Management

President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Lian serves as our President and Chief Executive Officer, and as a director. Prior to joining Viking Therapeutics, he was a Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, where he was responsible for coverage of small and mid-cap biotechnology companies with an emphasis on the diabetes, oncology, infectious disease, and neurology spaces. Prior to SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, he was an Executive Director and Senior Biotechnology Analyst at CIBC World Markets, responsible for coverage of mid- and small-cap biopharmaceutical companies. Prior to his career in equity research, he was a research scientist in small molecule drug discovery at Amgen, focused on cancer and endocrine diseases. Prior to Amgen, he was a research scientist at Microcide Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Lian holds an MBA in accounting and finance from Indiana University, an M.S. and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from The University of Michigan, and a BA in chemistry from Whitman College.

Chief Development Officer
Hiroko Masamune, Ph.D. serves as our Chief Development Officer. Dr. Masamune has over 25 years of pharmaceutical development experience. Prior to joining Viking, she was Vice President, Product Development at Aires Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on developing therapies for pulmonary vascular disorders. Before joining Aires, Dr. Masamune served as Vice President, Product Development at Palkion Inc. At Palkion, she was responsible for all aspects of preclinical development and served as its alliance manager. Prior to Palkion, Dr. Masamune served as a Senior Director, Pharmaceutical Sciences at Neurogen Corp., where she oversaw two Phase 2 candidates for the treatment of insomnia and Parkinson’s disease/restless leg syndrome, one Phase 1 candidate for the treatment of obesity, and a range of early development and late discovery candidates. Previously she spent 14 years in drug discovery and development at Pfizer working in the areas of cardiovascular, pulmonary and infectious diseases. She earned a BS in Organic Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Masamune completed her post-doctoral fellowship in Organic Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

SVP, Corporate Development

Amy Broidrick serves as our Senior Vice President of Corporate Development. Ms. Broidrick has over 22 years of pharmaceutical industry experience. Prior to joining Viking, she served as Vice President and Head of Global Marketing Excellence and Business Innovation at EMD Serono, Inc, part of Merck KGaA (Germany). Prior to her position at EMD Serono, Ms. Broidrick was Vice President and Head of Marketing and Commercialization at Arena Pharmaceuticals. She has also held roles of increasing responsibility at Merck & Co. and Pfizer (formerly G.D. Searle). Ms. Broidrick is a seasoned industry executive credited with launching and exceeding profit targets for blockbuster brands including Celebrex® in the United States and Zetia® and VYTORIN® (named EZETROL® and INEGY®, respectively in EME&A) across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

SVP, Clinical Operations
Marianne Mancini serves as our Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations.  Ms. Mancini joins Viking with more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry focusing on the management and oversight of clinical trials from early stage to late stage drug development.  Prior to joining Viking, she was Senior Director of Clinical Operations at Ambit Biosciences Corporation, a company focused primarily on the development of oncology therapies for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).  Previously, Ms. Mancini was the Senior Director of Clinical Operations at Aires Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on developing therapies for pulmonary vascular disorders.  At Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc, she served as Senior Director of Project Management and Clinical Operations and was also the Project Team Leader for the company’s lead obesity compound, BELVIQ®‎.  Ms. Mancini held management positions at Baxter BioSciences a division of Baxter Healthcare Corporation where she was the Global Director of Clinical Operations overseeing the company’s global clinical trials involving coagulation disorders, biosurgery, and critical care. She has also previously held positions at Genentech and Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals.  Ms. Mancini holds a MA in Bioethics from Loyola Marymount University, a MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a BS in Nutritional Sciences from McGill University.

VP, Finance and Administration
Michael Morneau serves as our Vice President of Finance and Administration. Mr. Morneau has over 20 years of accounting and financial experience at public and private companies in the biotechnology and accounting industries. Prior to Viking, he was VP of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer at Trius Therapeutics, Inc., a subsidiary of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, following Cubist’s acquisition of Trius. Prior to Trius, he was Director of Lilly Research Labs Finance at Eli Lilly and Company, a pharmaceutical company. Prior to Eli Lilly, he was Director of Finance and Accounting at SGX Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, which was acquired by Eli Lilly. Prior to SGX, he was Controller at Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company. Mr. Morneau earned his MBA and Master of Arts in accounting from New Hampshire College, and a BA in mathematics from the University of New Hampshire.

VP, Finance and Operations

Greg Zante serves as our Vice President of Finance and Operations. Mr. Zante joins Viking with more than 20 years of accounting and financial experience at public and private companies in the biotechnology and accounting industries. Prior to joining Viking, Mr. Zante was Chief Financial Officer at Dance Biopharm, a diabetes-focused biopharmaceutical company, where he managed the company’s private financing strategy and positioned it for initial public offering activities. Mr. Zante has also previously held senior positions at several biopharmaceutical companies including Sangamo Therapeutics, Calyx Therapeutics and Matrix Pharmaceuticals. He is a certified public accountant in the state of California and has previously served as a senior staff accountant at Ernst & Young.