NKGen Biotech Announces Appointment of Chief Financial Officer
SANTA ANA, Calif., February 24, 2023 — NKGen Biotech, a biotechnology company harnessing the power of the body’s immune system through the development of natural killer cell therapies, announces the appointment of Benson Fong as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Fong is a highly accomplished CFO who brings an extensive background of financial experience to NKGen Biotech in areas of corporate finance, collaborations, and licensing. Mr. Fong’s demonstrated expertise will be instrumental in directing the Company’s financial strategies and identifying and guiding financing efforts.
Mr. Fong brings more than three decades of senior financial leadership and corporate development experience. Mr. Fong is the Managing Director of Nehalem Advisory, LLC guiding several life science startups with their financial strategy and implementation. He also collaborates with Potrero Hill Advisors. Before joining Nehalem Advisory, he was consulting CFO and Account Director at Engine Room and CFO at Early Growth Financial Services. Previously, he served as President and CEO of Lapis Therapeutics as well as Senior VP Corporate Development at CoTherix where he was responsible for in-licensing Ventavis® (iloprost) which was later FDA approved and successfully launched.
Prior experience included serving as the first VP for venture debt lending at Imperial Bank/Comerica, CFO at Cibus Pharmaceutical, Controller at Matrix Pharmaceuticals, and Division Controller in Express Banking at Wells Fargo Bank. Mr. Fong started his career as a senior tax accountant and CPA at Arthur Young & Co. Mr. Fong has a successful track record in negotiation including licensing agreements, R&D sponsored research, manufacturing and lease agreements. His leadership responsibilities have included filing S-1s, equity and debt financing, and product licensing. Mr. Fong received a B.S. in Biology from the University of Oregon.
About NKGen Biotech
NKGen Biotech, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative autologous, allogeneic, and CAR-NK Natural Killer (NK) cell therapeutics. Leveraging our proprietary cell expansion and activation technology and cutting-edge cell manufacturing expertise, we have the ability to infinitely expand natural killer cells while significantly enhancing cytotoxicity across our peripheral blood-derived products. NKGen Biotech’s lead product candidate, SNK01, is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of advanced refractory solid tumors both as a monotherapy and in combination with other agents, including checkpoint inhibitors and cell engagers. SNK02, our allogeneic NK cell therapy, has received USFDA IND clearance for initiating clinical trials in solid tumors. NKGen Biotech is committed to the vision of executing on our clinical strategies with the goal of commercializing our NK cell therapies to help save and sustain patients’ lives worldwide. The company and its commercially licensed cGMP facility are headquartered in Santa Ana, California, USA. For more information, please visit www.nkgenbiotech.com.
Contacts:
Denise Chua, MBA, CLS, MT (ASCP)
Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
949-396-6830
dchua@nkgenbiotech.com