Breakthrough innovation & insight
Brii Biosciences is committed to bringing innovative medicines to China as a way to improve public health. We bring together clinically differentiated assets to meet this challenge, supported by world-class leadership, advisors, partners, and funders.
The pace of innovation has accelerated over the past decade, resulting in dramatically better treatments and cures for life-threatening diseases. Unfortunately, these innovations have not always reached China or the patients in China who need them. Breakthroughs in science and technology, and advances in digital and data capabilities, are poised to disrupt the discovery, development and delivery of medicines. At the same time, the regulatory environment in China has improved significantly. There has never been a better time to take on the challenge of transforming healthcare in the People’s Republic of China and make the latest medicines more accessible to patients.
The Brii Bio leadership team includes industry-leading scientists with a strong track record of discovering and developing novel medicines.
Zhi Hong, Ph.D., is Co-founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to starting Brii Bio, Dr. Hong was Senior Vice President and Head of GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) Infectious Diseases Therapy Area Unit. He was widely credited as the key architect of GSK's comeback and success in HIV & Infectious Diseases medicine discovery and development. Under his leadership, ViiV Healthcare’s (a joint venture between GSK, Pfizer, and Shionogi) HIV business was revitalized with the approval of Tivicay & Triumeq. Dr. Hong was the champion of GSK's effort in long-acting HIV treatment & prevention therapies. He also built GSK's efforts to cure HBV and HIV infections. GSK now has one of the most innovative pipelines against infectious diseases.
Dr. Hong is a public health advocate who has helped establish multiple public-private partnerships with the U.S./E.U. governments (DTRA, BARDA, NIH & IMI) and philanthropic organizations (Gates Foundation & Wellcome Trust). In the last two years, he helped to create GSK's Institute for Infectious Diseases and Public Health in Beijing, China. Dr. Hong started Ardea Biosciences (later acquired by AstraZeneca). He also held leadership positions at Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Schering-Plough Research Institute (now Merck). Dr. Hong has more than 25 years of experience in drug discovery and development and has brought more than 30 compounds into development, including many that have been approved and launched. He has served as a board member of Anacor Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer) and ViiV Healthcare, and also chaired the board of Qura Therapeutics.
Li Yan, M.D., Ph.D., is Chief Medical Officer and has overall responsibility for clinical development, regulatory affairs, medical affairs, drug safety, and other related functions. He is accountable for developing and driving execution of clinical development programs and registrations in China.
Prior to joining the company, Dr. Yan was Vice President and Head Unit Physician of GSK Oncology, where he oversaw global development of oncology assets focusing on immunotherapy, cancer epigenetics, and cell therapy. Prior to his tenure at GSK, he was Executive Director at Merck responsible for clinical development of oncology, respiratory and immunology, infectious diseases, and vaccines in emerging markets.
Dr. Yan started his industry career with Centocor, a Johnson & Johnson company, leading both discovery and clinical development of anti-cancer biologics. He has published over 80 manuscripts and book chapters.
Dr. Yan received his medical degree from Medical College of Peking University and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas Medical Center. He completed his post-graduate training at Beijing Cancer Hospital, Peking University, and Boston Children’s Hospital (Harvard Medical School). He is also an alumnus of the Harvard Business School enterprise executive program. Dr. Yan holds adjunct professorships at Peking University and Yonsei University, and is Managing Director of the US Chinese Anti-Cancer Association.
Lianhong Xu, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President and Head of Medicinal Chemistry. Dr. Xu had an illustrious career at Gilead Sciences where she was a senior director, a co-inventor of several successful antiviral therapies, and led the discovery efforts in many therapeutic areas against HIV, HCV, HBV, and cancers resulting in numerous clinical candidates. In particular, she was the project leader for the pharmacoenhancer project responsible for the discovery of Tybost® (cobicistat), a component of Stribild® and Genvoya®, and she played a key role in the HCV NS5A project that led to the discovery of ledipasvir, a component of Harvoni®. Harvoni® and Genvoya® represent two of the most successful pharmaceutical launches and account for multi-billion dollar sales annually.
Prior to Gilead, Dr. Xu worked at Abbott Laboratories (now AbbVie) in the fields of anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer research. Dr. Xu holds a B.S. in chemistry from Nankai University (PRC) and a Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from Rice University. She has co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications and holds more than 30 issued patents and applications.
Jean-Luc Girardet, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President and Head of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Prior to joining the company, Dr. Girardet served as Vice President, Pharmaceutical and Translational Sciences at Ardea Biosciences, a member of the AstraZeneca Group, where he led the progression of Ardea's internal discovery programs from concept to clinical development, and eventually to approval. He led the CMC teams through all clinical phases, NDA preparation, and the review and FDA approval of Zurampic® and Duzallo®, for which he was also heavily involved in launch preparation. In addition, Dr. Girardet assisted the business development group in the sale of Ardea Biosciences to AstraZeneca, and in the successful licensing of refametinib to Bayer Healthcare. He supervised Ardea's GMP productions during clinical trials of refametinib, lesinurad, and verinurad.
Previously, Dr. Girardet was Senior Director, Discovery Logistics, at Ardea Biosciences where he managed all of Ardea's drug substance GMP production and directed the intellectual property team to secure the company's assets. Earlier in his career, Dr. Girardet held positions of increasing responsibility at Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Ribapharm, and ICN Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Girardet completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the laboratory of Professor Leroy B. Townsend at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and he received a Ph.D. in chemistry and a B.S. in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Montpellier, France. He has co-authored more than 45 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, and is an inventor on more than 30 U.S. patents.
Qing Zhu, Ph.D., is Vice President and Head of Biopharmaceutical Research. Prior to joining the company, Dr. Zhu spent 10 years at MedImmune in the United States, where she served as the Director of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines with a particular focus in the fields of antiviral biologics and novel biotherapeutics. At MedImmune, Dr. Zhu led cross-functional matrix teams to progress antibody candidates from preclinical to clinical studies, and contributed to regulatory submissions (IND/BLA) of several antibody drugs targeting respiratory syncytia virus and influenza.
Earlier in her career, Dr. Zhu held positions of increasing responsibility at Chiron Corporation (later Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics) developing vaccines and a small molecular inhibitor against the hepatitis C virus. Dr. Zhu received her Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from University of Maryland. She completed her post-doctoral training in the virology program at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
Lisa Beck is Vice President of Business Development, with responsibility for transactions, alliance management, and strategy. Ms. Beck has nearly 30 years of pharmaceutical and biotech experience across several therapeutic areas including infectious diseases, metabolic diseases, respiratory, dermatology, and rare diseases. She has leadership experience in business development, portfolio management, corporate strategy, alliance management, project management, and clinical development.
Prior to joining Brii Bio, Ms. Beck served as Executive Director, Transactions and Alliance Management at Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Alexion, she spent 26 years at GSK in roles spanning clinical development to project management, business development, and portfolio management. She has business development transactions experience across multiple therapeutic areas and led and executed well over 50 significant business transactions. Ms. Beck received a B.S. in biology from Vanderbilt University.
Jim Klein is interim Chief Financial Officer with responsibility for finance, treasury, and general administration. Mr. Klein has over 30 years of senior financial leadership experience in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries. He has raised over $400 million as a Chief Financial Officer of various life science companies, including two successful initial public offerings.
Mr. Klein specializes in managing growth to entrepreneurial companies, providing executive financial management, long-range strategic planning, financial reporting, cash and treasury management, and operational management. He is well-versed at working with boards of directors, including compensation and audit committees.
Mr. Klein graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Klein has also attended executive management programs at the London Business School; the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University; and the Kenan-Flagler Business School at The University of North Carolina.
Board of Directors
Brii Bio board members and co-founders are visionary investors, successful businesspersons, and proven pharmaceutical industry leaders.
