NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — OnCusp Therapeutics, a global biotechnology company with deep translational and clinical development expertise in oncology therapeutics, today announced the appointment of serial entrepreneur Robert Forrester and venture capitalist Chau Khuong as independent board directors.
“We are delighted to have Robert and Chau, two seasoned leaders with a wealth of insights and expertise, to join OnCusp’s Board. Both are highly regarded and deeply connected in the biotech and investment community,” said Dr. Bing Yuan, Chairman and CEO of OnCusp. “Each of these individuals brings unique skill sets to our Board and will be instrumental to advancing OnCusp through several key value inflection points in the coming years. We look forward to their contributions to our company’s success.”
Mr. Forrester has more than 25 years of life sciences experience and has held leadership roles in private and public pharmaceutical companies. He is a co-founder of IDRx, EQRx, Brixton Biosciences and EyeCool Therapeutics and has served as the CEO of Verastem Oncology, COO of Forma Therapeutics, CEO and CFO of CombinatoRx, and CFO of Coley Pharmaceutical. He also serves on the boards of AffyImmune Therapeutics, Pillar Biosciences and Deciduous Therapeutics. Robert also served as Managing Director of the Proprietary Investment Group at MeesPierson and worked as an investment banker at Barclays and UBS. Mr. Forrester holds an LL.B. from Bristol University, UK.
“I am truly excited to join the OnCusp Board at this transformative moment for the company.” Mr. Forrester stated, “I am equally enthusiastic about OnCusp’s lead program, CUSP06, a thoughtfully designed second-in-class CDH6 ADC with clearly differentiated attributes. I look forward to working with other board members and the executive team to maximize the potential of the company’s promising pipeline.”
Mr. Khuong was most recently General Partner and Senior Advisor at Catalio Capital Management, LP where he served on the Investment Committees of Catalio’s flagship private equity strategy and its Credit Opportunities strategy. He previously spent nearly twenty years at OrbiMed Advisors, where he contributed significantly to the firm’s growth into one of the premier healthcare-focused investing organizations globally. At the time of his retirement from OrbiMed in December 2021, Chau was Partner and Member of the Investment Committee for the OrbiMed venture capital funds. He has led or co-led investments into over two dozen life science companies, ultimately resulting in twelve FDA approved medicines or therapeutic devices. Chau has served as a representative on the Board of Directors of numerous public and private biotech companies such as Bellus Health (NASDAQ: BLU), Glaukos (NYSE: GKOS), Inspire Medsystems (NYSE: INSP), Intellia (NASDAQ: NTLA), Rempex (acquired by MDCO), and ReViral Ltd (acquired by Pfizer). Chau earned a B.S. and an M.P.H., both from Yale University.
“It is a pleasure to be a part of OnCusp and to collaborate with such an experienced management team,” said Mr. Khuong. “I am impressed with the progress that OnCusp has made since its inception last year and look forward to leveraging my financial expertise and extensive relationships to drive growth and success for the company.”
About OnCusp Therapeutics
OnCusp Therapeutics is a global biotechnology company with deep translational and clinical development expertise in oncology therapeutics. OnCusp was founded by a world-class team with a proven track record in building a startup biotech to the commercialization stage, leading successful global clinical programs, and creating value in mutually beneficial partnerships. OnCusp’s business model is to develop preclinical assets to clinical proof of concept and then partner out for commercialization. OnCusp continually strives to optimize the largest value inflection point in the drug development value chain and believes that accelerating oncology drug innovation is the best way to deliver help and hope to cancer patients worldwide. OnCusp is backed by prominent investors including Sequoia Capital China, Biotrack Capital, Oriza Seed Fund, AIHC Capital, WuXi Biologics HealthCare Venture and 3R Capital. OnCusp has its headquarters in New York City and an office in Shanghai.