Devron R. Averett, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Devron R. Averett, Ph.D., is Chief Scientific Officer and a co-founder of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ( www.anadyspharma.com ). He initially served as Senior Vice President, Research, Development and Medical in 2000 and later as Senior Vice President, Drug Development before he was promoted to Chief Scientific Officer in October 2004. From 1996 to 1999, Dr. Averett was Senior Vice President, Research and Development for Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (formerly known as ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). Prior to this, Dr. Averett held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility at Glaxo Wellcome and Burroughs Wellcome Co., culminating in global leadership roles in discovery and clinical virology.

Dr. Averett received his B.S. in Chemistry and M.S. in Microbiology from the University of Georgia and his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of North Carolina . Dr. Averett is author or co-author on over forty peer-reviewed publications and numerous presentations, and is an inventor on seventeen issued and nine pending US patents, and their corresponding international filings. His work has contributed to the discovery or development of multiple antiviral and oncology medicines and drug candidates, including Zeffix , Emtriva, Ziagen, Arranon, and most recently ANA975 for HCV and HBV, and ANA773 in oncology.

Shu Chien , MD, Ph.D., Professor of Bioengineering and Medicine, UCSD

Shu Chien joined UCSD ( www-bioeng.ucsd.edu) in 1988 and became the founding chair of the Department of Bioengineering in 1994. As principal investigator on the Whitaker Foundation Development Award (1993) and Leadership Award (1998), Chien played a major role in establishing UCSD' bioengineering program as one of the top two programs in the country. As founding Director of the Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering at UCSD, he helps foster collaborations among the faculty of UCSD and with research institutes and biomedical companies in San Diego . Chien is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine , and National Academy of Sciences. Chien co-founded Celladon Corporation and serves as a consultant to Advanced Tissue Sciences and AVIVA Biosciences. He received his M.D. from the National Taiwan University and his Ph.D. in Physiology from Columbia University , where he was a professor from 1969 to 1988.

Martin Edwards , Ph.D., Vice President, Pfizer Global Research & Development

Dr. Martin Edwards is Vice President and Head of Discovery Chemistry at Pfizer Global Research & Development, La Jolla Laboratories ( www.pfizer.com ), where he is responsible for the entire chemistry line working in antiviral, oncology, diabetes and ophthalmology therapeutic areas. In addition to his role at La Jolla site, he also holds broader responsibilities in global Pfizer organization and is currently members of Pfizer Global Discovery Management Committee, PGRD Discovery Leadership Team, Global Chemistry Discipline Leadership Team and Discovery Chemistry Board. Dr. Martin Edwards joined PGRD, La Jolla site in 2001 and brought in with him more than 20 years experience in drug discovery and development. He held various management positions at Pfizer Sandwich site in UK from 1993 to 2001, most recently as group director of discovery chemistry and zone leader for anti-infective, pain, allergy & respiratory. Prior to that, he spent 9 years at ICI/Zeneca where he worked in cardiovascular and anti-infective diseases areas. Dr. Edwards received his Ph.D degree in organic chemistry from Imperial College with Professor Steve Ley and had post-doctoral training with Professor Gilbert Stork at Columbia University .

Dr. Fang co-founded NexBio ( www.nexbio.com), in 2003, and currently leads all research and development efforts. She has been named one of the "People to Watch" in the Life Sciences Industry. Prior to founding NexBio, Dr. Fang was the Scientific Founder of Perlan Therapeutics, where she was the inventor of Perlan's lead drug, ColdSol(TM). At Perlan she held three positions of increasing responsibility from 1998 to 2003: Scientific & Medical Director, Vice President of Research & Development, and Chief Scientific Officer. In addition to receiving the Most Innovative New Product (MIP) Award for ColdSol(TM) in 2002, Dr. Fang was the 2003 recipient of the “Biopharma Award for Technology Innovation & Leadership,” was named as one of the "10 San Diego Innovators of the Next Generation Technology Leadership" in the same year, and was one of the five finalists for the “Chief Scientist of the Year" award for bioFUSION 2003. Dr. Fang has been awarded numerous grants from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Xiangming Fang , M.D., Ph.D., Vice President of R&D, GenWay Biotech, Inc.

