Steven P. James

CEO

Steven James has over 30 years of biopharmaceutical experience and has been involved in building and leading numerous successful companies and the discovery and development of important approved drug products. Currently, Mr. James is Chief Executive Officer and director of Pionyr Immunotherapeutics. Previously, he was president and CEO of Labrys Biologics until it was acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Labrys, Mr. James was president and CEO of KAI Pharmaceuticals which was acquired by Amgen. He has held leadership positions at Exelixis, Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, and began his career at Eli Lilly. He holds a Masters in Management from the Kellogg School of Northwestern University and an undergraduate degree in neuroscience from Brown University. He serves as a trustee of Middlebridge School in Rhode Island. Mr. James is currently chairman of Antiva Biosciences and a director of Allakos Inc and Ventus Therapeutics. He was formerly a director of Ocera Inc. (acquired by Mallinkrodt) and Cascadian Therapeutics (acquired by Seattle Genetics).

Kevin P. Baker, PhD

Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer

Kevin Baker joined Pionyr in 2018. He leads research, nonclinical development, and project management. Dr. Baker has over 30 years of research and development experience, including more than 25 years in the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Pionyr, he was Senior Vice President of Development Sciences at Five Prime Therapeutics, where he oversaw the nonclinical development and manufacturing for all of FivePrime’s clinical programs. Prior to FivePrime, Dr. Baker was Associate Director at Human Genome Sciences (HGS) where he ran a research team focused on receptor-ligand interactions in the immune system, as well as the project team lead for Belimumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against BLyS BAFF Belimumab is currently marketed for the treatment of SLE (lupus).

Prior to Human Genome Sciences, Dr. Baker was a scientist leading a research lab in the molecular biology group at Genentech and was responsible for identifying, cloning and functional analysis of novel secreted proteins including receptor tyrosine kinases and DNases. Dr. Baker holds a PhD in microbial genetics and molecular biology from the University of Dundee, Scotland, and performed postdoctoral studies in cell biology at the Biozentrum in the University of Basel, Switzerland.

Tony Brew

Senior Director, Information Technology

Tony Brew joined Pionyr Immunotherapeutics in June 2021 as Head of Information Technology and Senior Director.  Prior to Pionyr, he served as a senior level technology, security and regulatory compliance consultant to life sciences companies in Boston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco Bay Area. Mr. Brew has also served as Senior Director and Head of Information Technology and Security at Hyperion Therapeutics, Horizon Pharma and in senior technology leadership positions as Senior Director of Information Technology and Security at CTI BioPharma, Tercica, Inc and Ipsen in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle. In these roles, he optimized technology resources and supported the successful launch of several FDA-approved commercial products in the US and EU. In addition to his extensive technology, information security and regulatory compliance experience, Mr. Brew attended St. Augustine’s College and graduated in Mathematics, Physics & Chemistry, and is also a Certified Network Engineer (CNE), Certifed Messaging Engineer (CME), and Certified Network Administrator (CNA).

Marc Chamberlain, MD

Executive Medical Director

Prior to joining Pionyr, Marc Chamberlain was Medical Director at SystImmune, Inc where he developed protocols for novel multi-valent monoclonal antibodies for first in human early phase clinical trials. Before that, he served as Medical Director at Seattle Genetics following its acquisition of Cascadian Therapeutics, where he led clinical stage development of a novel HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, tucatinib, through clinical proof of concept in HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer and subsequently helping to develop and execute a randomized Phase 2/3 global trial which resulted in an FDA approval. Before joining industry, Dr. Chamberlain was a professor and academic oncologist, where he had both extensive experience as a clinician (specializing in neuro-oncology) as well as serving as Principal Investigator on multiple trials, including cooperative group, pharma sponsored as well as investigator-initiated trials. Dr. Chamberlain received his M.D. from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed residencies/fellowships in pediatrics, neurology and neuro-oncology at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, San Francisco. He has authored more than 500 scientific publications in major journals.

