David Saunders | Medical Director
Lumen Bioscience

Dr. Saunders has served as Medical Director, Lumen Bioscience, Seattle, WA since Sept 2025.  Lumen is a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a mission to provide low-cost biologics to prevent and treat a broad portfolio of diseases.  Lumen’s platform Lumen's patented technology employs spirulina, a food algae, to deliver therapeutic proteins.  Given minimal inputs, the platform is capable of delivering very low cost protein-based pharmaceuticals at scale.  Lead products in clinical development include a novel monoclonal antitoxin antibody cocktail with a bacterial lysin for C. difficile infection, an orally delivered weight loss drug, and a cocktail of monoclonal antidiarrheal antibodies.  Products of relevance to the session include a host-agnostic antiviral, just entering clinical development and an intranasal malaria vaccine in preclinical development. Dr. Saunders retired from the Army after 25 years of service as a clinical pharmacologist and internist. As an Army officer, he led clinical development programs in antimalaria chemoprophylaxis and drug resistance, regenerative medicine for trauma, and medical countermeasures for biological warfare. He served in Operation Enduring Freedom, and at the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences in Thailand and Cambodia. Prior to military service, Dr. Saunders served as a Peace Corps volunteer at the Ministry of Health, Fiji Islands.