CABS is a volunteer-based, non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, committed to advancing the life sciences and biotech industry through education, collaboration, and networking.
The annual event, Investor Forum, held in conjunction with the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, has been a hallmark of CABS for nearly 16 years. This year's forum is scheduled to take place on January 14th, 2026, from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm at Morrison Foerster’s San Francisco office (425 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94105).
Our event will feature two insightful panel discussions—“Navigating Global Biotech Capital: Opportunities and Challenges in Cross-Border Investment” and “Investor–Entrepreneur Dialogue: Building the Next Generation of Global Biotech Leaders.” In addition, up to 10 early-stage companies will participate in the roadshow.
Speakers Bio:
Jonathan Norris | Managing Director, HSBC Innovation
Jonathan Norris joined HSBC’s Innovation Banking Division in April 2023. He manages healthcare venture relationships and works with investors and companies on commercial banking and debt products.
In addition, for more than a decade, Jonathan has written comprehensive reports on the venture healthcare ecosystem, covering venture fundraising, investment, valuations and exits. These reports have been widely cited in the ecosystem and he often speaks at major investor and industry conferences. He has more than 20 years of healthcare banking experience.
Jonathan earned a B.S. in business administration from the University of California, Riverside, and a J.D. from Santa Clara University.
Janet Xiao | Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Janet focuses her practice on worldwide patent procurement, patent portfolio management, and strategic planning for life sciences companies. Janet’s clients range from large multinational biopharmaceutical companies to emerging startup companies. Recognized as being highly sought after for patent prosecution and strategy mandates, Janet develops and strengthens her clients’ complex patent portfolios to maximize commercial value. She is instrumental in developing strategies for multibillion-dollar patent portfolios for pharmaceutical clients. She also works extensively in performing IP due diligence reviews in the contexts of VC investments, technology transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and marketing and manufacturing clearance for biopharmaceutical products.
David Newman | Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP
David Newman serves as co-chair of the firm’s National Security and Crisis Management practices, drawing upon his deep experience in private practice and as a senior U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and White House official to represent clients in high stakes matters involving national security, geopolitical risk, emerging technology, and crisis management. David also leads the firm’s interdisciplinary Government Strategies group.
A former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security (PDAAG) and Associate Deputy Attorney General, David advises companies navigating cybersecurity incidents, sanctions and export control enforcement, Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) reviews, and Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) investigations. He has extensive experience conducting internal and government-facing cross-border investigations and representing clients in congressional inquiries and hearings.
Qiang Lu | Co-founder and Chairman of Board, GenFleet Therapeutics
As GenFleet's Co-founder and Chairman of the Board, Dr. Qiang Lu oversees the company's strategic planning, financial management and business operations. With over 20 years of experience in life sciences research and the development of innovative therapies, Dr. Lu boasts extensive expertise across multiple sectors within the industry. Leveraging both practical approaches and strategic foresight, he has successfully advanced numerous products to pivotal clinical and commercial stages. Since its inception in 2017, GenFleet has built up industry-leading capabilities in developing novel drug candidates spanning small molecules and biologics and was publicly listed on the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange in September 2025. The company has set up a highly differentiated RAS-targeted matrix including selective and Pan RAS inhibitors of diverse molecular types, with most assets leading their categories in clinical progress in China or globally. In addition, the company has pioneered a series of first-in-class combination therapies based on dual-target synergistic mechanisms.
Dr. Lu received his doctoral degree from Brandeis University and completed postdoctoral training at Tufts University. He joined Wyeth and Novartis in America and commanded numerous R&D programs to develop preclinical candidates. Following his overseas career, he served as vice president of WuXi AppTec in China, Chief Scientific Officer of Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group and Gloria Pharmaceuticals, and senior vice president of CStone Pharmaceuticals. Besides spearheading many compounds into late-stage clinical trials, he also played a major role in operating and promoting multinational R&D platforms.
Eric Hu | CBO, Expedition Therapeutics
Eric Hu, Ph.D., serves as Chief Business Officer at Expedition Therapeutics, where he leads corporate strategy, business development, and partnerships, and supports fundraising and commercial initiatives. Prior to joining Expedition, Dr. Hu was Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy and Head of U.S. Operations at Overland Pharmaceuticals, where he helped establish Overland Therapeutics and advance the company’s CAR-T programs. Before that, he was a senior member of the business development team at Turning Point Therapeutics prior to its $4.1 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb. Earlier in his career, Dr. Hu conducted research in antivirals, inflammation, and oncology before serving as an oncology search and evaluation liaison at Gilead Sciences. He earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from UCLA and his B.S. in Chemistry from Beijing Normal University.
