Ivor Royston, MD

Dr. Ivor Royston has been involved in the biotechnology industry in San Diego from its inception in 1978 with the founding of Hybritech, Inc. (later acquired by Eli Lilly) and with the founding of Idec Pharmaceuticals in 1986 (which later merged with Biogen). He has been instrumental in the formation, financing, and development of numerous successful public biotechnology companies, including: Applied Molecular Evolution (acquired by Eli Lilly); Combichem (acquired by DuPont); Corixa (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline); Genesys Therapeutics (merged with Somatix and acquired by Cell Genesys); LigoCyte (acquired by Takeda); Morphotek (acquired by Eisai); TargeGen (acquired by Sanofi-Aventis followed by Celgene); Syndax, and Triangle Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Gilead). Dr. Royston is currently the CEO and President of Viracta Therapeutics. He also serves on the board of directors of BioCept, and Viracta. Dr. Royston was previously the Founding President and CEO of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (1990-2000), and prior to that he served on the faculty of the medical school and cancer center at UC San Diego. He received his B.A. and M.D degrees from the Johns Hopkins University and completed post-doctoral training in internal medicine and medical oncology at Stanford University. In 1997, President Clinton appointed Dr. Royston to a six-year term on the National Cancer Advisory Board.

Howard Birndorf, PhD

Dr. Howard Birndorf holds a Master of Science in Biochemistry degree from Wayne State University and has received honorary doctorates from both Wayne State University and Oakland University. Beginning in 1978, Dr. Birndorf worked with Hybritech Incorporated and he later went on to participate in the founding and management of notably successful biotech companies such as Gen-Probe (1984), IDEC Pharmaceuticals (1985), Ligand Pharmaceuticals (1988) and Nanogen (1993). He was also a founding director and served on the boards of both Gensia Pharmaceuticals and Neurocrine Biosciences.  Dr. Birndorf also has been an investor in biotech start-ups, served as President of Birndorf Technology Development, and participated in numerous other ventures.