Chris LeMasters is Chairman of the Board at MBrace Therapeutics, bringing more than three decades of leadership experience in biotech company building, strategic transactions, and drug development.

Most recently, Chris served as CEO of XinThera, a small molecule discovery company acquired by Gilead Sciences in 2023. Prior to that, he was Chief Operating Officer at Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, where he led corporate strategy and business development initiatives that culminated in the company’s acquisition by Pfizer in 2021. Earlier in his career, he held executive roles including Chief Business Officer at Mirati Therapeutics (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb) and CEO of Promosome, an mRNA engineering company co-founded with Nobel Laureate Dr. Gerald Edelman.

Over the course of his career, Chris has co-founded or held executive leadership roles at multiple biotech startups, including Cabrellis Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pharmion), Conforma Therapeutics (acquired by Biogen IDEC), Tragara Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Cothera), and Aarden Pharmaceuticals. He began his professional career in corporate business development at Eli Lilly and as a management consultant with Coopers & Lybrand and Owens-Corning.

Chris remains actively involved in the biotech as a strategic advisor. Most recently, he led the transaction at Chimagen Biosciences that resulted in the $850 million sale of its preclinical T-cell engager (TCE) program to GSK in December 2024. He also serves as Executive Chairman of Khartis Therapeutics, a private small molecule discovery company, and is a board member of the Hoosier Cancer Research Network and the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium.

He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BS from Indiana University.