Protagonist Therapeutics Leadership

Dinesh Patel has 28 years of executive, entrepreneurial, and scientific experience spanning big pharma, biotech, and the biopharmaceutical industry. He was previously (2006-08) the President & CEO OF Arête Therapeutics, a privately held company with $51 million in VC funding and a focus on first-in-class drugs for metabolic syndrome. He was the President, CEO & Co-founder (2003-05) of Miikana Therapeutics, an oncology based company that was acquired by Entremed in 2005. One of Miikana’s asset (ENMD2076) has progressed into phase 2 POC trials for ovarian and hematological cancers in 2010 and continues to generate multiple milestone payments for its shareholders. Dr. Patel was a co-founder of the anti-infective Company Versicor (later renamed Vicuron) wherein he held positions of increasing responsibility (1996-2003) leading to Senior VP of Drug Discovery & Licensing, and where he was an active participant in various rounds of private financing including the IPO road show in 2000. The Vicuron team generated numerous INDs during its long term collaborations (7 plus years) with Pharmacia and Novartis, and independently filed two NDAs—Eraxis is now a marketed anti-fungal drug, and Dalbavancin has formed the basis of a recent spin-out (Durata therapeutics, DRTX). Vicuron was acquired by Pfizer in 2005 for $1.9 billion. Prior to Vicuron, Dr. Patel was a director of chemistry at the combinatorial chemistry company Affymax (1993-96) which was acquired by GSK for $533 million in 1995. He started his career as a medicinal chemist at Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1985. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Rutgers University, New Jersey and conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and has more than 100 patents and publications to his credit.

A 26-year veteran of the biotechnology industry, Dr. Liu is a former Vice President of Research and a Corporate Officer at FibroGen Inc. with deep rooted knowledge and expertise in the fields of inflammation and fibrosis. David Y. Liu was most recently Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Trenovus, Inc., as well as a strategic advisor to several other biotechnology companies. Prior to that he spent more than seven years at FibroGen, Inc. with management responsibility for all therapeutic research and drug discovery, including interim leadership of the Clinical Development department. These efforts resulted in two first-in-class drugs currently in phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of anemia and in phase 2 for the treatment of deep organ fibrosis. Prior to that, he spent 10 years as Director of Inflammation Research at Scios, Inc., now part of Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Liu’s career began with Cetus Corporation (since acquired by Chiron and now Novartis), COR Therapeutics (since acquired by Millenium/Takeda). He additionally spent 10 years as an academic researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and was Instructor and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Liu received his Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Michigan State University. He has more than 80 publications and patent filings and has been involved in the filing of 17 INDs and NDAs for over 10 clinical indications.

Sam Saks is a board certified oncologist who was most recently the founding CEO of Jazz Pharmaceuticals until his retirement in 2009. From 2001 until he joined Jazz, Saks was company group chairman of ALZA Corporation and member of the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Operating Committee. From 1992 until 2001, he held executive positions at ALZA, including group vice president, ALZA Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for clinical, regulatory and commercial activities. Prior to joining ALZA, Saks held clinical research and development management positions with Schering-Plough, Xoma and Genentech. Saks has a Bachelor's degree in biology and his medical degree from the University of Illinois. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Texas Southwestern, and his fellowship in oncology at the University of California – San Francisco, and is Board certified in both specialties. Saks is a director of Auspex Pharmaceuticals, TONIX Pharmaceuticals, Depomed, Bullet Biotechnology, NuMedii and Velocity Pharmaceutical Development.

Dinesh Patel has 28 years of executive, entrepreneurial, and scientific experience spanning big pharma, biotech, and the biopharmaceutical industry. He was previously (2006-08) the President & CEO OF Arête Therapeutics, a privately held company with $51 million in VC funding and a focus on first-in-class drugs for metabolic syndrome. He was the President, CEO & Co-founder (2003-05) of Miikana Therapeutics, an oncology based company that was acquired by Entremed in 2005. One of Miikana’s asset (ENMD2076) has progressed into phase 2 POC trials for ovarian and hematological cancers in 2010 and continues to generate multiple milestone payments for its shareholders. Dr. Patel was a co-founder of the anti-infective Company Versicor (later renamed Vicuron) wherein he held positions of increasing responsibility (1996-2003) leading to Senior VP of Drug Discovery & Licensing, and where he was an active participant in various rounds of private financing including the IPO road show in 2000. The Vicuron team generated numerous INDs during its long term collaborations (7 plus years) with Pharmacia and Novartis, and independently filed two NDAs—Eraxis is now a marketed anti-fungal drug, and Dalbavancin has formed the basis of a recent spin-out (Durata therapeutics, DRTX). Vicuron was acquired by Pfizer in 2005 for $1.9 billion. Prior to Vicuron, Dr. Patel was a director of chemistry at the combinatorial chemistry company Affymax (1993-96) which was acquired by GSK for $533 million in 1995. He started his career as a medicinal chemist at Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1985. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Rutgers University, New Jersey and conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and has more than 100 patents and publications to his credit.

