Our Mission

Our mission is to transform the landscape of cancer treatment by delivering effective and life-extending therapies to patients facing the most challenging diagnoses.

Our Story

A Foundation of Innovation:

Pioneering the Cell Death Approach

Our story begins in the late 1970s, a time of intense exploration in personalized cancer medicine. The prevailing approach focused on cell proliferation assays, aiming to match chemotherapy to individual patient responses. However, in 1978, while at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Dr. Weisenthal pioneered a fundamentally different approach: The cell death assay.

This innovative method, though technically and conceptually distinct, proved to be a crucial advancement. While early cell proliferation assays faced significant challenges, including theoretical and practical hurdles that led to disappointing clinical trial results and a well-publicized setback in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Weisenthal remained committed to his vision.

Decades of Dedication:

For the next 30 years, Dr. Weisenthal dedicated his career to refining and advancing the cell death assay. He collaborated closely with Dr. Grace and other forward-thinking physicians and researchers, sharing his knowledge and discoveries through publications, symposia, and personal communications.

This unwavering commitment laid the groundwork for the groundbreaking work now being conducted by Cytometric Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI). The lessons learned from the past, coupled with our innovative triple-drug combination, are driving our mission to develop products to revolutionize end-stage cancer treatment.

The Legacy Continues:

The pioneering spirit of Dr. Weisenthal, and the collaborative work with Dr. Grace, forms the very foundation of CTI. We are building upon this legacy to provide hopeby developing effective therapies to patients who have exhausted all other options.

Transition to Current work:

This foundation of cell death assays, and the long term collaboration between Dr. Weisenthal and Dr. Grace, has led to the development of the CTI triple drug combination, which are currently undergoing clinical trials.

Our Team

Seasoned management team of cytometric profiling experts, experienced clinicians, and biotech professionals

Larry Weisenthal, MD, PhD

Chief Science Officer
  • Clinical Associate, Medicine Branch, National Cancer Institute
  • Board Certified: Internal Medicine & Medical Oncology
  • Clinical Professor of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology), U. Cal Irvine School of Medicine
  • 30 years experience directing two California, Medicare, and CLIA licensed clinical oncology labs.
  • MD, PhD (Pharmacology) U. Michigan School of Medicine

William Grace, MD

Chief Medical Officer
  • Research Associate, Experimental Hematology & Immunology, NIH Navy
  • Director Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Program
  • Chief of Cancer Research & Medical Oncology, St. Vincent’s
  • President, New York Cancer Society
  • 30 years Castle Connelly Top Doctor
  • Notre Dame, BS
  • Boston University, MD

Laurin Cristiano, MD

Director of Research
  • Asst. Prof. of OB-GYN, Loma Linda Univ. School of Medicine
  • 4 years bench research in cell biology (stem cell) science
  • Former start up biotech researcher, iPierian
    (acquired by Bristol- Meyers Squibb for $750M)
  • Harvard, BA, Biochemistry

William Grace

Chief Operating Officer
  •  ​Co-Founder, COO MDRx Financial, the first comprehensive healthcare data network for financial markets
  • Co-Founder, COO Good Works Health, the first federal-government approved online marketing platform
  • BA, Dartmouth College
  • Chairman, Dartmouth Union
  • Editor-in-Chief, Dartmouth Review

Paul Kanan

Chief Executive Officer
  • EVP & CFO Agensy, acquired by Astellas in 2007
  • CEO of Pacific Biometrics: Led company from start-up to successful IPO in 1996
  • CEO of Oncotech: Joined with Larry Weisenthal in early development of assay assisted drug selection technology for cancer
  • Division President, Baxter Healthcare
  • BS Engineering, University of Michigan
  • MBA, Harvard

Nicola Caiano

Chief Financial Officer
  • EVP & CFO Agensy, acquired by Astellas in 2007
  • CEO of Pacific Biometrics: Led company from start-up to successful IPO in 1996
  • CEO of Oncotech: Joined with Larry Weisenthal in early development of assay assisted drug selection technology for cancer
  • Division President, Baxter Healthcare
  • BS Engineering, University of Michigan
  • MBA, Harvard