Luma Group Research
Investment Thesis
Luma Group is a New York-based, multistage life sciences investment firm founded in 2023 by Josh Fink (Founder & Managing Member) and Themasap Khan, PhD (Co-Founder & Partner). The firm's thesis is that extraordinary science, paired with patient, long-term capital, has the power to translate visionary research into life-changing medicines. Luma distinguishes itself by combining deep scientific insight with computational tools, going so far as to build LABI (Luma Group's AI for Biotech Intelligence) — a proprietary, real-time intelligence platform purpose-built for biotech investing. LABI aggregates and harmonizes biological data, clinical trial results, and market dynamics to surface hidden connections and asymmetries the firm uses to make high-conviction investment decisions.
Sector Focus
Luma invests exclusively in biotechnology and life sciences, spanning oncology, immunology, ophthalmology/precision medicine, aging biology, infectious disease/vaccines, and cell therapy. It does not appear to invest outside biotech and life sciences.
Stage Focus
Luma is explicitly multistage, structuring its debut fund as a 15-year vehicle designed to support companies "from discovery to commercialization." Its portfolio includes seed-stage stealth companies (SciThera), Series A rounds ($40M Curve Biosciences, $125M Coultreon Biopharma), a Series B ($93M Character Biosciences), and a Series C ($325M Arsenal Biosciences), plus company co-founding activity (Vaccine Company). This spread indicates comfort investing from company formation through growth-stage financings.
Check Size
Public check-size data is not disclosed. Luma has led rounds as small as $40M in total round size (Curve Biosciences) and participated in rounds as large as $325M (Arsenal Biosciences Series C), suggesting flexible check sizing scaled to round size and ownership targets rather than a fixed band.
Lead Tendency
Luma both leads and co-invests. It led Curve Biosciences' $40M Series A (October 2025) and co-founded Vaccine Company outright. It co-led Character Biosciences' $93M Series B alongside aMoon (March 2025), and participated as one of several investors in Arsenal Biosciences' $325M Series C (September 2024) and Coultreon Biopharma's $125M Series A (April 2026), which were led by other institutional investors (T. Rowe Price-advised funds; Sofinnova Investments, respectively).
Recent Activity
Luma closed its debut fund, LumaBio Fund I, at $410 million in September 2026 — a 15-year structure reflecting its long-horizon approach to biotech value creation. The fund had already deployed into more than 10 biotechs prior to its final close. Its first major exit came in May 2026, when Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Luma-co-founded Vaccine Company for up to $1.55 billion to advance Epstein-Barr virus and other vaccine candidates built on Vaccine Company's proprietary In Vivo Nanoparticle (IVN) technology. Separately, portfolio company Rome Therapeutics wound down and was acquired by Pretzel Therapeutics in January 2026 for undisclosed terms after raising $149M, illustrating the firm has experienced both a marquee win and a distressed outcome within the same portfolio window. The fund appears to be actively deploying, having joined Coultreon Biopharma's $125M Series A as recently as April 2026.
Portfolio Highlights
Notable current portfolio companies include Aeovian Pharmaceuticals (mTORC1-targeted therapeutics), Altos Labs (cellular rejuvenation), Arsenal Biosciences (programmable cell therapy), Character Biosciences (precision medicine for polygenic disease, focused on macular degeneration), Coultreon Biopharma (immunology/autoimmune disease, formerly Onco3R Therapeutics), Curve Biosciences (AI-powered whole-body chronic disease monitoring), Integrated Biosciences (aging biology drug discovery), and SciThera (stealth-stage antibody drug conjugate design). Its standout exit is Vaccine Company, acquired by Eli Lilly for up to $1.55B — the fund's first realized outcome.
Team
- Josh Fink — Founder & Managing Member
- Themasap Khan, PhD — Co-Founder & Partner
- Jamie Kasuboski, PhD — Partner & Head of Research
- Bill Ryan — Chief Financial Officer
- John Gomez — Senior Associate
- Negin Mokhtari, PhD — Venture Partner & Chief Strategy Officer of LABI
- James "JJ" Stankowicz, PhD — Head of AI & Engineering
- Richie Santry — Chief of Staff
- Rosana Kapeller, MD, PhD — Venture Partner (also founding CEO of portfolio company Rome Therapeutics)
- Richard Ebright, MD, PhD — Science Fellow
- Rishabh Mishra, MD — Clinical Advisor
Decision Process
Luma operates as a partnership with a defined leadership bench (Fink, Khan, Kasuboski) supported by venture partners and scientific/technical advisors, rather than a solo-GP structure. The firm's emphasis on LABI as a shared underwriting tool suggests decisions are informed by a common internal data platform rather than purely individual partner conviction.
Founder Preferences
Luma's public materials and portfolio emphasize backing "science-driven teams" and "extraordinary innovators" translating rigorous, data-backed science into medicine — it favors founders with strong scientific pedigrees (e.g., Rome Therapeutics' Rosana Kapeller, who Luma later brought on as a Venture Partner) and technical/computational sophistication.
Geographic Focus
Headquartered in New York, with portfolio companies concentrated in the US (San Francisco Bay Area, Boston/Cambridge, Redwood City, San Mateo, Dallas) and at least one European investment (Coultreon Biopharma, Belgium), indicating a primarily US-focused mandate with selective European exposure.