Board of Directors

Hoyoung Huh, M.D., Ph.D., is chairman of the board of directors for Pliant. Dr. Huh currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Akari Therapeutics, a public targeted oncology company following its November 2024 merger with Peak Bio (formerly known as pH Pharma). Dr. Huh founded Peak Bio where he served as its Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. Dr. Huh previously served as chairman to the board of directors for Geron Corporation, CytomX Therapeutics and Epizyme, Inc. He was also a director of Eidos Therapeutics, Rezolute, Facet Biotech, Nektar Therapeutics, Addex Therapeutics and EOS, S.p.A (Milano, Italy). Earlier in his career, Dr. Huh was a partner at McKinsey & Company.

He holds a B.A. in biochemistry from Dartmouth College, an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, and a Ph.D. in cell biology and genetics from Cornell University/Sloan-Kettering Institute.

Dr. Borellini has more than 25 years of executive management experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries with a focus on the global development of targeted oncology drugs from preclinical to commercial stage.

Dr. Borellini most recently served as Chief Executive Officer for Acerta Pharma, overseeing the successful development and approval of Calquence® (acalabrutinib). Prior to this, Dr. Borellini held key senior level positions within AstraZeneca including Global Franchise Head, Hematology, where she led the global development, approval, and commercialization of Tagrisso® (osimertinib). Prior to AstraZeneca, Dr. Borellini held roles of increasing responsibility at Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, where she led the development, approval and launch of Zelboraf® (vemurafenib). Dr. Borellini also served as the program leader for Herceptin® (trastuzumab) and Tarceva® (erlotinib).

In addition to Pliant, Dr. Borellini currently serves on the Board of Directors of Cantargia AP, Kartos Therapeutics and Revolution Medicines. Dr. Borellini received a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology from the University of Modena.

Mr. Cline is a seasoned pharmaceutical industry executive with over 30 years of strategic and operational experience in building commercial organizations.

Mr. Cline currently serves as Chief Commercial Officer at Xenon Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage company developing therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders. Prior to this Mr. Cline served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Epygenix Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company developing therapies for rare epilepsies. Prior to Epygenix, Mr. Cline served as the U.S. Chief Commercial Officer of GW Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals), where he was responsible for commercial and medical affairs activities associated with Epidiolex®. Prior to joining GW Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Cline held the role of Executive Vice President, Commercial at Seagen where he managed operations with the commercial launch of Adcetris®. Prior to joining Seagen, Mr. Cline held key commercial leadership roles at Intermune, Alexion and Amgen.

In addition to Pliant, Mr. Cline also serves on the board of directors of Pyxis Oncology. Mr. Cline received his B.S. in Business Marketing from San Diego State University and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Pliant CEO Bernard Coulie, M.D., Ph.D., brings to the company more than 15 years of senior leadership experience and drug development expertise. He joined Pliant from ActoGeniX (acquired by Intrexon Corporation in February 2015), where he was CEO, Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder. In these positions, Dr. Coulie played an integral role in advancing the company’s unique technology platform for oral delivery of biologics from early discovery stage through Phase 2 studies. Prior to ActoGeniX, Dr. Coulie held various positions with increasing responsibilities in drug discovery and clinical development at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development Europe. At Johnson & Johnson, he served as Therapeutic Area Leader Internal Medicine, managing a portfolio of products in GI, metabolic diseases and inflammation/immunology, ranging from early drug discovery through Phase 2 studies. Earlier in his career, Dr. Coulie was a Staff Physician in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN), Assistant Professor in Medicine at Mayo Medical School and a Mayo Foundation scholar. Dr. Coulie serves as a director and Chairman of Flindr Therapeutics B.V., a privately held precision oncology company based in the Netherlands; as a director and Chairman of Atisama (formerly RAGE Biotech Pty Ltd), a privately held chronic inflammatory disease company based in Australia; and as a member of the board of directors of Septerna, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company. He also serves as a director at the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association, a patient advocacy organization dedicated to the development of new drugs to treat Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

Dr. Coulie holds an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Leuven, Belgium. He is a board-certified internist and holds an MBA from the Vlerick Management School, Leuven, Belgium.

Ms. Crowell is a highly experienced Board Director and operating executive with extensive experience in industry leading venture and private equity backed companies. Most recently she has spent the last decade providing highly valued strategic and operational guidance across the portfolio of Warburg Pincus, one of the world’s leading private equity firms, facilitating a world class collection of best practices across many sectors.

Prior to her role with Warburg Pincus, Ms. Crowell had an outstanding executive career in the technology sector. As a prominent high tech leader in the Silicon Valley, she honed her successful management and operational skills with C suite roles at leading software companies where she led multiple companies from early stage development all the way through successful exits.

