Team – Aardvark Therapeutics

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Our Team at
Aardvark Therapeutics

Tien Lee, M.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Tien Lee, M.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Lee has 20 years of experience as a biotechnology innovator and executive who has been integrally involved with the founding or advancement of several biopharmaceutical companies.

Since 2017, Dr Lee has been the founder/CEO of Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to this, Dr. Lee joined Nantkwest in 2014 and served as its Chief Strategy Officer until March, 2017. His experience includes therapeutics for immunology, cardiovascular, oncology, neurology, and infectious disease indications. Dr. Lee is also an inventor or co-inventor of multiple biomedical and biotechnology innovations, licensed or assigned to several companies for development including Nantkwest, Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, Cellics Therapeutics, and Aardvark Therapeutics.

Dr. Lee earned his M.D. degree from UC San Diego and his B.A. degree from UC Berkeley in Molecular Biology where he was also a Regents and Alumni Scholar. Dr. Lee received post-graduate training in Internal Medicine through UC Los Angeles and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at UC Irvine.

Bryan Jones, PhD.

Chief Operating Officer

Bryan Jones, PhD.

Chief Operating Officer

Bryan Jones, PhD. has more than 30 years of experience with Biotech and Specialty Pharmaceutical companies with roles in both Product and Business development. Prior to joining Aardvark, he was COO and Co-Founder of Sollis Therapeutics where he led the technology transfer from Medtronic, the manufacturing of a drug/device combination and the execution of the Phase 3 Sciatica program. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Operations at Sorrento Therapeutics where he led the Resiniferatoxin program, including manufacturing, toxicology and clinical planning as well as being involved in both monoclonal antibody production, ADC research and cell therapy development. He has held roles of increasing responsibility including Chief Operating Officer of two startup companies: Sherrington and Mt. Cook. He has worked in Business Development at Amylin, and Kemia. Earlier in his career, he worked in research at Bristol-Myers Squibb and on products such as Cialis® with ICOS. Dr. Jones received his PhD. in Genetics from the University of Washington and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Biochemistry from Iowa State University.

Manasi Jaiman, M.D., M.P.H.

Chief Medical Officer

Manasi Jaiman, M.D., M.P.H.

Chief Medical Officer

As a global, mission-driven Chief Medical Officer and Senior Executive, Dr. Manasi Jaiman advances breakthrough therapies through the integration of medicine and technology drawing from 15 years of clinical development, device development, regulatory filings, direct patient care, and scientific research.

Most recently, she provided strategic direction and oversight as CMO and Leadership Team member at ViaCyte, leading the team in the clinical development strategy and execution, partnering with CEO & CFO on capital raising, investor relations, business development and ViaCyte’s subsequent $320M acquisition by Vertex (NASDAQ: VRTX). Post acquisition, she also served as a Vertex Executive to oversee the integration and lead the company’s Clinical Development & Platform.

Through her expertise in stem cell therapy and endocrinology, she developed the world’s first FIH protocol using gene-edited cells in a medical device for Type 1 Diabetes, and successfully executed 2 clinical trials in Canada (successful CTA filing). Dr. Jaiman developed the first outpatient clinical trial to study a bi-hormonal artificial pancreas in adults and pediatrics at MassGeneral Hospital, then led clinical trials utilizing the bionic pancreas device, now used at Beta Bionics. She has also led obesity-related clinical research activities incl. post-bariatric surgery outcomes.

Nelson Sun, M.B.A.

Chief Financial Officer

Nelson Sun, M.B.A.

Chief Financial Officer

Nelson Sun is Chief Financial Officer of Aardvark Therapeutics. He has more than 20 years’ experience in financial management, business operations, and corporate strategy, with various leadership roles at private equity firms.

Prior to joining Aardvark, Mr. Sun served as an Operating Partner at Dubilier & Company, where he assessed underperforming assets and strategic acquisition opportunities, alongside providing executive level oversight to portfolio companies spanning business operations, financial planning, and strategic exits. Before that, he was a Vice President at Valor Equity Partners, where he worked on mergers and acquisitions, portfolio management, as well as providing executive level oversight to portfolio companies including operations leadership, corporate strategy, financial management, and operational scalability. Earlier in his career, Mr. Sun worked in financial valuation analysis and transaction support at Dubilier & Company, in product management at National Electronics Warranty, and in business development at Revbox.com.

Mr. Sun received an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School, an M.A. in International Studies from the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in Literature/Writing from the University of California, San Diego.

Tom Bicsak, PhD.

Head of Regulatory Affairs and Quality

Tom Bicsak, PhD.

Head of Regulatory Affairs and Quality

Tom Bicsak is a regulatory affairs professional with nearly 35 years of experience in all phases of drug development.

Prior to joining Aardvark, Tom worked at Biosplice, Elcelyx, Orexigen, Amylin, Dura, and Johnson & Johnson in therapeutic areas including endocrine/cardiometabolic disorders, hematology, immunology/inflammation, oncology, pulmonary/respiratory medicine, rare inherited diseases, renal disease, rheumatology/pain, and wound healing.He was a significant contributor to multiple marketing approvals in the United States and European Union, including Bydureon, Byetta, Contrave/Mysimba, Procrit/Eprex, Regranex, and Symlin.

Tom received his BA in Biochemistry from Rutgers University and his PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, San Diego. He completed postdoctoral studies in Reproductive Endocrinology at the University of California, San Diego.

Zhenhuan Zheng, PhD.

Chief Research Officer

Zhenhuan Zheng, PhD.

