forma-therapeutics
(3)
Xuandai Nguyen
Xuandai Nguyen, Ph.D., MBA, is Vice President, Head of Global Program Strategy and Chief of Staff to the CEO at Beacon Therapeutics, an ophthalmic gene therapy company working to restore sight in people with inherited and prevalent retinal diseases. A scientist-turned-strategist, Nguyen has spent more than two decades moving medicines from bench to market, with senior roles at Genentech, Forma Therapeutics and ACELYRIN spanning immunology, ophthalmology, respiratory and sickle cell disease. Trilingual and Berkeley- and Cornell-trained, Nguyen sits at the intersection of hard science and commercial strategy, translating complicated biology into the plans that decide which therapies reach patients.
David Cook
David N. Cook, Ph.D., is the founder and CEO of Edgewood Oncology, a Boston-based virtual biotech advancing BTX-A51, a first-in-class small molecule that hits three master regulators of cancer at once (CK1 alpha, CDK7 and CDK9) to switch on programmed cell death. A chemist by training, with an A.B. from Harvard and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, Cook has spent roughly 30 years building venture-backed life sciences companies, helping raise more than $1 billion, leading three IPOs, orchestrating two acquisitions, and contributing to five commercialized products. He emerged Edgewood from stealth in March 2024 with a $20 million Series A led by Alta Partners.
Frank D. Lee
Frank D. Lee is the Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of Pacira BioSciences, a specialty pharmaceutical company pioneering non-opioid pain management solutions. A 30-year industry veteran who immigrated to the United States from South Korea, Lee built his career across Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, and a 13-year tenure at Genentech where he oversaw $11 billion in global product sales. Before joining Pacira in January 2024, he led Forma Therapeutics through a transformative journey from drug-discovery startup to clinical-stage biotech, culminating in a $1.1 billion acquisition by Novo Nordisk in 2022. At Pacira, Lee is executing the '5x30' strategy - five bold objectives to transform the company into an innovative biopharma powerhouse by 2030, including advancing the PCRX-201 gene therapy for knee osteoarthritis, which has already earned FDA Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation.