2023 CABS Investor Forum

Date: January 11, 2023 @ 8:00 am – @ 1:00 pm
Location: Morrison & Foerster LLP, 425 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

Chinese American Bio/Pharmaceutical Society (CABS) is pleased to announce that 2023 CABS Investor Forum will be held on January 11th of 2023 in conjunction with JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. In the post-COVID era, pharmaceutical innovation, medical technology and healthcare continue to be the major areas of licensing and venture capital investment globally. This forum will feature two panel discussions joined by investors, lawyers, business development executives, and entrepreneurs. The topics will focus on the investment trends, licensing and strategic considerations, as well as new opportunities and challenges in life sciences.

This is a hybrid event FREE to both in-person attendees and virtual attendees. 

FOR IN-PERSON ATTENDEES

Kindly note that the registration through this website is for in-person attendees ONLY. If you register, please attend.  There are limited seats at Morrison & Foerster.  Each year many people are on the waiting list of CABS Investor Forum.

Registration and a photo ID are required to enter the venue (there will be a security check). Morrison & Foerster requires everyone entering the office to be fully vaccinated and masks are optional but strongly recommended.

Registration deadline for onsite attendees is 3PM, Jan 5, 2023 (Wednesday, Pacific time). First come, First serve.  We recommend that you register ASAP. 

FOR VIRTUAL ATTENDEES

If you are interested in virtually attending this event, please register via the following link. The registration is also FREE. 

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IQ5TDr49QoSgRMJWkYm1Cg 

[The above link is for VIRTUAL REGISTRATION ONLY]

AGENDA

8:00 AM –9:00 AM Registration, Breakfast and Networking

9:00 AM –9:10 AM  Welcome Remarks by Carrie Wang, President, CABS

9:10 AM –10:10 AM Panel Discussion #1: Trends, Opportunities, and Outlook for Biotech Investment

Moderator: Janet Xiao, Partner, Morrison Foerster

Panelists:  Christian Grøndahl, Co-founder and CEO, SNIPR Biome

Sean Kendall, Partner, ARCH Venture

Jim Krenn, Partner, Morrison Foerster

Arthur Kuan, CEO, CG Oncology

Cheni Kwok, Managing Partner and Founder, Linear Dreams

10:10 AM –10:30 AM Coffee Break

10:30 AM –11:30 AM  Panel Discussion #2: Growing Opportunities and Strategies for Biopharma Companies in a Changing World

Moderator:  Alex J. Zhang, Managing Director, Lifespan BioLabs

Panelists: John Adamou, CBO, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group

Alan Yide Jiang, CSO, XTalPi

Oliver Kong, CMO, IASO BioTherapeutics

Neela Patel, CBO, Bonum Therapeutics

Eugene Jiaxian Wang, Founder and CEO, Help Therapeutics

Michelle Xia, Founder, Chairwoman, President and CEO, Akeso Biopharma

11:30 AM –1:00 PM Lunch and Networking 

Introduction of Moderator and Panelists

Panel #1 

Janet Xiao, PhD, JD, Partner, Head of firm's China Life Sciences Group, Morrison Foerster LLP

Janet Xiao is the head of the firm’s China Life Sciences Group, and is among the very few IP attorneys in the world who are equipped with solid skills in global strategic IP management and knowledge about IP issues unique to China and Chinese clients. She focuses her practice on worldwide patent procurement, patent portfolio management, and strategic planning for life sciences companies with clients ranging from large multinational biopharmaceutical companies. She advises on patent and IP due diligence matters relating to various technologies, including antibody therapeutics, cell therapeutics, nanomedicine, gene therapy, drug delivery systems, diagnostics, and nutraceuticals.

Janet works extensively in performing IP due diligence reviews in the contexts of cross-border VC investments, technology transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and marketing and manufacturing clearance for biopharmaceutical products. She has led hundreds of IP due diligence projects, helping some of the world’s most-sophisticated biopharmaceutical companies and investors assess potential risks and devise preemptive risk-management strategies for their product development and investments. She is noted for her in-depth knowledge of patent landscapes in the fields of cancer immunotherapy, gene editing, next-generation sequencing, liquid biopsy, antibody manufacturing, and medical devices.

