John is a recognized leader in drug discovery with over 30 years experience in the biopharma industry developing small molecule, peptide, protein, and antibody therapeutics. He played a key role in the development of denosumab (Prolia®, XGEVA®) and romiplostim (Nplate®) that were recipients of the Prix Galien Award, and the drug palifermin (Kepivance®).  He is co-author of articles in Cell and Nature and listed inventor on numerous patents, including to antibodies to RANKL and the discovery of novel members of the B7 (B7-H4, PD-L2) and Dickkopf (DKK1-DKK4) family.

John has a broad background in molecular, cellular biology and biophysics and the discovery and development of drugs to multiple target classes and disease indications. Prior to joining Aeon Respire, he was most recently Principal Scientist at Amgen within the Department of Inflammation Research and led projects to identify novel treatments for T-cell mediated immune disorders and respiratory disease.  John has extensive experience in drug development to ion channels, including K⁺, Ca²⁺ and Cl^–channels.  He was team leader of the drug discovery effort and high-throughput screen to identify small molecule inhibitors of the TMEM16A calcium-activated Cl^– channel for respiratory disease.  Motivated by the unmet need of patients suffering from severe disease and the tremendous potential of ion channels to target core features leading to airway obstruction, bronchoconstriction and mucin hypersecretion, Aeon Respire was formed in 2019 to advance innovative new treatments for asthma, COPD and CF patients.