Connect Biopharma Holdings Limited announced Additionally, on June 10, 2024, Wubin Pan, Ph.D. informed the Company of his intention to resign as President of the Company, effective as of June 12, 2024. Dr. Wubin Pan?s resignation from the Company was not made in connection with a disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company?s operations, policies or practices and Dr. Wubin Pan is currently expected to continue serving the Company in a transitional capacity. On June 10, 2024, the Board of Directors of the Company (the ?Board?) replaced Dr. Wubin Pan with Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos, Ph.D., as Chairperson of the Board.

On June 10, 2024, the Board increased the size of the Board by one director and appointed Dr. Quart as a member of the Board, effective as of June 12, 2024. The Board has concluded that Dr. Quart should serve as a director based on his experience in senior management, as a director and with other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and his prior drug development experience. On June 12, 2024, the Company announced the appointment of Barry Quart, Pharm.D. as member of the Board, effective as of June 12, 2024.

Prior to joining the Company, Dr. Quart served as Chief Executive Officer of Heron Therapeutics Inc. from May 2013 until May 2023. In 2006, Dr. Quart co-founded Ardea Biosciences Inc. and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from its inception through 2013, and as a director through its acquisition by AstraZeneca PLC in 2012. Previously, he was with Pfizer Inc. as Senior Vice President of Pfizer Global Research and Development, and the director of Pfizer?s La Jolla Laboratories.

Prior to Pfizer?s acquisition of the Warner-Lambert Company, Dr. Quart was President of Research and Development at Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc., a division of the Warner-Lambert Company. He joined Agouron in 1993 and was instrumental in the development and registration of Viracept® (nelfinavir). Dr. Quart served as a director of Heron Therapeutics Inc. from May 2013 until May 2023 and, since December 2015, he has served as a director of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a biopharmaceutical company.

Dr. Quart received a Pharm.D. degree from the University of California, San Francisco. On June 12, 2024, the Company announced the appointment of David Szekeres as President, effective as of June 12, 2024. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Szekeres served as Chief Operating Officer and Head of Finance of Heron Therapeutics Inc. from March 2016 until August 2023.

Prior to this, he served as Chief Business Officer, Principal Financial Officer and General Counsel at Regulus Therapeutics Inc. from February 2014 to December 2015. Mr. Szekeres also served as Head of Mergers and Acquisitions, Securities and Governance, at Life Technologies Corporation from March 2008 through its acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific in February 2014. Mr. Szekeres currently serves on Sanford Burnham Prebys?

board of directors. He served on the board of directors of Edico Genome Inc. from March 2014 until its acquisition by Illumina in 2018 and Patara Pharma from October 2014 until its acquisition by Roivant Sciences in 2018. Mr. Szekeres received his undergraduate degree in criminology, law and society from the University of California, Irvine and his J.D. from Duke University School of Law.