Leveraging her successful track record in management, operations and high performance team building, today Ms. Crowell works closely with leading public and private companies to help drive business strategy, accelerate revenue growth, evaluate market opportunities, scale their businesses and build world-class management teams. As a former CEO, Ms. Crowell thoroughly understands the challenges senior leaders face in building sustainable, long-term world-class businesses in today’s competitive market environment. Her hands-on knowledge, coupled with a keen perspective into the capital markets brings a unique and valued viewpoint to companies and their executive teams.

In addition to Pliant, she currently serves on the board of directors of Fexa and Hercules Capital (HTGC).

Ms. Crowell began her career as an educator for the State of Nevada, and graduated summa cum laude with a B.S degree from the University of Nevada at Reno.

Dr. Curnutte brings over 20 years of biopharmaceutical experience to Pliant. Dr. Curnutte previous served as Executive Vice President, Research and Development at Portola Pharmaceuticals until his retirement in May 2019. Prior to joining Portola, Dr. Curnutte served as Chief Executive Officer of 3-V Biosciences, a private start-up company founded in 2007 with the goal of developing host-directed antiviral small molecules. Before that, he served as President at Schering-Plough Biopharma (formerly DNAX Research Institute and now Merck Research Laboratories), where he led the drug discovery and early development efforts for biologic therapeutics. During his time with Schering-Plough, eight therapeutic entities progressed into development. Earlier in his career, he held several senior management positions at Genentech during which he oversaw that company’s immunology discovery program. Prior to Genentech, Dr. Curnutte was a tenured faculty member at The Scripps Research Institute, pursuing basic and clinical research in inflammation biochemistry and the molecular genetics of congenital immune deficiencies.

In addition to Pliant, Dr. Curnutte also currently serves on the Board of Autobahn Labs.

Dr. Curnutte received his B.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Harvard University and an M.D. and a Ph.D. in biological chemistry from Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Iannone brings more than two decades of executive leadership and clinical drug development experience to Pliant.

Dr. Iannone currently serves as Executive Vice President, Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, overseeing clinical operations, product development and regulatory affairs. Prior to joining Jazz, Dr. Iannone held the role of Chief Medical Officer and Head of Research and Development at Immunomedics. Prior to Immunomedics, he held roles of increasing responsibility at AstraZeneca, most recently serving as Senior Vice President and Head of Immuno-oncology, Global Medicines Development. While at AstraZeneca, Dr. Iannone oversaw the development of Imfinzi® (durvalumab). Earlier in his career, Dr. Iannone held management roles at Merck, most recently Executive Director and Section Head of Oncology Clinical Development, serving as a development leader for KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab).

In addition to Pliant, Dr. Iannone currently serves on the Board of Directors of Autolus Therapeutics. Dr. Iannone received his M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine with Alpha Omega Alpha honors and a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Iannone completed his training in Pediatrics and subsequently Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital before joining the faculty of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Krognes is a highly accomplished biopharmaceutical executive who brings over 30 years of financial and corporate strategy experience in leading and guiding life science companies across all stages of development.

Most recently, and up until his retirement in 2022, Mr. Krognes served as Chief Financial Officer of Denali Therapeutics, a role he founded, contributing significantly to the company’s strong financial position and growth. Prior to this, Mr. Krognes held the role of Chief Financial Officer at Genentech overseeing the integration of Genentech and Roche Holding AG in the U.S. and Genentech and InterMune. Prior to Genentech, Mr. Krognes served as Global Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at Roche. Early in his career, Mr. Krognes worked in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs, served as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and was a venture capitalist in Scandinavia.

In addition to Pliant, Mr. Krognes currently serves on the boards of publicly listed argenx, Denali Therapeutics and Guardant Health, privately held companies ClavystBio, based in Singapore and Alveus Therapeutics, based in the U.S. and Denmark.

Mr. Krognes received an M.B A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Thomas McCourt is an accomplished biopharmaceutical executive with over 30 years of experience building commercial strategies and capabilities across multiple companies. Mr. McCourt currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, a role he has held since June 2021. Since joining Ironwood in 2009, Mr. McCourt has served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Chief Commercial Officer, and President, leading the commercial launch of LINZESS®, now a blockbuster product.

Prior to joining Ironwood, Mr. McCourt led the U.S. brand team for Prolia® at Amgen and held several senior commercial roles within Novartis AG, including leading the launch and growth of ZELNORM™. In addition, Mr. McCourt was a founding team member at Astra Merck Inc., where he led the development of the medical affairs and science liaison group, and then served as brand manager for PRILOSEC® and NEXIUM®. Mr. McCourt also served as an independent director and chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee at Acceleron Pharma before their acquisition. In 2022, he received the ASGE President’s Award in recognition of his pivotal contribution to the field of gastrointestinal endoscopy and treatment.

Mr. McCourt received his B.S. degree in Pharmacy and Pharmacology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.