Richard Austin

Richard Austin is a biotech entrepreneur and translational leader with 30 years of experience across global pharma, venture-backed startups, and academic commercialization. He currently serves as CEO and Board Director of Branch Therapeutics, a preclinical-stage oncology company founded on University of Arizona intellectual property and backed by a $4 million seed investment, advancing a novel small molecule targeting dual WNT/PI3K pathways. He is also Founder and Director of Reglagene, a Tech Launch Arizona company he co-founded with UA Professor Laurence Hurley and Dr. Vijay Gokhale to develop brain-penetrant small molecules for the treatment of brain cancers. At Reglagene, Richard raised $9 million in private investment and $1 million in non-dilutive funding, secured Orphan Drug Designation for the lead compound, and advanced it through IND-enabling studies. The program was featured as a cover story in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics in 2025.

Richard is an active life sciences investor and startup advisor. Through Desert Angels in Tucson, he made 25 angel investments over a decade, leading diligence and advising founders on fundraising, milestone planning, and business model development. He continued this work through the Houston Angel Network as a life sciences sector reviewer and investor. He has served on the Bioscience Leadership Council of Southern Arizona, the Southern Arizona Leadership Council, and the board of the BioIndustry Organization of Southern Arizona.

Richard began his career as a medicinal chemist at Glaxo Wellcome before moving to Tucson in 1997 to join Sanofi, where he held leadership roles in medicinal chemistry, analytical chemistry, and R&D operations over nearly two decades. He holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, an MBA in Pharmaceutical Management from Drexel University, and completed postdoctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley.