California Life Sciences Association Elects Melinda Richter of Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS as New Board Chair, Appoints New Vice Chair, Treasurer

Alex Kelly of Allergan Appointed Vice Chair; Jeff Jonker of Ambys
Medicines Appointed Treasurer

WASHINGTON & SAN FRANCISCO & SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlexKelly?src=hash" target="_blank"gt;#AlexKellylt;/agt;–California
Life Sciences Association (CLSA), the trade association representing
California’s life sciences sector, today announced the appointment of
Melinda Richter, Global Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS from
Vice Chair to Chair of CLSA’s Board of Directors. Alex Kelly, Executive
Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer,
Allergan, will move into the position of Vice Chair, ceding the role of
Treasurer to Jeff Jonker, President and CEO, Ambys Medicines. In
addition, previous Board Chair Bill Newell, Chief Executive Officer,
Sutro Biopharma, will transition from the board chairmanship to a role
on the CLSA Executive Committee.

“In my role at JLABS, I’ve had the unique experience of working
alongside truly innovative, early stage life science companies, helping
to empower a global network of open innovation ecosystems,” remarked
Richter. “I look forward to drawing on these experiences as I work with
Mike Guerra, the board, CLSA leadership, and my peers and friends across
the state to help accomplish our shared mission of advancing
California’s world-leading life sciences innovation ecosystem.”

“As California’s life sciences sector continues to grow, and produce
more new therapies, jobs, and opportunities, we face unique and complex
challenges to sustain our momentum. Facing down these obstacles head on
requires a diverse, talented and experienced team of people,” said Mike
Guerra, President & CEO, CLSA. “We consider ourselves incredibly
fortunate to have just such a group with Melinda Richter as our new
Board Chair, Alex Kelly as Vice Chair and Jeff Jonker as Treasurer. The
leadership and experience of our officers, as well as our entire board,
will further our collaboration with officials in Sacramento and Congress
to enhance the strength and growth of the state’s life sciences economy.
I’d also like to extend our sincere gratitude to Bill Newell for his
many contributions as our former Board Chair during a period of
incredible growth for CLSA.”

About Melinda Richter, JLABS

At JLABS, Melinda Richter helps foster the Johnson & Johnson Family of
Companies external R&D engine and supports the innovation community by
creating capital-efficient commercialization models that give early
stage companies a big company advantage. Prior to joining JLABS, Melinda
was Founder and CEO of Prescience International, an award-winning firm
dedicated to accelerating research to the patient. Prior to starting
Prescience, Melinda held posts across a variety of functional areas with
a global corporation, Nortel Networks, in numerous locations across the
globe. View full
biography.

About Alex Kelly, Allergan

Alex Kelly has helped position Allergan in the industry since 2015.
Previously, he co-led integration of Allergan and Actavis, as well as
the integration of Forest Laboratories. With over 20 years of industry
experience, he is skilled in investor relations and corporate
communications and affairs. Prior to joining Actavis, Mr. Kelly was
Senior Vice President, Chief Communications Officer, Public Affairs and
Investor Relations at Forest Laboratories. In that role, he led Forest’s
corporate communications and investor relations programs and continued
to support acquisition integration. View
full biography.

About Jeff Jonker, Ambys Medicines

Jeff Jonker joined Ambys in 2018 from NGM Bio, where he served as
President, leading the advancement of the company’s robust pipeline,
including therapeutics for liver and metabolic diseases. Jeff is armed
with background in legal consultation, business development, and
corporate strategy. Prior to joining NGM Bio, Jeff was Senior Vice
President, Corporate and Business Development at Theravance Biopharma
and held that same role at Theravance, Inc. View
full biography.

• Learn
  More about the California life sciences sector
• View
  CLSA’s Legislative Action Center
• Watch
  CLSA’s Faces of California Biomedical Innovation Web Series
• View
  Upcoming CLSA events
• Meet
  the CLSA Board of Directors

About California Life Sciences Association (CLSA)

California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) is the state’s largest and
most influential life sciences advocacy and business leadership
organization. With offices in Sacramento, San Diego, South San
Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington DC, CLSA works closely with
industry, government, academia and others to shape public policy,
improve access to innovative technologies and grow California’s life
sciences economy. CLSA serves biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical
device and diagnostics companies, research universities and institutes,
investors and service providers throughout the Golden State. CLSA was
founded in 2015 when the Bay Area Bioscience Association (BayBio) and
the California Healthcare Institute (CHI) merged. Visit CLSA at www.califesciences.org,
and follow us on Twitter @CALifeSciences, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Contacts

California Life Sciences Association (CLSA)
Will Zasadny |
Director, Communications
[email protected]
| 619-961-8848