Discovery Program Lead

About the role

Lead the ARK-100 program from discovery toward the clinic. We're looking for a scientist with deep experience in metabolic disease and obesity, hands-on work with both in vitro and in vivo models, and a track record managing CROs. You'll own program execution and help build the team from the ground up.

About Arkana

Animals have evolved extraordinary metabolic adaptations to survive conditions that would otherwise be incompatible with life. Periods of prolonged fasting. Extreme fluctuations in body weight. Massive shifts in energy expenditure. These biological solutions were refined over millions of years. Arkana's platform begins with a simple idea: The answers to some of medicine's greatest challenges already exist in nature.

GLP-1 medicines have reshaped obesity care, demonstrating that pharmacological treatment can produce meaningful weight loss and improve metabolic health. But tolerability challenges, cost, and high discontinuation rates leave many patients without a durable solution. Obesity is a complex disease, and no single therapeutic approach works for everyone. Patients need a broader range of medicines that provide options for achieving and maintaining long-term weight loss. Our extreme biology platform enables us to discover this next generation of medicines.

Platform

• Two programs designed to address both sides of the energy-balance equation.
• Both are oral, first-in-class small molecules. A deliberately differentiated profile in a market dominated by incretins.

ARK-100: An orally available small molecule that acts on the brain to reduce calorie intake. In proof-of-concept studies it cut food intake by half and drove meaningful weight loss, with better GI tolerability than incretin (GLP-1) therapies.

• First-in-class appetite suppression biology
• Differentiated on tolerability
• Once-daily pill, not an injection

ARK-200: A mechanistically distinct program designed to increase energy expenditure — burning more calories at rest rather than suppressing appetite. Also conceived as a once-daily oral small molecule, ARK-200 is in early development.

• Acts to raise basal calorie burn
• Complementary to appetite-based approaches
• Oral small molecule

Momentum

• Lead science peer-reviewed and published, 2026
• 1st place, CU Boulder New Venture Challenge
• 1st Place, CU Boulder Venture Partners Lab Venture Challenge

Team

CEO & Co-Founder
Jack leads Arkana's strategy, operations, and fundraising. He completed his PhD studying the python feeding response and is a co-author of the company's foundational Nature Metabolism paper.

Chief Operating Officer
A repeat biotech founder and operator. Formerly CEO & co-founder of Mosaic Biosciences, CSO/COO of SomaLogic, and president & co-founder of both Dexela and Archemix.

Drug Hunter
A drug developer with 25+ years of R&D leadership across biotech and pharma, including VP of Preclinical Development at Regeneron, SVP of R&D at Adnexus (Bristol Myers Squibb), and CSO roles at Eleven Biotherapeutics and Mosaic Biosciences.

Co-Founder & Scientific Advisory Board
Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado and a pioneer of python physiology. Founder of three unicorn biotechs; MyoKardia, Myogen, and Kardigan.

Co-Founder & Scientific Advisory Board
Associate Professor at Stanford University, specializing in metabolomics and translating metabolite discoveries into therapeutics. Founder of Merrifield Therapeutics and Metabolize, and senior author of Arkana's Nature Metabolism study.

Co-Founder & Scientific Advisory Board
Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska and a co-author of the company's Nature Metabolism paper, bringing deep expertise in muscle physiology and metabolism.

Company

Arkana is an early-stage, Boulder-based company. We're looking for scientists who want real ownership of a program from its earliest days.

We are always looking for bright minds and enthusiastic people from diverse backgrounds, who want to be part of an outstanding team. Even if you don't find a suitable position, please do not hesitate to drop us your resume.