Dr. Por Lai  

Current Positions – Adjunct Professor, Kaohsiung Medical University; Board Member with various biomedical industrial associations; Founder: Crux Health Technologies Co., Ltd., Dephoron Investment Management and ShiFe Investment; Independent Board Director: CH Biotech (TSE6543), Medigen Biotech (TSE3176), Sinphar Pharma (TSE1734); Advisor: JHL Biotech (Cayman) and Bioveda Capital (Singapore). Dr. Lai serves on a number of Committees advising and/or reviewing government biomedical programs.

Before co-founding several US biotech companies in the1990s, Dr. Lai served in the managerial capacity, between the 1980s and early 1990s, at US biotech companies including Sequemat, Amgen and Centocor where he played key roles in developing micro-chemical instruments, recombinant protein drugs and monoclonal antibodies for human uses. In Taiwan, Dr. Lai conducted management buyout to acquire A-Spine Asia Co., Ltd in 2011. He also co-founded Kirin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a biologics operation, with Kirin Brewery of Tokyo in 1992, and President Life Sciences, a biomedical investment business, with the Uni-President Group in 2000. Dr. Lai graduated from the Kaohsiung Medical College, School of Pharmacy in 1970, received his doctorate degree from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy (Boston) in 1977.

Dr. Lai is a scientist turned biomedical entrepreneur and investor. He participated in and witnessed the rise of US biotech industry in the early 1980s. His instrumental development of rhEPO and rhG-CSF at Amgen during the early 1980s has become the biotech innovation paradigm. Successful commercialization of these two biologics has revolutionized disease management in the hematology and oncology fields and has prompted Amgen to lead and dominate in the global biotech industry. Amgen is now the only independent and surviving biotech business since the late 1970s. Dr. Lai has published more than 40 research and review articles including those reported in Biochemistry, JBC, PNAS, and Science, and was awarded two critical biotech patents. His research has focused on protein chemistry and protein folding. Dr. Lai is a frequent lecturer on life science-related subjects and had been on the boards of directors with a number of biotech companies.