Suketu D. Desai, Ph.D. has 25+ years of experience in the Biologics and Pharmaceutical Industry. Suketu is Chief Technical Officer and Senior Vice President, Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls, Regulatory CMC, and Quality Assurance at Scilex Pharmaceuticals (2015 – present).

Prior to Scilex, Suketu was Vice President of Biologics Development and Manufacturing for biologics drug substance and drug product, technical due diligence and commercial technical operations at Allergan, Inc. (2014-2015), which was acquired by Actavis, plc. Before Allergan, Suketu was a CMC consultant in 2013.

Suketu was Vice President, Biotechnology Technical Operations for biologics drug substance and drug product, analytical, manufacturing and technical due diligence at Cephalon, Inc. (2010-2012), which was acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals.

During 2007-2010, Suketu was Ception Therapeutics, Inc., Vice President, Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls and Quality Assurance responsible for biologics drug substance and drug product development, analytical, manufacturing, quality, regulatory CMC, and technical due diligence for business development. Ception was acquired by Cephalon (2010).

Suketu was Principal Scientist, Process Sciences/Technical Operations for late-stage and commercial biologics drug substance and drug product at Centocor, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary (2003-2006); Assoc. Director, Pharmaceutical and Biologic Formulations at AAI Pharma Development Services (2001-2003); Director/Sr. Manager at Aronex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1996-2001); and Senior Scientist II/I at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, formerly Alcon Labs, Inc., (1992-1996). Suketu has contributed to several commercial biologic products (Botox, Cinquair, Simponi, Remicade, ReoPro, Retavase, and Eprex) and pharmaceutical products (Azopt and Volfenol) and late-stage development products including placulumab, abicipar pegol/DARPin, and Innotox.

Dr. Desai received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ and Master’s in Pharmacology and Bachelor’s in Pharmacy from the University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India.

Dmitri Lissin currently serves as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs of Scilex/Semnur Pharmaceuticals (2015 – present).

Prior to Semnur, from 2011-2015, Dmitri was Vice President of Clinical Development at Xenoport, responsible for conduct of multiple clinical research programs in neurology and dermatology.

From 2006-2011 Dmitri directed a clinical research team and served as member of the Executive Committee at DURECT Corporation, designing and executing clinical trials in chronic nociceptive, neuropathic, and acute post-operative pain, which led to successful licensing deals and NDA filings.

From 1998-2006 Dmitri managed various clinical R&D programs at Titan Pharmaceuticals, Aerogen, and Synarc. Dr. Lissin has a broad expertise with proprietary drug-delivery technologies applied to therapeutic products spanning numerous clinical areas including pain and neurological disorders. Most of his experience involves clinical development of novel oral, transdermal, implantable, and injectable formulations containing existing active pharmaceutical ingredients, using 505(b)(2) drug approval pathway.

He has participated in many Pre-IND, End of Phase 1, End of Phase 2, and Pre-NDA meetings, negotiating clinical development programs with the FDA Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Addiction Products (DAAAP), Division of Neurology Products, and Division of Dermatology and Dental Products.

He received his post-doctoral training at the University of California San Francisco, and his medical degree through an exchange program between Russian National Medical University and Harvard Medical School.

Mr. Khemani brings more than 25 years of global pharmaceutical experience to Scilex, an innovative revenue-generating company focused on acquiring, developing and commercializing non-opioid pain management products for the treatment of acute and chronic pain company based in Palo Alto, California.

Mr. Khemani has been SVP Chief Commercial Officer of Scilex since March 2019. He manages Scilex sales, sales operations, marketing, market research, and managed care operations, including its U.S. promotional role and interactions with overseas partners, commercial development, and international operations.

In addition to his 25 years of senior management experience in the industry, he successfully launched specialty and large market products including Zelmac / Zelnorm for IBS-D, readiness for Dexpramipexole (dex) in ALS and Parkinson’s Disease, Cubicin, an injectable antibiotic in EU and developed launch plans for Pulminique, an inhaled cyclosporine, for US and EU, and Abilify a $7 billion product. His therapeutic areas include pain, neurology, oncology, immunology, and CV.

He worked prior to Scilex at executive-level positions at Bristol Myers Squibb, Chiron, PDL Biopharmaceuticals, Facet Biotech, and Knopp Biosciences. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from Bombay University.

Steve Lincoln serves as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer for Scilex Holding Company. Steve has been involved in the biopharma industry for more than 21 years.

Most recently, he was Counsel to the law firm of Brown Gee & Wenger, where his corporate practice included several publicly traded and private biopharma companies. Before that, Steve served in in-house counsel roles at SciClone Pharmaceuticals (acquired by GL Capital), Kosan Biosciences (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb), SuperGen (now Astex Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Otsuka), and Protein Design Labs (later Facet Biotech, acquired by AbbVie).