Larry Garrido

Senior Director, Facilities Operations

Larry Garrido joined Pionyr Immunotherapeutics in November 2018 as Sr. Director, Facilities Operations. Prior to Pionyr, Mr. Garrido was the Sr. Director, Facilities Operations at Relypsa, Inc., which was acquired by Galenica in September 2016. Prior to joining Relypsa, Mr. Garrido was the Associate Director, Operations at KAI Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw Facilities, Purchasing, EH&S and IT activities. After KAI’s acquisition by Amgen in July 2012, Mr. Garrido remained with Amgen until December 2012 to assist in the transition before starting at Relypsa. Before joining KAI, Mr. Garrido started his career in the biopharma industry as Manager, materials in December 1998 at COR Therapeutics, which was acquired by Millennium Pharmaceuticals in December 2001. While at COR, along with managing the shipment of clinical supplies and import of API for manufacturing, Mr. Garrido also played a vital role in supporting Facilities, EH&S and purchasing functions.

Evan Greger, MBA, MSc

Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer

Evan Greger joined Pionyr Immunotherapeutics in June 2018 and has over 20 years of experience in leadership roles in biopharmaceutical companies, with research, process/product development, manufacturing, CMC, and regulatory expertise. Prior to Pionyr, he served as VP, CMC and Process Development for Cell Design Labs / Kite Pharma, where he worked on next generation CAR T therapy, and was the Senior Director, Manufacturing Process Sciences at Juno Therapeutics, where he advanced CAR T therapies into the EU with Celgene and into China with JW Therapeutics. Prior to this role, Mr. Greger was Global Head of Manufacturing Sciences and Technology for Biopharmaceutical Operations with Novartis in Basel, Switzerland. He previously held senior positions with Amgen, where he led Enbrel commercialization, advanced the oncology and biosimilar pipeline, and at Sanofi Pasteur and Alpharma, where he advanced vaccine development and commercialization. Mr. Greger holds an MBA from Seattle University and a MSc from University of Washington.

Lynnae Jackson, MBA

Vice President, Clinical Operations

Lynnae Jackson joined Pionyr in August 2020, bringing over 30 years’ clinical operations leadership within the biotechnology industry. Prior to joining Pionyr, through her consulting business, Ms. Jackson provided her clinical operations expertise to BeiGene and Pionyr.  Before that, she served as Senior Director of Clinical Operations at Agensys, Inc., a subsidiary of Astellas Pharma, where she oversaw the management of clinical development of multiple antibody products to novel targets from Phase 1 First-in-Human studies through Phase 2 Proof-of-Concept studies for multiple products. During Ms. Jackson’s tenure at Agensys, her work was instrumental in the FDA granting accelerated approval for Padcev in the treatment of advanced Urothelial Cancer. Ms. Jackson’s prior positions in industry included Senior Director at Amgen, Inc. managing various Phase 2 through Phase 4 clinical trials across multiple therapeutic areas including: Nephrology, Infectious Disease, Rheumatology and Oncology.  While at Amgen, she was a key member involved in the NDA for Neupogen. Ms. Jackson started her career at Genentech, Inc., working in their Endocrinology group. She has co-authored more than 20 scientific publications.  Ms. Jackson holds a BS in Biology from San Francisco State University and an Executive MBA from Pepperdine University.

Sam Kim, MBA

Executive Director, Program Management

Sam Kim joined Pionyr in September 2021 and leads the Program Management function. He has over 25 years of biopharmaceutical experience, 20 of which have been leading development programs and teams, and 6 years as an Assistant Commissioner of a Canadian regulatory agency. Prior to Pionyr, Sam served as Head of Project Management at Astex Pharmaceuticals where he led a team of project managers responsible for a portfolio of several oncology assets ranging from first-in-human clinical trials through NDA approval and commercial launch.

Prior to Astex, Sam worked at multiple global pharmas (Lilly, Novartis, Upjohn) as well as smaller pharma (Astex, Maxygen, Cerus) in a variety of roles including program management, clinical development, regulatory affairs, and business development. Sam holds a Pharmacy degree as well as an MBA, both from the University of Toronto.

