Working to Address Liver and Cardiometabolic Diseases with Growing Needs

Rohan Palekar is a seasoned C-suite executive with over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Most recently, Rohan was the president and CEO of Avanir Pharmaceuticals (2015-2017) after serving as its EVP-Chief Operations Officer (2015). Rohan joined Avanir in 2012 as SVP-Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and as part of the senior leadership team led the organization through a dynamic growth phase. Avanir was acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceuticals in 2015. Prior to Avanir, Rohan served as the CCO of Medivation (2008-2011), where he oversaw commercial, medical affairs, CMC & manufacturing, and public relations. Earlier in his career, Rohan spent 16 years at Johnson & Johnson in various senior commercial and strategic management roles, including worldwide VP of immunology and VP of sales and marketing at Centocor.

Rohan holds an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College and a BA/BS in law and accounting from the University of Bombay.

Dr. Hank Mansbach is chief medical officer of 89bio. Dr. Mansbach has more than 20 years of clinical, regulatory, and medical affairs experience working across all stages of product development in a wide range of disease states. Most recently, Dr. Mansbach was head of metabolic and neurology global clinical development at Ultragenyx. There, he led clinical development for several programs on rare inborn errors of metabolism. Before Ultragenyx, Dr. Mansbach served as VP of medical affairs at Medivation, where he played a key role in the development and commercialization of enzalutamide for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Earlier in his career, Dr. Mansbach served as SVP of global drug development at Valeant Pharmaceuticals and chief medical officer at Cortex Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Mansbach began his industry career at Glaxo Wellcome after clinical practice and research in neurology. He earned a medical degree from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree from Yale University.

Quoc Le-Nguyen is the chief technical operations officer and head of quality of 89bio. He has over 25 years of experience in biopharmaceutical operations from large pharma and small startup and has the rare experience of both starting a manufacturing operation and closing a manufacturing plant. Quoc is a seasoned executive with extensive knowledge in technical operations and product supply, including building out facilities, organization, and systems as well as advancing programs through various stages of clinical development to licensure. His most recent position was SVP, global head of technical operations & quality for Aduro BioTech, where he was responsible for clinical supply including analytical/process development, manufacturing, supply chain, and quality for all three platforms: Cell Therapy, Small Molecule, and Antibody. Prior to that, Quoc was the VP of manufacturing operations for Bayer Healthcare, responsible for the Betaferon/Betaseron franchise. Quoc also played a critical role in the startup of BioMarin, in the development and approval of their first product, Adurazyme, in 2001.

Quoc holds a BS in biochemistry from the University of California at Davis.

Ryan Martins is chief financial officer (CFO) of 89bio. He brings almost 20 years of biotech experience to the company, including having completed strategic financings and acquisitions with an aggregate transaction value in excess of $1 billion. Ryan was most recently CFO at privately held Revolution Medicines, prior to which he was vice president, head of corporate strategy and investor relations at Ultragenyx. Prior to Ultragenyx, Ryan spent nearly 10 years as a biotechnology analyst at Jefferies, Lazard, and Barclays/Lehman Brothers, where he conducted in-depth analysis of profitable, public, and private biotech companies. Ryan began his career at Chiron Corp., where he held operating roles in commercial, business development, and legal until its acquisition by Novartis for approximately $5 billion.

Ryan earned his BS in Life Sciences from St. Xavier’s College, an MS degree in Biology from Virginia Tech, and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley.

Dr. Teresa Perney brings over 20 years of relevant experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, she was Chief Regulatory and Quality Officer at EQRx prior to its acquisition by Revolution Medicines. Prior to that position, Dr. Perney served as Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Quality at Myovant Sciences, Vice President of Global Development for Oncology at Pfizer, Inc., and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Medivation. She also held Regulatory & Product Development positions at Hoffman LaRoche/Genentech and the Schering Plough Research Institute. Dr. Perney received her B.A. from Northwestern University and her Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the University of Chicago.

