Directors Continuing in Office Until the 2027 Annual Meeting
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Min Cui, Ph.D.(1) | | | 57 | | | Director |
W. Anthony Vernon(1)(2)(3) | | | 70 | | | Director |
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(1)
| Member of the compensation committee. |
(2)
| Member of the nominating and corporate governance committee. |
Min Cui, Ph.D. has served as a member of our Board since his appointment in April 2024 in connection with the Company’s acquisition of AnHeart Therapeutics Ltd. Dr. Cui founded Decheng Capital LLC in 2011, where he has served as Managing Director since the investment firm’s formation. From 2006 to 2011, Dr. Cui served as a principal at Bay City Capital, a venture capital firm. Prior to that, Dr. Cui served as Director of Strategic Investment for the Southern Research Institute, a not-for-profit organization concentrating on drug research and development. Prior to that, Dr. Cui co-founded Pan Pacific Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. biotech company, and Hucon Biopharmaceuticals, a PRC pharmaceutical company. He served as the Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of Pan Pacific Pharmaceuticals from 1998 to 2002 and Chief Executive Officer and President of Hucon Biopharmaceuticals from 2003 to 2005, respectively. Dr. Cui currently serves on the boards of directors of several privately held biotechnology and medical technology companies, including Nanjing Bioheng Biotech Co., Ltd., EpimAb Biotherapeutics, Inc., Harton Therapeutics, Inc., Mammoth Biosciences, Inc., Mirvie, Inc., Shape Therapeutics Inc., Siro Diagnostics, Inc. VintaBio, Inc. and Baylor Genetics. Dr. Cui previously served on the board of directors of other biotechnology and medical technology companies, including AccuraGen, Inc., Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. (acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated), ARMO BioSciences (acquired by Eli Lilly & Co), China Biologic Products, Cirina, Ltd. (acquired by GRAIL, Inc.), Cue Health Inc., GeneWEAVE Biosciences, Inc. (acquired by Roche Molecular Systems Inc.), GenturaDx Inc. (acquired by Luminex Corporation), GRAIL (acquired by Illumina, Inc.), ImmPACT Bio USA Inc. (acquired by Lyell Immunopharma, Inc.), Ion Torrent Systems Inc. (acquired by Life Technologies Corporation), LevitasBio, Inc., Sino MedicalDevice Technology Co., Ltd. and Velos Biopharma (acquired by Merck & Co.). Dr. Cui received his B.S. and M.S. in Molecular Biology from Peking University, and his Ph.D. in Cancer Biology from Stanford University. Dr. Cui is currently on the board of trustees at Western University of Health Sciences.
We believe that Dr. Cui’s experience serving on the boards of directors of public and private companies in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology sector, his experience as an executive, as well as his role as founder and Managing Director of Decheng Capital, qualify him to serve as a member of our Board.
W. Anthony Vernon has served as a member of our Board since June 2019 and serves as the Chair of the Compensation Committee. Mr. Vernon served as senior advisor to Kraft Foods Group, Inc. from January 2015 through May 2015, and Chief Executive Officer for Kraft Foods Group, Inc. from October 2012 to December 2014. Mr. Vernon previously served as Executive Vice President and President at Kraft Foods of North America from 2009 to October 2012. From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Vernon was the Healthcare Industry Partner at Ripplewood Holdings, Inc., a private equity firm. Mr. Vernon previously led a number of Johnson & Johnson’s largest franchises during a 23-year career at Johnson & Johnson, a public company engaged in the research and development, manufacture and sale of products in the healthcare field. From 2004 until 2005, Mr. Vernon was employed as Company Group Chairman of Depuy Inc., an orthopedics company, which is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. From 2001 until 2004, Mr. Vernon served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Centocor, Inc., a biomedicines company, a division of Johnson & Johnson. He has also served as President of McNeil Consumer Products and Nutritionals, Worldwide President of The Johnson & Johnson-Merck Joint Venture and as a member of Johnson & Johnson’s Group Operating Committees for Consumer Healthcare and Nutritionals, Biopharmaceuticals, and Medical Devices and Diagnostics. Mr. Vernon currently serves on the boards of directors of NovoCure Ltd., a public medical device company, since 2006, and McCormick & Co., a global food company, since 2017. Mr. Vernon also serves on the Global Advisory Board of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He formerly served as a director of Natures Fynd, CMR Surgical Ltd., Medivation, Inc., Kraft Foods Group, Inc. and Intersect ENT, Inc. Mr. Vernon received a B.A. from Lawrence University and an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
We believe that Mr. Vernon’s business and investment experience, as an executive in various industries and as the former chief executive officer of a global Fortune 500 company, qualify him to serve as a member of our Board.
