ARIZ Precision Medicine Takes Aim at Better Cancer Treatment

A simple lab test told Brad Niles and his team they might be onto something.

In one of ARIZ Precision Medicine’s early experiments, the team compared their drug candidate against a traditional chemotherapy drug. The chemotherapy killed cancer cells and healthy cells at roughly the same rate. ARIZ’s drug candidate showed a very different result: roughly 90% killing of the cancer cells with about 10% impact on normal healthy cells.

That is the core promise behind ARIZ Precision Medicine, a Davis-based biotech company led by CEO Brad Niles. In a recent interview on the Mark Haney Show with Mark Haney, Niles explained how his company is working to develop a more targeted cancer therapy—one designed to attack the genetic drivers of cancer while reducing the collateral damage patients often experience with chemotherapy.

For patients, families, physicians, and investors, the mission is easy to understand:

Cancer treatment needs to work.

But it also needs to be more tolerable.

Why Cancer Treatment Needs a Better Option

Chemotherapy has saved lives. But it is also blunt.

As Niles described it, traditional chemotherapy attacks rapidly dividing cells. That includes cancer cells, but it can also include healthy cells. That is why many patients experience severe side effects, and why some eventually stop treatment because the quality-of-life cost becomes too high.

ARIZ is trying to solve a very specific problem:

Can cancer therapy become more precise, more targeted, and less damaging to the rest of the body?

That is where precision medicine comes in.

Precision medicine means selecting treatments based on the biology of a patient’s disease, not just the location of the tumor. In plain English: instead of saying “this is lung cancer, so use this standard lung cancer treatment,” precision medicine asks, “what genetic change is driving this cancer, and can we target that directly?”

For ARIZ, the initial focus is lung cancer. But the company’s target is not limited to one tumor location. Niles explained that the genetic disruption ARIZ is pursuing appears in more than a dozen cancer types, especially solid tumors, including breast, colon, and pancreatic cancers.

1. The Big Idea: Target the Gene, Not Just the Tumor

ARIZ’s approach is built around targeting cancer-driving genes.

Niles described the company’s work around a family of genes called PRDM genes. These genes have been connected to several cancer types. ARIZ is developing molecules designed to go after specific PRDM targets, including PRDM2 and PRDM14.

The practical version:

• Identify patients whose cancer has the relevant genetic disruption.

• Use a therapy designed to target that disruption.

• Deliver the drug specifically to cancer cells.

• Reduce damage to healthy tissue.

Example: Instead of treating every lung cancer patient the same way, ARIZ would look for patients whose cancer has the genetic marker their drug is designed to attack. That makes the therapy more selective.

My suggestion: this is the kind of biotech story that needs to be explained in plain English early and often. “We target the genetic cause of the cancer” is much easier to understand than “we are developing an RNA-based therapeutic against PRDM pathways.”

2. The Delivery System Matters

A drug is only useful if it gets to the right place.

Niles emphasized that ARIZ is not only developing the drug itself. The company is also developing the delivery system. He described it as using a “homing device” to help direct the therapy to cancer cells rather than simply releasing it broadly into the body.

That matters because specificity is the whole game.

A powerful cancer-killing drug that also damages healthy tissue creates many of the same problems patients already face. A targeted therapy needs both parts:

• The right drug.

• The right delivery system.

Example: It is not enough to have a smart missile. You also need guidance. Otherwise, you are just launching expensive fireworks. Great for the Fourth of July. Less great for oncology.

3. The Startup Path in Biotech Is Long, Expensive, and Milestone-Driven

Biotech is not a weekend MVP.

Niles was clear about the challenge: drug development can take years and enormous amounts of capital. He mentioned the common warning founders hear when entering drug development—that it can take a billion dollars to bring a drug to market.

ARIZ’s strategy is to break that massive journey into smaller milestones.

Each milestone is designed to reduce risk and create value:

• First, prove the concept in cells.

• Then test in animal models.

• Then conduct safety studies.

• Then move toward human clinical trials.

• Eventually, partner with a larger pharmaceutical company.

ARIZ has already moved beyond petri dish experiments. The company has tested human tumor cells implanted in mice, allowing the team to study how the drug performs in a living system while still working against human cancer cells. Niles said those animal studies produced significant results and helped open the door to the next phase: safety studies before human trials.

Current projected timeline: Niles said human trials are roughly 18 months to two years out, depending in part on fundraising and the next development steps.

