Company
Developing novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases is our forte.
ABOUT US
Virtuoso Therapeutics is an oncology-focused company developing novel bispecific antibody therapies. Our team’s expertise and insights could address some of the fundamental challenges of these modalities, such as efficacy and therapeutic window. By applying Virtuoso’s technology and know-how, we believe our bispecific programs are highly differentiated and have the potential to achieve a unique product profile.
Virtuoso leadership has extensive experience and networks across both the US and China. Our unique US-China hybrid model enables capital-efficient virtual R&D operations, as well as access to world-class science and talent from China and the West.
TEAM
Our team has the expertise and knowledge to rapidly advance our novel therapies through the clinic and beyond.
Sofie Qiao, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Leonard Post, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Xiaocheng Chen, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer
Amy Pfeiffer, MBA
Senior Director of Operations
Sofie Qiao, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Sofie Qiao, Ph.D., founded Virtuoso and has served as its President and Chief Executive Officer since its inception. Dr. Qiao was also the founding President and CEO of Vivace Therapeutics. Prior to co-founding Vivace, she served as Managing Director of WuXi Ventures, the corporate venture arm of WuXi AppTec. Prior to WuXi Ventures, Dr. Qiao co-founded LEAD Therapeutics, a chemistry-driven drug discovery company, in 2006; she assembled the management team and played a central role in raising $17 million in Series A financing. LEAD was acquired in 2010 by BioMarin for up to $97 million, primarily for its PARP inhibitor (Talazoparib), then in preclinical development. Dr. Qiao began her industry career at Genzyme as a medicinal chemist, and later moved into business roles with McKinsey & Company, Syrrx (now Takeda California) and Discovery Partners International (now Galapagos). She holds a doctorate in Organic Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an A.B. in Chemistry from Harvard University.
LEONARD POST, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Len Post, Ph.D., is Virtuoso’s Chief Scientific Officer, bringing more than three decades of pharmaceutical experience spanning companies of all sizes. He is also Vivace’s Chief Scientific Officer. Before joining Vivace in 2016, Dr. Post served as Chief Scientific Officer of BioMarin, a public biopharmaceutical company with a focus on rare diseases. He joined BioMarin when the company acquired LEAD Therapeutics, where he was CSO working with Dr. Qiao. Dr. Post was responsible for the inception as well as subsequent development of talazoparib until it was acquired by Medivation from BioMarin. Dr. Post’s positions prior to LEAD included Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Onyx Pharmaceuticals and Vice President of Discovery Research at Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Post holds a doctorate in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Michigan.
XIAOCHENG CHEN, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer
Xiaocheng Chen, Ph.D., currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Virtuoso. She initially joined the company in 2018 as the Sr. of Antibody Engineering. Dr. Chen has extensive industry experience in antibody research and development across a number of therapeutic areas. At Virtuoso, she leads the development of bispecific antibody programs. Prior to Virtuoso, Dr. Chen was Director of Antibody Engineering at Vivace Therapeutics where she implemented CRO capabilities for large molecule R&D activities and led Vivace’s first bispecific project. Prior to joining Vivace, she was a team lead and Research Scientist at Denali Therapeutics and Genentech, respectively, where she led and contributed to IND-enabling projects in the fields ranging from Oncology, Immunology, Infectious Diseases to Neuroscience. Dr. Chen Xiaocheng obtained her B.S. in Biochemistry at Nanjing University in China and her Ph.D. in Structural Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. After her graduate training, Dr. Chen continued her postdoctoral training in Biophysics and Structural Biology at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute before joining Genentech. Dr. Chen authored 19 peer-reviewed articles and is an inventor on 12 published patents.
AMY PFEIFFER, MBA
Senior Director of Operations
Amy Pfeiffer leads finance, business operations, and administration for Virtuoso. She is also Vivace Therapeutics’ Head of Operations. Before joining Vivace in 2017, she served in a number of accounting, administrative and operational roles for Afferent Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Merck. Prior to joining Afferent, Ms. Pfeiffer worked with Dr. Qiao and Dr. Post at LEAD Therapeutics, established and managed the business operations infrastructure, until it was acquired by BioMarin. She also has held key administrative roles with Acologix and ProteomTech. Ms. Pfeiffer holds a B.S. from San Francisco State University and an MBA from Golden Gate University.