Christian Grøndahl, PhD, Co-founder and CEO, SNIPR Biome

Christian Grøndahl received his Doctor of Medical Science, PhD and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees from University of Copenhagen and his MBA from IMD, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Christian worked as a veterinary physician/surgeon and assistant professor before moving to pharma and biotech where he has spent the last 20+ years in R&D, Corporate and Executive roles. 

Before co-founding SNIPR Biome, he served as the CEO of Kymab Ltd. in Cambridge, UK, and was partner in the investment arm of The Wellcome Trust, London, Syncona LLP. Christian has been part of starting several companies. In addition to SNIPR Biome, this includes Freeline Therapeutics, Gyroscope Therapeutics, Quadrucept Bio Ltd., and Folium Food Science. Christian served as Executive Vice President, CSO and Head of R&D in Zealand Pharma and was part of taking the company through an IPO in 2010. Christian served in VP and Corporate VP roles with Novo Nordisk, heading up Cancer and Inflammation, Women’s Health, eClinical Development and Corporate Development and Strategy. Christian is the co-inventor on 20+ patents and patent applications licensed to public and private companies.

Presently, Christian serves as the Co-founder and CEO, SNIPR Biome APS (Copenhagen, Denmark), Co-founder and Chairman, QUADRUCEPT BIO Ltd. (Cambridge, UK), Co-founder and Chairman of the Board, FOLIUM SCIENCES Ltd. (Cambridge, UK), Chairman of the Board in TUBULIS GmbH, (Munich, Germany).

Sean Kendall, Partner, ARCH Venture

Sean Kendall focuses on identifying and evaluating new life science technologies and provides operating assistance to early-stage portfolio companies. He contributed to the formation and funding of Vizgen, AIRNA, Scale Biosciences, and Lightcast Discovery, and supported early efforts for Encodia, Singleron Biotechnologies, and Twist Bioscience (TWST). He is an active board member at Encodia and AIRNA, and sits as a board observer at Vizgen and others, having previously served as an observer at Twist. Mr. Kendall also supports ARCH Strategic Partnerships, where he has encouraged breakthrough innovations in electronics, sustainable materials, energy, and more via corporate partnering and investment.

A chemical engineer and synthetic biologist by training, Mr. Kendall was an early employee with LS9, Inc. (acquired by Genomatica), where he developed an automated experimentation and analysis platform for their synthetic biology platform. He next scaled commercial processes for Cobalt Technologies. Mr. Kendall is a recipient of the President’s Green Chemistry Challenge Award. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University, where he worked with Jim Swartz on cell-free protein synthesis, and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Jim Krenn, JD, Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP 

Jim Krenn has extensive experience representing private and public companies and investors in significant business transactions from formation through liquidity. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financings, and emerging company counseling for clients in a broad range of industries, including biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, artificial intelligence, and agtech. 

Jim advises clients on private and public acquisitions on both the buy-side and sell-side across numerous transaction structures. He also counsels emerging and established life sciences and technology companies in equity financings and general corporate matters, and angel, corporate, and venture capital investors in investments in such companies. He has represented buyers and sellers in acquisitions and divestitures ranging from the low millions to over $1 billion as well as clients in over $2 billion in equity and debt financings ranging from seed rounds to $100 million-plus later-stage rounds.

Arthur Kuan, MS, CEO, CG Oncology

Arthur is Chief Executive Officer on the Board at CG Oncology. Having lost his father to cancer this is personal for him. Arthur was recognized in August 2022 by Business Insider’s 30 People Under 40 Who Are Transforming Healthcare. He was named a 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 featured honoree in healthcare. At Moffitt Cancer Center, Arthur serves on the IP Commercialization Strategy Committee. Arthur is a Founding Member of Ally Bridge Group, a global healthcare-focused investment platform, and played an active role in managing the fund’s portfolio of companies. Previously, Arthur was a member of Themes Investment Partners, a Private Equity fund where he focused on healthcare and biotech investment opportunities. He began his career in an operational role at Dinova Capital, a MedTech incubator fund, focusing on cross-border technology transfer and new company formation. Arthur received his M.S. in Biotechnology from the Johns Hopkins University and his B.A. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Cheni Kwok PhD, CLP, Managing Partner and Founder, Linear Dreams LLC

Dr. Cheni Kwok is a senior biopharmaceutical executive with broad operational expertise who has executed over 200 transactions including M&A, strategic partnerships, licensing, divestitures, spin-offs and project financing. Dr. Kwok is the Managing Partner and Founder of Linear Dreams LLC, a management consultancy for the life sciences industry. The firm’s engagements include a broad range of business and corporate development activities for 66 biopharmaceuticals companies, contract research & non-profit organizations, research institutes and investors in USA, Europe, China, Taiwan, Korea and Singapore.  Prior to founding Linear Dreams, Dr. Kwok served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at Poniard Pharmaceuticals Inc., Director of Business Development at Celera Genomics Inc., Associate Director of Business Development at Exelixis Inc.. and in various research management, technology assessment and alliance management roles at SmithKline Beecham plc (now GlaxoSmithKline plc).  Dr. Kwok received a bachelor's degree with first class honors in biotechnology from Imperial College London, UK, a Ph.D. in human molecular genetics from the University of Cambridge, UK and has earned the Certified Licensing Professional credential. At present, Dr. Kwok is serving on the Board of Directors of the Chinese-American Biopharmaceutical Society.

Panel #2 

Alex J. Zhang, PhD, MBA, Managing Director of Lifespan BioLabs

Dr. Zhang is Managing Director of Lifespan BioLabs, a life science accelerator and investor based in San Francisco Bay Area. He was the Chief Scientific Officer of Hanhai Holdings Group, and the CEO of Hanhai Silicon Valley, Inc., an early-stage investor and cross-border incubator for life sciences and frontier tech startups based in San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to Hanhai, Alex was the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Enverest, LLC., a Silicon Valley based innovation solutions and investment advisory firm, with branch offices in China and Singapore. Prior to founding Enverest, Dr. Zhang spent over four years at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he was responsible for 4 business development deals exceeding $10 M, and played a key role in several billion dollar acquisitions in IVD and MedTech areas. From 2001 to 2009, Dr. Zhang was a Senior Scientist at Tularik Inc. (acquired by Amgen in 2004), where he led drug discovery endeavors in oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases therapeutic areas. Over the past decade, Dr. Zhang has been advising a number of successful biotech, MedTech and digital health startups and VC firms based in Silicon Valley, including establishing and seed-funding of an iPSC cell therapy startup.

Dr. Zhang is a Board Member of the Chinese America BioPharmaceutical Society (CABS), a highly influential association with more than 4000 members and subscribers in the life sciences industry. He served a number of leadership roles in the Executive Council of CABS, including as the President in 2017-18. CABS is the largest and most active Chinese biopharmaceutical association in Northern America. Dr. Zhang was the Chair of the Organization Committee for 2017 BioPacific Conference and 2018 CABS Investor Forum.

Dr. Zhang received MBA degree at Cornell University, PhD in Organic and Analytical Chemistry at Texas A&M University, and BS in Chemistry at Shandong University. During his graduate research, he focused on the design and synthesis of therapeutic peptoids, as well as biological mass spectrometry. His research has led to publication of 17 peer reviewed articles and 4 patents.

John Adamou, MBA, MS, CBO, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group US

John Adamou is Chief Business Officer, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group US. John has leadership responsibility for the strategic partnering and business development activities across various therapeutic areas.  John has over 25 years of business development, strategic transactions, and scientific experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry at CSPC, BeiGene, Boehringer Ingelheim and Medlmmune. John has an established track-record of signed business development deals across a broad array of deal structures in various therapeutic areas in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Earlier in his career John held various research roles at MedImmune, SmithKline Beecham, and Allelix Biopharmaceuticals. John holds BS and MS degrees in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Guelph, Canada, and an MBA.

Yide Alan Jiang, MD, PhD, CSO, XtalPi Inc. 

