Seen Therapeutics Launches Under XiR Program
The UCSF Innovation Ventures XIR (Executive in Residence) program was designed to move beyond traditional licensing to actively build and support startup companies from university research. Described as a "market first" approach, the program remains flexible, taking a "matchmaking" structure to pair technologies with an executive to help launch the NewCo.
We brought together our business development team with the principal researcher, Arun Wiita, and Althea Stillman, an XIR who became the company's CEO. The conversation centered on a specific success story: the formation of Seen Therapeutics. They cover the process of meeting through the program, the science behind the company's novel cancer immunotherapy platform, the strategic decision to form a startup, and the transition from the program's supportive environment to the operational mindset of a new company.