Announcing 2024 CABS K. Fong Award in Life Sciences

Date: September 7, 2024 @ 8:00 am – @ 8:00 pm
Location: South San Francisco Conference Center

Chinese American Bio/Pharmaceutical Society (CABS) Honors Dr. Zach Sweeney with the 2024 K. Fong Award in Life Sciences

South San Francisco, CA - The Chinese American Bio/Pharmaceutical Society (CABS) proudly announces Dr. Zach Sweeney as the recipient of the prestigious 2024 CABS K. Fong Award in Life Sciences. The award will be presented during the 2024 BioPacific Conference on September 7^th, 2024, at the South San Francisco Conference Center.

Zach Sweeney is an Operating Partner at Versant and leads therapeutic discovery programs at UCSF Quantitative Biosciences Institute. He has broad experience growing and leading successful multifunctional drug discovery groups, including small molecule, biotherapeutic and genetic medicine discovery platforms.

Zach was formerly the CEO and co-founder of Interline Therapeutics, and prior to that was the Chief Scientific Officer at Denali Therapeutics, where he led the growth of the discovery portfolio and research capabilities. Zach was also a leader in the drug discovery groups at Revolution Medicines, Novartis, Genentech and Roche.

More than a dozen molecules that Zach and his teams have developed at these companies have received marketing authorization or progressed into clinical studies, and these potential medicines have been the subject of licensing deals that cumulatively generated more than $1B in upfront payments.

Zach attended Stanford University, where he received a B.S. degree in Chemistry. He subsequently earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed a NIH postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University.

About CABS K. Fong Award in Life Sciences

The CABS K. Fong Award in Life Sciences is an esteemed annual recognition presented to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the fields of life sciences and the biopharmaceutical industry including outstanding scientific findings, recognized efforts in promoting life science education and initiatives in improving life science community, and those who bring therapeutic breakthroughs to the market and improve healthcare and quality of life.

Candidates eligible for this award must be nominated by an active member of CABS. Selection criteria are based on candidate’s accomplishments in life sciences and contribution to the life science community, including one or all of the following:

Proven achievements in therapeutic breakthroughs (including discovery, process, or clinical development), diagnostics or research reagent/equipment markets.
Significant contribution to the promotion of academic and industrial R&D in biomedical sciences and applications.
Significant contribution to the CABS community and promotion of international collaborations in life sciences.

The CABS K. Fong Award in Life Sciences aims to celebrate and honor exceptional individuals whose achievements and commitment have not only expanded the frontiers of life sciences but have also positively impacted global healthcare and well-being.

About Dr. Kenneth Fong

Dr. Kenneth Fong has spent the last 40 years in the biotech industry after completing his academic pursuit in biomedical research.

He is best known for founding the biotech company, Clontech in 1984 which he built into one of the largest biomedical tool companies founded by an Asian American in the US (400 employees including 65 PhD scientists). Clontech was acquired by Becton Dickinson in 1999 and Ken has continued his career as a Venture capitalist with Kenson Ventures that he founded. He has since cultivated 12 highly successful entrepreneurs, advising them and working with them on the growth of their companies.

Currently, he sits on the board of 4 biotech companies and he was intimately involved with the M/A and IPO of more than 15 companies that are worth more than $7 billion. These companies range from research tools, medical diagnostics and drug development. In almost all cases, Dr. Fong has been instrumental in providing strategies for sustainable growth, value creation and liquidity. Those successful entrepreneurs have moved on to assume leadership in other start-up and mid-sized companies, which in turn led to a new generation of entrepreneurs.

Ken has held a number of leadership positions over the years. He served as the President of the Society of Chinese Bioscientists in North America (2006-2007) and President of the Bay Area Asian American Manufacturers' Association (AAMA, 1987). He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the California State University System (2006-2013). His philanthropic interests include scholarships to San Francisco State University, the Kenneth Fong-Hearst endowed scholarships to the CSU system and 40 student scholarships to Peking University. In 2003, he was involved with establishing the Fong Optometry and Medical library at UC Berkeley, and more recently an endowed professorship at Stanford University and a technology translation endowed fund at San Francisco State University.

Ken obtained his PhD from Indiana University and his post-doctoral studies at UCLA & NIH.

Past recipients of CABS K. Fong Awards

2023:Dr. Corey Goodman, Managing Partner at venBio Partners, for outstanding contributions to science, education, entrepreneurship, and venture capital.

2022: Dr. Scott Liu, Founder and CEO of HanchorBio, for his outstanding and pioneering contribution to the development of multiple biologic products from research to launch.

2021: Dr. John O. Link, Vice President of Gilead Sciences for his work on the drug discovery of Hepatitis C inhibitors and the HIV Capsid Inhibitor; and Dr. Xian-Ping Lu, Chairman, CEO of Shenzhen Chipscreen Biosciences Co. LTD, for their extraordinary achievements in research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

2019: John V. Oyler, Chairman, Co-Found and CEO of BeiGene, for his entrepreneurship and business leadership to establish BeiGene as a world-class biopharmaceutical company.

2018: Dr. Yuling Luo, Founder, CEO and Chairman of Alamar Biosciences (formerly the founder & CEO of Advanced Cell Diagnostics, ACD), and Dr. Guoliang Yu, Executive Chairman of Crown Bioscience, for their successful serial entrepreneurship in the life science business.

2017: Dr.Yinxiang Wang, Co-founder and CSO of Beta Pharma, for his role in leading development and commercialization of Conmana^®, the first small molecule oncology drug specifically targeting cancer cells that was completely developed in China; and Dr. Edgar Engleman, for his pioneering research that was the basis of the Sipuleucel-T (Provenge) prostate cancer vaccine, the first active immunotherapy for cancer to be approved by the FDA.

2016: Dr. Gerald Chan, Co-founder of Morningside, for his extraordinary vision and leadership in cultivating a generation of successful entrepreneurs and life sciences companies.

2015: Dr. Irving Weissman, Professor of Stanford University, for his pioneering work in stem cell research.

2014: Dr. Ge Li, Founder and CEO of Wuxi Apptec, for pioneering and shaping the CRO business model in China; and Dr. Hing L. Sham, formerly of Abbott for his leading role in the discovery of life-saving HIV protease inhibitors, ritonavir and Iopinavir.

2013: Dr. Peter Hirth of Plexxikon & Sugen for his pivotal role in advancing 4 successful drugs to the market; and Dr. Jean Cui, formerly of Pfizer for her role as the lead designer and investigator of crizotinib, a successful kinase inhibiting drug used in personalized medicine.