Xiangming Fang is Vice President of R&D at GenWay Biotech, Inc. ( www.genwaybio.com) , responsible for product development, applications, and production of antibodies and recombinant proteins for research and diagnosis. She has led the development of company's leading product line, Seppro TM -the immunoaffinity reagents for proteomics sample preparation. Dr. Fang has 23 years of biomedical research experience, including 13 years of industry experience and 8 years of management experience in preclinical studies and product development. Dr. Fang's earlier research career focused on gene expression and regulation in insect and mammalian systems. She later developed her expertise in the area of gene therapy, including viral, non-viral, and cell-based ex vivo gene therapeutic approaches with a focus on adenoviral vectors and their application in gene therapy of cancer and hemophilia. Prior to GenWay, Dr. Fang served at GenStar Therapeutics as Vice President, Hemophilia and Vector Development. Dr. Fang obtained her M.D. degree and Master of Pharmacology from Zhejiang University Medical School . Dr. Fang came to the United States in 1987 where she obtained her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Alabama . She completed her postdoctoral studies at the University of Texas , MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Gen-Sheng Feng , Ph.D., Professor, Burnham Institute for Medical Research

Gen-Sheng Feng earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Indiana University Bloomington in 1990. He received postdoctoral training in the area of signal transduction at the Hospital for Sick Children and Mount Sinai Hospital , Toronto , Canada . In 1994, he was appointed as an assistant professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Indiana University School of Medicine in 1994, and was promoted to associate professor in 1999. Dr. Feng was recruited to Burnham Institute for Medical Research ( www.burnham.org ) in 2000 as an associate professor and was promoted to professor in 2005. His research focuses on understanding the molecular basis for obesity/leptin resistance and diabetes, and also the molecular mechanism for control of stem cell self-renewal versus differentiation, the most fundamental issue in stem cell biology. Dr. Feng was a recipient of a career development award from the American Diabetes Foundation, and his laboratory has been well funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society and American Heart Association. Dr. Feng is currently a member of editorial boards for Molecular and Cellular Biology and Journal of Biological Chemistry. The work accomplished by his group has been published in Science, Nature Medicine, PNAS, JEM, MCB, JBC and other prestigious journals. Their most recent data point to a new direction for development of therapeutic drugs for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Paul Grayson , MBA, Managing Director, Sanderling Ventures VI, L.P .

Paul Grayson joined Sanderling ( www.sanderling.com ) as a Director of Sanderling Management Company in March of 2003 and became a Managing Director of Sanderling Ventures VI, L.P. in 2004. Over the last ten years he has completed both private and public capital fundraising, producing over $200 million in total. Corporate collaborations completed during this period produced over $150 million in recognizable revenue with an announceable value in excess of $1 billion dollars, and included agreements with BMS, Lilly, Warner Lambert, Merck, F. Hoffmann La Roche, Pharmacia Upjohn, Kraft Foods, Campbell 's Soup, NestlŽ, and the Coca Cola Company. In addition, Mr. Grayson was a founding member of the management team of Aurora Biosciences and the founding Chairman, CEO and President of Senomyx, Inc. Mr. Grayson is currently the Chairman and CEO of Naviscan PET Systems and is active on the Board of Directors for Taligen Therapeutics, Zapaq and Chimerix. Mr. Grayson received his MBA from the University of California , Irvine , in 1989 and his B.A. in Computer Science and Biochemistry from the University of California , Los Angeles , in 1986.

Z. John Gu, PhD., Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer, Vita Genomics, Inc.

Dr. Gu is actively involving in managing biotech and pharmaceutical startups. His experience was bringing startups from initial stages into commercialization through executive management, capital investment, and M&A. His recent focuses are to form joint ventures among companies across the boards, and M&A activities to create medium size companies in order to compete internationally. John is an executive of Vita BioGroup of Taiwan ( www.vitagenomics.com ). He manages a group of companies, Vita Genomics (as the Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer), CytoPharm (Chief Executive Officer), Shanghai GeneCore Biotechnologies (Vice Chairman), and HT Venture Capitals (Managing Director and General Partner). His previous experience includes working at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at North Torrey Pine of La Jolla as a faculty member in Cancer Genetics Program and Program Director for Genomics and Bioinformatics. Earlier, John was a Section Head in Motorola Life Sciences for a number of years. He obtained his PhD in Bioinorganic Chemistry/Biophysics in the University of Massachusetts at Amherst , and had a postdoctoral training in the area of complex diseases at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis .

Ming Guo , Ph.D., Vice President, Pharmaceutical Sciences & Manufacturing, Ascenta Therapeutics, Inc.

Dr. Guo joined Ascenta ( www.ascentatherapeutics.com ) in April 2005 as Vice President of Manufacturing.  Previously he was at Pfizer, where, for eight years, he led all aspects of drug manufacturing activities, both in-house and outsourced, for multiple clinical drug development candidates in oncology, metabolic diseases, and infectious diseases (anti-viral agents). In addition to his technical leadership in process development and manufacturing, Dr. Guo was also responsible for project management of exploratory drug candidates focusing on CMC issues. One of the oncology project teams he led was the recipient of a Team Recognition Award just before his departure. Prior to Pfizer, Dr. Guo spent seven years at Monsanto and ABC Laboratories where he was responsible for process chemistry research and development of pharmaceuticals and agrichemicals. He built the organic chemistry program at ABC Laboratories as its new business line. Before his industrial career started at the beginning of 1991, Dr. Guo was an organic chemistry research associate at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) and the Institute of Materia Medica (IMM) in China . He holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from UCSD and an M.S. in Medicinal Chemistry from IMM. Dr. Guo has also been active in community services and is a co-founder and the first Chairman of Board of SABPA.

Yun He , Ph.D., Associate Director, Medicinal Chemistry, Genomics Institute of Novartis Research Foundation

Dr. Yun He has over ten years of experience in small molecule drug discovery. Dr. He joined the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF, www.gnf.org ) in 2002 as an Associate Director of Medicinal Chemistry. He was responsible for the initial setup of the medchem department at GNF, and has managed a number of drug discovery programs related to infectious disease, oncology, inflammation and metabolic disease. From 2000 to 2001, Dr. He served as a Group Leader and Project Leader at ISIS Pharmaceuticals, where he discovered novel, small-molecule antibacterial agents via the proprietary MS-based screening technologies. Prior to ISIS , he worked for Abbott laboratories for four years and was a key contributor to the discovery of three clinical candidates for Alzheimer's Disease and pain. Dr. He received his Ph.D. degree in synthetic organic chemistry from the Scripps Research Institute. He has published over 50 research papers and is an inventor of more than 30 patent and patent applications. He is the president the Sino-American Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Professionals Association (SABPA), San Diego .

Jon Holmlund , MD, Chief Medical Officer, Vice President, Development, Ascenta Therapeutics, Inc.

Dr. Holmlund joined Ascenta ( www.ascentatherapeutics.com ) in April, 2004 and is Chief Medical Officer and Vice President, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs. Prior to Ascenta, Dr. Holmlund was Vice President of Development at Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was in charge of the clinical development organization and responsible for drug development and overall budgetary and portfolio management across all therapeutic areas, including oncology, rheumatology, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, hepatitis, and lipid metabolism. He led the development of five drug candidates in oncology, including one drug that completed Phase III studies. Prior to Isis , Dr. Holmlund was a Senior Investigator in the Cancer Therapy Evaluation and Biological Response Modifiers Programs of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he oversaw translational and clinical development of monoclonal antibodies, cytokines, cancer vaccines, and other biologic strategies to treat cancer. He also was a clinical investigator on a number of intramural NCI trials during his tenure there. Dr. Holmlund received his M.D. degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo , and completed his training in internal medicine and hematology/oncology at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington , D.C.

Stephen W. Kaldor, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer, Takeda San Diego, Inc.

Stephen W. Kaldor is the President and Chief Scientific Officer of Takeda San Diego, Inc. ( www.takedasd.com ) , the US Discovery Research Center for Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Takeda San Diego is an IND engine for Takeda, and also employs its technology platform to support Takeda's global structural biology needs. In addition, the site is actively involved in continuing to expand Takeda's US presence through in-licensing and related business development activities. Dr. Kaldor instigated and led the March 2005 $270MM acquisition of Syrrx by Takeda that resulted in the creation of Takeda San Diego, Inc. This was the first acquisition in the greater than 200 year history of Takeda.