Leon Tang | Founder, InScienceWeTrust BioAdvisory
Leon ‘Jun’ Tang, PhD is the founding partner of InScienceWeTrust BioAdvisory, a life sciences consulting company focused on the East-West cross-border BD&L and R&D collaborations in the pharmaceutical industry. ISWT BioAdvisory has advised 30+ biotech companies, investment funds, and other companies in the life sciences industry.
Dr. Tang is also the founder of InScienceWeTrust Community, a US-based nonprofit that has more than 4,000 active members from the Asian biotech community. Dr. Tang serves as a scientific advisor to Mianus Capital, a boutique US-based healthcare PE/VC fund currently focused on ophthalmology. He is also an advisor to BioSpark, an Asian biotech professional’s association based in Massachusetts.
Previously, Dr. Tang was a senior director of BD Search & Evaluation at Shanghai Henlius Biotech, a biotech sell-side analyst at Barclays Investment Bank, and a senior manager at the philanthropic venture fund of Cancer Research Institute of New York.
Dr. Tang has published more than 50 academic papers in prestigious journals like Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, Lancet Oncology, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Communications, Science Advances, PNAS, etc.
Dr. Tang received his bachelor’s degree from Tianjin University and master’s degree from Nankai University in China, a PhD degree from Icahn School of Medicine of Mount Sinai, and postdoctoral training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Tang is well recognized expert in China biotech, and he was featured by Caixin Magazine, China Newsweek, Endpoints News, Fierce Pharma, and many leading investment banks.
Wentao Zhang | Co-CEO, Frontage Laboratories, Inc.
Hua Tu | President and CEO of Cerepeut
Dr. Hua Tu is a scientist and biotech entrepreneur best known as the founder and former CEO of LakePharma, Inc., a leading U.S. biologics contract research, development, and manufacturing organization. He founded LakePharma in 2009 after more than 11 years at Tularik and Amgen, where he gained deep experience in biologics and drug development. Under his leadership, LakePharma expanded to six sites across California, Massachusetts, and Texas, serving hundreds of biopharmaceutical clients before being successfully acquired by Curia Global in 2021. Today, Dr. Tu serves as Chairman and CEO of the Maragin Health Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing biomedical research. He is also President and CEO of Cerepeut, a leading longevity drug development company.
Nan Ji | President and CEO of PAQ Therapeutics
Dr. Nan Ji is President and CEO of PAQ Therapeutics. He is a prolific inventor and discoverer, with more than 30 patent applications filed. With three years spent at Kymera Therapeutics from the time the company was in its seed stage, he is also an expert at building an organization from the ground up. At Kymera, Dr Ji served as Vice President of Chemistry and played significant roles in driving the company scientific strategies, platform-building activities, and business development, as well as external collaborations crucial to the company’s success in targeted protein degradation technology. Before Kymera, Dr Ji spent 2 years at Mitobridge (now part of Astellas), where he was responsible for its NAD+-boosting portfolio with multiple approaches to modulate mitochondrial functions. Prior to that, he spent 7+ years at Novartis, where he contributed to and delivered multiple clinical and preclinical development candidates. Dr Ji earned his PhD in organic chemistry from Harvard University.
Hu Li | Venture Partner, Eight Roads (ERVC)
Dr. Hu Li is a Venture Partner of Eight Roads (ERVC). He manages existing portfolios, leads investment in therapeutics, participates in company creation including playing executive roles.
Hu has over 25 years of multi-modality drug discovery, translational and preclinical development at strategic and operational levels within the global biopharmaceutical industry.
Prior to ERVC, Hu was Vice President of Shanghai Miracogen, later acquired by Lepu Biopharma (2157.HK), a China biotech startup he cofounded. Hu was instrumental to the company’s R&D strategy, led pipeline construction, and advanced five ADC programs from discovery to the clinic, including one recent NMPA market approval, MRG003, three in registration trials including Claudin 18.2 ADC, CMG901, he co-invented and outlicensed to AZ for $1.1B USD.
Before returning to China in 2015, Hu had 19-year tenure at GSK R&D in Philadelphia where he started as a bench biochemist and gained increasing responsibilities and significant experience in drug discovery in multiple TAs. From 2012 to 2014, Hu served as Discovery Biology Consultant for Scinovo providing drug discovery expertise for program evaluations for SR One and external alliances.
Hu has B.Sc. in Chemistry from Nanjing University, M.Sc. from Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Bryn Mawr College.