Guo-Liang Yu
PhD
Co-Founder, Executive Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Co-Founder, Executive Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Guo Liang Yu is a co-founder, Executive Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Apollomics. Dr. Yu has been one of the key management members of the Company and has been actively involved in its business, strategy and operational management since its establishment. He has over 31 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and academic research. He is a serial entrepreneur and has co-founded over ten startup companies in biotech and the healthcare sectors, including Immune-Onc Therapeutics, Inc. in Palo Alto, United States. During his co-founding of our Group, Dr. Yu was the executive chairman of Crown Bioscience International and he was also a venture partner with OrbiMed Asia Limited.
Dr. Yu obtained his Ph.D. degree in molecular biology from the University of California, Berkeley in the U.S. He has served important roles in numerous social organizations, including the founding president of the Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association USA. Inc. and as a board member of Ray Wu Memorial Fund. Dr. Yu is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the following companies: Jiangsu Qyuns Therapeutics Co., Ltd., Immune-Onc Therapeutics, Inc., Zhejiang Innoforce Pharmaceuticals Co., and Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals.
Co-Founder, Executive Director and President
Dr. Sanjeev Redkar is a co-founder, Executive Director and President of Apollomics. Dr. Redkar is mainly responsible for establishing and overseeing the overall strategic planning, business development and management of the Company. He has over 26 years of scientific, managerial and executive experience in hematology and oncology drug discovery and development, especially for small-molecule drugs. Dr. Redkar previously served as a senior vice president for product development at Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTX) and worked as the manager of process development and manufacturing, senior director of pharmaceutical development, vice president in charge of manufacturing and preclinical development successively at SuperGen, Inc. before its acquisition of Astex Therapeutics Limited.
Dr. Redkar received his Bachelor of Technology degree in chemical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology in India, and he holds a Master of Science degree in chemical engineering and a Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering from University of Colorado, Boulder in the United States. He also obtained a Master of Business Administration degree from St. Mary’s College of California in the United States. Dr. Redkar has authored and co-authored over 25 peer-reviewed scientific articles and co-invented 26 patents that have been issued in the United States. Dr. Redkar serves as Adjunct Faculty and as an Industrial Advisory Board Member at the T.J. Long School of Pharmacy of the University of Pacific. He also serves as an External Advisory Board Member at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering of University of Colorado, Boulder.
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Kin-Hung Peony Yu joined Apollomics in 2021 as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Peony Yu will be providing leadership to R&D and be primarily responsible for clinical development of the Company’s products. She has over 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical leadership, patient care and drug development, with expertise in clinical regulatory strategy and execution of clinical programs of innovative biopharmaceuticals.
Previously, Dr. Yu worked for FibroGen, Inc. (NASDAQ: FGEN) as a vice president until her designation as CMO. She also served as the vice president and head of clinical research at Anesiva, Inc., formerly known as Corgentech, Inc., (NASDAQ: ANSV); a director of clinical development at ALZA Corporation, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), and held roles of increasing responsibility in clinical development at Pain Therapeutics, Inc. (now known as Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVA)) and at Elan Corporation plc (now known as Perrigo Company plc (NYSE: PRGO)). She obtained an M.D. degree from the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, in the United States. She completed her residency training at Stanford University School of Medicine in the U.S. Dr. Peony Yu has authored or co-authored 12 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Peony Yu holds a medical license registered in California.
Dr. Peony Yu is an independent nonexecutive director at STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA). She is also on the Scientific Advisory Board of Hope Medicine Inc. and she is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of BeyondSpring Inc. (NASDAQ: BYSI).
Senior Vice President of Biostatistics and Data Management
Dr. Chinglin Lai joined Apollomics in 2021 as the Senior Vice President of Biometrics. Dr. Lai has over 27 years of experience in drug development across a broad range of therapeutic areas. His experience is primarily in first-in-human studies through late-stage development for marketing approvals. Prior to Apollomics, Dr. Lai was a consultant providing statistical expertise to over 20 emerging and established pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the US and Asia. Previously, Dr. Lai held leadership positions at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, overseeing biostatistics, statistical programming, and data management functions for all portfolio products. Prior to Jazz, he worked at Intrabiotics Pharmaceuticals (2004-2005) and was a member of the core team for evaluating in-licensing opportunities, and Alza Corporation, where he contributed to the marketing approvals of 5 products in the US and EU. Dr. Lai received his B.S. in Mathematics from National Central University in Taiwan, and Ph.D. in Applied Statistics from the University of California, Riverside, with a concentration in experimental design.
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Ms. MacDonald joined Apollomics in 2021 and is responsible for all legal and associated matters for the Company. Prior to Apollomics, she spent over six years at Verily Life Sciences, where she was most recently the head of the corporate and commercial legal teams and interim head of the product counsel legal team, overseeing all contracting and other corporate matters, including complex strategic transactions. Previously, Ms. MacDonald was a member of the Chrome legal team at Google and spent six years in private practice at the law firm Covington & Burling LLP, where she advised numerous pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies on transactional and regulatory matters. Ms. MacDonald earned her JD degree from Harvard Law School and her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Stanford University.
Senior Vice President, Corporate Development
Sophie Sun is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, in charge of corporate strategy, business development and strategic collaboration for the Company. Ms. Sun joins Apollomics from Merck KGaA, where she was most recently Vice President & Managing Director, Innovation Hubs China. In this role, Ms. Sun oversaw Merck KGaA’s development partnerships in China for China and global markets. She was with Merck KGaA for twelve years holding multiple roles of increasing responsibility in both strategic markets of China and US, as well as global organizations, such as Commercial Director of Global Oncology Franchise for oncology new product planning and launch. During her tenure with Merck KGaA, Sophie participated in 9 new product launches in China, US locally or for global markets. Prior to Merck KGaA, Ms. Sun spent over eight years at marketing agencies Interpublic Group (IPG) and WPP, where she worked for many Fortune 500 companies covering a wide range of industries. Ms. Sun received a Master degree from Remin University of China, and a Master of Business Administration from MIT Sloan School of Management.