About

Mission Statement – To Become a Vertically Integrated Pharmaceutical Company Focused on Cancer Therapeutics

Nobel Laureate Contributors

Roger Kornberg is Winzer Professor in Medicine and Professor of Structural Biology at Stanford University. He received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Harvard College in 1967 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford in 1972. His first research was on the dynamics of lipid bilayers. He used nuclear and electron paramagnetic resonance to determine the rates of diffusional motions of lipids, termed flip-flop and lateral diffusion. He then turned to X-ray diffraction of chromatin and, in 1974, proposed the existence and structure of the nucleosome. This proposal was borne out in detail by subsequent structural studies. Kornberg moved to his present position in 1978, where his research has focused on the mechanism and regulation of eukaryotic gene transcription. Results of this research include the near atomic structure of RNA polymerase II, the elucidation of the RNA polymerase II transcription machinery, and the discovery of the Mediator of transcriptional regulation. Parallel studies of metal clusters have included atomic structures large gold nanoparticles by X-ray crystallography and aberration-corrected electron microscopy. Kornberg has received many awards, including the Welch Prize (2001), highest award in chemistry in the United States, the Leopold Mayer Prize (2002), highest award in biomedical sciences of the French Academy of Sciences, and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (unshared, 2006). He is a member of national academies in the US and Europe and a recipient of honorary degrees from universities in Europe and Israel. His longest and closest collaborator has been his wife, Professor Yahli Lorch. They have three children, Guy, Maya, and Gil.

EDUCATION

B.S. Chemistry, Harvard University
Ph.D. Chemistry from Stanford University
Honorary degree, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

MEMBERSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Member of EMBO
Member of the US National Academy of Sciences
Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS)

AWARDS AND HONORS

Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2006
Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University, 2006
Dickson Prize from University of Pittsburgh, 2006
General Motors Cancer Research Foundation’s Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Prize, 2005
Massry Prize from the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 2003
Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Medical Research Award, 2003
Grand Prix Charles-Leopold Mayer, 2002
ASBMB-Merck Award, 2002
Welch Award in Chemistry, 2001
Hoppe-Seyler Award, Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Germany, 2001
Gairdner Foundation International Award, 2000
Harvey Prize from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, 1997
Ciba-Drew Award, 1990
Passano Award from the Passano Foundation, 1982
Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, 1981

Dr. Michael Levitt is an American-British-Israeli biophysicist known for being one of the first researchers to conduct molecular dynamics simulations of DNA and proteins and developed the first software for this purpose. He was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Dr. Martin Karplus and fellow InterX board member Dr. Michael Levitt for the development of multiscale computer models for complex chemical systems. Dr. Levitt is a Professor of Structural Biology at Stanford University, a position he has held since 1987. Prioir to Dr. Levitt was a Professor of Chemical Physics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot and a Staff Scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and was the Editor of the Journal of Molecular Biology. Michael Levitt has also served on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Dupont Merck Pharmaceuticals, AMGEN, Protein Design Labs, Affymetrix, Molecular Applications Group, 3D Pharmaceuticals, Algodign, Oplon Ltd, Cocrystal Discovery, and StemRad, Ltd.
EDUCATION

BS King’s College London
PhD Structural Biology University of Cambridge

MEMBERSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization
Fellow of the Royal Society
Member of the US National Academy of Sciences
Member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology

AWARDS AND HONORS

Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2013
DeLano Award for Computational Biosciences, 2014
Editorial Board, Structure and Current Opinion in Structural Biology, 1992
Anniversary Prize, Federation of European Biochemical Societies, 1986

Dr. Arieh Warshel is regarded as the founder of computational enzymology. He has received several awards, including the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2013 along with Martin Karplus and fellow InterX board member Dr. Michael Levitt for the development of multiscale computer models for complex chemical systems. His innovations include the first molecular dynamics simulation of a biological process, microscopic electrostatic models for proteins, and free energy perturbation in proteins. He is a U.S. and Israeli citizen and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Society of Chemistry. Dr. Warshel is a distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Southern California and the Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Chair in Chemistry.