Dr. Jiang is Chief Strategy Officer, Director of the Board of XtalPi, where he bears primary responsibility for the company’s strategy development including identification of growth opportunities, strategic planning and execution. XtaiPi is a company integrating quantum physics theory, AI and cloud computing positioned to be the next generation industry model for biopharmceutical and material Research & Development.  Dr Jiang joined Xtalpi with over twenty years of scientific and research management experience, most of it gained in positions of increasing responsibility at Genzyme and then Sanofi-Genzyme. Prior to joining XtalPi, he was the director of Asia R&D Strategy of the Sanofi-Genzyme R&D Center and in that capacity, he was responsible for the development of Genzyme Asia/China R&D strategy and led cross-functional R&D external collaborations and projects in Asia. 

Oliver Kong, MD, PhD, CMO and EVP, IASO Biotherapeutics

Dr. Kong joined IASO Biotherapeutics in September 2022, and is currently the company’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President.

Dr. Kong holds a doctor's degree from Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University and a master's degree of Science in Molecular Immunology from University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Dr. Kong has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry in clinical development and medical affairs in various diseases or treatment fields such as oncology, autoimmune diseases and infectious diseases. Before joining IASO Biotherapeutics, he served as the Chief Medical Officer and Corporate Vice President of Qilu Pharmaceuticals, the vice president of Clinical Oncology of Hengrui Therapeutics, the Senior Global Medical Leader of Global Medical Affairs of Novartis Oncology and the Medical Director of US Medical Affairs of Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals.

Neela Patel, PhD, CBO, Bonum Therapeutics

Dr. Neela Patel is a scientist and business development executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience in drug discovery & development, project & portfolio management, and pipeline development. She currently serves as Chief Business Officer at Bonum Therapeutics. Previously, as Chief Business Development Officer at Good Therapeutics she led the acquisition of Good by Roche for an upfront payment of $250M, and in parallel led the spinout of Bonum from Good in 2022. As Executive Director of Corporate Development at Seagen, she played an integral role in deal sourcing and execution of collaborations, licenses, and acquisitions to build the pipeline. Previously, Dr. Patel’s sourcing and diligence work at AbbVie in resulted in more than 25 executed deals. Dr. Patel spent the first 16 years of her career in drug discovery with positions of increasing responsibility, advancing small molecules and biologics from target ID and validation through IND filing at Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Genentech, SUGEN/Pharmacia, and Roche Bioscience. Over the course of her career, she has advised a variety of startup companies on BD and corporate matters.

Dr. Patel completed her post-doctoral training at the DNAX Research Institute after receiving her PhD in Molecular Biology from UCLA. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford with a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Humanities with Honors.

Eugene J. Wang, PhD, CEO, Help Thera-X Limited

Dr. Eugene J. WANG is the CEO of Help Thera-X Limited, which he founded in 2016. A gold medalist at University, Dr. WANG received his research fellowship training in Mount Sinai School of Medicine and worked as a clinical cardiologist at The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University (Jiangsu Province Hospital, ranked in Top 20 in China) after earning his PhD from the University of Hong Kong and MD from Capital Medical University. A research scientist in Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine,

Dr. WANG strongly believes that innovative technology in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) development is essential to solve degenerative problems caused by aging-related intractable diseases. Under Dr. WANG’s leadership, Help Thera-X has grown to become a globally clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of first-in-class iPSC-derived cell therapeutics for heart failure and neurodegenerative diseases. Over the past 6 years, Dr. Wang has led the team to complete world’s First-in-Human trial of induced pluripotent stem cellsbased heart repair, which was reported by Nature in 2020. A serial entrepreneur with a passion for innovative ideas, Dr. WANG is an industrial leader in automatically robotic cell manufacturing system integrated machine learning and data analytics techniques. The multi-scale and high-performing industrial cell production operating to cGMP standards is the first in the world to meet the real-world clinical demand of iPSC-CMs in purity and amount for cell transplantation.

Dr. WANG also spearheads in shaping cardio-regeneration education and policy through his association with several committees in China such as: research fellowship in Science & Technology Institute of National Health Commission of China, Chair PI of China iPSC Model Bank for Intractable Diseases, Executive Director of China Stem Cell Industry Alliance, etc. Dr. WANG has been honored by prestigious awards including State’s Key Project of R&D Plan, National Natural Science Foundation, Leadership of Innovation Award of the Year, and Best Entrepreneur of Jiangsu Province.