David Schaefer

David Schaefer is the CEO of Phoreus Biotechnology, a Kansas-based company raising capital and developing cutting-edge drug delivery nanoparticles. Phoreus collaborates closely with KU and K-State across several high-need therapy areas including pulmonary disease like cystic fibrosis and COPD, nucleic acid therapies for rare diseases, neurological diseases, and cancer. His work includes breakthroughs in the delivery of medicine to the lung through the mucous layer, using the body’s natural defenses and significant fundraising to support these endeavors. 

Schaefer is driven by the goal to enable thousands of potential therapies that are stuck in development because of delivery challenges and toxicity. This will change medicine as we know it. One of the many effects of that transformation will be the accessibility of medicine to people who are economically disadvantaged and the ability of therapies to treat diseases with limited or no therapies. 

When it comes to Kansas, Schaefer loves the people and how open Kansans are to helping and collaborating on big objectives. He sees the state as a place where people believe we can accomplish whatever set our minds to and where they are willing to work towards those goals together.