Chief Research Officer

Dr. Zheng is the Chief Research Officer of Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to joining Aardvark Therapeutics, Dr. Zheng served as Senior Manager, Scientific Affairs of NantKwest, Inc. from Apr 2016 to Jun 2017. Previously, Dr. Zheng served as Manager of Business Development for Simcere Pharmaceutical Group from 2009 to 2012 and earned his PhD. degree from Tsinghua University.

Ron Lewis, II, PhD.

Vice President of CMC

Ron Lewis, II, PhD.

Vice President of CMC

Ron Lewis, II, PhD, has more than twenty (20) years professional experience spanning pre-clinical to late-stage product development of small molecule oral solid and parenteral dosage in the biopharmaceutical/drug development industries.

Prior to joining Aardvark, he served as a key member of the MEI Pharma CMC and Technical Operations leadership team with responsibilities focused on CMC strategy, cGMP manufacturing of Drug Substance (API) and Drug Product (DP) for early to late-stage drug product and commercial readiness. Prior to MEI, Dr. Lewis held positions as the Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Scientific Advisor at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati and Sr. Scientist at Pfizer La Jolla.

Prior to starting his career in biotech, Dr. Lewis performed his post-doctoral research at The Scripps Research Institute with Carlos F. Barbas, III, PhD. He received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from Wesleyan University (CT) and Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University (MD).

Andreas Niethammer, M.D., PhD.

Head of Translational Medicine

Andreas Niethammer, M.D., PhD.

Head of Translational Medicine

Dr. Niethammer is the Chief Medical Officer of Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc.. Recently, he headed the Translational Medicine Team at Fate Therapeutics (Nasdaq: FATE) after serving as Chief Medical Officer of NantKwest, Inc. (Nasdaq: NK). He formerly held several executive positions, among others at Pfizer Inc and Lilly Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Niethammer is an inventor of several biomedical innovations in the field of Immunology and founded Vaximm AG in 2008 based on his inventions. Dr. Niethammer earned his M.D. degree and his board certification in Radiation Oncology from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Dr. Niethammer received post-graduate training at the SCRIPPS Research Institute, La Jolla. He remains on the faculty in Heidelberg as Associate Professor.

Dvorit Samid, PhD.

EVP of Medical Affairs

Dvorit Samid, PhD.

EVP of Medical Affairs

Dr. Samid joined Aardvark in 2020, bringing over 3 decades of experience in taking novel drugs from discovery, through clinical development and commercialization. Prior to joining Aardvark, Dr. Samid lead Medical Affairs of other pharmaceutical companies including Hoffman-La Roche, ImClone/Lilly, Abraxis, and NantKwest. She served also as Associate Professor at the University of Virginia’s Medical School and as Section Chief at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Samid holds 19 patents and has published over 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Board Of Directors

Tien Lee, M.D.

Tien Lee, M.D.

Dr. Lee has 20 years of experience as a biotechnology innovator and executive who has been integrally involved with the founding or advancement of several biopharmaceutical companies.

Since 2017, Dr Lee has been the founder/CEO of Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to this, Dr. Lee joined Nantkwest in 2014 and served as its Chief Strategy Officer until March, 2017. His experience includes therapeutics for immunology, cardiovascular, oncology, neurology, and infectious disease indications. Dr. Lee is also an inventor or co-inventor of multiple biomedical and biotechnology innovations, licensed or assigned to several companies for development including Nantkwest, Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, Cellics Therapeutics, and Aardvark Therapeutics.

Dr. Lee earned his M.D. degree from UC San Diego and his B.A. degree from UC Berkeley in Molecular Biology where he was also a Regents and Alumni Scholar. Dr. Lee received post-graduate training in Internal Medicine through UC Los Angeles and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at UC Irvine.

Victor Tong, Jr.

Victor Tong, Jr.

Mr. Victor Tong, Jr. is a Managing Director at Decheng Capital and has been with the firm since its inception.

Mr. Tong focuses on investments in biotechnology and medical technology companies in the US and China. He currently serves on the boards of Cellares, CG Oncology (NASDAQ: CGON), Harton Therapeutics, Hummingbird Bioscience, LevitasBio, Nalu Medical, Take2 and Watchmaker Genomics. Previously, Mr. Tong served as Chairman at ReadCoor before its acquisition by 10X Genomics. He also held board positions at Cirina (acquired by GRAIL / Illumina) and GeneWEAVE Biosciences (acquired by Roche).

Prior to joining Decheng, Mr. Tong was a Principal at Bay City Capital, a life sciences investment firm, and a member of the healthcare investment banking division at Morgan Stanley.

Mr. Tong holds a B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology and B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jeffrey Chi, PhD., CFA

Jeffrey Chi, PhD., CFA

Dr. Jeffrey Chi is a veteran in the venture capital industry and a strong advocate for the promotion of venture capital, entrepreneurship & socially responsible investing. Dr. Chi co-founded Vickers Venture Partners in 2005 is currently its Vice Chairman for Asia and a member of its Investment Committee. He is also former Chairman and currently Ambassador of the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association. Dr. Chi also sits on board of SEEDS Capital (Investment arm of Enterprise Singapore) and on the advisory panels of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, A*ccelerate, the commercialization arm of A*Star and the National University of Singapore Department of Industrial Systems Engineering and Management.

Based out of Shanghai, Dr. Chi heads Vickers Venture’s investments in Asia and has investments in artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, education, healthcare/wellness and financial services (including fintech) technology companies. Dr Chi’s wealth of experience include investment banking (Partner at Pegasus Capital), strategy consulting (senior consultant at Monitor Deloitte) and operations (Managing Director of Spandeck Engineering SEA).

Dr. Chi is a CFA Charter holder and graduated from Cambridge University with 1st Class Honours in Engineering. He earned his PhD. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in organizational knowledge and information technology.

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