ViaCyte CEO and leadership

Mr. Yang is our Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer and has been with ACADIA since March 2017. Mr. Yang joins ACADIA from Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, where he served as President of Janssen Biotech Inc. and was responsible for building Janssen’s U.S. Immunology business, generating more than $8 billion in annual revenues. Mr. Yang began his career at Johnson & Johnson in 1997 and held numerous senior commercial positions such as President, CNS where he was responsible for growing the anti-psychotic long-acting therapy portfolio. His broad background of commercialization and general management experience also includes roles as the Worldwide General Manager of the Medical Device companies of Therakos, Inc and Veridex, LLC, where he launched new platforms, expanded global revenues, and diversified the product lines. Prior to that, Mr. Yang was Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Oncology at Ortho Biotech Inc. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. Mr. Yang earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Marketing from San Diego State University.

I have been starting and managing biotechnology companies for over 30 years. I co-founded Gensia Pharmaceuticals in 1986. I served as VP of Corporate/Business Development, and as a member of the Board of Directors. Gensia went public in 1991 and grew rapidly. Gensia Sicor was subsequently purchased by Teva for over $3 billion.

I was a founder of Viagene, the first gene therapy company. I helped develop the initial technology, was responsible for bringing the initial team together and secured the venture capital financing . I participated at the board level and regularly conferred with management regarding strategic direction. The Company subsequently went public and was later acquired by Chiron.

I was a founder of Metabasis Therapeutics in 1999. I served as Chairman, President and CEO. Metabasis discovered and moved five products into clinical development. The main focus was on metabolic diseases but product candidates for liver disease were also advanced. Metabasis went public in 2004 and was acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals in 2009.

After Metabasis I spent two years in the not-for-profit sector helping to establish translational capabilities at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. I served as CBO alongside the Institutes CEO, Dr. John Reed (now Executive Vice President, Global Head of Research & Development at Sanofi).

In 2012 I joined ViaCyte Inc., a leading regenerative medicine company, as President and CEO. At the time I joined, ViaCyte was an early stage, preclinical company focused on pioneering the field of stem cell-derived regenerative cell therapy. The Company's approach held the promise of a functional cure for type 1 diabetes.

During my tenure with ViaCyte, up until my recent decision to retire, a great deal was accomplished. Under my guidance, the ViaCyte team put two products into the clinic, with a third soon to follow, demonstrated the effectiveness of our replacement cells in patients, acquired the assets of our closest competitor (JNJ's BetaLogics Division), secured the support of patient advocacy group, established collaborations with leading companies, developed a portfolio of over 700 patents and established a new manufacturing facility capable of taking the company to commercialization

Specialties: Corporate Management (CEO, Board of Directors)

Financing emerging companies

Business Development (strategic partnerships, out and in-licensing)

Experienced International product development executive with a demonstrated history of developing and launching products across the pharma and medical device industry.

I have led multiple, significant, transformation initiatives, driving R&D strategy and operating model change to deliver business growth and improved patient outcomes.

Most recently:

- managed over 1000 healthcare professionals in a global (US, EU and Asia) integrated R&D organization.

- created off-shore pharma and med-tech development centers in China and India.

- led several R&D integrations following acquisition.

- designed and implemented a Stanford Biodesign innovation model.

- delivered a pipeline enhancing external innovation model across multiple geographies.

- developed and launched several new drug delivery and combination device technologies.

Please contact me at stwhite2003@yahoo.com

I have been starting and managing biotechnology companies for over 30 years. I co-founded Gensia Pharmaceuticals in 1986. I served as VP of Corporate/Business Development, and as a member of the Board of Directors. Gensia went public in 1991 and grew rapidly. Gensia Sicor was subsequently purchased by Teva for over $3 billion.

I was a founder of Viagene, the first gene therapy company. I helped develop the initial technology, was responsible for bringing the initial team together and secured the venture capital financing . I participated at the board level and regularly conferred with management regarding strategic direction. The Company subsequently went public and was later acquired by Chiron.

I was a founder of Metabasis Therapeutics in 1999. I served as Chairman, President and CEO. Metabasis discovered and moved five products into clinical development. The main focus was on metabolic diseases but product candidates for liver disease were also advanced. Metabasis went public in 2004 and was acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals in 2009.

After Metabasis I spent two years in the not-for-profit sector helping to establish translational capabilities at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. I served as CBO alongside the Institutes CEO, Dr. John Reed (now Executive Vice President, Global Head of Research & Development at Sanofi).

In 2012 I joined ViaCyte Inc., a leading regenerative medicine company, as President and CEO. At the time I joined, ViaCyte was an early stage, preclinical company focused on pioneering the field of stem cell-derived regenerative cell therapy. The Company's approach held the promise of a functional cure for type 1 diabetes.

During my tenure with ViaCyte, up until my recent decision to retire, a great deal was accomplished. Under my guidance, the ViaCyte team put two products into the clinic, with a third soon to follow, demonstrated the effectiveness of our replacement cells in patients, acquired the assets of our closest competitor (JNJ's BetaLogics Division), secured the support of patient advocacy group, established collaborations with leading companies, developed a portfolio of over 700 patents and established a new manufacturing facility capable of taking the company to commercialization

Specialties: Corporate Management (CEO, Board of Directors)

Financing emerging companies

Business Development (strategic partnerships, out and in-licensing)

Mr. Yang is our Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer and has been with ACADIA since March 2017. Mr. Yang joins ACADIA from Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, where he served as President of Janssen Biotech Inc. and was responsible for building Janssen’s U.S. Immunology business, generating more than $8 billion in annual revenues. Mr. Yang began his career at Johnson & Johnson in 1997 and held numerous senior commercial positions such as President, CNS where he was responsible for growing the anti-psychotic long-acting therapy portfolio. His broad background of commercialization and general management experience also includes roles as the Worldwide General Manager of the Medical Device companies of Therakos, Inc and Veridex, LLC, where he launched new platforms, expanded global revenues, and diversified the product lines. Prior to that, Mr. Yang was Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Oncology at Ortho Biotech Inc. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. Mr. Yang earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Marketing from San Diego State University.