CEO & Founding Partner, 6 Dimensions Capital
Leon Chen, Ph.D., is Founder and Managing Partner of Frontline BioVentures. In May 2017, Frontline BioVentures (Frontline) and WuXi Healthcare Ventures (WuXi Ventures) merged to form 6 Dimensions Capital, one of the largest healthcare-focused investment groups with unique capabilities and extensive coverage across China and the United States. Dr. Chen then became 6 Dimensions Capital’s CEO. Before founding Frontline BioVentures in 2012, Dr. Chen was a Partner with Fidelity Growth Partners Asia and a Managing Partner with BioVeda China. Since 2005, Dr. Chen has led a number of investments in the life science sector in China including CITIC Pharmaceuticals, Hile Biopharma, Hua Medicine, Innovent Biologics, Adagene, TenNor Therapeutics, MDDF, Coherent Biopharma, Yikon Genomics, Huazhou, Bio Kangtai, and Neusoft Medical.
Dr. Chen has served as a management consultant and a business adviser to pharmaceutical and biotech companies; past affiliations include McKinsey & Company and Ernst & Young, LLP.
Dr. Chen also worked as a research scientist at Schering-Plough in New Jersey. He was a member of the discovery team of “VYTORIN”/”ZETIA” – now a multibillion dollar drug.
He received a B.S. from Peking University, a Ph.D. with top honors from Catholic University of Leuven, and was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Chen holds six issued U.S. patents and co-authored the 14th and 15th Ernst & Young Biotechnology Report.
Zhi Hong, Ph.D., is Co-founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to starting Brii Bio, Dr. Hong was Senior Vice President and Head of GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) Infectious Diseases Therapy Area Unit. He was widely credited as the key architect of GSK's comeback and success in HIV & Infectious Diseases medicine discovery and development. Under his leadership, ViiV Healthcare’s (a joint venture between GSK, Pfizer, and Shionogi) HIV business was revitalized with the approval of Tivicay & Triumeq. Dr. Hong was the champion of GSK's effort in long-acting HIV treatment & prevention therapies. He also built GSK's efforts to cure HBV and HIV infections. GSK now has one of the most innovative pipelines against infectious diseases.
Dr. Hong is a public health advocate who has helped establish multiple public-private partnerships with the U.S./E.U. governments (DTRA, BARDA, NIH & IMI) and philanthropic organizations (Gates Foundation & Wellcome Trust). In the last two years, he helped to create GSK's Institute for Infectious Diseases and Public Health in Beijing, China. Dr. Hong started Ardea Biosciences (later acquired by AstraZeneca). He also held leadership positions at Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Schering-Plough Research Institute (now Merck). Dr. Hong has more than 25 years of experience in drug discovery and development and has brought more than 30 compounds into development, including many that have been approved and launched. He has served as a board member of Anacor Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer) and ViiV Healthcare, and also chaired the board of Qura Therapeutics.
Co-founder and Managing Director, ARCH Venture Partners
Robert Nelsen is a Co-founder and Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners. He joined ARCH at its founding and played a significant role in the early sourcing, financing, and development of more than 30 companies, including 12 which have reached valuations exceeding $1 billion. His seed and early-stage investments include Illumina (ILMN); Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY); Juno Therapeutics (acquired by Celgene); Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO); Sage Therapeutics (SAGE); Ikaria (acquired by Madison Dearborn); Kythera Biopharmaceuticals (KYTH); Aviron (AVIR, acquired by Medimmune-MEDI); Sapphire Energy; NetBot (acquired by Excite-ATHM); R2 Technology (acquired by Hologic-HOLX); XenoPort (XNPT); Caliper Life Sciences (CALP, acquired by PerkinElmer); Bluebird Bio (BLUE); Trubion Pharmaceuticals (TRBN, acquired by Emergent BioSolutions-EBS); Adolor (ADLR, acquired by Cubist-CBST); deCODE Genetics (acquired by Amgen-AMGN); Array BioPharma (ARRY); Nanosys; GenVec (GNVC); IDUN Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer- PFE); Genomica (GNOM, acquired by Exelixis-EXEL); Classmates.com (acquired by United Online-UNTD); Nura (acquired by Omeros-OMER); Receptos (RCPT); Kilimanjaro Energy; Hua Medicine; VLST; Ensemble Therapeutics; Accelerator; Theraclone Sciences; Fate Therapeutics (FATE); NextCODE Health; Bellerophon Therapeutics; Syros Pharmaceuticals; and Everyday Learning Corporation (acquired by Tribune Corp.-TRIB.)
