Executive Officers

Thong Q. Le, 45
Chief Executive Officer, President and Director

He has served as Senior Managing Director and CEO of Accelerator Life Science Partners since September 2013. Mr. Le has over 20 years of experience identifying, investing in, managing, and successfully exiting numerous seed and early-stage investments in the biotechnology sector. He served as CEO and director of numerous Accelerator Life Science Partners portfolio companies, including Petra Pharma (acquired by global pharmaceutical company), Rodeo Therapeutics (acquired by Amgen), and Lodo Therapeutics (acquired by Zymergen). Prior to joining Accelerator Life Science Partners, Mr. Le served as a Managing Director at WRF Capital, the venture capital investment arm of Washington Research Foundation where he played a significant role in the early sourcing, financing, and development of numerous life science companies, including Alder Biopharmaceuticals (acquired by H. Lundbeck A/S), Corus Pharma (acquired by Gilead Sciences), Halosource, Hyperion Therapeutics (acquired by Horizon Pharma plc), Lumera, Pathway Medical Technologies (acquired by MEDRAD), and VLST (asset acquisition by global pharmaceutical company). Prior to joining WRF Capital, Mr. Le was the founder, President and CEO of MiniMeals, Inc. and a consultant for Capital Management Consulting, Inc. Earlier, he was at Raymond James & Associates, Singer & Xenos Investment Management Company and Capital Management Group LLC, a private investment firm specializing in biomedical ventures. Mr. Le completed post-graduate studies at the Templeton College of Oxford University and received his A.B. cum laude in Government from Harvard University.

Ian A.W. Howes, 63
Chief Financial Officer and Director

 He has served as Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of Accelerator Life Science Partners since October 2017. He has over 20 years of experience in senior financial roles developing early-stage life sciences companies. During his career, he has completed numerous rounds of private and public equity and debt transactions, including two initial public offerings. He also has successfully managed multiple M&A transactions for companies where he served as CFO, including the sale of Scioderm to Amicus Therapeutics in 2015 and the sale of Serenex to Pfizer in 2008. Prior to Accelerator Life Science Partners, Mr. Howes served as CFO of Heart Metabolics, a venture capital backed biopharmaceutical company developing drugs for cardiovascular diseases. Prior to that he served as CFO of Scioderm, a pediatric orphan disease company. Prior to that, Mr. Howes served as CFO for Akebia Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing pharmaceutical drugs for anemia and ophthalmology. Before Akebia, Mr. Howes served as CFO and Senior VP of Corporate Development of Serenex, an integrated discovery and development-stage oncology company. Prior to Serenex, Mr. Howes served as CFO and VP Operations at Paradigm Genetics. Mr. Howes began his professional career with Coopers & Lybrand in London. He was certified as a Chartered Accountant in the U.K. and received his MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his B.S. in Accounting and Finance from the University of Warwick.

Kendall M. Mohler, Ph.D., 65
Chief Development Officer

He has served as Managing Director and Chief Development Officer of Accelerator Life Sciences Partners since October 2017. Previously, Dr. Mohler served as Senior Vice President of Research at Juno Therapeutics Inc. Before that, he served as Chief Scientific Officer of Juno Therapeutics Inc. and ZetaRx Biosciences, Inc., a predecessor company acquired by Juno Therapeutics. Before Juno Therapeutics, Dr. Mohler co-founded Trubion Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel protein therapeutics to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and cancer. At Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Mohler served as the Company’s Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President. Prior to Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Mohler served as Vice President of Biological Sciences of Immunex, where he led research and development activities in the areas of transplantation, autoimmunity, and inflammation, and where he served as the scientific leader for the development of Enbrel (etanercept). Dr. Mohler received his Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Texas Health Science Center and his B.S. from the University of Kansas.

Andras T. Forgacs, 45
Chief Operating Officer

He has served as an operating partner of Accelerator Life Science Partners since September 2021. From 2011 to 2021, Mr. Forgacs served as Co-founder, President and CEO of Modern Meadow, a privately held biotechnology company developing novel biomaterials that support sustainability while balancing performance, aesthetics, and accessibility. He is also a co-founder of Fork & Goode, a cellular agriculture company developing cultivated meat products (where he serves as board Chairman) and Organovo, a medical laboratory and research company that designs and develops functional, three-dimensional human tissue for medical research and therapeutic applications. Prior to Modern Meadow, Mr. Forgacs served as a Managing Director of Richmond Global Ventures, a venture capital fund investing in disruptive technologies globally to identify and nurture high-impact entrepreneurs. Prior to his time at Richmond Global Ventures, Mr. Forgacs worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company, where he advised numerous international pharmaceutical companies, academic medical centers and private equity groups on R&D strategy and various aspects of technology commercialization. Prior to McKinsey & Company, Mr. Forgacs worked as an investment banker, where he co-founded the CitiVision e-Commerce Group within Citigroup. Mr. Forgacs received his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his A.B. cum laude in Government from Harvard University.

