Scientific Visionaries Propelling Life Science Innovation

Peter Svennilson founded The Column Group in 2007 and has worked in venture capital and finance for over 35 years. He was the Chairman of Aragon Pharmaceuticals from startup until it was sold to Johnson & Johnson in 2013 and was the Chairman of Seragon Pharmaceuticals until it was sold to Genentech/Roche in 2014.

Mr. Svennilson has been a Board Director of biotech companies such as: NGM (“NGM”), Constellation (“CNST”), Revolution Medicine (“RVMD”), RAPT (“RAPT”), ORIC (“ORIC”), Immune Design (“IMDZ”), Rosetta (“RSTA”), PTC (“PTCT”), Chemocentryx (“CCXI”), Tercica (“TRCA”) and Somalogic (“SLGC”). He was also a Board Observer of Arcus (“RCUS”).

Prior to TCG, he was the Founder and Managing Partner of Three Crowns Capital where he helped found and/or finance large parts of the venture capital for biotech companies such as: Tularik (“TLRK”), Rosetta (“RSTA”), PTC (“PTCT”), Chemocentryx (“CCXI”), Rinat, Tercica (“TRCA”), Somalogic (“SLGC”), Infinity (“INFI”) and Fiveprime (“FPRX”).

Prior to Three Crowns Capital, he was the Associate Managing Director in charge of European Investment Banking Origination for Nomura in Europe.

Mr. Svennilson is a Trustee at The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He received an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics with further studies at the MBA programs at INSEAD in Fontainebleau and London Business School.

Tim Kutzkey, Ph.D., is a Managing Partner of both The Column Group and TCG Labs-Soleil. Since joining the firm in 2007 he has contributed to the conception, formation, and management of nearly two dozen portfolio companies. Formerly, he was the founding CEO of Peloton Therapeutics, Neurona, and Surrozen. He was also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Carmot and Nurix Therapeutics. Prior to joining The Column Group, Dr. Kutzkey was a scientist at KAI Pharmaceuticals where he focused on the discovery and development of selective protein kinase C inhibitors. Before KAI, he worked at UC Berkeley as a graduate student and postdoc in the lab of Dr. Robert Tjian, completing his Ph.D. in 2005. Dr. Kutzkey was previously educated at Stanford University.

Dr. Chen joined The Column Group in 2019. Previously, he was a Venture Partner at OrbiMed focusing on company creation and investing in early stage biotech companies. In this capacity he took on interim management roles at E-Scape Bio, TranscripTx and Adicet. He also served on the board of Pionyr Immunotherapeutics and Logic Bio. Prior to that Dr. Chen was a Partner at Skyline Ventures and an entrepreneur in residence at Venrock.

Dr. Chen started his career in 2002 as a founder of KAI Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Amgen in 2012 and led to the approval of Parsabiv in US, Europe, and Japan. He earned his BA in Biochemistry from UC Berkeley, PhD in Molecular Pharmacology from Stanford School of Medicine, and MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Hymowitz joined The Column Group in 2021.  Previously, she spent 22 years at Genentech rising to Vice President of Protein Sciences. In this role, she oversaw the large molecule drug discovery portfolio and mentored project teams on the identification and optimization of more than 35 clinical candidates. Earlier, as a member of the Genentech Small Molecule Leadership Team, she supported teams in advancing more than 25 molecules to IND-enabling studies and led a collaboration with AbbVie and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute that resulted in the discovery of Venclexta.  Dr. Hymowitz earned a B.A. in Chemistry from Swarthmore College, followed by a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of California, San Francisco prior to joining Genentech in 1999 as a postdoctoral fellow.

Mr. Evangelista joined The Column Group in 2012 and has almost two decades of venture capital industry experience. Previously, he was with Three Arch Partners, and prior to that, Lightspeed Venture Partners. He began his career working for several large money management firms including Fisher Investments and Barclays Global Investors.

Mr. Evangelista is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in the state of California and is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the California Society of CPAs.

Dr. Hui Tian joined The Column Group in 2022 as a Venture Partner.  Previously he was a founding member of NGM Biopharmaceuticals and most recently served as Senior Vice President of Research.  In this role, he was responsible for discovery research across multiple therapeutic areas including metabolic diseases, retinal diseases and cancer.  In a span of 14 years, he led the discovery and advancement of more than a dozen clinical candidates.  Prior to NGM, he was a Scientific Director at Amgen and Tularik leading discovery research in the areas of metabolic disorders and orphan G protein-coupled receptors. Dr. Tian received a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and did his post-doctoral training at Harvard University.

Ms. Daniel joined The Column Group in 2015 and assists the firm’s portfolio companies in recruiting their scientific teams.  After completing her Master’s Degree in Biology at UC Santa Cruz, Ms. Daniel joined the Immunology group at Tularik. She later became a Human Resources Manager and helped to build Tularik’s scientific team. After Tularik she worked for larger biotechnology companies like Genentech and a life science focused Executive Search Firm.

Jeff Goater is a Partner at The Column Group, which he joined in 2021. Prior to joining TCG, he was an operator helping to build and lead biotechnology companies, including serving as CEO of Surface Oncology and CFO of Voyager Therapeutics.  Previously, Mr. Goater spent nearly a decade in investment banking, most recently as a managing director at Evercore. He began his career as a research scientist in the field of AAV gene therapy and holds master’s degrees in microbiology/immunology (M.S.), pathology (M.S.) and business administration (M.B.A.) from the University of Rochester.

Dr. Josey joined The Column Group as a Venture Partner in 2020. Previously he served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Peloton Therapeutics, Inc., from 2013 until its acquisition by Merck in 2019. He joined Peloton in 2011 as the first employee in the role of President and Chief Scientific Officer. For over thirteen years, Dr. Josey was employed at Array BioPharma Inc., a company that he helped to build as a member of the founding management team. There he rose to Vice President of Discovery Chemistry. Dr. Josey’s previous experience also includes Amgen, Inc. and the Glaxo Research Institute. He received a B.S. degree in chemistry from Colorado State University, a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from The University of Texas at Austin, and an M.B.A. from the University of Colorado. He was a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology.