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Ilia Yasny
CEO at Inbio Ventures
Ilya Yasny is a venture capital professional and scientific expert with extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. He served as Head of Scientific Research at EG Capital Advisors from February 2019 to January 2023.1 Currently, Yasny is a Partner at LanceBio Ventures, a position he has held since July 2022.1
Yasny's background includes:
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Education: He holds PhDs in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from Lomonosov Moscow State University, specializing in protein engineering.1
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Professional experience: Prior to his current role, Yasny was CEO and Head of Scientific Due Diligence at Inbio Ventures for several years.1 He has also worked as a researcher in various institutions, focusing on areas such as recombinant protein expression and genetic engineering.1
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Expertise: Yasny's areas of interest include pharmaceutical due diligence, strategic planning, scientific expertise, venture investments, and biomed startups.1
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Recent activities: In early 2025, Yasny shared information about LanceBio, indicating his ongoing involvement in biotech venture investment.2 He also recently discussed the importance of critically evaluating R&D projects in biotech startups.3
Yasny's LinkedIn profile (username: iliayasny) showcases his extensive experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, as well as his transition into venture capital and investment roles.
Highlights
Congrats to Adaptimmune
Yesterday marked another significant milestone in the field of cellular therapy: the FDA approved genetically modified cells for treating solid tumors by a UK-based Adaptimmune. Although the indication is currently quite narrow (synovial sarcoma with a specific marker, affecting approximately 400 patients annually in the US), it’s a promising development. The product involves a patient’s own cells modified similarly to CAR-T cells, but instead of an antibody fragment against a tumor antigen, these cells carry an extracellular part of the T-cell receptor (TCR). Hence, they’re referred to as TCR-T cells. In this case, the receptor recognizes a peptide fragment of the intracellular protein MAGE-A4, bound to the HLA-A*02 protein on a tumor cell surface. Like CAR-T cells, TCR-T cells become activated upon binding the antigen and destroy cancer cells.
In clinical trials, 39% of patients (44 individuals who didn’t respond to previous chemotherapy) showed a therapeutic response after a single injection. Based on this, the product received conditional approval, pending additional clinical data. For now, the company will sell the therapy at a cost of $727,000. Among responders, there’s a long-term survival rate of 70% over two years.
This is the second approval for solid tumor cellular therapy this year. In February, Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. received approval for unmodified tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in melanoma. However, this is the first approval for modified cells, the first for sarcoma in over a decade, and a significant milestone for Adaptimmune.
While we invested in ADAP several years ago and exited without substantial gains, the journey to approval was challenging: clinical holds, key personnel departures, and ceased collaboration with Genentech. Even positive news couldn’t boost stock value, and currently, the company is valued at around $300 million. Nevertheless, let’s congratulate them on this important achievement and hope the new therapy benefits patients while the company rebounds and grows, especially given their broader cancer development portfolio.
