Life Science Innovation Northwest 2022

Joshua Beilke is an experienced immunologist who, for over 20 years, has worked on deciphering aspects of immune tolerance. He received his PhD at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Barbara Davis Center where he focused on active mechanisms of immune tolerance while moonlighting to earn his MBA from the University of Colorado. He completed post-doctoral work at the University of California, San Francisco in the Lewis Lanier Lab, focusing on NK cells, NK-like receptors in autoimmunity, and memory NK cell formation. Prior to joining Sonoma, he served as the Director of the Department of T cell Biology and Engineering at Celgene in Seattle, Washington responsible for CAR and eTCR T cell signaling optimization, controlling activity with small molecules, and ensuring optimal biology during manufacturing.  Additionally, Josh was a member of the early business development triage and diligence team and managed the science of partnerships stemming from these investments.  Prior to joining Celgene, Josh worked at Novo Nordisk Research Center focusing on target discovery for biotherapeutics development in inflammatory diseases. Josh joined Sonoma in 2019 as Vice President of Translational Development and site head for Seattle.

Sean Cassidy is the Chief Financial Officer of Arvinas, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the lives of patients suffering from debilitating and life-threatening diseases through the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapies that degrade disease-causing proteins. Sean has over 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry, including serving as Chief Financial Officer of Axerion Therapeutics, a preclinical biotechnology company developing therapies for neurological diseases and injuries; Chief Financial Officer of CuraGen Corporation, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company; and Director and Controller of 454 Life Sciences Corporation, a life sciences company that developed and commercialized next-generation DNA sequencing instruments and reagents. Earlier in his career, Mr. Cassidy served at Deloitte, one of the big four public accounting firms with a broad base of clients in the healthcare space.  Mr. Cassidy is currently a board member of Oerth Bio, ReNetX Bio, and of the Friends of Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, a nonprofit organization that helps improve the health and well-being of pediatric patients and their families. Mr. Cassidy holds an MBA and BS from the University of Connecticut and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Connecticut.

As President & CEO of Life Science Washington (LSW), Marc sets the strategic direction, guides policy priorities, and directs business operations to ensure our members have the talent, investment, and partnerships needed to sustain the industry’s robust growth and solidify Washington state’s reputation as one of the top life science clusters in the nation. Marc also serves as the Chair of the Life Science Washington Institute, which is an affiliated non-profit focused on supporting life science entrepreneurs and growing start-up companies in Washington.

Before taking the helm as President & CEO, Marc served as Vice President, Public Policy & External Affairs for LSW. Prior to joining Life Science Washington, he served as Director of Policy & External Affairs for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), where he was actively involved in creating and advocating for several statewide bioscience initiatives including the Life Sciences Discovery Fund. He was also deeply involved in a range of PNNL’s philanthropic science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education partnerships and science education initiatives. Prior to moving to Washington state, Marc held a variety of policy and consulting positions in Washington, D.C.

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene represents Washington’s 1st Congressional District, which spans from northeast King County to the Canadian border and includes parts of King, Snohomish, Skagit, and Whatcom counties.

Simone serves as Vice President and Editor in Chief at BioCentury, bringing experience from both industry and academia in translational science, where she focused for over 15 years on the scientific, commercial and strategic considerations for advancing laboratory discoveries to products for patients.

Dr. Marjorie Green joined Seagen in October 2020 as Senior Vice President and Head of Late-Stage Oncology. Prior to joining Seagen, she held the position of Vice President, Global Head of Breast and Gynecologic Tumor Development at Genentech/Roche. Dr. Green has more than 15 years of oncology research experience, both in academics where she was a faculty member of the Breast Medical Oncology Department at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, as well as in industry.

2022 LSINW Program Chair

Prior to co-founding Sana, Steve served as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development for Juno Therapeutics until its acquisition

In addition to Sana, Steve currently serves on the board of directors at Repertoire Immune Medicines and Tome Biosciences. Prior to co-founding Sana, Steve served as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development for Juno Therapeutics until its acquisition by Celgene in early 2018. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Loxo Oncology prior to its acquisition by Eli Lilly in early 2019. Steve also was a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of JW Therapeutics, a cell therapy company in China. Prior to joining Juno, Steve was at Morgan Stanley, most recently as Managing Director and Head of Biotechnology Investment Banking and previously as a biotech research analyst and co-head of global healthcare research.

