Our
Board

Woo-Hyun Lee (Chair)

Chairman of OCI Holdings, leading the corporate business management of OCI Group, a pioneer in the Korean chemical industry with over 60 years of history.

With his expertise in finance through vast experiences acquired from global financial companies, Mr. Lee has shown leadership in enhancing both the financial stability as well as the management system of OCI. He joined the company in 2005 as head of Planning and Strategy and served as a President/CEO from 2013. Mr. Lee has been at the helm of the polysilicon and solar energy businesses which has grown significantly under his leadership.

In 2018, Mr. Lee dived into biotech business as OCI´s new growth initiative, making strategic investments in ventures with cutting-edge bio technologies and high growth potential. In 2022, Mr. Lee led the acquisition of stake in Bukwang Pharmaceutical to lay the foundation for joint management, accelerating penetration into the pharmaceutical and bio sector. He was appointed as the new Vice Chairman of Bukwang Pharmaceutical in March 2022.

As the Chairman of OCI Holdings, he is contributing to enhance the value of the OCI Group by establishing an optimal investment strategy and laying a foundation for continued growth.

Dr. Mahmoud Mahmoudian, FRS

Dr. Mahmoud Mahmoudian brings over 25 years of leadership in biotech innovation, fund raising, company building, and venture creation driving growth strategies to develop and commercialize novel medicines.  He was recruited to Cobro Ventures as Partner operating across its portfolio as President, CEO, and Chief Business Officer.  Prior to this position, he was Senior Vice President, Head of External Innovation Hub at Sumitomo Pharma establishing a corporate venture fund and developing strategic partnerships as an early-stage investor.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Mahmoudian led global drug development and innovation teams at Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and Ferring with 10 FDA approvals ($15B sales).  Dr. Mahmoudian earned his Doctor and Master of Science in Biotechnology from the Imperial College London.  He is on the Board of Directors of BioEclipse Therapeutics and Caravan Biologix, an Executive in Residence at Columbia and Princeton Universities, and a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).  Dr. Mahmoudian joins Contera Pharma as an independent board member.

Thomas Sager

CEO at Contera Pharma, has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and more than 24 years of drug discovery experience acquired in the biotech and pharma industry. For more than a decade he held various leadership roles in R&D drug discovery at Lundbeck A/S, covering both neurology and psychiatry, and has taken numerous projects through from discovery to development. His scientific work generated over 35 peer-reviewed papers. Over the years he served as invited reviewer for many organizations, including the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

In 2012, Thomas Sager joined Business Development at Lundbeck A/S, where he served as Vice President, Head of Business Development, Licensing and Scientific Assessment until November 2020, where he established the licensing strategy, was responsible for the execution of scientific assessments and was a project leader for corporate strategy initiatives. As part of his responsibilities in Business Development, Thomas Sager has been involved in multiple licensing, M&A opportunities and deals.

Partner at BHV Partners / Startup Builders since 2018.