Wendye is a physician scientist and biopharmaceutical entrepreneur with extensive operational, strategy, fund raising, and team building experience. She joined Blade in 2015. Wendye has made a career of building companies from the ground up. She has collaborated with diverse investor groups to co-found and managed several nascent biopharmaceutical companies (including Blade, Labrys, NeurogesX among others). Additionally, she functions as a strategic and scientific advisor to innovators and investors and as an independent director for Rapt Therapeutics, and the California Life Sciences Association. Her expertise includes small and large molecule development from discovery through translational research through the clinic.

Wendye received her BS from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley and her MD from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. She completed postgraduate training in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and in anesthesiology and pain at the Johns Hopkins University Medical Institutions. She served as Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at UCSF from 1995-2000 and has been teaching faculty at the Stanford University School of Medicine since 2002. She is board certified in anesthesiology.

Jean-Frédéric Viret, Ph.D., joined Blade Therapeutics as Chief Financial Officer in March 2021. In his role, Dr. Viret leads Blade’s finance and accounting functions, as well as investor relations and corporate communications. He has nearly two decades of corporate finance experience within the life sciences industry, most recently serving as CFO with Coherus BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRS), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company that he joined in 2014. Dr. Viret has previous experience in CFO roles during tenures at several public and privately held biopharmaceutical and diagnostics companies.

In addition to a Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology from Université Louis Pasteur (Strasbourg), Dr. Viret has a B.S. in Engineering from the Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine and an M.B.A. from Cornell University. He was a visiting fellow at Harvard University and a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Prabha Ibrahim, Ph. D has worked in biopharmaceutical/pharma (Amgen, CV Therapeutics, Plexxikon, Afferent Pharmaceuticals, Merck) industry for more than 24 years and has held leadership roles in drug discovery and development in multiple therapeutic areas with a track record of identifying NCEs and advancing them through pre-clinical and clinical development. Her record of success and scientific achievements includes contributions to the nomination of multiple development candidates and filing of 16 INDs with one approved drug (Zelboraf) and two compounds at Ph3 (Pexidartinib) or Ph3 ready (MK-7264/AF-219). She was instrumental in the discovery and development of Zelboraf, first in class BRAF inhibitor approved in 2011 for metastatic melanoma and late phase development of Pexidartinib (first-in-class CSF-1R inhibitor) and AF-219 (first-in-class P2X3 receptor antagonist).

Prabha was a Chief Technology Officer of Afferent Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from November 2015 and continued her responsibility with Merck, after acquisition, until March 2017. Prior to Afferent/Merck she held multiple positions at Plexxikon for 14 years with the last one being the Senior Vice President of Chemistry and Nonclinical Development. She led multidisciplinary teams and held multiple project and program leadership roles. Prior to Plexxikon, Prabha was a Senior Research Scientist and Group Leader at CV Therapeutics, where she was a project co-leader for cell cycle project and a lead chemist for the second generation Renexa program. She started her career as medicinal chemist at Amgen, where she played an integral role in small molecule drug discovery in inflammation. Dr. Ibrahim earned her Ph.D. at the University of Victoria, Canada, and was a Welch Foundation Fellow at Rice University, Houston. She received her M. Sc. Degree from The American College, Madurai, India, and her B.Sc. degree from RDM College, Sivaganga, India.

Dr. Fuentes has extensive drug discovery experience in Fibrotic, Inflammatory and Respiratory diseases. Before joining Blade Dr. Fuentes was Group Director, Fibrosis Discovery Biology at BMS. Her focus was to deliver small molecules and antibody therapeutics for the treatment of fibrotic diseases including IPF and NASH. Prior to BMS, Dr. Fuentes worked at Roche in Nutley, NJ and Palo Alto, CA, where she was leader of the Respiratory Diseases Group within the Inflammation Therapy Area. Her group advanced several projects to clinical trials. She has worked very closely with Early Development Groups to establish translational approaches that includes biomarker discovery and proof of mechanism studies.

Dr. Fuentes received her PhD from the Catholic University of Chile and worked as a Fogarty post-doctoral fellow in the Pharmacology Department, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego.

Felix Karim Ph.D. has worked in the biopharmaceutical industry for more than 15 years and has held leadership roles in business development and R&D management in both public and private biopharma companies, including Amgen, KAI Pharmaceuticals, Compugen, Celera and Exelixis.