Dr. Kaldor joined Syrrx, a privately held structure-based drug discovery company, in 2002 as Chief Scientific Officer. He was promoted to the Syrrx Board of Directors as President and CSO in 2003, and ran all aspects of the company for two years prior to its acquisition by Takeda. Dr. Kaldor was instrumental in establishing strategic partnerships with multiple companies including PPD and Roche, and also built Syrrx into a highly productive R&D operation which produced four small molecule clinical candidates in less than three years. Syrrx proceeded from gene to Phase II start on its first drug discovery program in less than 37 months, one of the fastest rates ever demonstrated for accomplishing this goal.

Prior to joining Syrrx, Dr. Kaldor gained over 12 years of drug discovery and development experience at Eli Lilly and Company. He received his formal education at Harvard University (Ph.D., organic chemistry, 1989) and Columbia University (B.A., chemistry, 1984). Dr. Kaldor is the co-inventor of multiple compounds that have advanced into the clinic including Viracept TM , a marketed HIV protease inhibitor, and is the recipient of various honors including the 1999 PhRMA Discoverer's Award for the invention of Viracept TM .

Paul W. Maffuid , Ph.D., Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Dr. Maffuid has served as our Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development since November 2002 ( www.arenapharm.com ). He previously served as our Director of Pharmaceutical Development from November 2001 to November 2002. From May 1999 to November 2001, Dr. Maffuid served as Executive Director in Pharmaceutical Development at Magellan Laboratories, Inc., a pharmaceutical development company. From 1994 to 1999, Dr. Maffuid served in various positions at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, including as Senior Director Pharmaceutical Development. From 1990 to 1994, Dr. Maffuid served in various positions at Glaxo Research Institute, a pharmaceutical company, including as Group Leader in Analytical Chemistry. Dr. Maffuid holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California , San Diego .

John V. Oyler, MBA, Chief Executive Officer & President, BioDuro, Inc.

John ( www.bioduro.com ) is a serial entrepreneur with a track record of success who has started and managed numerous companies and raised over $US225 million in capital. During his career, Mr. Oyler has been responsible for a wide array of activities including: organization building, partnering with multi-national companies, instigating clinical trials at Sloan Kettering, Sidney Kimmel, and Mass General, licensing and managing intellectual property, building software-database-statistical capabilities to handle extremely large-scale data, and most importantly building highly functional, world-class organizations. In the biotech field John started (or re-started, in the case of Genta) 4 companies: Galenea (private) , Genta (Nasdaq – GNTA; co-CEO), Walden Laboratories (merged into Indeveus –IDEV, VP of Operations), Oasis Biosciences (sold to Genprobe -GPRO). Outside of the biotech field John has been involved in starting 4 companies: Telephia (private, profitable, growing; founder and manager), Verdisoft (sold with attractive returns to Yahoo, General Manager).  RTI (Founder and manager). In addition, Mr. Oyler was involved for several years in performance improvement and strategic growth initiatives at McKinsey & Co., the international consulting firm where he spent 1992-3 working in China .

Alan Paau , MBA, Ph.D., Assistant Vice Chancellor, University of California , San Diego

Prior to UCSD ( invent.ucsd.edu ), Dr. Alan Paau was Executive Director of the Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc. and Director of Intellectual Property & Technology Transfer at Iowa State University ( Ames , IA ). Previously, he was Associate Director of the Biotechnology Center at the Ohio State University ( Columbus , OH ) with responsibilities in research administration, technology management, and industry liaison. Dr. Paau held faculty appointments while at Iowa State University in the departments of Preventive Medicine, Immunology & Microbiology, and Genetics & Zoology, and at the Ohio State University in the departments of Microbiology, and Plant Pathology. Before returning to the academic environment, Dr. Paau held various research and management positions in the Cetus Corporation and the W.R. Grace & Co. organization for over 10 years. Dr. Paau holds a Ph.D. degree in Biological Sciences and a Master of Business Administration degree. He is the inventor to 8 US patents and has contributed thirty peer-reviewed research articles to scientific journals and six invited reviews/chapters to technical books. As a director of intellectual property and a licensing executive, he supervised the execution of over 500 licenses and option agreements and the formation of over 30 startup companies using university innovations.

