Gary T. Choy, MBA
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
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Gary Choy is an accomplished pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device executive with a proven ability to develop and commercialize novel therapeutics and devices across multiple therapeutic areas. He is an experienced launch expert with a unique combination of early and late stage commercialization experience. He has successfully taken molecules from discovery to full scale global launches.
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Prior to joining f5, he was the Chief Commercial Officer at Calidi Biotherapeutics, a clinical stage oncolytic virus company. Prior to that he served as the Vice President of Marketing for Samumed LLC, where he built a commercial team overseeing the development of 7 Wnt-pathway clinical programs including osteoarthritis, oncology, Alzheimer’s Disease, tendinopathy, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, degenerative disc disease, and androgenetic alopecia.
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Previously he has held various leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson including Global Marketing Leader for rheumatology, Head of U.S. marketing for Mentor Worldwide LLC, and Disease Area Strategy Leader for hepatitis C. Prior to that, he was a senior director of antivirals at Idenix Pharmaceuticals after holding various leadership positions in marketing and sales at Roche Pharmaceuticals and Abbott Laboratories. In these roles, Mr. Choy has been the commercial leader of several blockbuster brands including PEGASYS®, INCIVO®, OLYSIO®, REMICADE®, STELARA®, and SIMPONI®.
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Mr. Choy received his B.S. from Rutgers College in marketing and biology and completed his MBA at Rutgers Graduate School of Management.

 
John Boylan, Ph.D.     
Co-Founder
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John Boylan is a cell biology scientist by training focused on early oncology drug discovery. He has contributed to 12 development candidates, 8 compounds that have reached first-in-human clinical trials, and one approved drug, Zelboraf® (vemurafenib), a mutant BRAF inhibitor.
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Prior to joining f5, Dr. Boylan was the Head of Discovery Oncology at Celgene where he was responsible for identifying and validating new drug targets and progressing selected targets into discovery and clinical development. He provided scientific assessments for new collaborations and alliances including Inhibrx, Presage, AnaptysBio, Oncomed, Forma, Moffitt, and Sutro.
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Prior to Celgene, he held positions of increasing responsibility where he led the oncology drug discovery teams at Roche and Amgen. His focus was on small-molecule entities, therapeutic siRNA, and antibody modalities.
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Dr. Boylan received his B.S. Degree from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky completing his post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School. He is author on over 55 publications and patents.
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Neil Raheja, Ph.D.        
EVP Medicinal Chemistry
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Dr. Raheja is an experienced drug hunter, medicinal chemist & entrepreneur with > 20 years of industrial experience. He has start-up experience as a founder of two San Diego based biotech companies (January Therapeutics & Venquis Therapeutics) and founder of independent drug discovery consulting firm (Integrated Pharma Solutions).
 
Dr. Raheja has extensive scientific, managerial, and leadership skills; and has worked in multiple
therapeutic areas including oncology, inflammation, immunotherapy, epigenetics, protein homeostasis, cardiovascular-metabolic diseases, dermatology, and CNS.  Achievements include the delivery of 15 development candidates as a project/team leader, with 10 compounds reaching human clinical trials.  Currently Dr. Raheja has 2 compounds in Ph 1/2.
 
Dr. Raheja received his Ph.D. from Wayne State University under the direction of Dr. Carl Johnson and completed his post-doctoral training as an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in the labs of Dr. Amos B. Smith and the late Dr. Ralph Hirschmann.  He is an author on > 50 patents and publications.
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Allen Huang        
General Counsel 
 
Allen Huang has over twenty years practicing before the New York and California bars.  A seasoned general counsel with experience across corporate securities, capital markets, governance, compliance, IP, litigation and privacy, Mr. Huang has successfully managed Initial Public Offerings, complex mergers and acquisitions, IP portfolios and strategy, and legal threats in high-tech and other public company settings.   
 
Prior to joining f5, Mr. Huang was the General Counsel at Swyft, Inc., a leader in retail automation and intelligence.  Previously, Mr. Huang spent over eight years at Virgin America Inc., guiding the startup through mid- to late-stage financing, complex corporate restructurings, regulatory compliance, the Initial Public Offering and ultimate sale to Alaska Airlines.  In earlier roles, Mr. Huang oversaw compliance and legal affairs as senior corporate attorney for semiconductor, real estate and securities trading companies.   
 
Mr. Huang received his B.A. from Columbia University in political science and economics, and his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School.  Mr. Huang is admitted to the New York and California Bars.  
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Yinghong Gao
Board Member
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Yinhong Gao is a Venture Partner of Viva BioInnovator. She is responsible for the post investment management of multiple VBI portfolio companies. She is also heavily involved in deal sourcing and spearheading collaborations with external institutions and investment communities in the innovative drug discovery space. Yinghong has 15 years of drug discovery experience working with Cytel Corporation, Neurocrine Biosciences and Arena Pharmaceuticals, contributed to the discovery of Neurocrine's GnRH antagonist ORILISSA®, and Arena’s S1P modulator Etrasimod. She also has extensive technology evaluation, licensing and business development experience working with Merck KGaA, Pharmaron, IRISYS and Viva Biotech in the areas ranging from life science solution, early-stage drug discovery all the way through pre-clinical and clinical development.
 
Yinghong holds a MSc. Degree from Chinese Academy of Sciences in physical chemistry and a MSc. Degree from Tulane University in organic chemistry, with a Certificate in Private Equity from Columbia Business School Executive Education.
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Paul Pockros, MD
Scientific Advisor
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Paul Pockros is the President and Founder of SC Liver Research Consortium, LLC, an organization of physicians specializing in clinical research that focuses on Phase I-IV clinical hepatology, gastroenterology, and oncology trials. Dr. Pockros has held numerous leadership roles in his distinguished career at Scripps Clinic including Director of the Liver Disease Center and Director of Clinical Research of the Scripps Translational Science Institute, Chief of Staff at Scripps Green Hospital, Medical Director of the Liver Transplantation Program, and Head of the Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology.
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In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Pockros is a principal investigator for a number of studies at Scripps. He has contributed over 300 published manuscripts and abstracts in peer-reviewed journals on topics such as chronic viral hepatitis, liver transplantation, complications of cirrhosis, diagnostic tests for liver disorders, and alcoholic, metabolic, and fatty liver diseases.
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Dr. Pockros received his medical degree and completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship in hepatology at Rancho Los Amigos Medical School and a fellowship in gastroenterology at Scripps Clinic.
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