Felix has led multidisciplinary teams across a variety of therapeutic programs that have attracted major pharmaceutical partnerships. While at KAI, Felix led the discovery team for KAI-4169 (Parsabiv™/etelcalcetide), which was recently approved in Europe for the treatment hyperparathyroidism in chronic kidney disease. He also served as Vice President of Business Development at KAI where he led the partnering efforts, including a license with Ono Pharmaceuticals for development and commercialization of KAI-4169 in Japan and the sale of KAI to Amgen in July 2012 for $315 million.

Felix received his BA in Biochemistry from University of California, Berkeley and his PhD from the Human Genetics Department at University of Utah and returned to UC Berkeley where he did post-doctoral training.

Daven Mody joined Blade as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs in April 2019 bringing with him a wealth of industry experience in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology in several therapeutic areas. He previously served as Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs at Theravance Biopharma where he led the efforts in the FDA approval of YUPELRI^® in the United States. Prior to that, he was Head of Regulatory Affairs at Impax Laboratories where he was instrumental in the approval of RYTARY^® by both the United States FDA and Europe’s EMA. Daven began his career in the pharmaceutical industry in 2000 at ALZA Corporation and has held increasing leadership roles in Regulatory Affairs at Matrix Pharmaceuticals, Genentech, CoTherix, Johnson & Johnson, and Medivation. Daven received a Pharm.D. from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, an MBA from California State University, Hayward and is certified by the Regulatory Affairs Certification Board.

Ravi is an in-vitro biologist with 11 years of industry experience in small molecule drug discovery. His broad range of expertise includes leading discovery projects involving target-based (GPCRs, kinases, proteases etc), phenotypic and follow-on strategies. He has built and led both internal and CRO-based biology teams that have consistently delivered assay solutions to advance programs. He also led a clinical study to define human microdose pharmacokinetics of a development candidate.

He began his career in industry with Celera Genomics in South San Francisco. There as a biochemist, he supported Celera’s hepatitis C programs by identifying and characterizing viral protease and polymerase inhibitors. He then moved to InterMune to support their hepatitis C and fibrosis drug discovery. His efforts have directly contributed to the identification of 6 IND development candidates.

Ravi holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in chemistry from Loyola College and the Indian Institute of Technology (both in Chennai, India). He obtained his Ph.D. in biochemistry from The Ohio State University under the guidance of Prof. Dehua Pei. Thereafter, he moved to Pennsylvania State University to perform post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Prof. Stephen Benkovic. Over the course of his career, Ravi has co-authored 26 scientific publications including first and senior author publications. He has also delivered 21 poster and oral presentations at various scientific conferences.

Alan C. Mendelson joined Blade Therapeutics as part-time General Counsel & Secretary in February 2021.

During more than 47 years of private practice, Mr. Mendelson has focused on representing emerging and public growth companies, primarily in the life sciences industry. He served as the Global Co-Chair of the Life Sciences Industry Group for the Silicon Valley office of Latham & Watkins LLP, a major global law firm where he retired as senior partner in December 2020 after a 20-year career with the firm.

Mr. Mendelson served as the incorporator of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) in April 1980 and played a leading role in all of Amgen’s major transactions during the first 10 years of its existence. He also served as secretary and acting general counsel of Amgen from April 1990 to April 1991.

Since 2008, Mr. Mendelson has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the UC Berkeley Foundation and as a member of the Board of Advisors for the UC Berkeley College of Chemistry, a member of the Board of the UC Berkeley Library and a member of the Chancellor’s External Affairs Committee. He is also a member of the UC Innovation Council, established by UC to advise on technology and entrepreneurship initiatives for the UC system. Since September 2020, Mr. Mendelson has served on the Board of Trustees of The Buck Institute for Research on Aging. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Coherus BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRS), and several private companies.

The Legal 500, an industry publishing firm, has ranked Mr. Mendelson among just four individuals receiving a star in its Hall of Fame for legal professionals serving the life sciences sector. Mr. Mendelson was the first service provider to receive the Life Sciences Leadership Award at the BayBio Pantheon and was repeatedly recognized as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the United States by the National Law Journal.

Mr. Mendelson received his B.A. degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1969 and his J.D. degree from Harvard University in 1973.

Michael is an accomplished and enthusiastic senior-level communications professional and business leader who applies the power of outstanding communications to build value. With almost 25 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience, Michael offers broad functional expertise, strong leadership, and proven ability to create sound strategy that translates into well-aligned execution and business results.