Alicia Levey, PhD

President and Chief Operating Officer

Dr. Alicia Levey joined Pionyr in July of 2019 and leads business development, business operations, portfolio strategy, and program management in addition to managing intellectual property and legal functions. Prior to Pionyr, Dr. Levey served as the Chief Business Officer of Tempest Therapeutics and was a key contributor to establishing the company outside of Inception Sciences and raising $70M in venture funding. Leading up to the spin-out of Tempest, she was VP of Business Development at Inception Sciences, a small molecule drug discovery company formed in collaboration with Versant Ventures, a global venture capital firm focused primarily on early stage investing and biotechnology company creation. Dr. Levey served as a member of the Versant Ventures Investment Team for over 8 years, most recently as an Operating Principal. While at Versant, she was a key contributor to multiple Series A investments (Novira, Audentes, Therachon among others) as well as business development efforts for portfolio companies. Dr. Levey worked as a Consultant, and later a Project Leader in The Boston Consulting Group. While at BCG, she focused primarily on biopharma and global health. Dr. Levey has authored several peer reviewed scientific publications and her inventions are covered in two United States Patents. While at Stanford, she focused on the development of novel protease inhibitors and activity-based probes for diagnostic imaging applications. Dr. Levey earned a Ph.D. in Cancer Biology from the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Yunfeng Li, PhD

Senior Director, Biostatistics

Yunfeng Li joined Pionyr in January 2021 and leads biometrics-related activities. He has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry focused on biometrics. Prior to Pionyr, Dr. Li served as Senior Director of Biostatistics for Assembly Bioscience, working on statistical design, analysis, and reporting. Before joining Assembly, Dr. Li built and led the oncology biostatistics team at Nektar, where he worked on an EU MAA submission for breast cancer and immunotherapy development on solid tumors. Prior to Nektar, Dr. Li held senior research positions in biostatistics at Pharmacyclics, Cerexa, Shire, and Wyeth where he was involved in multiple regulatory submissions and all phases of clinical trials across multiple therapeutic areas including oncology, hematology, infectious disease, and central nervous system diseases. Dr. Li received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Science and Technology of China.

Linda Liang, PhD

Vice President, Protein Sciences

Linda Liang has over 15 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry focused on developing biologic therapeutics for multiple targets. She joined Pionyr Immunotherapeutics in 2019 to lead the Protein Sciences and Antibody Generation group. Prior to Pionyr, Dr. Liang held senior research positions in protein sciences and antibody discovery at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Schering-Plough, and Organon where she made significant contributions to biologics discovery efforts in metabolic diseases, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, and immune-oncology. Dr. Liang received a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Isabel Luther

Executive Director, Clinical Operations

Isabel Luther joined Pionyr Immunotherapeutics in June 2019, bringing more than 25 years of experience in clinical drug development, including over 20 years dedicated to clinical operations in oncology. Before joining Pionyr, Ms. Luther served as VP, Clinical Operations in a consulting role at Naked Biome, Inc. Prior to joining Naked Biome, Ms. Luther was Sr. Clinical Program Manager, Clinical Operations, at Gilead Sciences. At Gilead, she oversaw development of multiple, concurrent assets in oncology, as well as managed the respective functional resources, at various phases of clinical research. Prior to Gilead, Ms. Luther served in supervisory roles at organizations including Onyx Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Amgen), Medivation (acquired by Pfizer), and Sugen (acquired by Pharmacia). Early in her career, Ms. Luther worked for CROs monitoring clinical trials in the field, beginning with her biopharmaceutical research internship at Corning-Besselaar (now Covance, Inc.). She holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Monte Montgomery

