VIVO CAPITAL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive Director, Head Trader
Albert joined Vivo Capital in 2017 and is a member of the investment team.
Albert has more than 23 years of experience in institutional asset management. His early experience canvassed the sectors of Technology, Energy, Retail, Financials and MedTech/Pharma. Throughout his career, he has focused on trading technology, market sentiment, cost-effectiveness and compliance.
For the past 15 years, Albert has focused more specifically on the SMID Cap biotech and pharma space. In this role, Albert manages and executes all trading activity, including trading scenario analysis, order creation and management, execution of orders and management of the firm's trading relationships. Prior to Vivo, Albert was the Head Trader at Palo Alto Investors.
Albert holds a B.A. from Harvard with a concentration in Biology.
Allison Yan joined Vivo with a financial advisory and auditing background. Prior to Vivo, Allison worked at Ernst & Young in its financial accounting advisory service and audit practices. Allison has a wealth of experience in IPO auditing, acquisition and restructuring transaction advisory, operation optimization, SOX 404 internal control compliance and accounting standards implementation.
Allison received an M.A. in Accounting from North Carolina State University and a B.A. in Accounting from Zhejiang University. She is a US Certified Public Accountant.
Andrew Huang, is an Senior Associate of Vivo Capital. Mr. Huang is responsible for executing growth and private equity investments.
Prior to joining Vivo, Andrew worked at Audax Private Equity, where he focused on investments in healthcare and business service companies. Earlier in his career, he was an investment banker at J.P. Morgan, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions for technology and healthcare clients.
Andrew graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in Economics.
Chen Bian, is an Senior Associate at Vivo Capital. Chen worked at Zylox & Tonbridge, an interventional medical device platform for vascular surgeries, as a Finance Director and Board Secretary. Prior, Chen focused on healthcare investments for Highlight Capital. He started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in, auditing, M&A advisory, financial consulting and compliance work, specifically in pharma, medical devices, and healthcare services.
He received a B.S. in Economics from Fudan University and has been a China Certified Public Accountant since 2014.
Before joining VIVO, Chloe worked at China Orient Asset Management International Limited ("COAMI") as Director in Leveraged Finance Team. COAMI is a subsidiary of COAM which is one of the big four state-owned asset management institutions in China. Chloe managed a portfolio with highest AUM of HK$ 4.5 Billion with investments across mezzanine debt, share-pledged financing, privatization, cross border M&A and pre-IPO. Chloe also established a private equity fund with AUM of US$ 300 Million and acted as the Board of Director of the GP company. Chloe also worked at the Bank of China Group Investment Limited and Ernst & Young New York Office before.
Chloe is a Responsible Officer of Type 4&9 license from HK Securities and Futures Commission. She holds a B.B.A in Finance and M.S in Accounting from New York.
Daisy Xu - Managing Director
Daisy Xu joins Vivo with a wealth of experience in commercial operations, focused on the life science and medical equipment industries. Prior to joining Vivo, Daisy was Commercial Leader at ThermoFisher China, where she was responsible for overall management of commercial operations and where she helped to establish the company's business model. Prior to ThermoFisher, she was General Manager of Kinetic Concept Inc. Greater China and the head of Bio-Rad's Greater China operations. Daisy graduated from East China University of Science and Technology with an M.S. in Bio-engineering and a B.S. in Pharmaceutics.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate - PIM
Darren Long is an Associate - PIM at Vivo Capital. He joins the firm with a background in healthcare strategy consulting, business development, and commercial operation. Prior to Vivo, Darren was with BeiGene's Business Strategy group, focusing on internal clinical pipeline strategy and external business development/collaboration. Before BeiGene, he served as a consultant at IQVIA Singapore, focusing on the Southeast Asia pharmaceutical sector. He also served Shimadzu in its analytical instrument APAC commercial operations and MSD in its analytical chemistry department.
Darren graduated with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Biological Chemistry from Nanyang Technological University Singapore and an M.B.A. from INSEAD France/Singapore.
David Liu - Managing Director
David Liu, Ph.D., joined Vivo as a Principal with over 15 years of experience in Process R&D and CMC management in the pharmaceutical industry. He has led the development and implementation of novel and efficient chemical processes for tens of programs ranging from pre-IND to late stage Phase III. Prior to Vivo, he worked at STA-WuXi Apptec as Executive Director of Process Research & Development. Prior to STA he was Director of Process Chemistry with Avista Pharma Solutions and Principal Research Investigator with Array BioPharma.