Michael joined Blade Therapeutics in August 2020 as Senior Vice President of Communications, responsible for strategy development and tactical execution for corporate communications. He previously served as Vice President of Communications with The Medicines Company (NASDAQ: MDCO) where he helped build a compelling value proposition for the company’s revolutionary siRNA therapy for atherosclerosis. Those efforts contributed to the company’s acquisition by Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) for $9.7B.

Prior to The Medicines Company, Michael served in communications and marketing roles of increasing scope with Merck (NYSE: MRK), ultimately reporting into the Chief Communications Officer as a member of the Global Communications Leadership Team. Throughout a nearly 20-year span, he consistently delivered outstanding results, exceeded benchmarks, and served as a trusted counselor in support of major brands, corporate initiatives and executives across the breadth of the company. His biopharma career started with Zeneca Group after foundational experience with advertising and public relations agencies.

Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from La Salle University in Philadelphia where he dual-majored in Communication and English (writing).

Outside of the office, Michael is an outstanding chef, lover of outdoor sports, passionate football fan, and traveler of all 50 U.S. states with wife and two children.

Krishna Gorti joined Blade Therapeutics in August 2020 to lead Investor Relations (contract). He brings a rich and diverse background that has enabled him to repeatedly deliver value for investors, academic organizations and patients. His broad-based experience includes roles as an investment analyst covering biotechnology companies; investor relations lead for a mid-cap biotech; a physician certified in Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery; and a clinical and translational researcher who has published original research in high-impact scientific journals.

Krishna previously served as Senior Vice President of Investor Relations with The Medicines Company (NASDAQ: MDCO) from 2015 through 2019, during which time he played an integral role in delivering substantial shareholder value and consummating the company’s acquisition by Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) for $85/share, resulting in a 344% shareholder return. He started with the company in 2013 playing an important role in business development and strategy.

Prior to in-house roles with biopharmaceutical companies, Krishna was a biotechnology industry equity research analyst (sell side) with leading financial institutions, including JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), Piper Jaffray and Rodman & Renshaw.

Krishna earned an MD from Andhra University, Vizag, India, and went on to qualify as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) in 1997 after a residency in Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Ireland. In 1999, Krishna completed a research fellowship in Thyroid & Parathyroid Diseases with the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard University. He then served as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Stanford University, where he subsequently completed Preliminary General Surgical Residency in 2004. In 2006, Krishna completed an Oncology Research Fellowship in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.

Mark Timney has deep experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He has repeatedly distinguished himself as a corporate leader who delivers value for patients and shareholders. In addition to his role as Chairman at Blade, he currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and board member at Attralus Therapeutics and a board member at Sarissa Capital Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: SRSAU). He is also a strategic advisor to health care companies and investment groups.

Throughout a career defined by deep operational and commercial experience, Mark has led significant acquisitions and divestitures; reshaped country and global business operations; launched numerous breakthrough medicines; delivered growth strategies to achieve market leadership; and played key roles in pipeline governance. He has held senior roles in companies that include The Medicines Company (NASDAQ: MDCO), Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), Purdue Pharmaceuticals, Zeneca Group, ICI Pharmaceuticals and Roussel Labs, and has led markets that include the United States, Japan, South Korea, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

Mark’s most recent executive role was CEO and Board member of The Medicines Company. Mark renewed investor confidence by focusing on value-creating activities within the Company’s pipeline. These actions increased shareholder return more than three-fold within one year and culminated in the company’s acquisition by Novartis (NYSE: NVS) for $9.7B.

Mark received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Newcastle Polytechnic (now Northumbria University) in Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K., holds a Sigma Executive Belt certification, and has completed executive education programs at Harvard, Wharton and Stanford.

Luke Evnin, Ph.D., co-founded MPM with Ansbert Gadicke in 1997 and opened the San Francisco office in 1999. The MPM team they have led has been the inspiration and driving force behind building companies such as Biomarin (BMRN), CoStim Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Novartis:NVS) , Epizyme (EPZM), Idenix (acquired by Merck:MRK), Pacira (PCRX), Pharmasset (acquired by Gilead:GILD) and Radius (RDUS). MPM believes that these companies are among the biggest successes in biotech history – companies that ultimately resulted in helping thousands of patients live longer and with vastly improved lives. Luke was the lead investor and has served on the boards of several of MPM’s most successful investments including CoStim Pharmaceuticals, Idun Pharmaceuticals, and Pacira.

