Human Resources
Human Resources
Aija joined H3 in 2015 as the Head of Human Resources. Aija is an accomplished senior human resources professional with over 15 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry managing strategic and tactical HR issues. In her current position, she is responsible for leading all HR business transformations, building organizational capabilities, and helping to shape the company’s performance culture. Prior to joining H3, Aija held the position of Human Resources Director, Oncology Translational Medicine unit of Novartis Pharmaceuticals. At Novartis, she provided HR guidance to the Leadership team and Business Partner support to global employee population of 400+ associates; while also disseminating advice and coaching on employee relations issues, salary planning, and retention strategies, and leading the performance management, annual compensation planning and employee development processes for this business division. Aija also served in senior HR management positions at Merck & Co., Inc.
Aija received her Master of Labor Relations degree from the University of Illinois and a B.S. in psychology from Illinois State University.
Chemistry
Chemistry
Stephanos joined H3 in 2019 and serves as Vice President, Head of Chemistry, bringing over 17 years of experience in oncology and neuroscience drug development to the H3 team. Prior to joining H3, Stephanos led the protein homeostasis and early discovery areas at FORMA Therapeutics, which included overseeing the discovery of novel small molecules of deubiquitinase (DUB) enzymes and initiating the neurodegenerative diseases (NDD) therapeutic area. Before FORMA, he spent eleven years at AstraZeneca’s R&D department leading multiple drug discovery teams from concept to clinic. Stephanos has extensive experience managing collaborative projects with internal and external stakeholders in both industry and academia to produce multiple INDs.
Stephanos received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Imperial College London and subsequently was a post-doctoral fellow under the leadership of Professor Yoshito Kishi at Harvard University. He earned his B.S. in chemistry and biochemistry from King’s College London.
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Terushige Iike, M.B.A., is CEO of H3, a position he has held since 2018. Mr. like brings over three decades of pharmaceutical experience to H3 as he leads all facets of the company’s business strategy. In addition to his role at H3, Mr. Iike is President of the Oncology Business Group at Eisai Co., Ltd., overseeing the international end-to-end activities and business development of Eisai’s global oncology efforts. In his career at Eisai, Mr. Iike has assumed various roles of increasing responsibility in both R&D and corporate strategy, including positions of Vice President of Corporate Strategy and President of the Japan/Asia Clinical Research of Eisai Product Creation Systems. In 2014, he was named Chief Product Creation Officer, responsible for Eisai’s global research and drug development program. He was then named a Senior Vice President of Eisai in 2015 and was elected to his current position of President of the Oncology Business Group in 2016.
Mr. like earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and his B.S. in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Tokyo.
President and Chief Data Science Officer
President and Chief Data Science Officer
Lihua joined H3 in 2011 and serves as President and Chief Data Science Officer, leading H3’s data science-focused precision medicine efforts and the company’s overall strategic business direction. An accomplished leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, Lihua has spent more than 20 years in computational biology and bioinformatics and has deep experience in cancer genomics and predictive biomarkers. This expertise allows her to integrate the bioinformatics discipline into H3’s drug discovery and patient selection focused translational science platforms. Prior to H3, Lihua spent 12 years with AstraZeneca’s research and development unit, helping to build and deliver the multinational pharmaceutical company’s oncology bioinformatics capabilities.
Lihua earned a Ph.D. from Boston University and a M.E. from Tsinghua University in Beijing, both in biomedical engineering. She received her B.E. in biomedical engineering and automation from Tsinghua University.
Discovery Research
Discovery Research
Ping joined H3 in 2012 and is currently Head of Discovery Research and serves as an executive leadership team member. Ping brings more than 15 years of experience in cancer research and drug discovery to H3, where he has held positions of increasing scientific and management responsibility. At H3, his group aims to discover next-generation anti-cancer medicines by targeting highly validated molecular targets based upon genomics, transcriptomics and functional data, using systematic approaches. Prior to joining H3, Ping was a group leader at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, where he worked on early drug discovery and target identification and validation in oncology, leading multidisciplinary teams across multiple geographic locations. In 2010, he earned the Novartis Catalyst Award for cancer drug discovery innovation. His research has been published in leading scientific journals including Cell, Nature, Cancer Discovery, Cancer Cell and Nature Communications. Ping was also a recipient of the Endocrine Scholars Award from the Endocrine Society for his scientific achievements.
