Management Team
Executive Management
Our management team has a proven track record in pharmaceutical drug research, development and commercialization.
Kwen-Jen Chang, PhD, Chairman, President and CEO. Dr. Chang currently holds an Adjunct Professor appointment in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Before the merger of Glaxo and Burroughs Wellcome, Dr. Chang was a Research Scientist at Burroughs Wellcome for over 20 years. His principal research focused on the search for new types of receptors, their pathophysiological functions and mechanism of actions, and receptor-selective drugs. His major achievements are the discovery of Delta receptors, Delta receptor-selective compounds, and the understanding of physiological functions of the Delta receptors. Dr. Chang received his Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from the School of Pharmacy at the National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan, and his doctorate in Biochemical Pharmacology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Chang has published more than 180 papers.
Phillip S. Wise, MBA, CFO and Vice President for Commercial and Business Development. Prior to joining Ardent, Mr. Wise was Director of Marketing for New Product Development and Managed Care Marketing for Glaxo Wellcome. While there he gained experience in acute care areas such as stroke and septic shock, as well as acute and chronic cardiovascular products. Prior to the merger with Glaxo, Mr. Wise managed the Anesthesia Marketing Department for Burroughs Wellcome. He has a Masters in Business Administration from the Colgate Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, and an undergraduate degree in engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Board of Directors
Jinn Wu, PhD. Dr. Wu founded XenoBiotic Laboratories, Inc. in 1987 and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since that time. He was a senior research chemist and research associate at FMC Corporation in Princeton, New Jersey from 1980 to 1987. He received his BS in Pharmacy, MS in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the School of Pharmacy, National Taiwan University and his doctoral degree in Natural Products Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry from the College of Pharmacy at the Ohio State University. Dr. Wu has published more than 50 scientific papers and served as a consultant for NIH-NCI since 1999.
Timothy C. Gupton. Mr. Gupton is a partner of Hughes Pittman & Gupton, LLP of Raleigh North Carolina. He is also a general partner with the venture capital firm of Research Triangle Ventures, LP. Previously Mr. Gupton was an Audit Partner at KPMG. He co-founded and served as the Chief Financial Officer for six biopharmaceutical companies in the Research Triangle Park area including two which are now public and one which was sold to a public company.
Howard Lee, PhD. Dr Lee is President of CDIB Venture Management USA, Inc. and Vice President of Technology Department of China Development Industrial Bank (CDIB). Dr. Lee is responsible for Life Science and Medical technology investments in CDIB with particular emphasis on healthcare industry. Prior to CDIB Dr. Lee was an adjunct associate professor at Fu-Jen University and Tamkang University in Taiwan for numerous years and active in Organic Chemistry, Organosilicon and Polymer Chemistry. Dr. Lee earned his B.Sc. at Fu Jen University, MSc and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Southern California in LA in 1990, and also completed his postdoctoral research at Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute of USC under Dr. George A. Olah, a 1994 Nobel laureate in Chemistry. Dr. Lee holds fifteen academic publications and more than twenty reports of environmental and biotechnology projects.
David LaVance, JD. Mr. LaVance is President of Century Capital Associates LLC, a healthcare-focused investment banking firm. He served as a Managing Director of KPMG Health Ventures from 1995 to 1997. He founded Physician Data Corporation, a startup health informatics company, in 1994 and served as the President of Nuclear Care, Inc, a nuclear imaging clinical service provider, from 1992 to 1995. Mr. LaVance holds a bachelor of arts, cum laude, from Furman University and a JD from the Washington College of Law of the American University.
John A. Moore John A. Moore has led a diverse career in investment banking, private venture capital and business management. Currently Mr. Moore is the President of Edson Moore Healthcare Ventures. EMHV owns investments in eleven public and private companies including FeRx, Acusphere, Cytokine, Medisys (LSE) and Vernalis (LSE). John currently serves on the board of ImaRx Therapeutics and Elite Pharmaceuticals (AMEX). Prior to EMHV Mr. Moore worked on Wall Street for Lehman Brothers and Hambrecht & Quist followed by a successful stint as a private investor in healthcare and basic industry companies including Optimer, American Electromedics, October Films, Virata and BlueGill Technologies. Mr. Moore graduated from Rutgers University with a BA degree in History.