Prior to co-founding MPM, Luke honed his skills as a venture capitalist beginning in 1990 at Accel Partners where he focused on emerging healthcare companies. Luke’s passion for drug discovery began in college where he received his A.B. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University. He advanced his technical training and launched his interest in curing disease with his doctoral study in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of California-San Francisco. Luke’s passion for discovering and pushing forward groundbreaking drug discovery companies inspires his work and that of his team. Luke has devoted significant efforts since 2000 to working with the Scleroderma Research Foundation, serving as Chairman since 2002. Luke also devotes energy to the External Advisory Board at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Quantitative Genomics at Princeton, serves on the External Advisory Boards for QB3 at UCSF, the Masters in Translational Medicine program at UCSF, and the Boston University Scleroderma CORT.

Jim Scopa, J.D., M.B.A., joined MPM in 2005. Since joining the firm, Jim has led investments in biopharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics. He has served on the boards of Peplin (acquired by LEO Pharmaceuticals), iPierian (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb: BMY), True North Therapeutics, Semma Therapeutics, Blade Therapeutics and Conatus, among MPM’s therapeutics companies. Within the device and diagnostic sectors, Jim led the spinout from Boston Scientific (BSX) of TriVascular (TRIV), a pioneer in innovative technology to treat aortic aneurysms, sold to Endologix (2016). He has also served on the boards of Astute Medical and Nevro (NVRO).

Prior to joining MPM, Jim spent 18 years in health care investment banking, advising numerous emerging growth companies on public and private financings as well as mergers and acquisitions. Jim spent the bulk of his career at Alex. Brown and Sons, and following its acquisition by Deutsche Bank, served as Global Co-Head of Health Care Investment Banking from 1999 to 2002. From 2002 to 2005, Jim served as Co-Head of Health Care Investment Banking at Thomas Weisel Partners, where he was a member of the Investment Committee for the firm’s dedicated health care venture fund. Jim graduated from Harvard College and went on to complete a joint J.D. and MBA from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School.

Dr. Wheeler joined Deerfield in 2014 as a Partner on the Private Transactions team at Deerfield where he is focused on therapeutics companies. Prior to Deerfield, Dr. Wheeler worked for and on behalf of Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc. as a director since 2009. Previous to Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc., Dr. Wheeler was the Manager of the Business Development and Operations team at Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and a Senior Associate at Third Rock Ventures, LLC from 2008 to 2009. Dr. Wheeler holds a Ph.D. and S.M. in Biological Engineering and an S.B. in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mr. Slattery is a Partner on the Private Transactions team at Deerfield, which he joined in 2000. He began his professional career studying immune system complications associated with End Stage Renal Disease. Prior to joining Deerfield, Mr. Slattery was a senior healthcare analyst between 1990 and 2000 at Amerindo Investment Advisors overseeing biotechnology investments. He has held various positions in research including those at National Medical Enterprises, Johnson & Johnson, and HMSS. Mr. Slattery has a degree in Biology from State University of New York at Albany and completed coursework in Immunology at the Graduate School-New Brunswick, Rutgers University.

Rana Al-Hallaq, PhD is Senior Director and Principal at Pfizer Ventures. Rana leverages her preclinical, clinical, and business development experience to assess, invest in, and manage equity investments for Pfizer Ventures. She oversees the Pfizer Ventures investments in Mitokinin, Inc. (San Francisco, CA) and Blade Therapeutics (South San Francisco, CA). Prior to her current role, Rana was a Transactionalist in Worldwide Business Development at Pfizer where she was responsible for negotiating and transacting licenses, acquisitions, and partnerships across therapeutic areas. Rana joined Pfizer in 2015 as an Early Candidate Clinical Lead where she advised early clinical programs in CNS to ensure alignment with business strategies. Prior to joining Pfizer, she held roles at Allergan (formerly Actavis, formerly Forest Laboratories), first in Clinical Development Psychiatry as scientific and operational lead on Phase 2 and Phase 3 studies investigating novel treatments for Major Depressive Disorder and schizophrenia, and later in Business Development where she assessed and executed on a number of acquisitions and licenses across therapeutic areas. She began her training as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Rana graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Biology from Hamilton College and holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Georgetown University Medical Center.