Steve obtained a BA in Economics from College of the Holy Cross and an MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He was an Internal Medicine resident at the University of California, San Francisco and performed research at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Thong Q. Le currently serves as Senior Managing Director and CEO of Accelerator Life Science Partners (ALSP), an early-stage life science accelerator and investment firm that creates and builds next-generation biotechnology companies centered on innovative science. 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 has served as the founding CEO and director of numerous Accelerator Life Science Partners portfolio companies, including Petra Pharma (substantial acquisition by a global pharmaceutical company in May 2020), Rodeo Therapeutics (acquired by Amgen Inc. for up to $721M in March 2021), and Lodo Therapeutics (acquired by Zymergen in May 2021). He currently oversees the firm’s investments in ALSP ORCHID Acquisition Corporation I, KayoThera, Lydian Neurosciences, and Proniras Corporation, where he also serves as CEO and Director of each company. 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. He serves on the advisory board for the Alexandria Seed Capital Platform and on the boards of Acylin Therapeutics, Oerth Bio, and Ravenna Pharmaceuticals. He was previously named one of the region’s “40 Under 40” by the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Sahaj Madhav is Director of Business Development in the Business Development group at Amgen. He is part of the transactions team, responsible for corporate development activities that include strategic collaborations such as the multi-target research collaboration with Generate Biomedicines announced in 2022 (potential transaction value of $1.9B plus future royalties), M&A, licensing/out-licensing activities, and equity investments. Sahaj recently led a number of outbound transactions to create new companies NewAmsterdam Pharma, Vigil Neuroscience, and Neumora Therapeutics (formed by Forbion, Atlas Ventures and Arch Venture Partners) respectively.  He led the acquisition of Rodeo Therapeutics (acquired for up to $721M) and played an integral role in the $13.4B asset acquisition of Otelza® from BMS/Celgene. Sahaj previously held roles on the valuation team in Business Development, as a U.S. revenue planner for Prolia® & EVENITY® and supporting the strategic financial and accounting analysis related to Amgen’s restructuring in 2014.  Sahaj holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from UCLA and an MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon.

Dr. Candice McCoy is Executive Director, Cellular Therapy, Global Drug Development, at Bristol Myers Squibb where she oversees global clinical development of BREYANZI®, an autologous CD19-directed CAR T cell therapy. Previously, Candice was Vice President, Clinical Affairs and Global Drug Safety at Dendreon, held clinical development positions at Berlex/Schering AG and Immunex, and founded Phase Plus Consulting, LLC. She has made significant contributions to global regulatory submissions for novel therapies in cancer indications, including PROVENGE®, an autologous immunotherapy for certain prostate cancers, and BREYANZI.

Matt McIlwain serves as Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group, a venture capital firm based in Seattle, WA. With more than 25 years of investing in early-stage technology companies, Madrona has worked with founders from day one to help build the company for the long run.  Madrona invests predominantly in seed and Series A rounds across the information technology spectrum.  Madrona manages over $2B and was an early investor in companies such as Amazon, Smartsheet, Isilon, Redfin, and Snowflake. Matt invests in a broad range of software and data-driven companies with a focus on cloud computing, dataware, intelligent applications, and the intersections of innovation (where life science and data science intersect). He believes in the Learning Loop for entrepreneurs who journey from curiosity to triangulation and decision making. This leads to positive outcomes and ongoing learnings. Prior to joining Madrona in 2000, Matt was vice president of business process for the Genuine Parts Company. He also was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company, concentrating on strategy and marketing in technology-driven sectors, and prior to that worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse. Matt is a board member (and previous chair) of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a board member of the Washington Policy Center.

Jonathan Norris is a Managing Director for business development in Silicon Valley Bank's Healthcare practice. Mr. Norris oversees business development efforts for banking and lending opportunities as well as spearheading strategic relationships with many healthcare venture capital firms. In addition, Mr. Norris speaks at major investor and industry conferences and authors widely cited analyses of healthcare venture capital trends. Mr. Norris has more than nineteen years of banking experience working with healthcare companies and venture capital firms. Mr. Norris earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of California, Riverside, and a juris doctorate from Santa Clara University.

Dr. Harlan Robins is the Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies, a commercial-stage biotech company that aims to translate the genetics of the adaptive immune system into clinical products to diagnose and treat disease. Prior to co-founding Adaptive, Harlan served in various roles at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the Computational Biology Program, including Assistant Faculty Member, Associate, Full Member, and Head of the program. Harlan holds a BS in Physics from Harvard University and a master’s degree and PhD in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley, with a visiting appointment to the California Institute of Technology. Harlan received postdoctoral appointments in the particle theory group at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Interested in the mathematics behind genetics and observing the potential utility of high-level mathematics to study problems in the biological sciences, Harlan took another postdoctoral appointment at the Institute for Advance Study in Princeton under famed biologist Dr. Arnold Levine. With Dr. Levine, he concentrated on developing bioinformatic algorithms for micro RNA targets and bacterial genome analysis, a precursor to his faculty appointment at FHCRC in the Computational Biology Group, Public Health Sciences, and Human Biology Divisions.

