liver-disease
(6)
AusperBio
AusperBio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company operating in the United States and China that develops antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies aimed at a functional cure for chronic hepatitis B. Built on its proprietary Med-Oligo ASO platform and targeted delivery technology, its lead candidate AHB-137 is an unconjugated ASO advancing into Phase III trials in China, with early data showing a 30% functional cure rate in a subset of patients. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in San Mateo, California, the company has raised over $200 million to date.
Morphocell Technologies
Morphocell Technologies is a Montreal-area regenerative medicine company building allogeneic, stem cell-derived engineered tissues to treat severe organ deficiencies, starting with the liver. Its lead program, ReLiver, is a transiently implanted engineered liver tissue made from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) intended to treat acute and acute-on-chronic liver failure without immunosuppression. Spun out of CHU Sainte-Justine in 2018, the company has raised US$50 million in Series A funding and runs vertically integrated operations spanning discovery, cell manufacturing and preclinical development.
Vincent Ling
Vincent Ling is the Chief Business Officer of Morphocell Technologies, a Laval-based regenerative medicine company building iPSC-derived engineered tissues to treat severe organ dysfunction, starting with liver disease. A biotech and pharma veteran of three decades, he spent 12 years at Takeda's Center for External Innovation, where he identified and backed the Kariko-Weissman mRNA platform out of the University of Pennsylvania - the science that became the first COVID mRNA vaccines and earned the 2023 Nobel Prize. He has held leadership roles at Genetics Institute, Adnexus Therapeutics, and Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, and advises the Gates Foundation and academic institutions.
NGM Biopharmaceuticals
NGM Biopharmaceuticals is a private South San Francisco biotech translating biology into first-in-class medicines, anchored by its GDF15/GFRAL antagonist NGM120 in Phase 2 trials for cancer cachexia and hyperemesis gravidarum.
John McHutchison
John McHutchison, AO, MD is the CEO and Chairman of Tune Therapeutics, a pioneering epigenome editing company based in Durham, NC. An internationally acclaimed hepatologist and drug developer, McHutchison spent nearly a decade at Gilead Sciences as Chief Scientific Officer, where he led the development of transformative hepatitis C cures used by over 3.2 million people worldwide, including Sovaldi and Harvoni. Now at Tune, he is steering the company's TEMPO epigenome editing platform toward a new era of precision medicine for chronic and complex diseases.
Diana Peng Bockus
Diana Peng Bockus is the Chief Executive Officer of NGM Biopharmaceuticals, a South San Francisco biotech developing first-in-class medicines for liver disease, oncology, and ophthalmology. Appointed CEO in April 2025, she joined the company in 2020 to lead business development and restructured a pivotal Merck partnership that freed NGM to build a wholly owned pipeline. A Stanford and Wharton graduate with roots in management consulting at Bain & Company, she now steers a privately held biotech backed by $515M in total funding, focused on rare diseases like primary sclerosing cholangitis and hyperemesis gravidarum.