Biography

William Lis joined our Board in 2018 and serves as a member of the Audit Committee and the Commercial Committee. 

Mr. Lis has 30 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience in executive and board roles. He is Executive Chairman of Tr1x Bio, Inc., a privately held cellular therapy company, after serving as Interim CEO since 2023. 

Previously Mr. Lis served as an Independent Director of Eidos Therapeutics, Inc., developer of Attruby®, from 2018 to 2021 until its acquisition by BridgeBio. He was Executive Chairman and Interim CEO of Jasper Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: JSPR) from 2019 to 2023, where he led Series A and IPO financings and briquilimab development. 

Mr. Lis was CEO and a Director of Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and previously served as its Chief Operating Officer (2008–2018). Under his leadership, Portola grew from a discovery-stage company into a multi‑billion‑dollar R&D and commercial organization and developed Andexxa® and Bevyxxa^®. He also led Portola’s private and IPO financings. Portola was acquired by Alexion / AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in 2020. 

From 2003 to 2008, Mr. Lis held executive roles at Scios /Johnson & Johnson Inc., most recently as Senior Vice President, New Product Development and Business Development, leading strategic partnerships and development and commercial operations for Xarelto^®. Earlier in his career, he held roles in commercial, medical affairs, and business development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, COR Therapeutics, and Rhône‑Poulenc Rorer/Aventis, contributing to commercial launches including Integrilin^®, Lovenox^®, Rilutek^®, and Velcade^®. He previously served as a BIO board director for emerging companies. 

Mr. Lis holds a B.S. from the University of Maryland.