Arynta Pharmaceuticals

Arynta Pharmaceuticals was a San Francisco-based biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics targeting the RAS signaling pathway. The company was founded by a group of prominent scientists and industry executives, including Nobel Laureate J. Michael Bishop and former Onyx Pharmaceuticals founder Frank McCormick. Arynta's primary mission was to develop inhibitors for RAS, a protein family frequently mutated in cancers but historically considered "undruggable." The company operated largely in stealth mode, leveraging its founders' expertise in oncology and drug discovery. Despite its high-profile leadership, the company ultimately ceased operations without advancing candidates into human clinical trials. Its research contributed to the broader scientific effort to target RAS, which has since seen significant clinical breakthroughs by other firms.