Corporate Governance

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Zhi Hong, Ph.D.

Executive Director, Chairman

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Zhi Hong, Ph.D.

Executive Director, Chairman

Dr. Hong co-founded Brii Bio in 2018 and has served as Chief Executive Officer since the company’s inception. 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 anti-HIV, anti-HBV and antibiotics 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, Cabenuva and Apretude. His leadership also led to the discovery and development of gepotidacin (gram negative antibiotic) and bepirovirsen (anti-HBV) to late stage development.

Dr. Hong is a public health advocate who has helped establish multiple public-private partnerships with the U.S./EU governments (DTRA, BARDA, NIH & IMI) and philanthropic organizations (Gates Foundation & Wellcome Trust). He was the champion of GSK's effort in long-acting HIV treatment and prevention therapies, resulting in the first-of-its kind approval of Cabenuva and Apretude. 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 40 compounds into development, including many that have been approved and launched. He has served as a board member of ViiV Healthcare.

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Ankang Li, Ph.D., J.D., CFA

Executive Director

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Ankang Li, Ph.D., J.D., CFA

Executive Director

Dr. Li is accountable for Brii’s corporate finance and accounting, reporting and control, legal, investor relations, corporate communications, operation excellence and strategy development.

Dr. Li has more than 10 years of experience in investment banking, business development, legal transaction and biomedical research. Before joining Brii Bio, he was the CFO of Terns Biopharmaceuticals to develop and deploy financial and corporate strategies and budget. Prior to Terns, Dr. Li was the Executive Director of Healthcare Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs, responsible for Asia ex-Japan investment banking and led many high-profile IPOs for biotechnology and other healthcare clients. Dr. Li also worked in Merck (known as MSD outside of the U.S. and Canada) Asia Pacific Innovation Hub, overseeing business development and licensing transactions in the region. Before that, Dr. Li worked at both Davis Polk and Ropes & Gray, advising clients on capital markets and M&A transactions. His working career started in the Salk Institute as a postdoctoral biomedical researcher.

Dr. Li received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School, a Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Sciences from Baylor College of Medicine, a Master of Science degree in Biological Sciences from the National University of Singapore, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from Fudan University. He is also a chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

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Mr. Robert Taylor Nelsen

Non-executive Director

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Mr. Robert Taylor Nelsen

Non-executive Director

Mr. Robert Taylor Nelsen was appointed as a Director on June 22, 2018 and re-designated as a non-executive Director on March 24, 2021. Since November 2018, February 2019 and February 2019, he has been serving as a director of Brii HK, Brii Shanghai and Brii Beijing, respectively.

Since 1994, Mr. Nelsen has been serving as a co-founder and managing director of ARCH Venture Partners, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology companies, and he has played a significant role in the early sourcing, financing, and development of more than 30 biopharmaceutical companies. In addition, Mr. Nelsen currently holds directorships in multiple biopharmaceutical companies listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange or the Stock Exchange. As a board member, Mr. Nelsen would generally attend board meetings to provide guidance to company strategy and discuss pertinent issues such as fundraising, recruiting, R&D and status of clinical programs. Mr. Nelsen also previously served as a trustee of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Mr. Nelsen obtained his Bachelor of Science with majors in Economics and Biology from the University of Puget Sound in the United States in June 1985 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago in the United States in June 1987.

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Dr. Martin J. Murphy Jr.

Independent Non-executive Director

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Dr. Martin J. Murphy Jr.

Independent Non-executive Director

Dr. Murphy has been serving as the chairman and the chief executive officer of AlphaMed Consulting, Inc., a biomedical consulting company since March 2003. He provides executive consultation on cancer drug development, clinical trial design, key thought leader identification and strategic analysis of big data and artificial intelligence to both corporate executives as well as cancer drug developers.

Dr. Murphy was the founding chief executive officer of CEO Roundtable on Cancer, a non-profit organization that works to develop and implement initiatives that reduce the risk of cancer, from August 2000 to January 2020. He received the Charles A. Sanders Life Sciences Award presented by Life Sciences Consortium and CEO Roundtable on Cancer in November 2019. Dr. Murphy has been the Emeritus Director of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer since January 2021. He has also been a fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology since 2013.

Dr. Murphy was awarded a Master of Science in Biology from New York University in the United States in February 1967, a Ph.D in Biology from New York University in the United States in June 1969 and a Doctor of Medical Science (honoris causa) from Queen’s University of Belfast in the United Kingdom in July 2009.

