Hariprasad Vankayalapati
M.Pharm, PhD.
Co-founder | Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Hariprasad Vankayalapati is a leading industry force in the discovery of targeted therapeutics for oncological, immunological, and CSN/neurodegenerative applications. Along with his colleague Dr. David Bearss, Hari founded Biolexis Therapeutics in 2021 and developed the groundbreaking MolecuLernTM, a technology that enables rapid discovery and development of novel clinical candidate agents for a variety of therapeutic applications.
Dr. Vankayalapati has a storied career in the industry and in academia. In addition to being a founder of Biolexis Therapeutics, Hari was a founder of Oncolexis Therapeutics and Arrien Pharmaceuticals, and served as CSO for both companies. In the role of Associate Professor at Huntsman Cancer Institute and the Translational Genomics Research Institute, Hari supported drug discovery programs for cancer immunotherapeutics. He also served as Chief Scientist at the Center for Investigational Therapeutics at Huntsman as well as for the School of Medicine at the University of Utah. While at Huntsman, Hari was instrumental in the discovery of two agents, which are currently in clinical trials. Additionally, while acting as Chief Scientist at Supergen, Inc. (now Astex/Otsuka Pharmaceuticals), he was key in the development of three clinical agents and several preclinical candidates. While there, Hari also developed CLIMB technology and co-founded Montigen Pharmaceuticals with Dr. Bearss, which was acquired by SuperGen in 2006 for $40 million.
Hari is the author of more than 70 publications and is an inventor with several US/WO patents. He earned PhD and MPharm degrees in Medicinal Chemistry from the Institute of Chemical Technology at the University of Mumbai and the University of Karnataka, respectively. He completed postdoctoral training in Organic Chemistry at the University of Sunderland in England and in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Arizona Cancer Center under Professor Laurence H. Hurley
