We're thrilled to announce that Michael Torres, Ph.D., a scientist-founder with a rare track record of turning academic discoveries into companies that pharma buys, has joined VitaDAO as a Core Advisor!
Michael came on board in June 2026 as a lead scientific and strategic advisor to VitaDAO. His focus will be on building the playbook for crypto × biotech, starting with VitaRNA as the first proof point and extending it across our ventures.
Why Michael
Michael builds the kind of companies VitaDAO wants to back. He was the Co-founder and CEO of CrossBridge Bio, a Houston-based oncology company developing next-generation dual-payload antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Less than three years after its founding in 2023, he sold CrossBridge to Eli Lilly for up to $300M, on the strength of its TROP2 candidate, CBB-120.
Before CrossBridge, he co-founded ReCode Therapeutics, a genetic medicines company spun out of UT Southwestern, where he ran R&D as VP and led the cystic fibrosis program, moving LNP-delivered genetic medicines from concept toward the clinic.
Michael is also the scientist behind Artan Bio, the operating company behind VitaRNA. Artan's engineered suppressor tRNAs override the nonsense ("stop") mutations behind roughly 10% of genetic diseases, the same mutations that pile up in aging proteins. VitaRNA is one of VitaDAO's flagship programs and an early test of the "coin-to-company" (C2C) model, built to connect IP Tokens (IPTs), biotech venture capital, and pharma.
Michael got his PhD in Cancer Biology from UT Southwestern, did a postdoc studying CFTR (the protein behind cystic fibrosis), and did early research on DNA repair at the National Cancer Institute. He's been part of the VitaDAO community for more than three years.
What he'll do at VitaDAO
- Help shape VitaDAO's institutional presence, turning our approach to company-building into a repeatable playbook with IPTs as the main tokenization rail.
- Steer the science on VitaRNA, from preclinical work through the clinic.
- Track VitaRNA's milestones so the community can see real, verifiable progress.
- Advise VitaDAO leadership on projects pipeline, partnerships, how we show up publicly, and mentoring other contributors.
In his words
"I believe the future of biotech will combine world-class science with new funding models. VitaDAO has built incredible credibility in that movement, and I'm excited to bring my experience taking a preclinical company to acquisition by Eli Lilly and advancing real drug programs toward the clinic to help bridge traditional biotech with crypto-native capital."
Welcome, Michael
Having a drug developer like Michael this close to VitaDAO's core matters a lot for the ecosystem and for VitaRNA especially. There's a lot ahead!