David received his B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry from Peking University and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from University of Pittsburgh. He completed his postdoctoral research at Texas A & M University.
Di Liu is a Senior Associate at Vivo Capital. He has more than 10 years' experience in the investment banking industry. Prior to joining Vivo, Di worked in the investment banking department at China International Capital Corporation Limited and ICBC International (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China International Holdings Limited), focusing on various types of transactions including IPOs and M&As.
Mr. Liu holds an M.S. in Operations Research from Columbia University, and a B.S. in Computer Engineering from New York University.
Job Titles:
- Chief
- Founder
- Scientific Advisor
- Founding Member and Chief Scientific Advisor
- Managing Partner, Chief Scientific Advisor
- Professor of Pathology
Edgar Engleman, M.D. is a founding member and Chief Scientific Advisor of Vivo Capital. Dr. Engleman is a Professor of Pathology and Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, where he established and oversees the Stanford Blood Center, directs his immunology research team, and co-directs the Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy Research Programs at the Stanford Cancer Institute. He is an inventor of multiple patented technologies, has authored more than 300 publications in medical and scientific journals, and trained more than 100 graduate and postgraduate students. Dr. Engleman is the lead inventor of the technology underlying a cancer immunotherapy known as Provenge (Sipulucel-T), which was shown to extend the life of patients who suffer from metastatic prostate cancer. Provenge is the first in the class of personalized immunotherapeutic agents to be FDA approved for the treatment of cancer. He is also the lead inventor of the technology underlying the immunotherapies in development at Bolt Biotherapeutics.
Dr. Engleman is the founder or cofounder of a number of biotech companies including Cetus Immune (acquired by Novartis), Genelabs (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline), Dendreon (acquired by Sanpower), and Vivo portfolio companies Medeor, Bolt, and Tranquis. He currently serves on the boards of Bolt (BOLT) and several private companies including Tranquis, Synapse and Ossium. He previously served on the boards of REGENEXBIO (RGNX), Eiger (EIGR), Soleno (SLNO), Intermune (ITMN, acquired by Roche), Insmed (INSM), Prestwick (acquired by Biovail) and Semnur (acquired by Sorrento (SRNE).
He received his BA from Harvard College and earned his M.D. from Columbia University School of Medicine. In 2017, he received the CABS K Fong Prize in Life Sciences for his biomedical discoveries and contributions.
Fabianne Nordenson, M.S. and M.A., is a Principal at Vivo Capital with a background in healthcare investing and drug discovery research. Before joining Vivo, Fabianne worked at Roivant Pharma where she was responsible for investments in preclinical and clinical stage therapeutics. Prior to Roivant, Fabianne worked at Cowen where she was an investment banker on the healthcare team. There, Fabianne worked on equity transactions for private and public biotech companies. Fabianne started her Wall Street career in the healthcare equity research team at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Prior to Cantor Fitzgerald, Fabianne worked at Weill Cornell Medical College where she conducted drug discovery research in oncology. Before Cornell, Fabianne was at Harvard Medical School where she was a fellow responsible for multiple oncology research projects. She is published in multiple peer-reviewed journals, including PLOS One, the Journal of the American Chemical Society and the Journal of Organic Chemistry.
Mrs. Nordenson received her B.S. in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Cell Science from the University of Florida, her M.Sc. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, and her M.A. in Finance from Harvard University.
Job Titles:
- Founding Member
- Managing Partner
Dr. Kung is a founding member of Vivo Capital, LLC (formerly BioAsia Investments), a healthcare/biotechnology venture capital management firm in Palo Alto, California.
Dr. Kung started his career in the biotechnology industry in 1979 when he joined Cetus Corporation. He later co-founded Cetus Immune Corporation in 1981, which was acquired by its parent company in 1983. In 1983 he co-founded Genelabs Technologies, Inc. (NADSAQ: GNLB) where he served as Chairman and CEO until 1995. During his tenure in Genelabs, he brought the company public in 1991, and built it to a 175 employee international biotech company with operations in the United States, Belgium, Singapore, Switzerland and Taiwan.