A 26-year veteran of the biotechnology industry, Dr. Liu is a former Vice President of Research and a Corporate Officer at FibroGen Inc. with deep rooted knowledge and expertise in the fields of inflammation and fibrosis. David Y. Liu was most recently Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Trenovus, Inc., as well as a strategic advisor to several other biotechnology companies. Prior to that he spent more than seven years at FibroGen, Inc. with management responsibility for all therapeutic research and drug discovery, including interim leadership of the Clinical Development department. These efforts resulted in two first-in-class drugs currently in phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of anemia and in phase 2 for the treatment of deep organ fibrosis. Prior to that, he spent 10 years as Director of Inflammation Research at Scios, Inc., now part of Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Liu’s career began with Cetus Corporation (since acquired by Chiron and now Novartis), COR Therapeutics (since acquired by Millenium/Takeda). He additionally spent 10 years as an academic researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and was Instructor and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Liu received his Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Michigan State University. He has more than 80 publications and patent filings and has been involved in the filing of 17 INDs and NDAs for over 10 clinical indications.

Sam Saks is a board certified oncologist who was most recently the founding CEO of Jazz Pharmaceuticals until his retirement in 2009. From 2001 until he joined Jazz, Saks was company group chairman of ALZA Corporation and member of the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Operating Committee. From 1992 until 2001, he held executive positions at ALZA, including group vice president, ALZA Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for clinical, regulatory and commercial activities. Prior to joining ALZA, Saks held clinical research and development management positions with Schering-Plough, Xoma and Genentech. Saks has a Bachelor's degree in biology and his medical degree from the University of Illinois. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Texas Southwestern, and his fellowship in oncology at the University of California – San Francisco, and is Board certified in both specialties. Saks is a director of Auspex Pharmaceuticals, TONIX Pharmaceuticals, Depomed, Bullet Biotechnology, NuMedii and Velocity Pharmaceutical Development.

Dinesh Patel has 28 years of executive, entrepreneurial, and scientific experience spanning big pharma, biotech, and the biopharmaceutical industry. He was previously (2006-08) the President & CEO OF Arête Therapeutics, a privately held company with $51 million in VC funding and a focus on first-in-class drugs for metabolic syndrome. He was the President, CEO & Co-founder (2003-05) of Miikana Therapeutics, an oncology based company that was acquired by Entremed in 2005. One of Miikana’s asset (ENMD2076) has progressed into phase 2 POC trials for ovarian and hematological cancers in 2010 and continues to generate multiple milestone payments for its shareholders. Dr. Patel was a co-founder of the anti-infective Company Versicor (later renamed Vicuron) wherein he held positions of increasing responsibility (1996-2003) leading to Senior VP of Drug Discovery & Licensing, and where he was an active participant in various rounds of private financing including the IPO road show in 2000. The Vicuron team generated numerous INDs during its long term collaborations (7 plus years) with Pharmacia and Novartis, and independently filed two NDAs—Eraxis is now a marketed anti-fungal drug, and Dalbavancin has formed the basis of a recent spin-out (Durata therapeutics, DRTX). Vicuron was acquired by Pfizer in 2005 for $1.9 billion. Prior to Vicuron, Dr. Patel was a director of chemistry at the combinatorial chemistry company Affymax (1993-96) which was acquired by GSK for $533 million in 1995. He started his career as a medicinal chemist at Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1985. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Rutgers University, New Jersey and conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and has more than 100 patents and publications to his credit.

A 26-year veteran of the biotechnology industry, Dr. Liu is a former Vice President of Research and a Corporate Officer at FibroGen Inc. with deep rooted knowledge and expertise in the fields of inflammation and fibrosis. David Y. Liu was most recently Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Trenovus, Inc., as well as a strategic advisor to several other biotechnology companies. Prior to that he spent more than seven years at FibroGen, Inc. with management responsibility for all therapeutic research and drug discovery, including interim leadership of the Clinical Development department. These efforts resulted in two first-in-class drugs currently in phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of anemia and in phase 2 for the treatment of deep organ fibrosis. Prior to that, he spent 10 years as Director of Inflammation Research at Scios, Inc., now part of Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Liu’s career began with Cetus Corporation (since acquired by Chiron and now Novartis), COR Therapeutics (since acquired by Millenium/Takeda). He additionally spent 10 years as an academic researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and was Instructor and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Liu received his Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Michigan State University. He has more than 80 publications and patent filings and has been involved in the filing of 17 INDs and NDAs for over 10 clinical indications.

Sam Saks is a board certified oncologist who was most recently the founding CEO of Jazz Pharmaceuticals until his retirement in 2009. From 2001 until he joined Jazz, Saks was company group chairman of ALZA Corporation and member of the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Operating Committee. From 1992 until 2001, he held executive positions at ALZA, including group vice president, ALZA Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for clinical, regulatory and commercial activities. Prior to joining ALZA, Saks held clinical research and development management positions with Schering-Plough, Xoma and Genentech. Saks has a Bachelor's degree in biology and his medical degree from the University of Illinois. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Texas Southwestern, and his fellowship in oncology at the University of California – San Francisco, and is Board certified in both specialties. Saks is a director of Auspex Pharmaceuticals, TONIX Pharmaceuticals, Depomed, Bullet Biotechnology, NuMedii and Velocity Pharmaceutical Development.