Kevin T. Chow, Ph.D., 51
Chief Business Officer

He has served as an operating partner of Accelerator Life Sciences Partners since September 2020 and concurrently serves as President of Incisive Genetics. Dr. Chow was most recently Co-founder, President and CEO of Vitaeris, a privately held biotechnology company conducting a multinational Phase 3 study in kidney transplant rejection (acquired by CSL Behring). Prior to co-founding Vitaeris in early 2016, Dr. Chow served as Head of Business Development at Alder Biopharmaceuticals, where he led partnering efforts for Alder’s monoclonal antibody pipeline. Previously, Dr. Chow led pulmonary in-licensing at Gilead Sciences and helped manage the integration of Corus Pharma after its acquisition by Gilead in 2006. Prior to Gilead, Dr. Chow served as Director of Business Development for Corus Pharma, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on cystic fibrosis and asthma drug development. From 2000-2003 Dr. Chow served in various business development roles with Diversa. Dr. Chow received his B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia.

Board of Directors

Bruce L.A. Carter, Ph.D., 78
Chairman of the Board of Directors

He has been a senior advisor to Accelerator Life Sciences Partners since October 2016. Prior to his role at Accelerator Life Science Partners, Dr. Carter was the Chairman of the Board and former Chief Executive Officer of ZymoGenetics Inc., USA. He has also served as the Corporate Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer for Novo Nordisk A/S, the former parent company of ZymoGenetics. From 1982 to 1986, Dr. Carter held various positions of increasing responsibility at G.D. Searle & Co., Limited, including Head of Molecular Genetics. He was a lecturer at Trinity College, University of Dublin, from 1975 to 1982. Dr. Carter holds directorship in Enanta Pharmaceutical, Mirati Therapeutics, Accelerator IV-Seattle Corporation, TB Alliance, Aurigene Discovery Technologies Limited (India), and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (U.S.). Dr. Carter received his B.S. with Honors in Botany from the University of Nottingham, England and his Ph.D. in Microbiology from Queen Elizabeth College, London University, UK.

Mark W. Hahn, 51
Director Committee Chair

Mr. Hahn is a seasoned pharmaceutical executive who currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Verona Pharma plc since March 1, 2020. Prior to Verona Pharma, Mr. Hahn served as CFO of Dova Pharmaceuticals from January 2018 until the acquisition by Sobi in November 2019 where he led over $100 million in equity and debt financings and was instrumental in the launch of Dova’s first commercial product. Mr. Hahn previously served as the CFO of Cempra from 2010 until it was acquired by Melinta Therapeutics in November 2017. While at Cempra, Mr. Hahn spearheaded all financing activities including the company’s IPO and follow-on offerings raising over $500 million. Prior to joining Cempra, from 2008 to 2009, Mr. Hahn was the CFO for Athenix, a rapidly growing agricultural biotech company prior to its merger with Bayer CropScience. Before taking on operating roles, Mr. Hahn spent twelve years at Ernst & Young where he assisted many software, manufacturing, and consumer product companies. Mr. Hahn received his B.B.A. degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is a Certified Public Accountant in Maryland and North Carolina.

Sundar R. Kodiyalam, 59
Director

Prior to his role at Accelerator Life Science Partners, Mr. Kodiyalam co-founded Vatera Healthcare Partners, a family office venture capital firm focused on healthcare, where he served as its Managing Director for more than 10 years. Prior to his role at Vatera Healthcare Partners, Mr. Kodiyalam served as Senior Vice President of Commercial Development & New Business Ventures at Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which was later acquired by Abbott Laboratories, now Abbvie Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: ABBV). Prior to his role at Kos Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Kodiyalam served as Vice President of Commercial Development at Ortec International, Director of Business Development & Licensing at Schering-Plough Corporation, and in various domestic and international marketing roles at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Mr. Kodiyalam received his B. Pharm in Pharmacy from Madras University (India) and his M.S. in Pharmaceutical Administration from Ohio State University. Mr. Kodiyalam currently serves on several private biotech and nonprofit organization boards.

Stephanie C. Read, 45
Director

Ms. Read has agreed to serve on the board of directors as an independent director upon the closing of this offering and currently serves as Global Vice President, Strategy and Business Development for CSL Limited, where she is responsible for biotechnology company and individual asset M&A, global and regional licensing deals, equity and direct investment opportunities, reporting directly to the CSL executive team. Prior to joining CSL in 2015, Ms. Read served as Executive Director, Corporate Strategy and Ventures at AstraZeneca/MedImmune, where she was responsible for evaluation and execution of AstraZeneca’s first large Limited Partner investments into Corporate Venture funds in the US, UK and EU. Earlier in her career, she held a variety of leadership roles spanning clinical drug development, product strategy and commercial leadership roles with Shire Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda), YMBiosciences (now Gilead Sciences), and MedImmune (now AstraZeneca). She is a named inventor of MYDAYIS and has been involved in ADDERALL XR’s life-cycle management. She is a founding member of the DC/Maryland chapter of Chief, a VC-backed private network supporting women executives in c-suite and board of director roles for private and public companies. Ms. Read received her M.Sc. in Biotechnology from The Johns Hopkins University and her B.Sc. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University.

