Biotech Leader Spotlight Series

Welcome to Partnology’s Biotech Leader Spotlight Series, where we highlight the remarkable accomplishments and visionary leadership of biotech industry pioneers. This series is about showcasing the groundbreaking strides made by exceptional leaders who have transformed scientific possibilities into tangible realities. Through insightful interviews, we invite you to join us in following the inspiring journeys of these executives who continue to shape the landscape of the biotech industry. This week we are recognizing:

Keting Chu, Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Keting Chu is the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Bluejay Therapeutics . Prior to founding Bluejay, Keting was a Venture Partner and Partner at Apple Tree Partners and LYFE Capital briefly. Before joining Apple Tree Partners, Keting spent five years as VP, Research TAP at The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). Prior to LLS, Keting was the CEO of Mission Therapeutics and the Co-Founder, President and CEO of DigitAB, Inc. and BioCubed Corporation. For her first startup company, Five Prime Therapeutics, Keting was Vice President of Biology and Head of R&D where she built the R&D strategy and team, established the technology platform and generated a product pipeline. Prior to Five Prime, Keting was the Head of Immunotherapy and Antibody Therapeutics Division at Chiron Corporation, where she engaged in preclinical and clinical developments of protein, DNA-based, and small molecule therapeutics for cancer and inflammatory diseases. Keting received her MD in Sun Yat-Sen Medical University where she specialized in infectious diseases in China, and PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). She also conducted her postdoctoral training at Cardiovascular Research Institute at UCSF.

Walk me through your career, noting some of the most pivotal moments or decisions throughout:?

I was trained as a medical doctor in China, specializing in infectious diseases, which sparked my interest in immunology. I then went to UCSF to complete my PhD in Immunology and post-doc training. Next, I spent the first 15 years of my career focused on therapeutic development in oncology. I started at Chiron Corporation , which was a global biotech company with around 6,000 employees. From there, I moved into the startup world, co-founding four companies. The first was Five Prime Therapeutics, where I was the founding head of R&D, followed by three more startups. After that, I joined the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and led their venture philanthropy program for five years, overseeing a budget of $15-20 million per year. During that time, we invested in nine companies, including Kite Pharma , which was acquired by Gilead Sciences for $12 billion, and Celator, which was acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals for $1.5 billion, and Stemline which was acquired by Menarini Stemline for $677M. After LLS, I spent five years in venture capital before starting BlueJay Therapeutics in 2019.

Tell me more about Bluejay Therapeutics - what are you currently working on?

Bluejay is a biopharmaceutical company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. We currently have 22 full-time employees and seven programs, including four clinical programs. Our mission is to develop innovative treatments and cures for viral and liver diseases. Our lead asset, BJT-778, is a best-in-class monoclonal antibody targeting the Hepatitis B surface antigen. It's currently in Phase 2 clinical trials for both Hepatitis Delta and Hepatitis B.

BJT-778 recently had a positive Phase 2 interim readout. Hepatitis Delta is an orphan disease in the U.S., but it's very aggressive—about 70% of patients progress to liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, or liver failure within five to ten years, and there’s currently no FDA-approved treatment. Because of our promising data, the European Medicines Agency granted us PRIME designation, meaning they’ll accelerate the development of BJT-778 for Hepatitis Delta patients. We're all working hard to bring this effective treatment to those who need it most.

You spent some time as a Venture Partner - could you tell me more about that experience and any companies you helped fund??

I was briefly a venture partner with ATP (Apple Tree Partners) in New York, and then I joined LYFE Capital . Initially, I was a venture partner for their second fund, which aimed to raise $550 million. After we achieved that goal, I became a partner. I was one of three partners, and the only one based in the U.S., running U.S. operations. LYFE Capital is a healthcare-focused venture fund, and at the time, we managed about $1.2 billion. One of our investments was Pliant Therapeutics , which focuses on targeting the integrin pathway for fibrotic diseases.

Could you expand on the programs you’ve worked on, maybe highlighting those you are most proud of or passionate about?

During my time at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society , we made several notable investments. I was responsible for venture philanthropy. LLS is one of the largest patient advocacy groups, founded in 1949, with around 40-50 chapters across the U.S. They had invested over $1 billion into research, but much of it didn’t reach patients due to what's known as the "valley of death"—the gap between early research and clinical testing. Our goal was to bridge that gap by investing in companies at that critical stage. I led the investment into Kite Pharma before they entered the clinic, as well as Stemline, Celator, Constellation, Affimed , ArgenX, Kiadis, OncoPep, Valor and a number of projects in academic institutions with the focus on proof-of-concept (POC) studies in patients. Three of the nine companies received “Breakthrough” designation by the FDA in 2016 after positive proof-of-concept studies. Three NDAs, by Celator, Kite and Stemline, were approved by the US FDA successfully and their products are now approved and saving lives.

What do you see as the most promising technologies in biotech over the next 5-10 years?

AI, without a doubt. Everyone’s talking about it and looking for ways to leverage AI in therapeutic development. AI has already made a significant impact in drug discovery. For example, Google DeepMind ’s work in predicting the structure of all human proteins, as well as some functional complexes, is a game-changer for developing highly targeted, potent medicines.

With the experience and insights you've gained, what advice would you give to others aspiring to become a biotech leader?

Follow your passion. Biotech is not for the faint-hearted—it’s a long and arduous road, but it's incredibly rewarding. The products I've helped develop are saving lives every day, and there's nothing more fulfilling than that. Biotech, as an industry, has been through a rough couple of years, but we've survived worse. For anyone still feeling the impact of this downturn—keep going. If you're working on something that can truly benefit patients, it will pay off.