About

Liang Schweizer is the Founder, Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer of HiFiBiO Therapeutics. She has over 30 years of research and industry experience with numerous publications and global keynote presentations. She is the co-inventor of 12 immuno-modulatory therapeutic antibodies with over 50 patent publications. She also has contributed to 4 marketed drugs and over 30 clinical candidates. In recognition of her leadership, she has been awarded the EY Entrepreneur of the Year New England in 2024 and HiFiBiO Therapeutics recognized as a Fierce 15 Biotech in 2023.

Previously, Liang co-founded Harbour Biomed and served as its CSO, successfully transforming a technology platform company to an antibody drug discovery enterprise. Before launching her entrepreneurial career, Liang served as Head of Asian Cancer Research at Sanofi, advancing Sanofi’s Asia-Pacific oncology pipeline as well as contributing to global oncology programs from preclinical to clinical efforts. Before joining Sanofi, she was a director at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.

Liang received a B.S. from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and an M.S. in Microbial Engineering and Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. She earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University in Zurich. Her postdoctoral training was with Dr. Harold Varmus, a Nobel Laureate, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC).

Francisco Adrian is the Chief Scientific Officer at HiFiBiO Therapeutics. He is an accomplished scientist with 25 years of experience in drug discovery and pharmaceutical research and development. Francisco has authored over 40 peer-reviewed articles and presented his research at multiple international conferences.

Francisco’s career in drug discovery and development started at the Novartis Institute for Functional Genomics (GNF) in La Jolla, CA. During his tenure at GNF as a project leader for different kinase inhibitor programs, he discovered a novel class of highly specific allosteric kinase inhibitors, now marketed as Scemblix^® for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia.

Before joining HiFiBiO Therapeutics, Francisco worked as a Director at the Sanofi Oncology Division in Cambridge, MA. At Sanofi he led the research efforts for different small molecule and antibody programs in preclinical and clinical development stages. Two of these programs culminated with the approval of Inrebic^® and Sarclisa^® for the treatment of hematological malignancies.

Francisco received his M.S. degree in Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry and Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology from the University of Zaragoza, Spain. His postdoctoral training was in Hemato-Immunology at the St Louis Hospital in Paris, where he studied tumor escape mechanisms from immunosurveillance. He was appointed Corresponding Academician at the Royal Academy of Medicine in Zaragoza in 2002.

Robert Andtbacka is the Chief Medical Officer at HiFiBiO Therapeutics, bringing over 20 years of experience in clinical research and drug development. He is a renowned clinician scientist and tenured professor of surgical oncology, with a focus on melanoma, oncolytic immunotherapy, and Toll-like Receptor agonists. With more than 80 peer-reviewed articles, 150 abstracts, and 4 book chapters, Robert is a globally recognized expert in his field.

Previously, as the Chief Medical Officer at Seven and Eight Biopharmaceuticals, Robert led the clinical development of innovative intravenously delivered dual agonists for Toll-like Receptor 7 and 8 (TLR 7/8), TLR 7/8-antibody drug conjugates, and oncolytic viruses. His leadership resulted in the acquisition of groundbreaking TLR7/8 assets by Eikon Therapeutics.

Before joining Seven and Eight Biopharma, Robert served as Co-Director of the Melanoma and Cutaneous Oncology Program and Director of the Melanoma Clinical Research Program at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. He established a comprehensive surgical and clinical research program, conducting over 50 clinical trials and leading the OPTiM Phase III trial that led to FDA and EMA approval of talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), the first oncolytic virus in its class. He was also the Chief Medical Officer for Vestan Medical Imaging, where he led preclinical and clinical development.

Robert obtained his B.Sc. (Honors) in Biochemistry from McGill University, followed by medical training and a residency in General Surgery. He completed a fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is a board-certified surgeon, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS), and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada (FRCSC).

Roshan Kumar is the Head of Research at HiFiBiO Therapeutics. He is a scientist with over 15 years of experience in the study of complex biological systems. Roshan leads US External Innovation activities to identify high impact partnerships and collaborations for the company’s internal pipeline and DIS® platform.

Roshan’s previous research was focused on the study of transcriptional regulatory networks in mammalian systems, and on understanding how cellular heterogeneity influences fate decisions in individual pluripotent stem cells.

Roshan received a B.S. from the California Institute of Technology and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Scripps Research Institute. His postdoctoral studies were performed at the Whitehead Institute for Biological Research at MIT and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard Medical School.

Timothy Aleck is the Head of Human Resources at HiFiBiO Therapeutics. He is responsible for global human resources and the creation and implementation of HR strategies, employee culture, and talent development programs. 

Tim brings 25 years of experience in innovative people strategy across multiple sectors. He most recently served as the Head of Human Resources at Mercury Systems for their Microelectronics division, where he led the organizational design component for multiple acquisitions and built the leadership development programs. During his tenure, the company doubled revenues, tripled the workforce, and was named a “Best Place to Work” by the Boston Globe. 

Tim spent 12 years at Baxter Healthcare in human resource talent management roles in their renal therapies, biopharmaceuticals, and hospital products businesses. At Baxalta, the biotech spinoff, Tim spearheaded the creation of its culture, leadership model, and day-one readiness strategy while creating a diverse and inclusive workforce. 

He started his career in professional services at Andersen and Deloitte, where he led talent process and system implementations with clients in the financial services, energy, and insurance industries. 

Tim is a member of the Human Resources Leadership Forum (HRLF) and earned his M.A. degree in Organizational Communications from Northern Illinois University, where he continued with doctoral coursework in Instructional Technologies. He earned his B.A. from Boston College. 

Steven Chen is the General Counsel at HiFiBiO Therapeutics and leads all legal activities in the company including corporate compliance, IP, and contracting.

Prior to joining, Steve served as the Sr. Patent Attorney at DSM Nutritional Products LLC. At DSM, he helped build a global IP portfolio and secured strategic partnerships for some of the company’s most important products. Before DSM, he spent 5 years at Jones Day LLP, a private legal practice, providing legal services to a broad range of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Prior to entering law school, Steve conducted bioinformatic research at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Steve received a B.S. from Fudan University, a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Maryland, and holds a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.

Vincent Tse is the Head of Staff and Strategy at HiFiBiO Therapeutics. He has over 10 years of industry experience in portfolio strategy, strategic operations, and people & culture.

Prior to joining, Vincent served as a strategy and portfolio analysis consultant at IQVIA where he advised both biotech and pharma in oncology, rare disease, and digital platform strategy. Before IQVIA, Vincent worked in Competitive Intelligence at Genentech and Product and Business Development at Armata Pharmaceuticals.

Vincent holds a B.S. from UCLA, an M.S. in Regulatory Affairs from Northeastern University, and an MBA from Duke University Fuqua School of Business.

Tim Miller is the Head of Business Development at HiFiBiO Therapeutics. He brings over 10 years of business development and client relations management experience in the biotherapeutic industry.

Prior to HiFiBiO, Tim worked as the Director of Business of Development for ImmunoPrecise Antibodies where he led the company’s licensing and partnerships opportunities across all five international sites and was the head of contract management for the entire organization, managing, drafting, and negotiating over 200 contracts a year.

Tim holds a Master’s in International Infectious Disease Management and Biosecurity from North Dakota State University and a Bachelors in Microbiology from North Dakota State University.