Ivor Royston is an American oncologist, researcher, scientist, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, recognized for his efforts to develop treatments for multiple disease targets and to fund biotechnology companies with promising science, technology or medicines.

[7][8] One of Royston's most significant achievements may be his successful efforts to partner academic medical research with industry to take potential treatments more quickly from the benchtop to the bedside.

As a venture capitalist, Royston invests in start-up companies that have promising technologies for treating and potentially curing diseases, including various forms of cancer.

[9][10][11] Born in Retford, England, Royston emigrated to the United States with his family in 1954 at age 9, and later, as a 14-year-old, he declared that he would devote his life to curing cancer.

These divergent interests—medicine and business—would one day catapult Royston beyond his peers, transforming San Diego's economy while improving the health and lives of tens of thousands of patients along the way.

While serving as a researcher and a practicing physician at UCSD, Royston felt the frustration at the long process required to deliver innovative treatments to patients.

That frustration fueled his decisive action to work towards eliminating the disconnect between research and clinical application by founding Hybritech with fellow scientist Howard Birndorf in 1978.