Mr. Nelsen is a director of Agios Pharmaceuticals, Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Sapphire Energy, Sage Therapeutics, Ensemble Therapeutics, Syros Pharmaceuticals, NextCODE Health, and serves as Chairman of Hua Medicine. He previously served as a trustee of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, the Institute for Systems Biology, and as a director of the National Venture Capital Association. Mr. Nelsen holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.S. from the University of Puget Sound with majors in economics and biology.
CEO of Vir Biotechnology
George A. Scangos, Ph.D., is the CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Vir Biotechnology. Previously, he was the CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Biogen since July 2010. From 1996 to July 2010, Dr. Scangos served as the President and CEO of Exelixis, Inc., a drug discovery and development company, where he continues to serve on the board. From 1993 to 1996, Dr. Scangos served as President of Bayer Biotechnology, where he was responsible for research, business development, process development, manufacturing, engineering, and quality assurance of Bayer’s biological products. Before joining Bayer in 1987, Dr. Scangos was a professor of biology at Johns Hopkins University, where he is still an adjunct professor. Dr. Scangos served as non-executive Chairman of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, from 2005 to July 2010 and was a director of the company from 2003 to July 2010. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Agilent, Exelixis, and Decibel Therapeutics.
Dr. Scangos served as the Chair of PhRMA from March 2016 to January 2017. He also served as the chair of the California Healthcare Institute in 2010 and was a member of the board of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development until 2010. He is a member of the boards of trustees of the Boston Museum of Science and the Biomedical Science Careers Program, and a member of the National Board of Visitors of the University of California, Davis School of Medicine.
Founding and Managing Partner, Sequoia China
Neil Shen is the Founding and Managing Partner of Sequoia China. He is also Co-founder of Ctrip.com (NASDAQ: CTRP) and Homeinns Hotel Group (NASDAQ: HMIN).
Mr. Shen is a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and also serves on a number of philanthropic, public sector, and industry associations, including as Chairman of Yale Center Beijing Executive Council, Director of Yabuli China Entrepreneur Forum (CEF), Vice Chairman of the VC Funds Committee of Asset Management Association of China, Member of the Chief Executive's Council of Advisors on Innovation and Strategic Development, Member of Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council, Trustee of the Brookings Institution, Trustee of the Asia Society, Council Member of Future Forum, and Trustee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Mr. Shen has been the highest-ranking Chinese investor on the Forbes Midas List from 2012 to 2018, and ascended to the top of the list in 2018. In 2017, he was also named one of the "100 Greatest Living Business Minds" by Forbes. He received his Master's degree from Yale University and Bachelor's degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Co-founder and Managing Partner, Boyu Capital
Sean Tong is Co-founder and Managing Partner of Boyu Capital, and currently serves on the board of a number of publicly listed and privately held companies. Prior to Boyu, he was a Managing Director and Head of Greater China at General Atlantic, LLC and Providence Equity Partners. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University.
Co-founder and Chairman, Yunfeng Capital
David Yu is the Co-founder and Chairman of Yunfeng Capital. In 2010, Mr. Yu started Yunfeng Capital, together with Jack Ma (Yun), Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, and a group of successful entrepreneurs and influential industry leaders. Before that, from 2006 to 2008, Mr. Yu was the Co-chairman and President of Focus Media Holdings (NASDAQ: FMCN). In 2003, Mr. Yu started the Shanghai Target Media Co., LTD as the Founder and CEO.
Mr. Yu holds an M.A. in philosophy from Fudan University and an Executive M.B.A. from China Europe International Business School.
Strategic Advisors
Brii Bio’s strategic advisors are leading scientists, clinicians or industry veterans who have played key roles in shaping our basic research, medical, and industry communities.
CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
John Maraganore, Ph.D., has served as CEO and Director of Alnylam since 2002. Prior to Alnylam, Dr. Maraganore served as an officer and a member of the management team for Millennium Pharmaceuticals. As Senior Vice President, Strategic Product Development for Millennium, he was responsible for the company’s product franchises in oncology and cardiovascular, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases.
Dr. Maraganore was previously Vice President, Strategic Planning and M&A and, prior to that, he was General Manager of Millennium BioTherapeutics, Inc., a former subsidiary of Millennium. Before Millennium, he served as Director of Molecular Biology and Director of Market and Business Development at Biogen, Inc. At Biogen, Dr. Maraganore invented and led the discovery and development of ANGIOMAX® (bivalirudin) for injection, formerly HIRULOGTM and currently marketed by The Medicines Company. Prior to Biogen, Dr. Maraganore was a scientist at ZymoGenetics, Inc., and the Upjohn Company.
Dr. Maraganore received his M.S. and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Chicago. He is the Chair of the Board for Agios Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Maraganore is Chair of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Board and is a member of the BIO Executive Committee.
Former Chairman of Global Research and Development and Chairman of Vaccines division at GSK
Moncef Slaoui, Ph.D., specializes in the research and development of vaccines and pharmaceuticals. In 2016, he was recognized as one of Fortune's "50 Greatest World Leaders" for his work in under-researched diseases common in the developing world.
Dr. Slaoui's career at GSK spanned 29 years, where he sat on its board of directors from May 2006 through March 2017. He was Chairman of Global Research and Development (R&D) from 2006 to 2014, where he led an overhaul of the company's pharmaceutical R&D and was also responsible for commercial pursuits such as new product launches and lifecycle management. Dr. Slaoui was also Chairman of GSK's vaccine division from 2009 until his retirement from the company in June 2017.
Early in his career, he was instrumental in the development of the vaccines Rotarix®, to prevent infantile rotavirus gastroenteritis; Synflorix®, to prevent pneumococcal disease; Cervarix®, to prevent cervical cancer; Mosquirix, to prevent Plasmodium Malaria disease; and Shingrix, to prevent Shingles.
After his retirement from GSK, Dr. Slaoui joined Medicxi Life Sciences as a partner. He also took on a number of independent board positions, including chairman of the board of Galvani, a bioelectronics-focused company jointly owned by GSK and Verily life sciences, and independent board director of Moderna, Sutrovax and Artizan Biotechnology.
Dr. Slaoui earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology and immunology from the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, completed postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, and was a Professor of Immunology at the University of Mons, Belgium.
Scientific Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center
David D. Ho, M.D., is the founding Scientific Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center. He is also the Irene Diamond Professor at The Rockefeller University.
Dr. Ho received his degrees from California Institute of Technology (1974) and Harvard Medical School (1978). Subsequently, he did his clinical training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center/UCLA School of Medicine (1978-1982) and Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School (1982-1985), respectively.
Dr. Ho has been at the forefront of AIDS research for 36 years, publishing over 400 papers. Beginning in 1994, his work unveiled the dynamic nature of HIV replication in vivo and significantly contributed to our understanding of the disease. This knowledge led Dr. Ho to champion combination antiretroviral therapy, which resulted in dramatically improved control of HIV in patients.
Dr. Ho’s research team devotes considerable efforts to developing HIV vaccines, as well as antibody-based strategies and long-acting antiretroviral drugs to prevent the spread of the AIDS epidemic.
Dr. Ho has received numerous honors and awards. He is the recipient of 13 honorary doctorates and accolades including the Ernst Jung Prize in Medicine, Mayor’s Award (New York City) for Excellence in Science & Technology, the Squibb Award, and the Hoechst Marion Roussel Award. Dr. Ho has been elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Academia Sinica (Republic of China), Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the U.S. National Academy of Medicine. He was also inducted into the California Hall of Fame. Recently, Dr. Ho was recognized by the Kingdom of Thailand with the Prince Mahidol Award in Medicine, and given the Distinguished Alumni Award by CalTech.
