodin Therapeutics (synaptopathies). His development experience spans Phase 1 first-in-human studies through Phase 3b global registration studies and includes the design and implementation of technology to improve trial analytics and processes. Steve earned his bachelor’s degree in toxicology from Northeastern University.
Board of Directors
David Bonita, M.D.
General Partner, Orbimed
Michael Gladstone
Partner, Atlas Venture
Natalie Holles
Chief Executive Officer
Mark Iwicki (Chairman)
CEO, Kala Therapeutics
Shao-Lee Lin, M.D., Ph.D.
CEO, Acelyrin, Inc.
Rob Perez
Operating Partner, General Atlantic
Martin Seidel, Ph.D.
CEO, IFM Therapeutics
Thomas M. Soloway
Chief Executive Officer, T-knife Therapeutics
Natalie Holles
Chief Executive Officer
Natalie is Chief Executive Officer of Third Harmonic Bio. She has more than 20 years of executive leadership, business development, corporate strategy, and commercial experience gained in a range of therapeutic areas.
Prior to Third Harmonic, Natalie served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Audentes, an Astellas company. She joined the company as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in August 2015 and was subsequently promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer in May 2018, and then to President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2020. Prior to joining Audentes, Natalie served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Horizon Pharma in 2015). Before that, she provided executive-level strategy and business development advisory services to a number of privately held biopharmaceutical companies. Earlier in her career, Natalie served as Vice President, Business Development at KAI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired by Amgen in 2012) and held corporate development and commercial roles at InterMune, Inc. (acquired by Roche in 2014) and Genentech, Inc.
Natalie holds an A.B. in human biology from Stanford University and an M.A. in molecular, cellular and developmental biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute predoctoral fellow.
Our Science
The opportunity
Mast cells are the primary effector cells of allergic-inflammatory diseases of the skin, airway, and gastrointestinal tract, which collectively affect millions of people worldwide. In their most severe forms, these diseases are associated with significant morbidity. Despite significant investment in the field and the availability of several approved therapies, there remains a significant unmet need in the treatment of these diseases.
Targeting mast cells directly through highly selective inhibition of KIT represents a novel therapeutic approach and may be key to achieving the clinical efficacy needed for broad symptomatic relief across a range of allergic and other inflammatory disorders. The ideal therapeutic profile would combine the target selectivity and potency of a biologic with the ease of administration that an oral small molecule affords.
Our Science
THB-001 for urticaria and beyond
THB001 is a highly selective, oral small-molecule inhibitor of KIT in clinical development for the treatment of severe allergic and mast cell-driven inflammatory diseases. The initial target indication for THB001 is for the treatment of chronic urticaria, a dermatologic disease driven by mast cell activation that results in red, itchy, painful welts or hives. Chronic urticaria carries significant disease burden for patients, including decreased quality of life, impaired social and work function, depression and sleep disruption. Up to one percent of the U.S. population is believed to be affected by urticaria at some point in their lives.
In preclinical studies, THB001 demonstrated evidence of highly selective KIT inhibition and mast cell depletion in multiple tissue types. In early clinical studies, THB001 demonstrated dose-dependent reductions in serum tryptase, an established marker of mast cell activity and survival.
Beyond chronic urticaria, we plan to pursue development of THB001 in additional skin, airway and gastrointestinal tract indications in which mast cells play a known role in the pathophysiology and symptomatology of the disease.
Pipeline
Pipeline-in-a-product potential
We’re advancing THB001 for the treatment of multiple mast cell-driven inflammatory conditions that share similar pathophysiology, including dermal, respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases. THB001 is currently in clinical development for chronic urticaria, and we anticipate initiating a Phase 1b proof-of-concept study in
Program
Therapeutic area
Preclinical
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Program
THB001
(KIT inhibitor)
Therapeutic Area
Dermatology
Chronic
inducible
urticaria
Phase 1
Chronic
spontaneous
urticaria
Phase 1
Therapeutic Area
Respiratory
Asthma
Phase 1
Clinical Trials
Chronic urticaria
THB001 is in clinical development for chronic urticaria (also known as chronic hives), a dermatologic disease driven by mast cell activation that results in red, itchy, painful welts or hives that develop in response to a specific stimulus (inducible urticaria) or with no known cause (spontaneous or idiopathic urticaria).
Careers
We lead with purpose.
We do this together.
We keep going.
We do this together.
We keep going.