DR. JULIE M CHERRINGTON, CHAIR OF THE BOARD
Julie M Cherrington, PhD is an experienced life science executive with extensive insight in bringing drugs into the clinic and through to commercialization.
Dr. Cherrington is also a successful company builder – she has served as President and Chief Executive Officer for several biotechnology companies, including QUE Oncology, Arch Oncology, Revitope Oncology, Zenith Epigenetics, and Pathway Therapeutics. Earlier in her career, Dr. Cherrington was Vice President of Preclinical and Clinical Research at SUGEN, a Pharmacia/Pfizer company. Dr. Cherrington received her Ph.D. training in microbiology and immunology from the University of Minnesota and Stanford University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco.
Currently, Dr. Cherrington serves on the Boards of Syncona Ltd, Mirati Therapeutics, Sar-dona Therapeutics, KisoJi Biotechnology, MycRx, and Actym Therapeutics (Chair). She is also a Venture Partner at Brandon Capital Partners.
DR. STEFANIE FLÜCKIGER-MANGUAL, CEO
Stefanie Flückiger-Mangual, Chief Executive Officer, is one of TOLREMO’s scientific founders and an expert in drug resistance in cancer therapy. She is a biomedical scientist and biochemist by training (University of Fribourg and ETH Zurich, Switzerland) and holds a Ph.D. in Molecular and Translational Biomedicine from ETH Zurich. She led the team of scientists who discovered novel molecular mechanisms that can be exploited to prevent the development of non-genetic resistance to cancer therapies.
Jeff Jonker
Jeff Jonker is an experienced biotech executive with a broad background as an operator, director, senior advisor, and counsel. Currently, he is the President & CEO and a Director of Belharra, having joined as its first employee in 2021. Before Belharra, Jonker was CEO of Ambys Medicines, President of NGM Pharmaceuticals, and Senior Vice President, Corporate and Business Development at Theravance Biopharma. His earlier career experience includes CBO at Satori Pharmaceuticals, Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Strategy at Gloucester Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Celgene), and leadership roles at Genentech in business development and legal. Jeff began his career at Wilson Sonsini, representing clients in the life science and high-tech sectors. He also serves on the Board of Directors of California Life Sciences. Jonker holds a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, an M.LITT. from the University of St. Andrews, and a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College.
Mike Sherman
Mike Sherman has over 30 years of experience in the life science industry, holding key roles in multiple companies, including tenures as CEO and Board Director. Currently, he is Board Chair at Chimerix, Inc. and Board Director at Werewolf Therapeutics. He previously led Chimerix as CEO, transitioning its focus from antivirals to oncology, and was instrumental in the FDA approval and sale of TEMBEXA®. Prior to Chimerix, Mike was CEO at Endocyte, where he repositioned the company by re-prioritizing the pipeline, acquiring an external asset (PLUVICTO®), and aggressively executing a phase 3 regulatory and clinical strategy, guiding it to a $2.1 billion acquisition by Novartis in 2018. He joined Endocyte in 2006 as CFO, playing a crucial role in its IPO and financing. Earlier, he held executive roles and senior staff positions at Guidant Corporation. Mike earned a B.A. in Economics from DePauw University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, graduating as a Tuck Scholar. He has also served on the boards of BioSpecifics Technologies, Inc. and Mead Johnson Nutrition and was Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
DR. MARK SUMERAY
Mark Sumeray has 32 years of experience in health care, of which 23 years are in drug development within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries in both the US and EU. He is currently Chief Medical Officer at Amryt Pharmaceuticals, a Nasdaq-listed orphan disease biotech company, where he leads the clinical and scientific interactions with global health authorities, including the US Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency. Prior to Amryt, he spent five years as Chief Medical Officer at Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, a public orphan disease biotech company based in the US. Earlier in his career, he was at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he led a large US medical affairs team within the cardiovascular and metabolic area. He spent nine years in clinical practice in the NHS, specializing in cardiovascular surgery and physiology. He earned his medical degree at UCL (University of London), and also has a BSc in Physiology (UCL), a Master’s degree in Surgery, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.
DR. MICHAEL WACKER
Michael Wacker is an experienced life science entrepreneur and General Partner at BioMedPartners. Michael Wacker serves on the board of directors of various portfolio companies. In addition, he coaches start-ups in Switzerland for Innosuisse, the governmental commission of technology and innovation. Before joining BioMedPartners, Michael Wacker was founder and CSO of GlycoVaxyn (acquired by GSK) and chairman of Inositec (acquired by Vifor). He studied biochemistry and obtained his PhD in microbiology from ETH Zurich.