Francis Sarena is a seasoned C-suite biotech executive with 25 years of experience. Before joining 89bio, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer at Apexigen, Inc., where he played a key role in the company's acquisition by Pyxis Oncology, Inc. Prior to that, Francis held leadership positions at Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc., serving as Chief Strategy Officer and contributing to the company's evolution from a research-focused private entity to a public development-stage company, culminating in its acquisition by Amgen, Inc. in 2021. He also held significant roles at Facet Biotech Corporation and PDL BioPharma, Inc., where he navigated complex M&A and corporate governance matters. Francis began his career in law, representing a diverse array of clients in M&A, financing transactions, and corporate governance. He holds a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BS in finance from San Francisco State University.

Melissa Abel is SVP, Commercial Strategy at 89bio with responsibility for commercial, medical affairs and corporate communications. She has more than 25 years of broad commercial experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. From 2016-2020, she worked as VP, Commercial Strategy at Concentric Analgesics and Five Prime Therapeutics, both companies in the pre-commercialization phase. Prior to that, she led the launch and commercialization of XTANDI^® (enzalutamide), one of the most successful prostate cancer medicines ever developed, for Medivation (2009-2014). Prior to Medivation, she worked at a several pre-commercial and commercial companies including Anesiva, Telik, Alza and Chiron. She began her career in Sales and Marketing at SmithKline Beecham (1995-1999).

Melissa holds an MBA from Emory University Goizueta Business School and a BA in statistics from the University of Chicago.

Michael Baldwin is Vice President, Head of Quality at 89bio. Michael has more than 25 years of experience in biotechnology including Quality Assurance (in-house and CMO/CDMO manufactured products), Global Operations, Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Operations, Tech Transfer, Manufacturing, product launch, medical devices, and establishment of quality systems. Prior to joining our company, Michael was the Director of Quality Assurance at Bayer Healthcare responsible for all aspects of quality assurance for Bayer’s Hematology products manufacturing from 2016 to 2019. He served as Bayer’s Head of Contract Manufacturing Biotech QA in Berlin from 2014 to 2016, responsible for oversight of contracted biotech products and establishment of quality teams in Berlin and Basel. He has held multiple quality roles at Bayer, Novartis and Chiron in addition to managing manufacturing and facility startup operations earlier in his career.

Michael earned his B.S. in Biology from the University of California, Davis.

Annie Chang is the Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at 89bio. With a decade in the life science industry, Annie's experience spans various roles within investor relations and capital markets. Before 89bio, she was the Vice President of Investor Relations at Sutro Biopharma and has collaborated with multiple life science companies as a Vice President of Investment Relations at Solebury Trout, an investor relations and communications agency. Annie was also the Director of Research focused on investing in companies within the biotechnology industry at a family office. Her career started in Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan, where she covered a large-cap biotechnology company and as well as companies in other industries. Additionally, Annie has experience in corporate development and M&A in the technology industry.

She holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from New York University's Stern School of Business.

Shaji Joseph is Vice President, CMC at 89bio. Shaji has more than 25 years of experience in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and technical operations managing in-house and CMO/CDMO manufactured products. His experience covers site management, clinical and commercial supply chain operations, CMC, formulation and drug device development, manufacturing of synthetic molecules and peptides, CMO contracting and technology transfers. Prior to joining our company, Shaji served as the Site Head, Manufacturing Operations at Revance Therapeutics, responsible for all aspects of drug substance, novel synthetic peptide, drug product manufacturing, clinical supply chain and warehouse management. He was a key member of CMC supporting BLA activities. Prior to that, he served as the Plant Manager (Site Head) at Solstice Neurosciences, managing site operations for the manufacture and supply of their commercial injectable product distributed in the US, EU and Japan. Earlier in his career, he worked at Allergan and Regeneron in progressive roles in Technical Support and both clinical and commercial product manufacturing.

Shaji has a Master of Technology degree in Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India.

Amanda joined 89bio in 2021 as Vice President, People & Culture. Prior to that, she served in various roles of increasing responsibility including Vice President, Human Resources at Catalyst Biosciences. At Catalyst, she was the de facto chief of staff to the CEO, responsible for strategic alignment with the business, leadership & organizational development, DE&I, culture & values and employee experience. Amanda's career began in the biotechnology industry at Exelixis in 1999 where she saw the Company through its start-up phase, initial public offering and exponential growth. She is uniquely skilled at building mindful, inclusive company cultures that attract, optimize and retain top talent.