Lloyd Klickstein, M.D., Ph.D., is the Chief Scientific Officer at resTORbio, a leading company developing drugs to address the biology of aging. Prior to joining resTORbio, Lloyd was Head of Translational Medicine for the New Indication Discovery Unit (NIDU) and the Exploratory Disease Area (DAx) at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research. Under his decade of leadership, NIDU & DAx teams carried multiple projects forward from target identification through clinical proof-of-concept in novel areas of drug development including non-infectious liver disease, hearing loss and aging, among others. Prior to his 13 years at Novartis, Lloyd was an academic physician-scientist at Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston, where he directed an NIH-funded basic research laboratory and maintained an active clinical practice in the Arthritis Center as a staff Rheumatologist & Immunologist. Lloyd earned a B.S. degree from Tufts University, his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University, completed post-graduate clinical training in Internal Medicine, Rheumatology & Immunology at BWH and a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Center for Blood Research in Boston.

Wendye is a physician scientist and biopharmaceutical entrepreneur with extensive operational, strategy, fund raising, and team building experience. She joined Blade in 2015. Wendye has made a career of building companies from the ground up. She has collaborated with diverse investor groups to co-found and managed several nascent biopharmaceutical companies (including Blade, Labrys, NeurogesX among others). Additionally, she functions as a strategic and scientific advisor to innovators and investors and as an independent director for Rapt Therapeutics, and the California Life Sciences Association. Her expertise includes small and large molecule development from discovery through translational research through the clinic.

Wendye received her BS from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley and her MD from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. She completed postgraduate training in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and in anesthesiology and pain at the Johns Hopkins University Medical Institutions. She served as Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at UCSF from 1995-2000 and has been teaching faculty at the Stanford University School of Medicine since 2002. She is board certified in anesthesiology.

Hal Dietz is Victor A. McKusick Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Molecular Biology & Genetics in the Institute of Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. As a physician scientist, he has dedicated his entire career to the care and study of individuals with heritable connective tissue disorders with primary perturbations of extracellular matrix homeostasis and function. His lab has identified the genes for many of these conditions, for which he uses model systems to elucidate disease mechanisms. Dr. Dietz has received multiple prestigious awards including the Curt Stern Award from the American Society of Human Genetics, the Colonel Harland Sanders Lifetime Achievement Award in Medical Genetics, the Taubman Prize for excellence in translational medical science, the Harrington Prize from the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Harrington Discovery Institute, the Pasarow Award in Cardiovascular Research, the InBev-Baillet Latour Health Prize from the country of Belgium, and the Research Achievement Award from the American Heart Association. He is an inductee of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association of American Physicians, National Academy of Medicine, and National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Eickelberg is Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics in the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver, CO, USA. He acted as Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC) at the Helmholtz Zentrum Munich and the University of Munich, as well as Vice Chairman of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL) from 2008 to 2016. Dr. Eickelberg is associate editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine since 2010, member of the Editorial Boards of the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology since 2007, the European Respiratory Journal since 2008, and serves as section editor “Lung Biology and Disease” for PLoS One since 2007.

Dr. Eickelberg’s research focuses on the molecular events that initiate, perpetuate, or resolve tissue fibrosis. Investigations from his group have identified and mechanistically interrogated TGF-beta and WNT signaling as a novel mechanism driving lung fibrogenesis. His studies have delineated in detail the components of the lung extracellular matrix in health and fibrosis, as well as immune cell populations that drive fibrosis in the lung. Most recently, these investigations enabled the stratification of fibrosis subtypes and, by identifying long-lived MZB1+ plasma cells in tissue fibrosis, uncovered a novel common mechanisms of tissue fibrosis.

Dr. Eickelberg has been awarded two very prestigious awards of international renown (the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award of the German Ministry of Research and Education and the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation in 2001, and the Gay-Lussac-Humboldt-Award of the French Ministry of Science and Education in 2013). He was selected as a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) in 2018.

Dr. Scott L. Friedman is the Dean for Therapeutic Discovery and Chief of Liver Diseases, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He has performed pioneering research into the underlying causes of fibrosis associated with chronic liver disease. His work has spawned an entire field that is now realizing its translational and therapeutic potential. A 1979 graduate of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, he was a Medical Resident at the Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School, followed by a GI Fellowship at UCSF. In 1995-1996 he was a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. He has mentored over 85 fellows and students. Dr. Friedman has been awarded the EASL International Recognition Award and Distinguished Achievement Awards from both the AASLD and the American Liver Foundation. He is widely respected as a key opinion leader working closely with the biotech and pharmaceutical industry in developing new therapies for liver disease.

