We are thrilled to announce the return of our popular “Founders at Work” seminar series! Set to occur monthly, these seminars will alternate between our San Francisco and San Carlos locations. Each session features a distinguished current resident or alumnus from our community. These seminars provide an invaluable opportunity, especially for early-stage founders, to gain insights from those who’ve navigated the entrepreneurial journey successfully. It’s a chance to hear real-life stories, learn practical strategies, and understand the experiences that have shaped successful startups.

For many promising neurological drugs, the blood-brain barrier presents a significant hurdle to reaching their target. Olfera employs a distinctive alternative: the nose-to-brain delivery pathway. Tapping into the olfactory epithelium’s natural abilities, Olfera’s platform leverages a novel chemistry prodrug strategy and innovative technology to enable efficient and targeted intranasal delivery of neurological drugs to the brain. This approach holds the potential to revolutionize brain disease treatments by improving drug efficacy and patient outcomes.

Parnian Lak, PharmD, PhD
CEO

Dr. Parnian Lak, a chemist by training, is driven by a profound passion for therapeutic discovery. She obtained her PhD and postdoc training in antibody engineering and biomolecular interactions at the University of Alberta and UCSF. Alongside the Olfera team, Parnian embarked on founding a company driven by the vision of harnessing the human olfactory system to pioneer groundbreaking treatments for neurological diseases.