EDUCATION

BSc Chemistry, Technion, Israel
MSc Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute of Sciences, Israel
PhD Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute of Sciences, Israel
Honorary doctorate of the Faculty of Science and Technology at Uppsala University

MEMBERSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Member of the US National Academy of Sciences
Fellow of the Biophysical Society
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Member of the Norris Cancer Center, University of Southern California

AWARDS AND HONORS

Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2013
The Founders Award of the Biophysical Society, 2014
The 2013 Israel Chemical Society Gold Medal, 2014
RSC Soft Matter and Biophysical Chemistry Award, 2012
President’s Award for computational biology from the ISQBP, 2006
Tolman Medal, 2003
Annual Award of the International Society of Quantum Biology and Pharmacology, 1993

Management Team

Asher Nathan has extensive experience in diverse roles within the industry, including founder, entrepreneur and investor and has authored over 25 patents in the field of biotechnology. Before NeoTX, he founded IntelliGene and EvoRx, two biotech companies formed around technologies he invented. EvoRx was established together with Nobel Prize Winners Arthur Kornberg and Roger Kornberg.  He was a Managing Director at Paramount Biocapital, a biotech venture firm, before he co-founded Zoticon Bioventures, where he served as Managing Director.

Dr. Kornberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2006. Collectively, Dr. Kornberg’s research has revolutionized modern genetics, molecular biology and the understanding of pathogenesis of various cancer malignancies. Among Dr. Kornberg’s many awards and prizes was the Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., Prize from the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, and the Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Medical Research Award in Cancer Research.

Dr. Rozencweig is a medical oncologist with more than 40 years of experience in clinical trials and anti-cancer drug development at the National Cancer Institute and in the pharmaceutical industry. He is one of the founding members of NeoTX and acted as CMO before becoming the current President. Prior to joining NeoTX, he held positions as President and CMO in Innate Pharmaceuticals and significantly contributed to the growth of the company. He was at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) for 18 years, where he held several leadership positions and established clinical research group which resulted in a total of 17 marketing applications (NDAs or sNDAs1) successfully filed by BMS in cancer, HIV and infectious diseases. With his interest in clinical trials research, Dr. Rozencweig created and chaired several European groups (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer) devoted to multinational drug-oriented and disease-oriented trials. Dr. Rozencweig received his medical degree from the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. 

Mr. Harow has completed over $2 Billion in financing and advisory work. Before co-founding NeoTX, Mr. Harow co-founded Zoticon Bioventures, where he served as Managing Partner. While at Zoticon, he raised over $100 Million for investment in its portfolio companies. Mr. Harow previously served as Managing Director at the Trout Group, a global investor relation and a strategic advisory company dedicated solely to the life science industry. Before Trout, he was a Senior Vice President at Gerard Klauer Mattison (now part of BMO Group), a research and investment-banking firm.

Dr. Fields is a medical oncologist/hematologist and brings more than 30 years of experience in clinical drug development. Prior to joining NeoTX, he was the Global Head of Development for Oncology at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. At Bayer, Dr. Fields was responsible for early and late-stage development including several novel oncology medicines across the platforms for targeted therapies/precision medicine, antibody drug/alpha radiation conjugates and novel Immuno-Oncology agents. His group was responsible for the development and global registration of Darolutamide – a next generation androgen receptor inhibitor for prostate cancer and with partner Loxo, for Larotrectinb – a tissue agnostic NTRK inhibitor. He was also responsible for the Oncology Operations, Project Management, Regulatory, Biomarkers, Biostatistics and Medical Writing groups. Prior to his position at Bayer, Dr. Fields held senior positions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, SmithKline Beecham, Amgen, Eisai, and Arno Therapeutics and helped bring over a dozen drugs to market. He also practiced oncology/hematology and transplant medicine in academic settings. Dr. Fields received his medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York, followed by training in internal medicine and hematology and oncology at Columbia University Medical Center.

Dr. Lloyd is a leading regulatory expert with over 25 years of experience in global regulatory affairs and quality assurance. She has led or directed teams in the submission and marketing approval of over a dozen small molecule, biologic and biologic/device combination products in a wide variety of therapeutic areas such as oncology, endocrinology/metabolism, antivirals, respiratory and psychiatric disorders. Prior to joining NeoTX, Dr. Lloyd served as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry and as a senior executive with Sanofi-Aventis, Bristol Myers-Squibb, and Johnson and Johnson. She acted as Sr. Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs and Drug Safety at ImClone Systems Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and has served as Vice President, Worldwide Regulatory Affairs and Quality for both public and private biotechs such as GPC Biotech Inc. and Omthera.

