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4 6 C T I N N O V A T O R S , 2 0 2 3 company couldn't figure out the mechanism of action, it was unlikely to be approved as a commercial drug. Bristol Myers ultimately decided not to pursue the idea, published a paper, and closed the file on it. Enter Craig Crews. "I saw the paper and said, 'hey, my chemists can make that molecule, and my biologists can figure out how it works,' — and that's what we did," he said. He published several papers from the research, helping him get tenured at Yale. But the idea wouldn't let him go. He believed the technology at the basis of the work, a proteasome inhibitor, could be an improvement on the drugs currently on the market for certain cancers. "My lab is moving on to something else, but maybe I could help these patients," he thought. In 2003, he worked with Dr. Raymond Deshaies from the California Institute of Technology to found Proteolix. It was his first up-close experience seeing a compound in the hands of professional drug developers. "ey took my molecule, they tweaked it, they turned it into a drug candidate," he said. "Now it's approved by the (Food and Drug Administration) for multiple myeloma — it's helped hundreds of thousands of patients. at got me excited that what we're doing in the laboratory is not as esoteric as I imagined." Proteolix was purchased by Onyx Pharmaceuticals in 2009 for $850 million. Onyx was subsequently acquired by Amgen, which has brought the anti-cancer drug, Kyprolis, to market. e success of that first startup gave him fuel for another attempt, and in 2013 he founded Arvinas, based on years of research into protein degradation as a technique to target disease. For his work on Arvinas, Crews in 2013 was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" by CURE, the state's bioscience cluster now known as BioCT. Arvinas undertook a successful IPO in 2018, raising $120 million. It has a strategic partnership with Pfizer, and currently has a number of cancer drugs in clinical trials. Crews remains both a shareholder and consultant to the company. Arvinas was followed by two more drug-discovery companies, Halda erapeutics, now four years old and based at New Haven's Science Park, and Crews' latest venture, Siduma erapeutics, which has labs downtown at 55 Church St. "at's still in stealth mode," he says. "It's a novel idea from my laboratory." Creating value is experience as a serial entrepreneur has brought differences between the academic lab and the world of commercial science into high relief. "In academia I'm paid to be curious," he said. "at's not the job of a company. e job of the company is to create value. ere's a real-world urgency that requires a super focus." He has put that perspective to good use helping others at Yale translate their research beyond the lab. "He's probably the most sought-aer faculty member at Yale by others who are contemplating making a startup company out of their research, and he's incredibly gen- erous with his time advising others," said Josh Geballe, managing director of Yale Ventures, which works to turn Yale University research into real-world products and businesses. Crews says one of the things he can bring is a good eye for what will excite venture capitalists. "ey get so many different opportunities presented to them," he said. "ey're looking for the most de-risked opportunity. And so, if I can help academics in the state de-risk their science, it's only going to accelerate faculty entrepreneurship." And as big pharma companies continue to cut back on basic R&D, looking to startup biotechs for likely drug candidates, he says the so-called "valley of death" is now the most serious impediment to progress. "e bottleneck for drug development is getting things out of the academic lab, into a biotech," Crews says. Geballe points to Crews' commitment to New Haven as another way he's giving back. ree of his four com- panies were founded, and have remained, in New Haven — even Arvinas, which since its 2018 public offering has hit the big time. "He insisted that Arvinas stay locally in New Haven when most of the investors told him he should base the company up in Cambridge, Massachusetts," said Geballe. In fact, Crews wants to deepen his impact on the city where he's lived for 28 years. Benefitting equally At Science Park, Arvinas shared a parking lot with ConnCAT, an organization that provides job-training programs for unemployed and under-employed adults in the city. It was run by the indefatigable Erik Clemons, who has made it his mission to empower people from marginalized communities. As soon as Clemons was introduced to his new neighbor, "it was clear to me that (Crews) has a huge heart for people. He's not just a science guy who thinks deeply about equations. He also thinks about the human condition, especially those who are less fortunate than he is." e meeting and their subsequent discussions about equality of opportunity sparked a new idea for Crews. "I am starting companies, I'm creating jobs," he said. "But I haven't seen all of the communities of New Haven benefit equally from the successes of my companies." In fact, life sciences generally have a racial integration problem. According to a recent report from BioSpace, Black people make up only 6% of the life science workforce, despite being 13% of the U.S. population. "I'm the product of the first wave of school integration in the seventies," says Crews. "A racially integrated society is my norm. ere's an economic divide that could benefit from a stronger Black and Brown middle class." He decided an industry problem needed an industry solution. He calls it BioLaunch. "I realized that there are a number of positions in my companies for which a college degree really isn't necessary," he said. "e idea of BioLaunch is to train non- college-bound, 18- to 26-year-olds in research operations that support all of the other programs that are going on in a company." Clemons, who has worked in the job-training space for decades, applauds Crews willingness to really do the work. "A lot of folks who want to help, they're not willing to listen," Clemons said. "Listening is the first part of help. And his willingness to sit in the trouble of poverty, and listen to people — a lot of folks are more than willing to help, but they don't want to be in proximity to the poverty." BioLaunch just graduated its first cohort of trainees, all of whom have been placed in local companies, including one at Crews' own Siduma erapeutics. Just one more way in which he's creating impact through innovation. Continued from page 43 "For me, the most important thing is impact." – Craig Crews I