NKMax America Announces Executive Advisory Board > MEDIA

SANTA ANA, Calif., Nov. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NKMax America, a biotechnology company harnessing the power of the body's immune system through the development of Natural Killer (NK) cell therapies, today announced that it has brought together an unparalleled group of thought leaders to provide expertise to the NKMax senior leadership team. 

The Executive Advisory Board will cover key areas of strategic corporate development with a particular focus on industry partnerships and clinical advisement in oncology, autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.  The board will provide external review and high-level advice to the NKMax team with regards to corporate strategy, product innovation, and pipeline development. 

The Executive Advisory Board brings together the expertise of business development executives, scientists and clinicians who are highly regarded as thought-leaders in their field.  Their accomplishments, forward thinking and unique insights will be invaluable in helping NKMax become a trusted leader in immune cell therapy.

"We are very pleased with the exceptional quality and proven leadership of our Executive Advisory Board," commented Paul Song, MD, Vice Chairman and Chief Medical Officer of NKMax America.  "With their deep experience in strategic partnerships, oncology, neurology and autoimmunity we are confident they will provide significant contributions to our future success." 

NKMax Executive Advisory Board members include:
•Helen S. Kim, MBA - Ms. Kim brings over 30 years of highly valuable biotech industry expertise to NKMax.  Most recently, Ms. Kim was named as the managing director of VIDA Ventures. She was formerly the EVP of Business Development at Kite Pharma, Inc.  and was instrumental in leading the acquisition of Kite Pharma by Gilead. Previously she was Chief Business Officer at NGM Biopharmaceuticals. Prior to NGM she was the CEO and President of Kosan Biosciences which was successfully purchased by Bristol-Myers Squibb.  Ms. Kim has held several executive management positions at Affymax, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, and Chiron Corporation. 

•Ralph R. Weichselbaum, MD – Dr. Weichselbaum is the D.K. Ludwig Professor and Chairman of Radiation and Cellular Oncology at the University of Chicago. He is the Director of the Ludwig Center for Metastasis Research and holds over 30 patents in gene therapy and angiogenesis inhibitors with radiation and chemotherapy. Dr. Weichselbaum has over 600 publications and is the co-editor of Cancer Medicine, a comprehensive textbook on cancer. He has focused his career on translational research in cancer and defined the role of radiation damage and DNA repair in human tumor cells during his time as a faculty member in radiation therapy and cancer biology at Harvard.

•Anthony T. Reder, MD – Dr. Reder is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center directing the Neurology and Inflammatory Disease Infusion Center and has coauthored over 120 publications on multiple sclerosis. Professor Reder's research primarily focuses on the mechanism of action of interferon-beta, the most widely used treatment for MS and recently discovered a defect in the lymphocyte interferon signaling pathway in progressive forms of MS, possibly explaining why patients with progressive MS do not respond clinically to interferon therapy. Dr. Reder helped develop the first biological therapy for MS, interferon-beta, plus other drugs including glatiramer (Copaxone), natalizumab (Tysabri), and Rituximab.

•Ming Guo, MD, PhD – Dr. Guo is the P. Gene & Elaine Smith Chair in Alzheimer's Disease Research and Professor at UCLA Department of Neurology, Molecular and Medical Pharmacology. Dr. Guo is a board-certified neurologist, evaluating patients with neurological disorders, with an emphasis on neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD).  Her research in molecular mechanisms in AD and PD has widespread possibilities for helping develop therapies for aging-related neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Guo has received numerous national awards for her significant research in neurology including the McKnight Neuroscience Foundation Brain Disorder Award and the Klingenstein-Simon's Foundation Fellow in Neuroscience and Robert H. Ebert Clinical Scholar. Her work is also supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) EUREKA (Exceptional Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration) award.

•William de Groot, MBA – Mr. de Groot brings over 20 year of finance and biotechnology expertise to NKMax. Most recently, Will established an investment fund focused on memory care/assisted living. Mr. de Groot currently works directly for a well-regarded family office based in Los Angeles while advising several private equity funds.  Previously, he was a Partner at a Boston-based Venture Capital Firm investing over $750 M for the biotech and healthcare technology space. Mr. de Groot spent the early part of his career in regulatory and commercial executive positions at Novartis, GSK and Millennium Pharmaceuticals/Takeda and holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.  Mr. de Groot has guest lectured on the subject of venture investing and entrepreneurship at the University of California at Los Angeles, Cal State Los Angeles, Boston University and the University of Chicago.