# Chad Testa

**Type:** person
**Status:** Draft
**Confidence:** Medium
**Focus:** antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance, biotech CEO, mission-driven pharma, Gram-negative bacteria
**Location:** Salt Lake City, UT
**Updated:** 2026-06-21
**Hero:** https://picsum.photos/seed/chad-testa-2026/1600/1100
**Pull:** *CEO leading Curza's first-in-class antibiotic program against drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria — filling a gap no new class has addressed in nearly 50 years.*
**Relates:** helps [Curza](curza.md)

## Summary

Chad Testa is the CEO of Curza, a University of Utah spinout in Salt Lake City developing novel antibiotics for drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. He leads a mission-driven company funded primarily through government grants and impact investors — including NIH, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), CARB-X, and Novo Holdings' REPAIR Fund — rather than traditional pharma venture capital.

Testa runs Curza at the intersection of academic spinout commercialization, biodefense, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), an area where standard pharma market incentives have largely failed. The company's lead compound, CZ-02, targets a conserved and clinically unexploited ribosome binding site that bacteria cannot easily mutate away from, representing the first genuinely new Gram-negative antibiotic mechanism class in roughly half a century.

## Impact

Antimicrobial resistance kills an estimated 700,000 people per year globally; projections reach 10 million by 2050 without new drug classes. Testa leads the only Utah-based company with a clinical-stage program directly targeting that gap for the hardest-to-treat Gram-negative pathogens (ESKAPE organisms: E. coli, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas).

The DTRA partnership — a reported $75M award with University of Florida collaborators over a multi-year horizon — signals that ESKAPE pathogens are not merely a public-health problem but a biodefense priority, which gives Curza unusual access to non-dilutive government funding that private AMR startups rarely secure.

## What They Offer

- Direct operational experience running a grant-funded biotech spinout through preclinical and IND-preparation stages
- Deep familiarity with DTRA, NIH, CARB-X, and impact-investment funding for AMR programs
- University of Utah technology-transfer and licensing navigation experience
- Mission-driven leadership model for pharma work where standard commercial incentives are absent

## What They Are Looking For

Testa and Curza need medicinal chemists, microbiologists, and ribosome biochemists for the lead program; CMC and regulatory support for IND preparation; and additional government and impact grant connections to fund through Phase 1 and beyond. Operators motivated by AMR mission and biodefense relevance rather than typical VC pharma return timelines tend to fit best.

## Proof of Work

- CEO of Curza since founding; guided company through $40M+ in grant and impact-investment raises
- Led DTRA partnership (~$75M with University of Florida)
- Managed CARB-X and Novo Holdings REPAIR Fund relationships
- University of Utah spinout commercialization in a notoriously difficult market

## Good Fits

- AMR-focused researchers looking for a clinical-stage Utah biotech where their work connects directly to ESKAPE pathogen treatment
- Grant-writers and government-relations advisors with DTRA or NIH biodefense experience
- Impact investors and family offices interested in AMR as a mission-aligned portfolio area

## Public Connection Path

Curza official channels; University of Utah Research and Innovation or licensing contacts; CARB-X and Novo REPAIR Fund networks; AMR conference circuit (ASM Microbe, ID Week).

## Evidence

- [Curza](curza.md) — company he leads

## See Also

- [Curza](curza.md) — venture page with full program detail
- [Atavistik Bio](atavistik-bio.md) — another U of U spinout pushing into underdrugged mechanism space
- [Dave Bearss](dave-bearss.md) — U of U-adjacent life-science leader and U2TAH senior managing director

## Open Questions

- Has CZ-02 entered Phase 1 clinical trials since legacy intake, and what are the initial safety and PK results?
- What reimbursement or pull-incentive model does Testa plan if Phase 3 succeeds, given broken antibiotic commercialization economics?
- How does the DTRA nine-year partnership timeline map against Curza's near-term fundraising and operating runway?
- The placeholder hero should be replaced with a cleared headshot or lab image when rights are confirmed.