Bio

Bio

Takeshi Takahashi is a Managing Director with Catalys Pacific. He holds extensive experience in M&As, IPOs, and financing in the healthcare sector. Prior to Catalys Pacific, he worked for the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley for 12 years and played a significant role in over 30 distinguished transactions including, but not limited to, Japanese companies’ acquisitions of U.S. listed companies with an enterprise value of over US$10.0 billion, acquisitions of global healthcare companies with an enterprise value of over US$5.0 billion, and a number of alternative financing transactions. Prior to working for Morgan Stanley, Takeshi was an analyst and a portfolio manager for global and Japan fixed income and managed a $3.0+ billion portfolio in Japan and the U.S. at Merrill Lynch’s asset management division.

Takeshi graduated from Waseda University with a degree in Political Science and Economics, and holds an M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Proficiently bilingual and bicultural.

Bio

Jay currently serves as Venture Partner with Catalys Pacific. He brings 35 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical/biotech and drug delivery industries with his extensive corporate leadership and multiple product successes. In addition to working for Catalys Pacific, he currently serves as Chairman of The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and is on the board of directors of Esperion Therapeutics, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, and Craig Hospital, a world-renowned center for specialty rehabilitation and research for people with spinal cord injury and brain injury.

Prior to his current positions, he joined Versartis as President and CEO in May 2015. In 2018 when Versartis merged with Aravive, he became CEO of the newly formed company until January of 2020 when he retired. He was an Executive Partner at Sofinnova Ventures until May 2015. Previously, he served as President and CEO of NextWave Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), Ilypsa (acquired by Amgen), and interim CEO of Relypsa (Ilypsa’s spin-out company, which was acquired by Galencia). He has participated in or led over 16 product launches by preparing markets and establishing sales and marketing operations, having served as Vice President of Commercial Operations at Telik and Alza Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Johnson & Johnson).

He holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Arizona.

Bio

Jon is an Operating Partner with Catalys Pacific and CEO of Mineralys Therapeutics Inc., a Catalys Pacific portfolio company. Jon brings 35 years of pharmaceutical experience including roles as CEO of both private and public companies. He has worked in cardiovascular, GI and CNS companies with a focus on providing solutions for patients and their caregivers. He has launched several life changing therapies such as Copaxone and Azilect.

Prior to his current position, he was CEO of Impel NeuroPharma, a private biotech company focused on CNS disorders through novel upper nasal cavity delivery. Previously, he served as CEO at Nivalis Therapeutics which he took public in 2015 and was focused on treatments for cystic fibrosis. Jon held multiple roles of ascending responsibility at Teva Pharmaceuticals. He was part of the original team responsible for the launch of Copaxone for multiple sclerosis in the United States ultimately leading the U.S. neuroscience business and global CNS franchise.

Mr. Congleton attend Kansas State University, where he graduated with a B.S. in marketing and a minor in microbiology.

Bio

Neal is an Operating Partner with Catalys Pacific. He has extensive experience in biotech/biopharma including roles as CEO of both private and public companies.

Neal previously served as CEO of Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ), transforming the company from an early-stage research platform into a publicly traded biomedicines company. While at Liquidia, Neal also co-founded and served as CEO of Envisia Therapeutics (acquired), an ophthalmology therapeutics company. Prior to Liquidia, Neal worked for seven years with Johnson and Johnson, serving as President of Centocor, Inc., a global multi-billion dollar subsidiary focused on biomedicines, and President of Ortho-McNeil Neurologics, a company focused on neurological disorders.

Neal started his career with Eli Lilly and Company, working for thirteen years in a variety of sales, marketing and business development roles in both the pharmaceutical and medical device divisions.

Neal is the current chair of both NCBIO and the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Foundation. He earned his BS degree in Pharmacy and MBA, both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Bio

Kaz is an Operating Partner with Catalys Pacific. He brings over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry with extensive corporate leadership and multiple product successes as an intrapreneur.

From 2017 to 2020, he served as President of Novartis Pharma Japan and a member of the Global Pharma Executive Committee, transforming Novartis Pharma Japan into a leading company with the excellence in integrity and innovation. During his tenure at Novartis, he led the launch of seven new products in Japan including products in cell and gene therapies. Most recently he served as Executive Advisor with the company.

Prior to Novartis, he served as General Manager for Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong as well as Global Franchise Head for Bone, Muscle, and Joint and Country Head of Diabetes | Growth Hormone Business Unit at Eli Lilly Japan.

He graduated from the University of Tokyo with a B.A. in Economics, and holds an M.B.A. from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Bio

Ashwin is a Partner with Catalys Pacific, a physician-scientist, and a biotechnology entrepreneur. He serves as Chief Business officer of Kirilys Therapeutics, Co-Founder and SVP Operations at Pathalys Pharma, and Founder of Axelys, Inc. He previously served as Founder and Chair of Jupiter Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to this, he was a part of Genentech’s Early Clinical Development — Oncology team and practiced as a board-certified radiation oncologist.

Ashwin completed his MD at the University of Michigan Medical School with highest honors and Dean’s distinction in research. After training in radiation oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he completed an MS in bioengineering at Caltech and a postdoc at Stanford University as an NCI Cancer Translational Nanotechnology fellow.

Bio

Keisuke is a Principal with Catalys Pacific. He has experienced in the Healthcare field over 20 years. Prior to joining Catalys Pacific, he was engaged R&D, Medical Affairs, Strategic Product Planning /Product Manager (Darbepoetin alfa, Cinacalcet ) in renal field, and corporate strategy planning at Kirin Brewery (Kyowa Kirin). After that, he transferred to DeNA and led the AI driven drug discovery business, human genome analysis and drug discovery support using gene network algorithms.