James M. Schaeffer, Ph.D., Executive Director, Worldwide Licensing and External Research, Merck Research Labs

Dr. Jim Schaeffer joined Merck Research Laboratories in 1986. During his first 16 years at MRL, he directed research groups focusing primarily on neuroendocrine-related projects. Jim joined the Department of External Scientific Affairs in 2003 with primary responsibility for all neuroscience licensing opportunities and during the next 18 months, he was directly involved in the signing of four major agreements including one with Lundbeck for co-development of gaboxadol for the treatment of sleeping disorders. Jim recently moved to San Diego to assume the role of Merck's “Ambassador” on the West Coast with the responsibility to identify new opportunities across all therapeutic areas.

Dr. Schaeffer received his PhD at Baylor College of Medicine and was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr Julius Axelrod at the National Institute of Mental Health. He is the author of more than 110 articles in peer reviewed journals.

Ms. Alice Wei , Vice-President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality, Favrille, Inc.

Ms. Wei has more than 18 years of biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry experience focused in regulatory affairs and quality assurance arenas before joining Favrille, Inc. ( www.favrille.com )) in October 2002. Her involvement in the bio-pharmaceutical arena has included development of products in a variety of therapeutic areas (oncology, anti-inflammatory and immunologic disease, medical imaging/radiopharmaceuticals, anti-viral and anti-infective agents, dermatology, anesthetics/analgesics, and neuropharmacology) as well as managing a variety of product types (i.e., injectable, orals, and topicals), and developing the infrastructure for several regulatory affairs units. She was employed at IDEC Pharmaceuticals from 1993-2002, most recently as Department Head/Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs. While at IDEC, Ms. Wei led the company's successful efforts for FDA approval of Rituxan® and Zevalin®. Rituxan® was the first monoclonal antibody approved for oncology and Zevalin® is a "first in class product" - radioimmunotherapy. The Rituxan® clinical development program and registration strategy culminated in a BLA that was approved by FDA in only 9 months. In addition, she was instrumental in the company's receipt of FDA approval for a Rituxan® supplemental BLA that expanded the label for two additional patient populations and a new dosing schedule. She played a prominent and lead role in obtaining FDA licensing for IDEC's manufacturing facilities and the development of new FDA initiatives for oncology products and electronic filing standards. Zevalin® was the first radioimmunotherapy approved and today, remains the only therapy of its kind approved anywhere in the world. Ms. Wei also contributed to the organizational development of the clinical research and regulatory affairs division and participated in the company's growth from around 60 people in 1993 to a corporation of around 1000 staff in 2002.

Mang Yu , Ph.D., President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NexBio Inc.

Dr. Yu is a serial scientist entrepreneur, and has a track record of successful biotech start-ups. He is a semifinalist of the 20th San Diego E&Y "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 2006. His present company, NexBio ( www.nexbio.com), was awarded the “Scientific American 50” in 2005 for its innovative influenza medicine. Prior to founding NexBio, Dr. Yu was a co-founder & Executive Vice President of Perlan Therapeutics, a biopharmaceuticalcompany focusing on the development of treatments for the common cold. While at Perlan, Dr. Yu successfully raised multiple rounds of venture capital that supported the company's development of ColdSol(TM). Under his leadership, ColdSol(TM) won the Most Innovative New Product (MIP) Award in 2002. Prior to Perlan, Dr. Yu was a scientific co-founder of Immusol, Inc. where he served as Director of HIV Gene Therapy, and later as Director of Target Discovery & Gene Therapy (for HIV, HBV, & HCV). While at Immusol, Dr. Yu was responsible for a corporate partnership with Pfizer on an anti-HIV drug, MY-2. Before his immigration to the US in 1985, Dr. Yu was an Assistant Professor at Shanghai Medical University . He is a frequent guest speaker on bio-entrepreneurship for an MBA class at San Diego State University . Dr. Yu has published his scientific work extensively and holds numerous patents on anti-viral products. He has been awarded many grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Yu holds a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from the Indiana University School of Medicine, and completed his post-doctoral training at the University of California , San Diego with a world-renowned molecular virologist, Dr. Flossie Wong-Staal.