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Ms. Grace Hui Tang

Independent Non-executive Director

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Ms. Grace Hui Tang

Independent Non-executive Director

Ms. Grace Hui Tang, has been serving as a director and member of audit committee of Textainer Group Holdings Limited, (stock code: TGH) since July 2020. She has been serving as a professor and interviewer of Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management, and she is responsible for teaching graduate accounting program and interviewing MBA candidates since September 2018. Ms. Tang has held several positions in China, Hong Kong and U.S. Silicon Valley offices in PricewaterhouseCoopers, an accounting firm, from March 1990 to June 2020. Her last position therein was partner in the assurance department in China office and she was responsible for overseeing audit work.

Ms. Tang obtained her Bachelor of Science with majors in Accounting from the University of Utah in the United States in June 1982 and a Master of Business from Utah State University in the United States in June 1984. Ms. Tang has been a certified public accountant of the California Board of Accountancy of the United States since December 1993. She has been a certified public accountant of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants since July 1995. She has been a fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants since March 2003.

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Mr. Yiu Wa Alec Tsui

Independent Non-executive Director

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Mr. Yiu Wa Alec Tsui

Independent Non-executive Director

Mr. Yiu Wa Alec Tsui has over 40 years of experience in finance and administration, corporate and strategic planning, information technology and human resources management.

Mr. Tsui has been an independent non-executive director of a number of companies listed on the Stock Exchange, namely, COSCO Shipping International (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. (stock code: 517) since February 2004, Pacific Online Limited (stock code: 543) since November 2007 and Hua Medicine (stock code: 2552) since September 2018. He has also been serving as the independent director of a number of companies listed on NASDAQ Stock Exchange in the United States, namely, ATA Creativity Global (stock code: AACG) since January 2008 and Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (stock code: MLCO) since December 2006. Since August 2000, he has also been an independent non-executive director of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (stock code: 349) and was delisted with effect from December 21, 2010. In addition, Mr. Tsui has been serving as a director to WAG Worldsec Management Consultancy Limited, a consulting company, and he is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the company and the day-to-day management of the company since April 2006. Mr. Tsui also served as independent non-executive directors in various other Hong Kong listed companies previously.

Mr. Tsui was admitted as a member of the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute in November 1998 and became the senior fellow of the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute in September 2014.

Mr. Tsui obtained his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Tennessee in the United States in June 1975 and a Master of Engineering from the University of Tennessee in the United States in August 1976. He also completed the Program for Senior Managers in Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the United States in August 1993.

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Mr. Gregg Huber Alton

Independent Non-executive Director

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Mr. Gregg Huber Alton

Independent Non-executive Director

Mr. Gregg Huber Alton has been serving as a director and member of the audit committee of Novavax, Inc., (stock code: NVAX) since November 2020 and December 2020, respectively. He has been serving as a director, the chair of the corporate governance and nominating committee as well as the audit committee, and member of the compensation committee of Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated, (stock code: CORT) since March 2020. Further, Mr. Alton has been serving as a director, member of the audit committee and the chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee of Enochian Biosciences Inc., a pharmaceuticals company listed on NASDAQ Stock Exchange (stock code: ENOB) since December 2019.

Mr. Alton held several positions in Gilead Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company listed on NASDAQ Stock Exchange in the United States (stock code: GILD) from October 1999 to January 2020, including general counsel, chief patent officer, interim chief executive officer and senior advisor of Gilead Sciences, Inc., and he was responsible for the company’s government affairs, public affairs, patient outreach and engagement initiatives, and led the company’s international commercial operations and corporate affairs groups. Mr. Alton was an associate at Cooley Godward, LLP, a law firm, between November 1993 to December 1996, and June 1998 to October 1999. He was an associate attorney at Mintz Levin P.C., a law firm, from January 1997 to May 1998.

Mr. Alton obtained his Bachelor of Arts with a major in legal studies from the University of California in Berkeley, the United States in May 1989, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from The Leland Stanford Junior University in the United States in June 1993. Mr. Alton was also admitted as an attorney and counselor at law by the supreme court of the state of California between June 1994 and July 2019.

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Taiyin Yang, Ph.D.

Independent Non-executive Director

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Taiyin Yang, Ph.D.

Independent Non-executive Director

Dr. Yang is the former Executive Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing at Gilead Sciences. She directed operations of process, device and formulation development, manufacturing, packaging, analytical operations, laboratory information systems and data science, quality assurance, regulatory affairs, CMC program management, product distribution, supply chain management and site operations. Under her leadership, Gilead developed the world's first HIV single tablet regimen and advanced numerous compounds from early-stage development to market, reaching millions of people around the world. Prior to joining Gilead in 1993, Dr. Yang worked at Syntex Corporation for more than a decade, where she contributed to the development and commercialization of more than 10 medicines.

In 2022, Dr. Yang was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She is a member of the Expert Scientific Advisory Committee of Medicines for Malaria Venture and the scientific advisory board of Sionna Therapeutics. Dr. Yang also serves on the board of directors of Kodiak Sciences and Kronos Bio.

