Santa Ana Bio News

Santa Ana Bio Announces the Appointment of Mike Bonney as Chair of the Board

ALAMEDA, CA, Nov. 11, 2025 – Santa Ana Bio, Inc., a precision immunology company developing targeted therapies for patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, today announced the appointment of Mike Bonney as Chair of its Board of Directors. Jerel Davis, Ph.D., Managing Director at Versant Ventures and Santa Ana’s founding Chairman, will remain a director.

SAB03 is a novel, highly potent differentiated anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody designed to aggressively modulate T cells to elicit a disease-modifying effect. SAB03 uniquely depletes and suppresses PD-1 high, medium, and low expressing autoreactive T cells, thereby addressing the full spectrum of pathogenic antigen-reactive T cells for a potentially deeper and more durable clinical response. SAB03 is advancing into IND-enabling activities.

“We’re very pleased to welcome industry veteran Mike to our board as Chair,” said Peter Emtage, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Santa Ana Bio. “We are also delighted that Jerel, who has been instrumental over the last several years in building Santa Ana, will continue to serve as a driving force on our board.”

“Santa Ana has a novel and promising pipeline of therapies in the immunology field, a dynamic leadership team, and has the potential to have a major impact on the immunology landscape,” said Mr. Bonney. “I’m thrilled to join Santa Ana Bio as Chair and help the company achieve its vision of bringing precision immunology medicines to patients with high unmet needs across multiple diseases.”

“Santa Ana has a novel and promising pipeline of therapies in the immunology field, a dynamic leadership team, and has the potential to have a major impact on the immunology landscape,” said Mr. Bonney. “I’m thrilled to join Santa Ana Bio as Chair and help the company achieve its vision of bringing precision immunology medicines to patients with high unmet needs across multiple diseases.”

“It’s my pleasure to welcome Mike to the Board of Santa Ana,” said Dr. Davis. “Given his deep experience leading both biotech and pharma companies, he is the ideal fit for the company’s next stage of growth.”

Santa Ana is poised to achieve significant milestones in its growing pipeline over the coming quarters. SAB01, a bispecific antibody for mast cell diseases, is poised to start Phase 1 in mid-2026. SAB05, a glucocorticoid antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), is advancing through IND studies, and SAB03 and SAB06 have achieved or are approaching the development candidate stage, respectively.

  • SAB01 is a novel first-in-class bispecific antibody targeting KIT and Siglec-6. SAB01 is designed to selectively target and deplete mast cells, thereby bypassing the adverse events associated with targeting other KIT-positive cell types. Preclinical studies demonstrate the potential for safer, more effective disease control in mast-cell-mediated diseases such as urticarias and prurigo nodularis, and in broader populations, such as those with food allergies.
  • SAB05 is a novel first-in-class CD40-targeted glucocorticoid antibody-drug conjugate. It combines clinically validated CD40 blockade while safely harnessing the suppressive power of a highly potent glucocorticoid. Preclinical studies demonstrate robust efficacy without the well-known toxicities hampering chronic glucocorticoid use.
  • SAB03, a potent anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody ready to enter IND-enabling studies, demonstrates superior suppression and depletion of autoreactive T cells in preclinical models, providing the potential to address multiple autoimmune indications
  • SAB06 is a multi-specific program targeting TL1A, IL-23, and other validated pathways. It shows the potential for improved disease control in irritable bowel disease (IBD), Crohn’s disease, and other indications.

    • About Mike Bonney

    Mike has over 30 years of leadership experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. He served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of Cubist Pharmaceuticals from 2003 until 2014, ultimately resulting in the $9.5 billion acquisition by Merck in 2015. Prior to Cubist, Mr. Bonney was Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Biogen, where he built the commercial infrastructure for the launch of its first product. Before joining Biogen, he spent over 10 years at Zeneca Pharmaceuticals in a range of commercial, operating, and strategic roles. He is currently the chair of Dunad Therapeutics and Autolus Therapeutics, and the Gulf of Marine Research Institute, and is on the board of Alnylam. Mr. Bonney has previously served as a director of diverse biotech companies, including Celgene, Kaleido Biosciences, Magenta Therapeutics, Bristol Myers Squibb, Sarepta Therapeutics, and Syros Pharmaceuticals. He received his undergraduate degree in economics from Bates College.