Dr. Santi received a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from SUNY in 1967 and a M.D. from UCSF in 1981. He was Assistant Professor of Chemistry at UCSB from 1968 to 1974. He joined the UCSF faculty in 1974 and was Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UCSF until 2000 when he became CEO of Kosan Biosciences. He returned to UCSF in 2007 where he served as interim Director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute and then Director of Translational Research at QB3. He became an Associate Dean for External Relationships in 2009, and has managed a successful Industry Outreach Program since that time. Dr. Santi has published over 300 scientific papers and is co-inventor on over 40 US patents.
Dan Santi was a member of the original Scientific Advisory Board of Chiron Corp. and has co-founded five biotechnology companies. In 1988, he founded and was Chairman of the peptide-combinatorial chemistry company Protos Corp., which merged with Chiron in 1992. He was a co-founder of Parnassus Pharmaceuticals, and of Prospect Genomics that merged with Structural Genomix in 2001. In 1996, he co-founded Kosan Biosciences where he served as CEO and Chairman until 2006; Kosan was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb. During his tenure as CEO the company went public (NASDAQ), and four oncology compounds were brought into clinical trials. He co-founded the platform technology company ProLynx LLC in 2010, where he currently serves as President.
Dr. Ashley received his B.S. in Chemistry from MIT in 1979, and his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1984. He was an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University, head of Chemistry at Parnassus Pharmaceuticals, Executive Director of Chemistry and then Vice President, Exploratory Research at Kosan Biosciences, Inc. Dr. Ashley is also a licensed patent agent with over eighteen years professional experience. He is co-author of over 70 scientific publications, and co-inventor on over 50 issued US patents.
Alex has a background that melds scientific innovation in biopharm with corporate development. Most recently he held the position of VP & Head of Business Development at Prellis Biologics. Prior, Alex worked as an early employee at Sutro Biopharma where he helped develop the world's scalable cell-free protein expression system. Holding a variety of positions spanning scientific leadership, portfolio strategy, and alliance management, Alex has led multiple drug discovery projects, in the immuno-oncology and antibody-drug conjugate space, before transitioning to corporate strategy. Alex is experienced in executing complex drug licensing arrangements and discovery collaboration deals. Alex received his MBA from The Wharton School as a Palmer Scholar and holds both a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University, where he was awarded the Frederick Emmons Terman Engineering Scholastic Award and Hoefer Prize in writing.
Dr. Weyer is the Chief Medical Officer at ProLynx, a position he assumed in March 2025. Throughout his career, he has played a pivotal role in developing and advancing several first-in-class therapies for serious metabolic and liver diseases, including Byetta®, Bydureon®, Symlin®, Myalept®, and Ocaliva®. His leadership spans executive roles across both private and public biotech companies. Notably, he led the multi-peptide obesity program at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, and later held excecutive leadership positions at Fate Therapeutics, ProSciento, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, and Escient Pharmaceuticals--where he oversaw clinical strategy through its acquisition by Incyte.
Dr. Weyer's academic background is equally distinguished. He earned his M.D. from the University of Dusseldorf, where he trained at a WHO Collaborating Center for Diabetes. He also completed postdoctoral research at the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the NIH, and obtained a master's degree in advanced clinical research from UC San Diego. His combined scientific and leadership expertise had significantly contributed to therapeutic innovation in endocrinology and metabolic disease.
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