Amanda holds Bachelors of Arts degrees in Psychology and Ethnic Studies from Mills College and serves as a Global Advisor for How Women Lead's Women Leaders for the World.

Shiva Natarajan is SVP Finance & Principal Accounting Officer. Shiva has over 25 years of extensive accounting and financial management experience in both public and private companies. Most recently he served as CFO of SiFive, Inc., from 2017 to 2019. Before SiFive, between 2015 and 2017, he was vice president finance at A10 Networks. Prior to A10 Networks, Shiva was vice president and chief accounting officer at Fluidigm Corporation and held several roles at Applied Micro Corporation, including vice president, chief accounting officer and interim chief financial officer. Earlier in his career he held positions of increasing responsibility at various high technology companies and worked as senior manager at Ernst & Young LLP in their Assurance and Business Advisory practice.

Shiva is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Calcutta.

Dr. Anna Sedello is Vice President, Regulatory Affairs. Dr. Sedello has over 15 years of experience in global drug development across the US, EU, China, Japan, and beyond. Before joining 89bio, she was Executive Director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals following the acquisition of Alpine Immune Sciences where she oversaw all regulatory activities for the portfolio of biologics including povetacicept for treatment of multiple auto-antibody diseases. Dr. Sedello also served at Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Atreca, Merck, and Cellerant Therapeutics in roles with increasing responsibility overseeing regulatory activities from preclinical through post-approval stages across a wide range of modalities—including biologics, small molecules, and cell therapies—and therapeutic areas such as rare and ultra-rare diseases, autoimmune and renal conditions, infectious diseases, endocrinology, and oncology.

Dr. Sedello received her PhD in Cell Biology from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics and the University of Dresden. She received her Diploma in Biochemistry from the University of Leipzig and holds a RAC-Drugs certification from the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society.

Dr. Leo Tseng is Vice President, Clinical Pharmacology and NonClinical Development. Dr. Tseng has more than 25 years of industry experience in research and development. Before joining 89bio in 2019, he was Director, Fellow for Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmacometrics and Drug Metabolism at MedImmune/AstraZeneca. Dr. Tseng was ClinPharm team lead for the successful BLA submission for Lumoxiti. Dr. Tseng also served at Merck, Exelixis, Sanofi, Bayer, Amgen and Genetics Institute (later part of Pfizer) with increasing responsibility. He has extensive experience with a wide range of small molecules and biologics across various disease areas. He has supported drug development programs from discovery through marketing authorization, life cycle management and numerous regulatory submissions (BLA, NDA, and INDs etc.).

Dr. Tseng received his PhD in Pharmaceutics from the State University of New York at Buffalo, MS in Physiology from Georgetown University, BS in Pharmacy from National Taiwan University, and MBA from Santa Clara University.

Wenyan joined 89bio in 2023 as Vice President, Clinical Development and is responsible for the NASH clinical development program. Wenyan has 25 years of experience in drug discovery and development in large pharma and small biotech. Most recently she served as the Vice President, Global Team Leader of the SerpinPC hemophilia program at Centessa, where she led the IND submission to End of Phase 2, clinical development and global regulatory strategy. Prior to Centessa, Wenyan spent 8 years at Novartis in roles of increasing responsibility. She was the scientific lead for the iptacopan program, including design of the phase 2 and 3 studies for the leading indication IgA nephropathy, design of a phase 2 study for resistant hypertension with a selective neprilysin inhibitor, and design and execution of the global outcome PARAGON-HF study of Sacubitril/Valsartan (Entresto^®) for heart failure with preserved ejection. She also supported global approvals for Entresto after successful completion of the phase 3 PARADIGM-HF study. Prior to Novartis she spent 6 years in global clinical development at Merck including work on the ezetimibe lipid program and the vorapaxar anti-thrombotic program for prevention of cardiovascular events. She started her industry career at Schering-Plough as a Senior Scientist in the Structural Chemistry Department.

Wenyan holds a master’s degree in biochemistry from Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China and she received her PhD from Iowa State University in biochemistry.