Raj Kannan has over 30 years of experience leading and developing global business franchises and building companies. He has effectively led and grown organizations and supported multiple successful launches across therapeutic areas in the U.S. and globally.
Raj Kannan previously was the CEO of Aerie Pharmaceuticals. He led the successful merger of Aerie Pharmaceuticals to Alcon, Inc. where the all cash transaction was consummated in mid November 2022. He also served as an independent director of Amryt Pharmaceuticals till it was acquired by Chiesi in April of 2023.
Prior to joining Aerie, Mr. Kannan was Chief Executive Officer and President of Chiasma, Inc., where he led the organization through the approval and the launch of the first oral therapy in over a decade for patients with acromegaly and subsequently through the acquisition by Amryt Pharma Plc. Before that, Mr. Kannan was Chief Commercial Officer at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, and prior to Kiniksa, he served as the Global Head of the Neurology and Immunology business franchise at Merck KGaA, where he led and transformed the largest franchise into a growth franchise with $2 billion in annual revenues through significant strategic shifts in investment to support new product introductions and through recalibration of pipeline investments. Before that, Mr. Kannan spent 10 years at Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH in the U.S., Canada, and in Germany, including as Global Marketing Head of the Cardiovascular Franchise, where he was responsible for more than $3.5 billion in annual revenues.
Joseph Skelton brings nearly ten years of investment banking experience with a focus on the life sciences vertical. During his career, he has advised on transactions totaling more than $20 billion.
Prior to joining I-Mab, Mr. Skelton served as a Senior Vice President in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Truist Securities, where he led the coverage efforts on the biopharma sector. During his tenure at Truist he focused on providing strategic and financial advice to life sciences companies. Prior to joining Truist, Mr. Skelton worked as an investment banker at Cantor covering the healthcare vertical. Mr. Skelton holds a M.S. and B.S. in Accounting and Business & Economics, respectively from Lehigh University.
Before joining I-Mab, Dr. Hayslip was Vice President of Clinical Development at Nektar Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NKTR). Dr. Hayslip also led development activities for multiple therapies while at AbbVie Oncology. He also comes with a depth of experience on lemzoparlimab (TJC4), having assembled and led the AbbVie cross-functional team to complete setup for patient enrollment for the global partnership between I-Mab and AbbVie on lemzoparlimab. Prior to joining AbbVie Oncology, Dr. Hayslip was an accomplished researcher and physician at the University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center, where he led numerous cancer research studies with a primary focus in lymphoma and leukemia. He also served as the Chief for Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant and as Director of Clinical Research and Data Management at the Markey Cancer Center. Dr. Hayslip received his medical degree from Northeast Ohio Medical University and a master’s degree in Clinical Research from the Medical University of South Carolina. Following his residency in internal medicine, Dr. Hayslip completed his fellowship in Hematology-Oncology at the Medical University of South Carolina leading to dual board certifications in both Hematology and Medical Oncology. Dr. Hayslip holds multiple U.S. and international patents and has published dozens of scientific papers and reviews in renowned journals including Lancet Haematology, Clinical Cancer Research, Leukemia Research, Blood, and Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Claire Xu, MD, PhD, joined I-Mab in January 2018 as the U.S. site head, leading the establishment of I-Mab’s Maryland site and the continual growth of I-Mab’s U.S. clinical team. Dr. Xu oversees the U.S. medical/clinical research, clinical operation, regulatory affairs, clinical biomarkers and project management for I-Mab’s global portfolios. Her team also collaborates closely with I-Mab’s teams in China on global development strategy and execution.
Prior to joining I-Mab, Dr. Xu was the associate director of clinical pharmacology at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, where she was responsible for designing and overseeing multiple phase 1/2 studies of different therapeutic areas, including hematology/oncology. Dr. Xu received her PhD in clinical pharmacology from Indiana University School of Medicine and her Bachelor of Medicine degree from Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, China.