Dr. Andrew M. Scharenberg is the founder and CEO of Umoja Biopharma, an MPM portfolio company. He also serves as an Executive Partner at MPM Capital, and Chairs the Scientific Advisory Boards at Generation Bio, Genti Bio, and Alpine Immune Sciences. Prior to founding Umoja, Andrew co-directed the Program in Cell and Gene Therapy at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, working to translate cell and gene therapies for the treatment of inherited immunologic and blood diseases. This work led to the development of a program in engineered regulatory T-cells, partnered with Casebia Therapeutics for the purpose of developing a gene-edited cell therapeutic for Type I diabetes and other inflammatory diseases. Previously, he was the Chief Scientific Officer of Cellectis Therapeutics, where he initiated the development of an allogeneic CAR T-cell platform, and co-founder of Pregenen Inc., a gene editing and cell-signaling technology company that was acquired by bluebird bio in 2014. Andrew earned his MD from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and then completed his residency at the University of North Carolina Children’s Hospital and his fellowship in immunology at NIH and at the Division of Experimental Pathology, Beth Israel Hospital. From 2000 to 2020, he was an attending Physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital, a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Andrew received the American Pediatric Society/Society for Pediatric Research National Young Investigator Award in 2002. He is an active member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Pediatric Society.

Charlotte Schubert is a reporter at GeekWire covering life sciences, health, and biotech. She earned her Ph.D. at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where she often peered at the first cell divisions of the nematode C. elegans under a microscope. She has also worked in an epigenomics lab at Fred Hutch and a microbiology lab at the University of Washington. She is a former editor and Washington, D.C. correspondent at Nature Medicine, and recently worked as a science editor for a cellular immunotherapy group at Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

Clay Siegall, PhD, co-founded Seagen Inc. (formerly Seattle Genetics) in 1998 with a vision to improve the lives of people with cancer by developing targeted therapies to treat major unmet needs. A scientist by training, he built a foundation based on a unique science-driven culture, successful drug discovery and development, and a passion for helping patients. Today, Seagen has four FDA-approved medicines and leads the field in antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology and development.

Prior to founding Seagen, Dr. Siegall held positions at Bristol Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute and the National Cancer Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health. He has authored more than 70 publications and holds 15 patents. Dr. Siegall has been recognized as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and the Dealmaker of the Year by the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Dr. Siegall holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from George Washington University and a B.S. in Zoology from the University of Maryland. He serves as chairman of the board of Umoja Biopharma as well as a member of the board of directors of Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. and Washington Roundtable.

Ali Tehrani, PhD, serves as a Venture Partner for Amplitude Ventures, a capital catalyst for highly innovative companies at the point of value acceleration. Prior to joining Amplitude, Dr. Tehrani was a co-founder served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Zymeworks Inc. He led the company through numerous value creation stages, including signing nine licensing and collaboration deals with Merck, J&J, GSK, BMS/Celgene and Eli Lilly and a New York Stock Exchange public listing in April 2017. Dr. Tehrani holds both Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts and has a Doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia. Currently, he is a member of the Board of Directors of LifeSciences British Columbia, Creatus Biosciences Inc, and CQDM.  Dr. Tehrani also serves as a member of the British Columbia Premier Technology Council.

François Vigneault is co-founder and CEO at Shape Therapeutics. Prior to Shape, François co-founded AbVitro with Harvard Medical School Professor George Church, where he pioneered the development of high throughput immune single-cell sequencing. AbVitro was acquired by Juno Therapeutics, where François became VP of Research until its acquisition by Celgene and shortly after by Bristol Myers Squibb. Francois completed a postdoctoral Fellow in George Church’s lab at Harvard Medical School and holds a PhD in molecular biology, as well as a BA in microbiology. François also served for a decade as a Maritime Warfare Officer in the Canadian Navy.

Rita Wang is a managing director in the healthcare investment banking group at Piper Sandler, focused on biopharmaceuticals. Based in the firm’s San Francisco office, Rita has successfully advised healthcare clients on more than 100 transactions, with aggregate transaction value exceeding $30 billion. Her experience spans a full range of investment banking activities, including both public and private equity, equity-linked, and debt financings as well as M&A advisory. Prior to joining Piper Sandler in 2015, Wang was a Vice President in the healthcare investment banking group at RBC Capital Markets, where she spent nine years focused primarily on biopharmaceutical companies. Wang holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California – San Diego.

Tom Wickham, PhD, brings over 25 years of experience in championing diverse drug platforms including cellular, gene, immuno-biologic, and liposomal therapies from discovery through registration-directed clinical trials. Tom joined GentiBio as the Chief Scientific Officer from Rubius Therapeutics where he was Senior Vice President of R&D. At Rubius, Tom pioneered synthetic biology approaches using engineered red cells for autoimmunity, immuno-oncology, and rare disease applications and built a Discovery and Preclinical organization leading to multiple product programs and IND filings. Prior to Rubius, he worked in different biotech and pharma companies across multiple technology platforms. Tom received his PhD in biochemical engineering from Cornell University and pursued his postdoctoral training at the Scripps Research Institute in the Department of Immunology.

Dr. Heidi Zhang is the Executive Vice President and Head of Technical Operations at Tune Therapeutics where the focus is epigenetic therapy. Heidi is a seasoned scientific executive who has led CMC organizations and product development teams across biotech and pharma companies, including Juno, Genentech, Novartis, and Amgen. Prior to Tune, Heidi was the Vice President of Cell Therapy Product & Analytical Development at Bristol Myers-Squibb. Her many accomplishments in science and leadership include the commercial launch of numerous life-saving medicines – including recent cell therapies Abecma and Breyanzi.