Management Team

Heidi Wang, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Heidi Wang graduated from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA with a M.S. and a Ph.D. in molecular biology and virology. She also received postdoctoral training in cancer biology at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, USA.

During her almost 30 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) Company, she worked in positions of increasing responsibilities, including antiviral discovery research, medical writing, labeling, US and international regulatory strategy, interim R&D head and head of regulatory department in China and Hong Kong, and head of Global Regulatory Sciences Oncology before her retirement in May 2023.

Dr. Wang is a world-renowned drug regulatory expert. She has made outstanding achievements in the pharmaceutical industry. With her drug development experience, strategic thinking, and deep foundation in oncology, virology (AIDS, hepatitis B, C), and other therapeutic areas, she worked with or led BMS teams to develop a total of 9 first-in-class new drugs that were successfully launched in the United States, Europe, China, Japan, and around the world. In the past 3.5 years, she led multi-functional BMS teams to bring 15 new cancer treatment options to submissions and/or approvals worldwide, including 2 first-in-class drugs and 13 new indications. OPDIVO, a blockbuster drug that has attracted much attention in recent years, was part of her responsibility, benefiting countless patients.

Ming-Tain Lai, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Lai has more than 23 years of experience in drug discovery. As Senior Principal Scientist at Merck & Co., Dr. Lai led and directed multiple independent project teams to develop potential clinical candidates. He also acted as a core team member of early development and product development in several clinical studies. During his tenure at Merck, the teams have identified more than 10 preclinical candidates. Several of them are currently in clinical trials. He also received several awards from Merck, Merck Divisional/Staff Area Award in 2007, Special achievement award in 2009, and Merck Research Laboratories Pipeline Award in 2018. The crowing achievements of his career at Merck comes with the approval of an antiviral drug by FDA in 2018. Dr. Lai has had over 69 papers published in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Lai did post-doctoral study in at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earned his Ph.D. in Bio-Organic Chemistry from University of Minnesota.

Wayne Saville, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Saville has over thirty years of extensive experience in clinical research, ranging from inpatient care, academic institutions, large pharma, and small biotech. Prior to working with OBI, Dr. Saville held several key leadership roles, including as CMO at Shasqi Inc. from 2020 to 2021, and as VP, Oncology Clinical Development at Xencor Inc. from 2015 to 2020, focusing on bispecific antibody development in oncologic indications. During his tenure at Biogen from 2002 to 2011, Dr. Saville led clinical programs including rituximab (Rituxan), ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin), and natalizumab (Tysabri), as well as several small molecule TKIs.

Dr. Saville received his M.D. from Northwestern University, completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Minnesota, and was a postdoctoral fellow and clinical attending physician at the National Cancer Institute, NIH. He is board-certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.

Kevin P Poulos

Chief Business Officer

Kevin has over twenty years of senior management experience in various strategic commercial and business development functions  both internationally and the United States with Optimer, Wyeth, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer and SmithKline Beecham. Prior to joining OBI Pharma, Inc., he was the President of KPP Biopharmaceutical Commercial Consulting and the Chief Commercial Officer at Optimer Pharmaceuticals. During his career, Kevin oversaw the international and US commercial launches of many innovative pharmaceutical products including Dificid®, Zyvox®, Synercid®, Zagam®, Zosyn®/Tazocin® and Timentin®. He received his B.S. degree in Business Administration from Old Dominion University.

Dong Xu, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President, Biostatistics & Data Management

Dr. Dong Xu received his Ph.D. in Biostatistics from Columbia University. With over 20 years of expertise, he is a seasoned statistical leader in drug development across oncology, virology, immunology, and cardiovascular therapeutic areas. In addition to being proficient in drug regulations in various countries, his innovative approach to trial design and data analysis has contributed to 15+ successful global registrations. He has rich and unique leadership and collaboration experience in drug development.

Dr. Xu was the Head of Biostatistics for Bristol Myers Squibb Company, Asia Pacific Group and made important contributions to the successful registrations of the initial BLA and subsequent indications of Opdivo in China and worldwide. He also served as the senior vice president of biostatistics and data science at Ambrx.

Academically, he received the John Fertig Memorial Prize for outstanding dissertation in Biostatistics, Columbia, published more than 50 articles, oral presentations, and posters.

David Hallinan, Ph.D.

Vice President, Global RA

Dr. Hallinan has over 25 years of operational and regulatory affairs experience across a range of therapeutic areas. Prior to joining OBI, David was VP Regulatory Affairs at Idenix Pharmaceuticals, and VP Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance at Parexel International. He holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and a B.S. in Biochemistry from University College, Dublin, Ireland.