Steve is a graduate of Brown University and the Boston University School of Law.

Jaisim Shah has over 30 years industry success in leading product development & commercializing innovative therapies and creating companies with documented success in development and commercialization of some of today’s most recognized pharmaceutical brands.

He is a seasoned life science executive and board director with extensive accomplishments at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, PDL Biopharma, Sorrento, Pfizer/Upjohn, Scilex, and start-ups Elevation and Semnur Pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Shah has been CEO and President of Semnur Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Scilex Pharmaceuticals) since its inception in 2013. He has served as CEO and President of Scilex Holding and Scilex Pharmaceuticals since March 2019 and also serves on the board of directors of  Scilex Holding.

Most recently, Mr. Shah served as Chief Business Officer of Elevation Pharmaceuticals where he focused on financing, mergers and acquisitions, and business development. He led the sale of Elevation to Sunovion Pharmaceuticals in 2012. At Facet Biotech and PDL BioPharma, he served from 2000 to 2009 as Chief Business Officer and also held the position of senior vice president of marketing and medical affairs.

During this time, he completed numerous licensing/partnering and strategic transactions including with Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Otsuka, and Biogen Idec. His leadership in marketing and leading the commercial enterprise helped the company make large improvements to meet its profitability potential.

At Bristol-Myers Squibb, as vice president of global marketing from 1997 to 2000, Mr. Shah received the “Presidents Award” for completing one of the most significant collaborations in the company’s history.

Prior to working with Bristol-Myers Squibb, Mr. Shah led international marketing for oncology and virology and was global business leader for corporate alliances at Roche from 1991 to 1997 with Genentech and IDEC, and prepared products for worldwide launch and pre-launch at F. Hoffman-La Roche AG in Switzerland.

He has played a key role in the formulation of long-range plans and pre-launch and launch strategies for such brands as Abilify®, Pegasys®, and Rituxan/MabThera®, each of which have generated well over $1 billion in sales. Mr. Shah holds a M.A. in Economics from the University of Akron and a M.B.A. from University of Oklahoma.

Dorman Followwill was Senior Partner of Transformational Health at Frost & Sullivan, a business consulting firm involved in market research and analysis, growth strategy consulting and corporate training across multiple industries from 2016 to September 2020.

Prior to that time, he served in various roles at Frost & Sullivan, including Partner on the Executive Committee managing the P&L of the business in Europe, Israel and Africa, and Partner overseeing the Healthcare and Life Sciences business in North America, since initially joining Frost & Sullivan to help found the Consulting practice in January 1988.

Mr. Followwill has more than 30 years of organizational leadership and management consulting experience, having worked on hundreds of consulting projects in 38 countries, encompassing all major geographies, across all industry sectors whilst focusing on Healthcare and Life Sciences.

He has performed strategic analyses related to the imperative of growth for clients such as Bayer, Novartis, Merck, GE Healthcare, Siemens, Philips, IBM and HP, Inc., and has assisted Fidelity in making Healthcare investments off its balance sheet. His professional opinion and industry insight has been sought by key media outlets including U.S. News and World Report, the BBC, Pharma Times, and CNBC in London. He obtained his B.A. from Stanford University in The Management of Organizations in 1985.

Dr. Navani has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Comprehensive Spine and Sports Center since 2008, a leader in interventional and multidisciplinary spine, musculoskeletal, and orthopedic care. Over the last decade, she has scaled her solo practice into a large multispecialty group with more than twenty service lines operating across multiple state-of-the-art centers in Northern and Southern California.

In 2022, Dr. Navani sold the practice to a private equity group and now serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Boomerang Healthcare, which has nearly thirty locations in California. Since 2003, Dr. Navani has also served as an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor in the Division of Pain at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Additionally, she has been the Medical Director at Le Reve Regenerative Wellness, a center for cutting-edge regenerative and wellness solutions, for more than a decade. Dr. Navani completed her Anesthesiology residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and her Fellowship in Pain Medicine at the University of California, Davis. She is board-certified in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine by the American Board of Anesthesiology, Interventional Pain by the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians, and Regenerative Medicine by the American Board of Regenerative Medicine.

Dr. Navani serves on the board of several professional organizations, including the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, The Ortho Biologic Institute Networks, and the Latin American Pain Society. She has extensive publications in multidisciplinary pain management and has authored several national guidelines, including those on opioids, interventional spine procedures, and biologics. Dr. Navani is a global authority on healthcare trends, including digital health, technology innovations, and applied biologics.