Dr. Hirth has over 30 years of biotechnology and pharmaceutical discovery and development experience. He was a co-founder and CEO of Plexxikon were he built a novel, structure-guided drug discovery platform, which over the last ten years, has brought several NCEs into the clinic in a variety of indications. Most advanced from this portfolio is a V600E B-raf selective inhibitor that was FDA approved for metastatic melanoma together with a companion diagnostic and is sold under the brand name Zelboraf™. In addition Turalio™ , recnemtly obtained FDA approval for TGCT, a rare tumor affecting the synovium and tendon sheaths. After Plexxikon was acquired in April 2011 by Daiichi Sankyo, Dr. Hirth had agreed to stay for a two year transition period until April 2013.

Previously, he was at Sugen, Inc. from 1991 until 2000 and helped build the company from its inception and advanced several kinase inhibitors through clinical trials in oncology. Sutent was the first Sugen product to reach the market in renal cell carcinoma. After the acquisition of Sugen by Pharmacia Upjohn in 1999, Dr. Hirth stayed on to help with the integration until 2000. At Sugen, Dr. Hirth held several positions with increasing responsibilities, last as President. Prior to Sugen, Dr. Hirth was a vice president in research with Boehringer Mannheim where, among other responsibilities, he successfully led the company's erythropoietin program to approval in 1989, sold under the name Recormon™ . Before joining Boehringer Mannheim, Dr. Hirth was a research scientist with the Max Planck Institute, following the completion of his post doctoral work at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Hirth received his Ph.D. in molecular genetics from Heidelberg University, Germany.

Dr. Hirth currently serves as the chairman of IO Bio in Copenhagen and as a director on the BOD of Iconic Therapeutics in South San Francisco, CA , SutroVax Inc. in South San Francisco and Trex Bio in South San Francisco and Escient Pharmaceuticals in San Diego. Former BOD memberships include Afferent Pharmaceuticals in San Mateo, CA and Kolltan Pharmaceuticals in New Haven, CT and Alios Biopharma in South San Francisco.

Richard Hynes is the Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research at the Koch Institute and Department of Biology at MIT and Senior Associate Member of the Broad Institute. He was formerly Associate Head and then Head of the Biology department and was Director of the MIT Center for Cancer Research (now the Koch Institute) for 10 years and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for 30 years. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) of London, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the AACR Academy and an ASCB Fellow and is a Member of the US National Academies of Sciences and Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Hynes did his undergraduate work in Biochemistry at Trinity College, Cambridge, UK, and his PhD in Biology at MIT and was a postdoctoral fellow at Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London. Dr. Hynes returned to MIT in 1975 as an Assistant Professor and one of the founding members of the MIT Cancer Center. 

Dr. Hynes’ work over the past 45 years has played a major role in establishing the molecular basis of cell adhesion and its many diverse and important effects on cells both in vitro and in vivo. This molecular understanding forms the basis for development of antibodies and drugs that modulate cell adhesion and are in clinical use against thrombosis, inflammation and autoimmune diseases and under investigation for efficacy against cancers. Molecular understanding of cell-ECM interactions is also being exploited in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Most recently the Hynes laboratory has focused on metastasis, particularly the contributions of the ECM in promoting metastasis and has developed methods for systematic characterization and analysis of ECM changes in vivo, clearly implicating ECM proteins in tumor progression.

Dr. Hynes’ awards include the Gairdner International Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Pasarow Award and the E.B. Wilson medal of the American Society for Cell Biology, in recognition of his research on extracellular matrix, integrins and cell adhesion. He has served as President of the American Society for Cell Biology, chaired the NAS committees on Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research and, most recently, the NAS/NAM Committee on Human Genome Editing. He was a Governor of the Wellcome Trust, UK. 2007-2016.

Mervyn Turner has almost 35 years of experience in pharmaceutical drug discovery, research and development, licensing and business development, emerging markets strategy development and implementation. He spent 27 years at Merck & Co. Inc., holding positions of increasing responsibility in Merck Research Laboratories before joining the company’s Executive Committee as Chief Strategy Officer. Since his retirement from Merck & Co., he has served as an Advisor to Bay City Capital, a San Francisco-based venture firm. He is currently an Advisor to Bridge Medicines, a commercial incubator for early stage innovation based in New York City. He is also an Advisor to Adagene, a China-based therapeutic antibody company, and a member of the Board of EnGeneIC (Sydney, Australia). He is Chairman of the Board of LUNAC, an academic spin out company, based in Leeds, UK.  He is also a Senior Healthcare Advisor to Lazard, a leading financial services and investment banking firm.