Dr. Lloyd earned her professional credentials in regulation of healthcare products, Regulatory Affairs Certified (RAC), and has distinguished herself as a scientist with numerous awards and publications. She holds a doctorate in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology from Rutgers University – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and was a researcher at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine. She was recognized by the Biomedical Engineering Department of Rutgers University with the 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award and served as a member of the Industrial Advisory Board, Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Dr. Shahar has extensive experience in leading research and development programs in oncology and immune-oncology. Before joining NeoTX, she served as VP of Research and Development at Efranat Ltd, an immuno-oncology drug development company. Previously, she served as Director of Project Management for TransPharma Medical, where she led the development of their main product in collaboration with Eli Lilly. Dr. Shahar has also served as Director of R&D of the Pharma and Cosmetics division of Power Paper Ltd, Head of the Pre-clinical lab at Zetiq Technologies Ltd, and Senior Scientist and Project Leader at Prof. Yechiel Shai lab at Weizmann Institute of Science. Dr. Shahar holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the Bar-Ilan University, Israel.

Boris Fain received his B.A. in Mathematics and Physics from UC Berkeley and his Ph.D. in Physics from UCLA. He is a former Alfred P. Sloan Fellow at Stanford University. His current passions are biomolecular computing and Force-Fields.

Outside Board of Directors

Mr. Marinelli has served as President of Lawrence Investments, LLC, a private equity investment firm that is controlled by Lawrence J. Ellison, since 2015 (and as Vice President from 2004-2015). From 1999 to 2004, he held the position of Corporate Development Group Director at Cadence Design Systems, an electronic design automation software and services company, where he managed several dozen acquisitions and strategic investments. Prior to 1999, Mr. Marinelli held various financial roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers, a global professional services firm, AlliedSignal, an aerospace, automotive and engineering company, and EMCON, an environmental engineering firm. Mr. Marinelli earned a B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.B.A. from Cornell University. Mr. Marinelli has served as an officer and/or director of several companies owned by Mr. Ellison, including LeapFrog Enterprises (NYSE: LF), Hawaii Island Air, Tennis Ventures, LLC (owner of the BNP Paribas tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California) and Lanai Resorts, LLC (owner of the Hawaiian island of Lanai).

Mr. Hill is a private investor, whose career has spanned both the investment banking and the asset management business since 1973. Prior to January 2019, Mr. Hill was the President and CEO of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management and Vice Chairman of Blackstone Group where he served as a member of the Board of Directors of Blackstone’s general partner since March 2007. Mr. Hill is a graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Business School. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations where he is Chairman Emeritus of the Investment Committee and serves on the Council’s Investment Committee and is a member of the Board of Directors of Lincoln Center Theater, where he is Chairman Emeritus. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and currently serves on the Investment Committee of the Smithsonian Institution and the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also serves on the Board of the Guggenheim Museum, the Telluride Foundation, the Advantage Testing Foundation, the Friends of the High Line, and Our Lady Queen of Angels School, a parochial school (K-8th grade) in Spanish Harlem. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Christie’s and a member of the Board of Directors of First Eagle Investment Management, Hamilton Insurance Group, Limited, Advantage Testing, Inc. and Crux Informatics.

Ms. Hwang

Holds or has held various Board of Director positions including:

  • Jokwang I.L.I. Co., Ltd. (a S.Korea-based manufacturing company)
  • HuM&C Co., Ltd.,
  • CBI USA, Inc., a subsidiary of CBI Co. Ltd., which focuses on investment in dynamic businesses in the life science sector.
  • Kineta, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company.

Ms. Hwang held the role of Managing Director in Venture Capital Investment at Intervest Co., Ltd., a venture capital firm, from March 2016 until February 2017 and Neoplux Co., Ltd., a venture capital company, from September 2011 until April 2016.

Ms. Hwang holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Life Science from Pohang University of Science and Technology and a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from Seoul National University.