Dr. Ho was a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University and a board member of the MIT Corporation. He is currently a member of the board of trustees of the California Institute of Technology.
Dr. Ho was named Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1996, and in 2001 received the Presidential Citizens Medal from United States President Bill Clinton.
Former President of Global Research and Early Development at Celgene Corporation
Thomas Daniel, M.D., was President, Global Research and Early Development at Celgene Corporation over the last decade, as the company emerged as a leader in defining new mechanisms for drug action, established industry leading collaborative networks, and advanced and commercialized innovative medicines in oncology and inflammatory diseases. Dr. Daniel previously served as Chief Scientific Officer and Director of AmbRx, as Vice President of Research at Amgen, and as Senior Vice President of Discovery Research at Immunex Corporation.
Dr. Daniel is currently chairman at Vividion Therapeutics, a director at VIR Biotechnology, Magenta Therapeutics, ImmunsanT and Zafgen. He is a trustee of Reed College, and serves on the board of the Alliance for Lupus Research, on the Biomedical Science Advisory Board of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and is a senior advisor to BlackThorn Therapeutics. A nephrologist and former academic investigator, Dr. Daniel was previously C.M. Hakim Professor of Medicine and Cell Biology at Vanderbilt. He earned his medical degree from the University of Texas, Southwestern, trained in molecular genetics at UTSW, and completed a medical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Professor and Dean, School of Medicine at Tsinghua University, Beijing
Chen Dong, Ph.D., is Professor and Director of the Institute for Immunology and also Dean of the School of Medicine at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Dr. Dong served as a Professor of Immunology and the Director of the Center for Inflammation and Cancer at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center before his move to Tsinghua University. Dr. Dong’s research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate immune and inflammatory responses, and to apply this knowledge to the understanding and treatment of autoimmunity and allergy disorders, as well as cancer. The work from Dr. Dong’s group has led to the discoveries of Th17 and T follicular helper (Tfh) cell subsets in the immune system and elucidation of their biological and pathological functions.
Dr. Dong has over 200 publications and was rated a “highly cited researcher” from 2014 to 2017. The honors he has received include the 2009 American Association of Immunologists BD Bioscience Investigator Award and his election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2011.
General Partner at Hatteras Venture Partners
Clay B. Thorp is an entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. Since 1995, he has co-founded eight companies in the life science arena and co-founded Hatteras Venture Partners in 2000. Since co-founding Hatteras, Mr. Thorp has been instrumental in building the firm from its origins with a $3 million seed fund to a venture capital partnership that manages over $450 million across five venture funds. He has led investments in a range of life science companies, including biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, and research informatics.
Mr. Thorp began his career in 1995 when he co-founded Xanthon, Inc., a bioinformatics company with electro-chemical detection technology for direct analysis of DNA, RNA, and proteins. Shortly thereafter, he co-founded Novalon Pharmaceutical Corporation, where he led financing efforts and was head of business development from inception until Novalon’s sale to Karo Bio for $106.7 million in May of 2000.
Mr. Thorp has led investments and numerous strategic transaction processes in a variety of portfolio companies, including G1 Therapeutics, Clearside Biomedical, Lysosomal Therapeutics, Asthmatx, PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, ArtusLabs, Embrella, and Synthematix.
Mr. Thorp currently serves as Executive Chairman of PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals and Chairman of GeneCentric Diagnostics. He is also on the boards of Clearside Biomedical (NASDAQ: CLSD), Rodin Therapeutics, Lysosomal Therapeutics, StrideBio, and Orig3n. He serves on the Chancellor’s Philanthropic Committee and the Board of Visitors of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and on the board of the NC School of Science and Mathematics Foundation.
Mr. Thorp holds a Masters of Public Policy from Harvard University and a B.A. in mathematics and art history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Investors
Brii Bio is backed by world-class life science investors, including ARCH Venture Partners, 6 Dimensions Capital, and Boyu Capital with syndication of several additional funds including Yunfeng Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Bluepool Capital.
