Caliber Associates Places CEO for Valitor Inc.
October 19, 2022 – San Diego, CA- based Caliber Associates recently placed Steven Lo as chief executive officer and board member for Valitor Inc., a biotechnology company founded to develop advanced, protein-based drugs. The assignment was led by Steven P. Hochberg, the search firm’s founder and CEO.
“Steve’s broad experience as a leader in biotech will contribute greatly to Valitor’s strategic growth in building its pipeline and fully exploiting the company’s platform technology,” said Mr. Hochberg.
Included in its announcement of Mr. Lo’s hiring, Valitor said that it had closed Series B financing in which it raised $28 million. The financing was led by Morningside Venture Investments, and included support from additional new investors, First Spark Ventures and ExSight Ventures, and existing investors, Berkeley Catalyst Fund and Pandect Bioventures. The funds will support the company’s lead programs in ophthalmology and vision-threatening diseases.
Mr. Lo joins Wesley Jackson, president and chief scientific officer, and William (Sandy) White, recently appointed chief development officer, to provide executive leadership to Valitor. “I am delighted to join Wes, who co-founded Valitor and previously served as its CEO, and Sandy, who has been a long-time business advisor to the company, as a member of the executive leadership team charged with advancing Valitor to its next stages of growth,” he said.
Strong Experience
Mr. Lo has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries, including over 12 years of C-level experience in publicly traded biotech companies. Prior to Valitor, he was president, CEO, and member of the board of directors of Zosano Pharma.
From 2015 to 2019, Mr. Lo was chief commercial officer at Puma Biotechnology where he led the worldwide commercialization and business development of the company’s first product. Previously, he was chief commercial officer of Corcept Therapeutics, where he led the commercial organization to launch the company’s first product, an endocrine specialty medication for a rare orphan disease.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Lo spent 13 years at Genentech, the U.S. subsidiary of Roche, in a variety of leadership roles of increasing responsibility in market access, marketing and sales, and drug development, working in numerous therapeutic areas, including oncology, endocrinology, and other specialty therapeutics.
Mr. Lo holds a master’s degree in health administration from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of California, Davis.
Related: Caliber Associates Recruits Chief Medical Officer for GentiBio
Founded in 2010, Valitor Inc. is based in Berkeley, CA. Using its core technology, Valitor can modify existing biological therapies to achieve substantial control over their pharmacological properties. The company’s mission is to develop a new generation of biologic therapies that will reduce the costs associated with effective treatment of these diseases. Valitor also aims to improve the patients’ quality of life by reducing the required frequency of therapeutic administration. The company has initiated a pipeline of drug products that will be used to treat a variety of diseases currently imposing a significant financial burden on the nation’s healthcare system.
Recruiting for the Life Sciences
Caliber Associates, founded in 1988, is focused exclusively on the life sciences sector. The firm has partnered with over 200 leading companies and has completed upwards of 750 searches, placing strategic leaders with broad therapeutic and functional reach. The firm has offices in San Diego, Atlanta, and Philadelphia.
Leadership in a Post-Covid World
In this brand new episode of “Talent Talks,” Hunt Scanlon Media host Rob Adams is joined by Steve Hochberg, CEO of Caliber Associates. In this podcast, Mr. Hochberg discusses how COVID-19 has changed leadership expectations and then shares how leaders can promote and sustain culture as employees return to the workplace. Listen now!
Among the roles Caliber Associates has recently filled include senior vice president, clinical development at Inovio Pharmaceuticals and chief medical officer of Coherus BioSciences.
Mr. Hochberg is CEO of the firm. He focuses on recruiting CEOs, board members, C-level, and strategic teams for emerging life science companies and global biopharmaceutical companies. Mr. Hochberg has assembled a small team of highly experienced, results driven search professionals. Prior to his search career, he held strategic human resources roles with Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, FMC Corp., and Shell Oil Co.
Related: Caliber Associates Fills Senior Post for Sutro Biopharma
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