Ping received his Medical Degree (B.M.) from Shanghai Second Medical University, his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Karlsruhe in Germany and postdoctoral training at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and UC San Diego.
Chief Medical Officer
Chief Medical Officer
Antonio joined H3 as Chief Medical Officer, bringing more than 20 years of experience in clinical R&D at multiple pharmaceutical companies. Antonio most recently served as co-founder, Head of Development and CMO at Kura Oncology, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer. He has also served as Head of the Global Clinical Development Center at EMD Serono and held prior positions at Takeda and Pfizer where he was a contributor to the erlotinib, neratinib and brentuximab vedotin programs.
Antonio received his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Seville in Spain and postgraduate training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in addition to his time in industry, held academic faculty positions at Case Western University and Brown University.
Corporate Strategy and Operations
Corporate Strategy and Operations
Ross now serves as SVP Corporate Strategy & Operations overseeing H3 business functions. Ross joined H3 in Feb 2018 as Vice President of Clinical Operations providing leadership in the Clinical Development team for the planning and execution of H3’s portfolio of target-centric precision oncology medicines. Ross brings more than 30 years of extensive drug development experience to H3. He has focused his career in clinical operations, regulatory affairs, and alliance and portfolio management. During that time Ross has been a key contributor in bringing multiple new drugs to market, across a number of therapeutic areas, and engaging in multiple strategic development alliances and partnerships. Ross has worked extensively in the Americas, Europe and Asia and has held leadership positions with companies including Otsuka, EMD Serono, Coley, ARIAD, AMAG, Infinity and Beigene.
Ross earned an M.B.A. in HealthCare Management from the University of Phoenix and a B.Sc. (Hons) from the University of Kingston, London.
Scientific Operations
Scientific Operations
Takeshi leads H3’s team of Scientific Operations and was one of the founding members of H3 Biomedicine in 2011, with key contributions to the creation and build-out of key corporate elements and functions. Currently, he is responsible for the management of the entire program portfolio of the company, ranging from discovery to the clinic. Takeshi’s group provides program management and strategic support to all of H3’s programs and platforms. Takeshi began his professional career as a research scientist in drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics at Eisai and contributed to two investigational new drug (IND) filings attained by the team during his tenure. He then transitioned into R&D management after completing his M.B.A. Prior to joining H3, Takeshi served as Senior Director of Portfolio Management for Eisai’s Oncology Business Group where he led portfolio optimization and program prioritization.
Takeshi received his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and his Ph.D. and B.A., both in pharmaceutical sciences, from the University of Tokyo.
Since our founding in 2011, H3 has been committed to finding and developing novel potential treatments in our quest to treat cancer.
H3 Biomedicine founded by Eisai, $200M funding commitment
H3 Biomedicine announces start of scientific operations at Kendall Square
H3 and Foundation Medicine announce collaboration to discover novel targets
IND Acceptance for Phase 1 H3B-8800 novel splicing modulator in advanced myeloid malignancies
IND Acceptance for Phase 1 H3B-6527 FGFR4 inhibitor for HCC
IND Acceptance for Phase 1 H3B-6545 novel ER antagonist for ER+ mBrCa
H3 and Bristol Myers Squibb begin research collaboration to advance novel therapeutics leveraging H3’s RNA splicing platform
IND Acceptance for Phase 1 E7766 STING Agonist
H3 joined the Cancer Dependency Map (DepMap) Consortium
H3 is a wholly owned precision oncology research and development subsidiary of the leading global pharmaceutical company, Eisai. With the resource and expertise of a large pharmaceutical company coupled with the agility and innovation of a small biotech, H3 employs an efficient research and development approach to advance programs from discovery to the clinic and aims to deliver impactful therapeutics to patients in need of meaningful new treatment options.
Combining the support of a global pharmaceutical company with the culture of a fast-paced Cambridge, MA biotech, H3 has compounded the best elements of the drug research and development landscape into an environment of productive growth and advancement. Our employees are our single greatest asset and this mindset combined with a collaborative and innovative atmosphere, enables our varied oncology perspectives to flourish and has produced a portfolio of promising discovery and development programs across a variety of cancers and therapeutic approaches. Our diverse strengths enable us to all make a difference in the future of cancer care.
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