Dr. Yang holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from National Taiwan University.

Audit and Risk Committee Nomination Committee Remuneration Committee Strategic Committee Executive Directors Non-executive Directors Independent Non-executive Directors

Dr. Zhi Hong

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Dr. Zhi Hong

Executive Director, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Hong co-founded Brii Bio in 2018 and has served as Chief Executive Officer since the company’s inception. 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 anti-HIV, anti-HBV and antibiotics 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, Cabenuva and Apretude. His leadership also led to the discovery and development of gepotidacin (gram negative antibiotic) and bepirovirsen (anti-HBV) to late stage development.

Dr. Hong is a public health advocate who has helped establish multiple public-private partnerships with the U.S./EU governments (DTRA, BARDA, NIH & IMI) and philanthropic organizations (Gates Foundation & Wellcome Trust). He was the champion of GSK's effort in long-acting HIV treatment and prevention therapies, resulting in the first-of-its kind approval of Cabenuva and Apretude. 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 40 compounds into development, including many that have been approved and launched. He has served as a board member of ViiV Healthcare.

Dr. Ankang Li

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Dr. Ankang Li

Executive Director, Chief Strategy and Financial Officer
Chief Executive Officer of TSB Therapeutics

Dr. Li is accountable for Brii’s corporate finance and accounting, reporting and control, legal, investor relations, corporate communications, operation excellence and strategy development.

Dr. Li has more than 10 years of experience in investment banking, business development, legal transaction and biomedical research. Before joining Brii Bio, he was the CFO of Terns Biopharmaceuticals to develop and deploy financial and corporate strategies and budget. Prior to Terns, Dr. Li was the Executive Director of Healthcare Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs, responsible for Asia ex-Japan investment banking and led many high-profile IPOs for biotechnology and other healthcare clients. Dr. Li also worked in Merck (known as MSD outside of the U.S. and Canada) Asia Pacific Innovation Hub, overseeing business development and licensing transactions in the region. Before that, Dr. Li worked at both Davis Polk and Ropes & Gray, advising clients on capital markets and M&A transactions. His working career started in the Salk Institute as a postdoctoral biomedical researcher.

Dr. Li received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School, a Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Sciences from Baylor College of Medicine, a Master of Science degree in Biological Sciences from the National University of Singapore, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from Fudan University. He is also a chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Mr. Robert Taylor Nelsen

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Mr. Robert Taylor Nelsen

Non-executive Director

Mr. Robert Taylor Nelsen was appointed as a Director on June 22, 2018 and re-designated as a non-executive Director on March 24, 2021. Since November 2018, February 2019 and February 2019, he has been serving as a director of Brii HK, Brii Shanghai and Brii Beijing, respectively.

Since 1994, Mr. Nelsen has been serving as a co-founder and managing director of ARCH Venture Partners, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology companies, and he has played a significant role in the early sourcing, financing, and development of more than 30 biopharmaceutical companies. In addition, Mr. Nelsen currently holds directorships in multiple biopharmaceutical companies listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange or the Stock Exchange. As a board member, Mr. Nelsen would generally attend board meetings to provide guidance to company strategy and discuss pertinent issues such as fundraising, recruiting, R&D and status of clinical programs. Mr. Nelsen also previously served as a trustee of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Mr. Nelsen obtained his Bachelor of Science with majors in Economics and Biology from the University of Puget Sound in the United States in June 1985 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago in the United States in June 1987.

Dr. Martin J. Murphy Jr.

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Dr. Martin J. Murphy Jr.

Independent Non-executive Director

Dr. Murphy has been serving as the chairman and the chief executive officer of AlphaMed Consulting, Inc., a biomedical consulting company since March 2003. He provides executive consultation on cancer drug development, clinical trial design, key thought leader identification and strategic analysis of big data and artificial intelligence to both corporate executives as well as cancer drug developers.

Dr. Murphy was the founding chief executive officer of CEO Roundtable on Cancer, a non-profit organization that works to develop and implement initiatives that reduce the risk of cancer, from August 2000 to January 2020. He received the Charles A. Sanders Life Sciences Award presented by Life Sciences Consortium and CEO Roundtable on Cancer in November 2019. Dr. Murphy has been the Emeritus Director of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer since January 2021. He has also been a fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology since 2013.

Dr. Murphy was awarded a Master of Science in Biology from New York University in the United States in February 1967, a Ph.D in Biology from New York University in the United States in June 1969 and a Doctor of Medical Science (honoris causa) from Queen’s University of Belfast in the United Kingdom in July 2009.