4. Partnerships Are Critical

One of the biggest lessons from the interview is that biotech startups do not succeed alone.

ARIZ has benefited from the Sacramento region’s growing startup ecosystem, including support from Growth Factory, Sac Angels, AngelCon, UC Davis connections, local investors, and biotech partners. Niles specifically credited Kevin Nagle as an early investor and supporter, as well as Moneta Ventures and other regional players who helped the company gain traction.

The company has also worked with IM Therapeutics, which Niles described as both an investor and experimental partner. That relationship helped ARIZ accelerate its animal studies and leverage research capabilities in India, where some work can be done more cost-effectively.

Example: In software, a startup might need cloud credits and a few engineers. In biotech, a startup may need lab space, animal study partners, regulatory advisors, patent counsel, clinical experts, and investors who understand long timelines.

Make sure the ecosystem around the founder is built for the industry they are in.

Biotech needs different support than SaaS.

5. AI Is Changing Drug Discovery, But Human Oversight Still Matters

The interview also touched on artificial intelligence and its growing role in drug discovery.

Niles said AI is affecting everything from drug design to clinical trial design and patient selection. He also noted that AI-focused investments have become a major force in early-stage funding, including in biotech.

But he also added an important caution.

AI can hallucinate. In consumer use, that might mean a bad dinner recipe. In drug discovery, an unchecked error could waste years or create serious safety risks.

That is the key point.

AI can accelerate discovery, but it does not remove the need for scientific judgment, regulatory discipline, and human review.

Example: AI may help identify a promising molecule faster. But before that molecule goes into a human being, it still needs validation, safety testing, and regulatory review.

My suggestion: biotech founders should use AI aggressively, but not casually. In medicine, “move fast and break things” is not a strategy. It is a lawsuit waiting for a calendar invite.

6. The Next Frontier: Fewer Animal Studies?

One of the more interesting parts of the conversation was the discussion around animal testing.

Niles explained that safety trials traditionally involve two animal species, often rats plus dogs, monkeys, or pigs. But he also noted that the FDA and the industry are looking more closely at ways to reduce animal use through tools like digital twins, ex vivo human tissues, organoids, and tumoroids.

A few plain-English definitions:

• Ex vivo means outside the body.

• Organoids are 3D tissue models grown from cells that mimic some features of human organs.

• Tumoroids are 3D tumor-like models that help researchers study cancer behavior outside the body.

These tools may eventually reduce the need for animal studies. But Niles noted that the industry has not yet reached the point where an FDA-approved drug can completely skip animal testing.

The direction is clear, though: more human-relevant models, better simulation, and fewer unnecessary animal studies.

7. Sacramento Has a Real Biotech Opportunity

The interview was also a reminder that important life science companies do not only come from Boston, San Diego, or the Bay Area.

ARIZ is building in Davis. The company has used UC Davis-related resources, local investor networks, regional startup programs, and Sacramento-area community support. Niles described the local ecosystem as one where groups are increasingly working together rather than operating in silos.

That matters.

Sacramento may not yet have the biotech density of the major coastal hubs. But it does have several ingredients that matter:

• UC Davis research talent.

• A growing investor network.

• Startup support organizations.

• Regional champions willing to make introductions.

• Founders who want to build here instead of leaving.

Example: ARIZ found talent through UC Davis’ Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology program, bringing in interns who wanted real-world biotech experience and eventually hiring some of them.

That is how ecosystems compound.

One internship becomes one hire.

One angel check becomes one milestone.

One milestone becomes one institutional conversation.

The Founder Reality: This Is Not for Everyone

Near the end of the interview, Niles offered a refreshingly honest view of startup life.

He tells students interested in biotech entrepreneurship that he is explaining the path, not necessarily endorsing it for everyone. Building a biotech company takes thick skin, patience, family support, and the willingness to live with long timelines and uncertain outcomes.

That may be the most founder-friendly lesson in the whole conversation.

Biotech entrepreneurship is meaningful.

It is also hard.

And both things can be true.

Final Takeaway

ARIZ Precision Medicine is working on one of the hardest problems in healthcare: making cancer treatment more precise, more effective, and less harmful to healthy tissue.

The bigger story is that breakthroughs like this do not happen in isolation. They require science, capital, community, patience, and founders willing to keep going when the timeline is measured in years.

For Sacramento’s life science community, ARIZ is worth watching. For founders, the lesson is simple: build milestone by milestone, surround yourself with the right partners, and make sure the problem you are solving is worth the climb.