He graduated from the University of Tokyo and now is a part-time associate professor at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University.

Bio

Ayaharu is a Director with Catalys Pacific. Prior to Catalys Pacific, he worked for the Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund where he engaged in business operations including human resources, IT, accounting, office administration, legal affairs, and compliance, and played a significant role in building the organization during its start-up period including pulling in ZVC JAPAN Co., Ltd. (Zoom) into the partnership.

Prior to joining GHIT Fund, he worked in accounting and management at Sharp Corporation, where he was involved in operations such as accounting, internal audit, accounting audit correspondence, and business guidance and training of sales bases.

Ayaharu graduated from Senshu University with a B.A. in Commerce.

Bio

Hiromi is Senior Analyst with Catalys Pacific. He is an integral member of our due diligence team and focuses on the assessment of science including preclinical and clinical data, and market forecasts. Previous to Catalys Pacific, he conducted interdisciplinary translational research for clinical applications in academia.

After graduating from Keio University, Hiromi worked at the University of Tokyo as a research assistant then earned his Ph.D. from the University of California Los Angeles.

Bio

Yuki is a Vice Preswident with Catalys Pacific. Prior to Catalys Pacific, she worked for the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs where she engaged in financing and M&A. In addition, she holds experience in the sports industry where she was involved in the establishment of a new sports club and its internet media business as well as business operations and company management.

Yuki graduated from Keio University with a B.A. in Political Science, Faculty of Law.

Bio

Maki is a Vice President with Catalys Pacific. She brings legal expertise and holds experience in pharmaceutical business development. Prior to Catalys Pacific, she worked for Sato Pharmaceutical where she engaged in the licensing of healthcare products from pharmaceutical companies where she often worked on licensing contract negotiation and closing as well as alliance management.

Maki graduated from Keio University with a B.A. in law.

Bio

Megumi is an Associate with Catalys Pacific. Prior to Catalys Pacific, she worked for Novartis Pharma, KK where she engaged in pre-launch activities for innovative medicines in Medical Affairs. Megumi specialized in identifying unmet medical needs as well as planning and executing strategies to maximize the value of medicines.

Megumi graduated from Tohoku University with a degree in Pharmacy.

Bio

Ryan currently serves as Advisor with Catalys Pacific and is Founder and Managing Director of Questa Capital, a healthcare-focused venture capital and growth equity investment firm. From 1996 through 2015, Ryan was a partner at New Enterprise Associates, where he served as a general partner, Head of Healthcare Investing and a member of the NEA Management Committee.

Prior to NEA, he worked in the corporate finance group at Alex. Brown & Sons and was a consultant at Arthur Andersen & Co. He represents Questa on the board of directors of Cortica, Dispatch Health, Eximis Surgical, Intrinsic Therapeutics, and Medrio. He has previously served on the boards of more than 30 private companies including Epix Therapeutics, Cartiva, NeoTract, Radiology Partners, DSI Renal, Ulthera, Acclarent, Proxima Therapeutics and FoxHollow.

Ryan also serves on the board of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and is a four-time nominee to the Forbes Midas List of top venture capital investors. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Stanford University.

Bio

Nobuo currently serves as Advisor with Catalys Pacific. Prior to joining Catalys, he was Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer at Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. (previously known as Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd.) from 2012 to 2018. Thereafter, he served as Representative Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 2018 and as Director and Chairman in 2019.

As CEO of Kyowa Kirin, he led the development and launch of numerous innovative drugs including mogamulizumab (Potelligent™) and benralizumab (Fasenra™). Nobuo also successfully realized multiple partnerships with Japanese and global pharmaceutical companies along with several M&A transactions of biotech companies outside Japan.

After joining Kyowa Hakko Kogyo in 1976, he led R&D activities of its antibodies. In 2003, he founded BioWa, Inc. in the US in order to license technology related to antibodies, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer and managed the company. After the inauguration of Kyowa Hakko Kirin, he led the development of various innovative compounds as a global head of R&D.

He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tokyo and a doctorate degree from Yamaguchi University.

Bio

Jonathan currently serves as Advisor with Catalys Pacific, Venture Partner with Lightspeed Venture Partners, and CEO of D2G Oncology, an oncology biotech start-up recently spun out of Stanford University.

Prior to his current positions, Jonathan served as CEO of Forty Seven, an immuno-oncology company that completed a $113 million IPO in 2018, from its inception until 2017. From 1999 to 2014, he was a Partner at Abingworth Management. Between 1988 until its acquisition 10 years later, he was founding CEO of GenPharm International. He began his career as a business development executive at Genencor and Genentech.

Other board directorships have included Acorda (now NASDAQ), Dicerna (now NASDAQ), Guava (acquired), Labcyte (acquired), Myelos (acquired), Orca, ParAllele BioScience (acquired), Personalis, Quantum Dot (acquired), SFJ Pharma, Sosei (listed in Tokyo), and Sunesis (listed on NASDAQ). He has also served on the Board of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).

Jonathan holds an M.A. in Chemistry from Oxford University, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from University of Sussex, and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.

Bio

Norihiko is an Advisor with Catalys Pacific and brings with him global investment expertise in multiple sectors including, but not limited to, venture companies and cross-border M&As. Norihiko currently serves as CEO and President of VLC Holdings Co., Ltd. and also manages Sun Investment LLC, an investment and advisory firm for international businesses and deals initiated by Japanese companies. He is a founder and shareholder of Forbes in Japan. Norihiko is also co-founder of Miyako Capital, a venture capital firm affiliated with Kyoto University.

Previously, Norihiko worked at Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Division Financial Institutions Group where he engaged in M&A advisory, financing, and principal investments, as well as in global fixed income and currency team in Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He graduated from Keio University with a B.A. in law.