# Li-Fen Lee

> Li-Fen Lee is a cancer immunologist, drug-discovery executive, and the founder and CEO of Apeximmune Therapeutics. After doctoral training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, postdoctoral work and a faculty role at Stanford, she moved through antibody and immuno-oncology leadership at Pfizer, NGM, and AbbVie/Pharmacyclics. At Apeximmune, she is translating a transcriptome-driven target discovery system into antibody programs led by AI-306, while a $21.3 million Series A announced in March 2025 funds the company’s planned move toward an IND and clinical testing.

- **Role:** Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Apeximmune Therapeutics
- **Organizations:** Apeximmune Therapeutics, Pharmacyclics, an AbbVie company, NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Stanford University School of Medicine
- **Education:** Ph.D. in Cancer Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Postdoctoral training, Stanford University, M.S., National Yang-Ming University
- **Known for:** Founded Apeximmune Therapeutics and serves as its chief executive officer., Received the Pfizer Achievement Award for work that included antibody development, IND filings, patents, and publications., Received the Lineberger Graduate Fellow Award during doctoral training at UNC-Chapel Hill.

## Career timeline

- **1998** — Completed a Ph.D. in Cancer Immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after receiving a Lineberger Graduate Fellow Award.
- **Post-1998** — Completed postdoctoral training at Stanford University and later held a faculty position at Stanford University School of Medicine.
- **2001** — Co-authored research on signaling involved in androgen independence in prostate cancer cells.
- **2011** — While affiliated with Rinat/Pfizer, co-authored a Science Translational Medicine paper on IL-7 and response to interferon-beta.
- **Before 2018** — Led drug discovery work at Pfizer and later held immuno-oncology leadership roles at NGM and Pharmacyclics/AbbVie.
- **2018** — Began serving as CEO of Apeximmune Therapeutics; company and conference biographies identify her as founder and CEO.
- **2023** — Apeximmune received a $399,618 NIH SBIR award for preclinical work on AI-306, publicly rounded to $400,000.
- **2023** — Apeximmune and Lee were selected as one of six semifinalists in the AIM-HI Women’s Venture Competition from 71 applications across 15 countries.
- **2025** — Apeximmune announced a $21.3 million Series A to advance AI-306 through IND work and toward clinical trials.
- **2025** — Appeared as a speaker at the 2025 BioPacific Conference on a panel about moving from startup to unicorn.

## Achievements

- Founded Apeximmune Therapeutics and serves as its chief executive officer.
- Received the Pfizer Achievement Award for work that included antibody development, IND filings, patents, and publications.
- Received the Lineberger Graduate Fellow Award during doctoral training at UNC-Chapel Hill.
- Led or helped establish immuno-oncology groups and pipelines at NGM and AbbVie.
- Named on multiple antibody-related patents and patent applications, including work involving IL-7R, B7-H4, PLA2G2D, and TIGIT.
- Led Apeximmune through a $21.3 million Series A financing announced in March 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2025-09** — Featured as a speaker at the 2025 BioPacific Conference on a panel about the path from startup to unicorn.
- **2025-03** — Apeximmune announced a $21.3 million Series A led by PharmaEssentia to advance AI-306 toward an IND and clinical trials.
- **2025-02** — A European publication for Apeximmune’s anti-PLA2G2D constructs listed Lee as an inventor.
- **2024-12** — A U.S. patent application for anti-TIGIT constructs assigned to Apeximmune listed Lee as an inventor.

## Links

- Website: https://apeximmune.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/li-fen-lee-66121314

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/li-fen-lee
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-18