Management Team
Naozumi Harada, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman, Head of R&D
A scientist-entrepreneur who has dedicated his career to cancer research and the development of novel cancer drugs to improve the health of patients. He invented the company's Myeloid Targeting Platform™ and founded United Immunity in 2017. Formerly a researcher at Schering (Germany) and a Lecturer in cancer immunotherapy at Mie University Graduate School of Medicine. He obtained his Ph.D. in Medical Science at Kobe University and has published many scientific articles in renowned journals and a series of patents related to the company’s technology and products.
Masato Kishida, Ph.D., MBA, President
Dr. Kishida is an experienced entrepreneur and manager. He worked as a banker, equity analyst of investment bank, and cancer biology researcher. He co-founded Karyon Therapeutics (USA) and was General Manager of Ganymed Pharmaceuticals (Germany) after the acquisition by Astellas. Prior to joining United Immunity, Dr. Kishida held various positions at Astellas in business development as well as Senior Director and Head, Venture Unit Human Genetics. He obtained his Ph.D. in Health Sciences from the University of Tokyo and MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. He is also a Certified Member Analyst of the Securities Analysts Association of Japan.
Takatoshi Soga, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research
Dr. Soga has more than 18 years' experience in drug discovery and development. He was formerly at Astellas where he served as Head of Research unit focused on innovative drug discovery research. He was also a Research Investigator at OSI Pharmaceuticals and an Associate Investment Director at Astellas Venture Management where he was involved in scientific evaluations, investments, and corporate business tie-ups with European and American bio-ventures mainly in the field of oncology. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biological Science & Technology from the Tokyo University of Science.
Kenji Hashimoto, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Advisor
Dr. Hashimoto is a board-certified medical oncologist with over 20 years of experience in both academia and industry. Prior to joining United Immunity, he was Chief Medical Officer at Crescendo Biologics. Kenji supported the transition of the company from preclinical phase to clinical stage and led the phase I study of T cell bispecific biotherapeutics. Prior to Crescendo, Kenji took the leadership role for the late phase clinical development of a checkpoint inhibitor at Roche/Genentech. Prior to that, he led the clinical team at Chugai Pharma Europe for a bispecific T cell engager as well as other early phase projects. Kenji completed his medical oncology training at the National Cancer Centre Hospital, Tokyo. He has a PhD in medical oncology from the University of Oxford and a medical degree from Gunma University in Japan.
Luc St-Onge, Ph.D., Head of Business Development (Independent consultant)
Luc St-Onge has 30 years' experience in business development in the life science industry and has been involved in several M&As, and licensing of early and clinical stage programs. He is currently a freelance consultant supporting United Immunity as Head of Business Development. He was formerly Global Head of Sales and Marketing at Minaris Regenerative Medicine where he managed an international team in the US, Europe, and Japan. Dr. St-Onge was previously Head of Business Development at apceth Biopharma (acquired by Hitachi Chemical in 2019), Head of Business Development at Ganymed Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Astellas Pharma in 2016), Chief Business Officer at Affectis Pharmaceuticals, and Director of Diabetes research at Develogen. Dr. St-Onge is a molecular biologist by training and is based in Munich, Germany.