Research and discovery for new disease interventions.

DeMay Bio is a Connecticut biotechnology startup company founded in 2018.

Our goal is to develop a new treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis that leverages the body’s own natural defense mechanisms to block disease signs in the joints that cause pain and mobility loss for patients.

Who we are:

The company represents the multidisciplinary efforts of two co-founders with internationally-recognized expertise in their respective biomedical fields, whose research has found synergy in the unique disease mechanism and clinical challenge of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Nita Maihle, PhD

Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor

Dr. Maihle is a research and innovation leader in cancer biology.  Her studies have led to pioneering discoveries in two areas:  the identification of naturally occurring soluble cytokine (sIL-6R) and growth factor receptor (sEGFR’s/sHER3’s) isoforms, and the identification and characterization of ligand-independent EGFR signal transduction pathways.  She is an inventor with 10 issued US patents and is a serial entrepreneur with C-level practical experience as well as formal training from the Harvard School of Business in disruptive innovation and precision medicine.  Her research career spans 35 years, during which time she has led as principal investigator well-funded research programs at the Mayo Clinic and Yale University, and more recently, leadership positions in the Cancer Centers of Georgia College of Medicine and the University of Mississippi Medical School.  She has authored over 150 publications and guided the careers of more than 100 scientific trainees.  She has received numerous honors and awards including the Y2K Biotechnology Award from Yale University, the Macy Institute Faculty Scholar Award from Harvard University, and the Connecticut Technology Council’s Research and Leadership Innovation Award, and Innovation Pipeline Award.  Dr. Maihle earned her BA and MS degrees from Miami University (Ohio) and MS and PhD degrees from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, which has recently named her a Distinguished Alumni.

Caroline Dealy, PhD

CEO and Co-Founder

Dr. Dealy has over 25 years experience in research investigating mechanisms of skeletal development, health, and disease. A central theme in Dr. Dealy’s work has been to understand the roles of the HER/EGFR signaling family in cartilage and bone.  Her pioneering studies revealed roles for EGFR signaling in maintenance of joint homeostasis and cartilage growth; more recently she showed that dysregulated EGFR signaling is a component of Rheumatoid Arthritis disease.  This latter observation now frames DeMay Bio’s therapeutic approach. Dr. Dealy is a serial entrepreneur and an inventor with 6 issued patents related to cartilage stem cells.  She is a leader in Connecticut’s innovation ecosystem and has been recognized by the Connecticut Technology Council for Leadership and Innovation in Entrepreneurship, and Leadership and Innovation in Research.  She received her BS from the University of New Hampshire and PhD from the University of Connecticut.

Tom Gerson, MBA

Business Advisor

Mr. Gerson is a former Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Operations for three bioscience start-up companies: IntelligentMDx, HistoRx, and CGI Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that he was Director of Finance and Planning for Sanofi’s Research and Development US Operations. CGI and HistoRx were Yale spinouts that were subsequently acquired by larger biotechnology life science companies. Gilead Sciences acquired CGI and Novartis acquired HistoRx. During Mr. Gerson’s tenure across all three bioscience start-ups, he was instrumental in securing over $100M of venture firm and strategic partner capital. While at Sanofi, Mr. Gerson was responsible for the financial management of its 500 employee and $100M annual budget for US Research and Development Operations, the largest single Sanofi site in the world.  Additionally, Mr. Gerson specifically directed the resources needed to obtain 5 New Drug Application approvals by Sanofi in a 5-year span.

Commercialization Support