Dr. Kung received his B.S. in chemistry from the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, his Ph.D. in molecular biology and M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. He received the Best Use of Technology Award from the Governor of California, the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards from Ernst and Young, and the Asian Business League. He also served on the board of directors of the Emerging Company Governing Body of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO); Mt. Jade Science and Technology Association, West Coast; and the Asian American Manufacturing Association. He was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services as a voting member of the National Biotechnology Policy Board. Dr. Kung currently serves on the board of directors of a number of emerging healthcare and biotechnology companies.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director at Vivo
Gisele Zhang, Ph.D. is an Executive Director at Vivo. She has more than 10 years of industry experience in the life sciences field as a drug discovery scientist, company executive, and venture capitalist. Prior to joining Vivo Capital, she served as Executive Director at 6 Dimensions Capital and as senior associate at WuXi Healthcare Ventures. During her time as a venture capitalist, Dr. Zhang has led and participated in a number of life sciences and pharmaceutical investments both in China and the United States, including Beigene, Viela Bio, Unity Biotech, Kira Pharmaceuticals, Gracell Bio, and M6P Therapeutics. Previously, she was an associate director in the biology department at WuXi Apptec, contributing to preclinical candidate nominations for several acquisition deals.
Dr. Zhang received her B.S. in Cell Biology and Physiology from University of Paris and a Ph.D. in Pathology and Cell Biology from University of Montreal.
Hao Dong - Managing Director
Hao Dong is a Managing Director at Vivo Capital and has over 12 years of experience in investment and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining Vivo Capital, Hao worked at Qianhai Ark Asset Management, China's largest fund of funds (FOF), and he also previously co-founded a technology start-up that successfully completed a NASDAQ IPO. Early in his career, he worked in the investment banking department at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank.
Hao received a B.S. in financial engineering from the University of International Business and Economics.
Hongbo Lu, Ph.D., is a Managing Partner of Vivo Capital. Dr. Lu has close to 20 years of healthcare investment experience in both public securities and private companies. Prior to joining Vivo, she served as a Managing Partner at Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV). Prior to that, she served as a Managing Director at OrbiMed Advisors. Over her investment career, Dr. Lu has invested extensively in both China and the U.S. She previously served on the boards of Turning Point Therapeutics (TPTX), CrownBio (6554.TT, acquired by JSR), Avedro (AVDR, acquired by Glaukos), Passage (PASG, observer), and was extensively involved in the company incubations of ADARx, Elpiscience, Geneception, Perfuse, Terns, and Ronovo since inception. Dr. Lu started her Wall Street career as a biotech analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co. and was involved in biotech start-ups in the Bay Area previously.
Dr. Lu earned a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Washington, an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated with honors from Tsinghua University.
Irvin Akinseye is an Associate at Vivo Capital. Mr. Akinseye is responsible for executing growth and private equity investments.
Prior to joining Vivo, Irvin worked at Longitude Capital, where he focused on investments in medical technology companies. Earlier in his career, he was an Investment Banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs, where he focused on capital raising and M&A for financial technology clients.
Irvin graduated from Brown University, magna cum laude, with a B.A. in Health & Human Biology and Economics.
Jack B. Nielsen is a Managing Partner of Vivo Capital. Prior to joining Vivo, Jack worked within the Novo A/S organization and its venture activities since 2001 in several roles, most recently as a Senior Partner. From 2006 to 2012, Jack was employed as a Partner at Novo Ventures (US) Inc. in San Francisco, where he established the firm's U.S. office. Jack currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Aligos Therapeutics, ALX Oncology, Harmony Biosciences, Instil Bio, Macologix, and Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc. He previously served on the board of directors of publicly-traded companies Akebia Therapeutics Inc., Merus, B.V and Apollo Endosurgery, Inc. He was also a member of the board of directors of a number of private companies including Alios Biopharma, Anokion, Kanyos Bio, NeoMend, Procept Biorobotics, ProteinSimple, Tobira Therapeutics, and Unchained Labs. From 1990 to 2001, Mr. Nielsen served various positions in Novo Nordisk A/S, ranging from R&D projects over large-scale production of enzymes to marketing and technical service in the textile areas.
Jack received a M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University in Denmark and a Masters in Management of Technology from Center for Technology, Economics and Management; Technical University of Denmark.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Senior Associate - IR
Jane Gong is a Senior Associate - IR at Vivo Capital. She joins the firm with a background in investor relations and investment banking. Prior to Vivo, Jane worked in the Investor Relations team of New Horizon, Advantech, and Redview Capital platform, where she engaged in executing the IR program as well as supporting post-investment management. Prior to that, Jane was an Investment Banking Analyst at Houlihan Lokey, where she specialized in cross-border mergers & acquisitions and take-private transactions. Early in her career, Jane also worked for a financial advisory firm focused on raising capital for Israeli start-ups in the high-tech and healthcare sectors.
