Our Team
Allen C. Barbieri
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Allen C. Barbieri
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Allen brings a wealth of experience to Küleon. In addition to serving as our CEO, Allen is currently a member of the Board of Directors of CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ: CTRE), a $2 billion healthcare REIT, and as a Director and the Executive Vice Chairman of Biomerica, Inc., a biomedical enterprise focused on development of revolutionary therapeutic treatments for gastrointestinal diseases, such as IBS, and for depression and other diseases that are triggered by immunoreactivity. Allen helped manage Biomerica’s recently completed clinical trial for an IBS therapy that was conducted at Mayo Clinic, Harvard and other leading institutions.
Previously, Allen served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BioSynthetic Technologies, a specialty chemical company that created novel, bio-based synthetic compounds having a variety of applications in the industrial, personal care, and pharmaceutical sectors. While at BioSynthetic, Allen raised $65 million from venture partners including BP, Monsanto and Evonik Industries. Allen led a talented team of chemists that invented, scale-manufactured, and contract-validated dozens of new compounds, which led to the issuance of more than 150 patents. Prior to that, Mr. Barbieri served as Chief Executive Officer of Lancer Orthodontics, Inc., a manufacturer of orthodontic devices with operations in Mexico and San Diego. Before this, Allen served as President and Chief Financial Officer of BUY.COM, a large internet retailer financed with over $300 million in venture capital from Soft Bank. Allen has also served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific National Bank, President of Capital Bancorp, a commercial bank holding company, Chief Financial Officer of First Federal Bank, and as an Investment Banking Associate of Merrill Lynch Capital Markets in New York.
Allen holds an M.B.A. Degree from the MIT – Sloan School of Management, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Brigham Young University.
David Gilles
Chief Technical Officer
David Gilles
Chief Technical Officer
David Gilles is the founding member of Küleon. He started his career as the Director of R&D at BioSynthetic Technologies. While at BioSynthetic, David developed novel molecular architectures and scaled the synthesis of new compounds that remain in commercial production today. In particular, David oversaw the design and enantioselective GMP production of the company’s proprietary 9- and 10-PAHSA analogs, which are currently in pre-clinical evaluation at Harvard Medical School as potent anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic agents. The work by David and his team was critical to the success of Biosynthetic, leading to the company’s acquisition by The Heritage Group in 2018.
David also brings a wealth of expertise in designing, synthesizing, and characterizing psychoactive drugs. He spent nearly 10 years as a student and graduate researcher at the University of Hawaii creating novel cannabinoid analogs, prodrugs and targeted covalent inhibitors. Notably, his research played a key role in the elucidation of the cannabinoid receptor binding pocket and the first crystal structure of Cannabinoid Receptor 1, the principal target of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol.
David holds a B.S. in Chemistry and an M.S. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Hawaii.
Jason Greer
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Jason Greer
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Jason Greer has founded both private and publicly held companies in the areas of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and software. Since 2005, Jason has provided technical, operational and financial process leadership to emerging technology companies throughout the United States, Europe and South America.
As Co-Founder and President of a Seattle-based software development firm, Jason has worked to provide software solutions for clients in the biotech sector. Jason is also Co-Founder and President of a privately-held company that creates, incubates and commercializes biotech innovations. To date, this work has led to partnerships with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world to commercialize products in the areas of women’s health and autoimmune disease.
Jason is an active angel investor in the biotechnology space, and actively serves on several philanthropic boards in the Greater Seattle area. As the founder of Campamento Esperanza, a summer camp for families with a child facing cancer located in El Salvador, much of Jason’s philanthropic work has been supporting research for pediatric cancer treatment and patients’ mental and emotional wellbeing. For achievements professionally and philanthropically, Jason has been recognized by Inc. Magazine, Puget Sound Business Journal, GeekWire, Seattle Magazine and named an Entrepreneur of the Year finalist by Ernst and Young.
Jason earned his BA in International Business and Marketing from the University of Hawaii, Manoa.
Scientific Advisory Board
Peter J. Weiden, M.D.
Christoph Correll, M.D.
Other Advisors
John McCorvy, Ph.D.
Adam Halberstadt, Ph.D.
Küleon is a drug discovery company leveraging proprietary, AI-based technology to identify novel serotonergic drugs for the targeted treatment of various neuropsychiatric diseases. We are advancing the understanding of serotonin receptor signaling in the brain to create target-directed approaches for treating diseases like schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s psychosis through novel mechanisms of action (MOAs). We have successfully identified several preclinical leads that have significantly improved characteristics (biased signaling mechanism with limited hallucinogenic and cardiotoxic liability) when compared to other known serotonergic drugs.