Ms. Grace Hui Tang

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Ms. Grace Hui Tang

Independent Non-executive Director

Ms. Grace Hui Tang, has been serving as a director and member of audit committee of Textainer Group Holdings Limited, (stock code: TGH) since July 2020. She has been serving as a professor and interviewer of Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management, and she is responsible for teaching graduate accounting program and interviewing MBA candidates since September 2018. Ms. Tang has held several positions in China, Hong Kong and U.S. Silicon Valley offices in PricewaterhouseCoopers, an accounting firm, from March 1990 to June 2020. Her last position therein was partner in the assurance department in China office and she was responsible for overseeing audit work.

Ms. Tang obtained her Bachelor of Science with majors in Accounting from the University of Utah in the United States in June 1982 and a Master of Business from Utah State University in the United States in June 1984. Ms. Tang has been a certified public accountant of the California Board of Accountancy of the United States since December 1993. She has been a certified public accountant of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants since July 1995. She has been a fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants since March 2003.

Mr. Yiu Wa Alec Tsui

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Mr. Yiu Wa Alec Tsui

Independent Non-executive Director

Mr. Yiu Wa Alec Tsui has over 40 years of experience in finance and administration, corporate and strategic planning, information technology and human resources management.

Mr. Tsui has been an independent non-executive director of a number of companies listed on the Stock Exchange, namely, COSCO Shipping International (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. (stock code: 517) since February 2004, Pacific Online Limited (stock code: 543) since November 2007 and Hua Medicine (stock code: 2552) since September 2018. He has also been serving as the independent director of a number of companies listed on NASDAQ Stock Exchange in the United States, namely, ATA Creativity Global (stock code: AACG) since January 2008 and Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (stock code: MLCO) since December 2006. Since August 2000, he has also been an independent non-executive director of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (stock code: 349) and was delisted with effect from December 21, 2010. In addition, Mr. Tsui has been serving as a director to WAG Worldsec Management Consultancy Limited, a consulting company, and he is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the company and the day-to-day management of the company since April 2006. Mr. Tsui also served as independent non-executive directors in various other Hong Kong listed companies previously.

Mr. Tsui was admitted as a member of the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute in November 1998 and became the senior fellow of the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute in September 2014.

Mr. Tsui obtained his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Tennessee in the United States in June 1975 and a Master of Engineering from the University of Tennessee in the United States in August 1976. He also completed the Program for Senior Managers in Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the United States in August 1993.

Mr. Gregg Huber Alton

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Mr. Gregg Huber Alton

Independent Non-executive Director

Mr. Gregg Huber Alton has been serving as a director and member of the audit committee of Novavax, Inc., (stock code: NVAX) since November 2020 and December 2020, respectively. He has been serving as a director, the chair of the corporate governance and nominating committee as well as the audit committee, and member of the compensation committee of Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated, (stock code: CORT) since March 2020. Further, Mr. Alton has been serving as a director, member of the audit committee and the chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee of Enochian Biosciences Inc., a pharmaceuticals company listed on NASDAQ Stock Exchange (stock code: ENOB) since December 2019.

Mr. Alton held several positions in Gilead Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company listed on NASDAQ Stock Exchange in the United States (stock code: GILD) from October 1999 to January 2020, including general counsel, chief patent officer, interim chief executive officer and senior advisor of Gilead Sciences, Inc., and he was responsible for the company’s government affairs, public affairs, patient outreach and engagement initiatives, and led the company’s international commercial operations and corporate affairs groups. Mr. Alton was an associate at Cooley Godward, LLP, a law firm, between November 1993 to December 1996, and June 1998 to October 1999. He was an associate attorney at Mintz Levin P.C., a law firm, from January 1997 to May 1998.

Mr. Alton obtained his Bachelor of Arts with a major in legal studies from the University of California in Berkeley, the United States in May 1989, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from The Leland Stanford Junior University in the United States in June 1993. Mr. Alton was also admitted as an attorney and counselor at law by the supreme court of the state of California between June 1994 and July 2019.

Dr. Taiyin Yang

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Dr. Taiyin Yang

Independent Non-executive Director

Dr. Yang is the former Executive Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing at Gilead Sciences. She directed operations of process, device and formulation development, manufacturing, packaging, analytical operations, laboratory information systems and data science, quality assurance, regulatory affairs, CMC program management, product distribution, supply chain management and site operations. Under her leadership, Gilead developed the world's first HIV single tablet regimen and advanced numerous compounds from early-stage development to market, reaching millions of people around the world. Prior to joining Gilead in 1993, Dr. Yang worked at Syntex Corporation for more than a decade, where she contributed to the development and commercialization of more than 10 medicines.

In 2022, Dr. Yang was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She is a member of the Expert Scientific Advisory Committee of Medicines for Malaria Venture and the scientific advisory board of Sionna Therapeutics. Dr. Yang also serves on the board of directors of Kodiak Sciences and Kronos Bio.

Dr. Yang holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from National Taiwan University.

Chairperson
Member