Jane received her bachelor's degree in Honors Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business, the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
Jason Wang (MD Candidate) is a Senior Associate at Vivo Capital. Jason comes to Vivo from Fortress Bio, where he was for five years on the business development team mainly evaluating numerous assets and companies across multiple therapeutic areas with the idea of starting Newco's. Prior to that, he attended medical school at the University of Illinois and has an undergraduate degree in chemistry and history from the University of Rochester.
Jessica Li, is an Analyst at Vivo Capital. She joined Vivo with a quantitative background. Her most recent experiences include working in the asset management division of CITIC Trust Co., followed by working with the audit group at Shinewing International, and The International Trade Administration of the US Department of Commerce in New York.
She received her B.A. in Economics from New York University and her M.S. in Business Analytics with a concentration in Finance from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.
Jessica Tusi joined Vivo Capital with a background in sales and trading. Prior to Vivo, Jessica worked as an equity sales trader at Credit Suisse and developed equity trading expertise for Asia markets with a focus on Hong Kong and Mainland China markets.
Ms. Tusi graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Statistics and Economics and a Minor in Dance.
Job Titles:
- in 2016 As a Venture Partner
- Venture Partner
Dr. Shen joined Vivo Capital in 2016 as a Venture Partner. She is an international pharmaceutical executive with more than 40 years of experience in the industry. Dr. Shen was the President and CEO, Board Member, and co-founder of ScinoPharm Taiwan, Ltd, a publicly listed leading process R&D and API manufacturing service provider to the global pharmaceutical industry.
Prior to establishing ScinoPharm in 1997, Dr. Shen was previously Corporate Vice President of Pharmaceutical Operations and Technology for Syntex from 1981, where she served for 14 years responsible for worldwide pharmaceutical manufacturing, operations, and technology transfer. Before that, she worked at Monsanto for 8 years in various technical and management positions in the synthetic fibers and semiconductor materials divisions.
Dr. Shen is a former board member of the U.S. Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Association (PhRMA), where she chaired the Production Group. She currently serves on a number of boards including the Development Center for Biotechnology, Taiwan Bio Industry Organization, China Chemical Society, and Taiwan Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association (TPMA) where she chairs the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Committee.
Dr. Shen holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Lehigh University, an M.S. in Chemistry from University of Iowa and a B.S. of Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University. Dr. Shen is the recipient of the "Women in Industry" award from the YWCA in California.
Kevin Dai - Managing Director
Job Titles:
- Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Akrivista
- Venture Partner
Dr. Whitcup is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Akrivista and Whitecap Biosciences, two companies focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapies in ophthalmology and dermatology. Dr. Whitcup has published more than 250 scientific articles and co-authored a leading textbook on uveitis and ocular immunology. Dr. Whitcup currently serves on the boards of Menlo Therapeutics, Scilex Holding Company and Anivive. He previously served on the boards of Nightstar Therapeutics and Avanir Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Whitcup holds a B.A. in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University and an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College. Dr. Whitcup has completed a residency in Internal Medicine at UCLA, a residency in Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School-Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary and a fellowship in Uveitis and Ocular Immunology at the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. He is a Diplomate of both the American Board of Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Job Titles:
- in 2016 As a Venture Partner
- Venture Partner
Dr. Tsay joined Vivo Capital in 2016 as a Venture Partner. He has extensive experience and track record in building successful businesses that were eventually acquired or went public. Prior to his retirement in 2010 from Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO), Dr. Tsay served as Senior Vice President and Group President of the company's Specialty Diagnostic business, with worldwide annual revenue of US $2 billion. He was the Group President of Immunodiagnostics of Fisher Scientific (NYSE: FSH) prior to Fisher's merger with Thermo Electron in 2006. From 2000 to 2004 he served as Group President of Clinical Diagnostics of Apogent (NYSE: AOT), which was acquired by Fisher in 2004. While working for these public companies, he was instrumental in engineering the acquisition of multiple diagnostics companies including Phadia, One Lambda, BRAHMS, Microgenics, Seradyne, Duke Scientifics and Applied Biotech Inc. He was the founder of Diagnostics Reagents Inc., which was acquired by Apogent in 1998. He also cofounded several other diagnostic companies, which were either acquired by a public company or went public.
Dr. Tsay serves on the boards of several biotech companies including PEG Bioscience, PharmaLegacy, AltheaDx, ReadCoor and Bonraybio. He also serves as a Scientific Advisor for Personal Genomics.
Dr. Tsay received his B.S. in Chemistry from the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. He has a Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Rochester, New York. He received a Distinguished Scholar Award from the University of Rochester (2014) and the Distinguished Alumni Awards from Cheng Kung University (2012).