Eugene W. Yeo, Ph.D., 44
Director

Dr. Yeo is currently a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), a founding member of the Institute for Genomic Medicine, and member of the UCSD Stem Cell Program and Moores Cancer. Dr. Yeo also serves as Co-Director of the Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Graduate Program at UCSD Center. Dr. Yeo is a computational and experimental scientist who has contributed to RNA biology and therapeutics. His primary research interest is in understanding the importance of RNA processing and the roles that RNA binding proteins (RBPs) play in development and disease. Dr. Yeo has authored more than 160 peer-reviewed publications including invited book chapters and review articles in the areas of neurodegeneration, RNA processing, computational biology, and stem cell models; and served as Editor on two books on the biology of RNA binding proteins. Dr. Yeo is also a co-founder of several prominent biotech companies, including Locanabio, Eclipse Bioinnovations, Enzerna and Proteona, and he serves (or had served) on the scientific advisory boards of the Allen Institute of Immunology, Locanabio, Eclipse Bioinnovations, Proteona, Aquinnah, Cell Applications, Tecan, LGC, Sardona Therapeutics, Nooma and Ribometrix. Dr. Yeo received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering and B.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, his Ph.D. in Computational Neuroscience from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his MBA from the UCSD Rady School of Management.

Randall C. Schatzman, Ph.D, 66
Senior Advisors

From 2004 to March 2018, Dr. Schatzman served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Alder BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. From 1999 to 2004, Dr. Schatzman served as Senior Vice President of Discovery Research at Celltech R&D, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Celltech Group plc. From 1995 to 1999, Dr. Schatzman served as Director of Gene Discovery at Mercator Genetics Inc. From 1987 to 1995, Dr. Schatzman served as Section Leader at Roche Bioscience, previously Syntex Corp., a subsidiary of Roche Holdings Ltd. Dr. Schatzman holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Pharmacology from Emory University and a B.S. in Biochemistry from Purdue University.

Philip Yeo Liat Kok, 75
Senior Advisors

Mr. Yeo served in the Singapore Administrative Service from 1970 to 1999. From 1970 to 1985, he served in various appointments in the Ministry of Defense (“MINDEF”), including Permanent Secretary for logistics, defense research & development and defense industries (1979 – 1985). Over the years, Mr. Yeo has served on a number of public, private, and academic sector boards. He was Chairman of SPRING (Standards, Productivity and Innovation for Growth), the Singapore Government’s enterprise development agency from 2007 to 2018 (in April 2018, SPRING Singapore merged with International Enterprise Singapore to form Enterprise Singapore). He was the former Chairman for the Agency for Science, Technology & Research (“A*STAR”) from 2001 to 2007 and Chairman of the Economic Development Board (“EDB”) from 1986 to 2001. He was also Senior Adviser for Science & Technology in the Ministry of Trade & Industry and Special Advisor for Economic Development in the Prime Minister’s Office from 2007 to 2008. Mr. Yeo is an independent Director of City Development Limited (Singapore), Kerry Logistics Network Limited (HongKong), Baiterek National Managing Holding JSC (Kazakhstan) and Sunway Berhad (Malaysia). Mr. Yeo obtained a B.A.Sc (Industrial Engineering) in 1970 from the University of Toronto, Canada, a M.S. (Systems Engineering) in 1974 from the then University of Singapore and a Master of Business Administration in 1976 from Harvard University under a Fulbright scholarship. He received honorary Ph.D.s from the University of Toronto, Karolinska Institutet, Imperial College London, National University of Singapore, and Monash University for his many years of work in economic and scientific development for Singapore. Mr. Yeo was conferred the Singapore Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 1974, the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 1982, and the Meritorious Service Medal in 1991 and the Order of Nila Utama (First Class), Singapore’s most prestigious National Day Awards in 2006. In 1994, he was conferred by the Indonesian Government the Bintang Jana Tama (the First Class Order of Service Award) in recognition of his role in fostering good bilateral ties between Indonesia and Singapore. He was conferred the Order National du Merited (National Order of Merit) for his contribution and leadership in enhancing ties between Singapore and France in 1996. In 1998, he was honored by the Belgium Government with the Commander of the Belgium National Order of the Crown for his personal merits in promoting the cooperation between Belgian and Singapore industries and in 1998, the international Society of Design and Process Science honored Mr. Yeo with the K T Li Award of Taiwan for contributing significantly to economic and societal development.