Jupiter was founded by two biotech entrepreneurs: Nathaniel “Ned” David, PhD, previously co-founded Syrrx (acquired by Takeda), Achaogen, Kythera Biopharmaceuticals (acquired by Allergan) and UNITY Biotechnology. Norman “Ned” Sharpless, MD, was previously Director of both the National Cancer Institute and UNC’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Acting Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, is currently a Member of the National Academy of Medicine and was a co-founder of G1 Therapeutics (acquired by Pharmacosmos).

Jupiter starts by evaluating potential projects—dubbed “Moons”—using a set of business and scientific criteria. Jupiter then deploys a team and small amounts of seed capital to secure intellectual property and experimentally validate the core idea. The most promising Moons receive additional investment from both Jupiter and non-Jupiter investors to become freestanding, high-value biotech companies with sufficient capital to demonstrate proof-of-concept in humans.