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Monte Montgomery joined Pionyr Immunotherapeutics in August 2017 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to Pionyr, Mr. Montgomery served as VP, Finance and Chief Accounting Officer at Relypsa, Inc. which was acquired by Galenica in September 2016. Prior to joining Relypsa, Mr. Montgomery was the Executive Director, Finance at KAI Pharmaceuticals where he oversaw Finance, Facility, Purchasing and IT activities until KAI’s acquisition by Amgen in July 2012. Before joining KAI, Mr. Montgomery was Director, SEC Reporting at Exelixis, Inc. where he was a key contributor in various equity offerings, collaborations, and other fund-raising activities. Earlier in his career, Mr. Montgomery was an audit professional in Ernst & Young life sciences practice. He holds a B.A. in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and he is a certified public accountant (inactive).

Kristen Pierce, PhD

Vice President, Translational Medicine

Kristen Pierce joined Pionyr in 2021. She leads translational medicine, including bioanalytical development and tissue- based biomarkers. Dr. Pierce has over 25 years of research and development experience, including 20 years in the biopharmaceutical industry focused on oncology research and development. Prior to joining Pionyr, she was an Executive Director at Pfizer, where she was Asset Team Lead in early oncology development. Prior to Pfizer, Dr. Pierce spent sixteen years at FivePrime Therapeutics and was the asset team lead for nonclinical and early clinical development, including development of a companion diagnostic, for the anti-FGFR2b antibody, Bemarituzumab, a first-in-class antibody in late development for patients with FGFR2b- overexpressing gastric cancer. Dr. Pierce received her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona where her research focused on cloning and understanding the signaling of prostaglandin E receptors. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz at Duke University where her research focused on GPCR signaling, especially G-protein switching.

Leonard Reyno, MD

Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

Prior to joining Pionyr, Leonard Reyno was EVP and Chief Medical Officer at ORIC Pharmaceuticals leading the introduction of their first product candidate into human trials. Before that, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Agensys, a subsidiary of Astellas Pharma, where he led clinical stage development of multiple antibody products to novel targets through clinical proof of concept of multiple products. Dr. Reyno’s prior positions in industry included Global Medical Director for Taxotere/Breast cancer at Aventis, Medical Director and Lead Clinical Scientist for Herceptin at Genentech and Senior Director of Oncology at Cytokinetics. Before joining industry, Dr. Reyno was an academic oncologist, where he had both extensive experience as a clinician (especially in breast and genitor-urinary malignancy) as well as serving as Principal Investigator on multiple trials with the National Cancer Institute of Canada. Dr. Reyno was Head of Medical Oncology and the Oncology Clinical Research Unit at Dalhousie University from 1999-2003, and previously Associate Professor of Medicine at McMaster University from 1993-1999. Dr. Reyno received his M.D. from McMaster University in 1986. He completed fellowships in internal medicine and medical oncology at McMaster and further training in drug development at the University of Maryland at Baltimore as the McEachern Fellow of the National Cancer Institute of Canada from 1991-1993. He has authored more than 25 scientific publications in major journals.

Lisa Stemmerich, MBA

Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Lisa Stemmerich joined Pionyr in May 2016, bringing 25 years’ human resources leadership within the life sciences and agricultural biotechnology industries. Prior to Pionyr, through Ms. Stemmerich’s executive HR consulting practice, she acted as VP, Human Resources for a variety of drug discovery companies including 4D Molecular Therapeutics, Inc., Antiva Biosciences, Armetheon, Inc., Labrys Biologics, Inc. acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and KAI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. acquired by Amgen, Inc. Prior to providing executive Human Resources consulting, Ms. Stemmerich led the HR function at Exelixis, Inc. During Ms. Stemmerich’s tenure at Exelixs, Inc. she was instrumental in the growth and organization of the company as Exelixis completed an initial public offering and grew from 170 to over 600 employees located domestically and abroad. Prior to Exelixis, Inc., Ms. Stemmerich was Director, Human Resources at Calgene, Inc., an agricultural biotechnology company acquired by Monsanto Company, and then by Pharmacia Company. She holds a BS in Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento and an MBA from University of California, Davis.