Alvin Shih

Alvin Shih is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Catamaran Bio, a biotechnology company focused on developing allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapies aimed at treating various cancers. He has held this position since February 2021 and is also a member of the company's Board of Directors.12

Professional Background

Dr. Shih has extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, having previously served as CEO of Disarm Therapeutics, where he worked on therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases until its acquisition by Eli Lilly in 2020. He was also the CEO of Enzyvant Therapeutics, leading the development of innovative therapies for rare immunologic diseases.23 His earlier roles include being the Executive Vice President and Head of Research and Development at Retrophin, Inc., and Chief Operating Officer at Pfizer’s Rare Disease Research Unit.12

Education

Dr. Shih holds a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) from the University of Alabama School of Medicine, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Vanderbilt University.12 He completed his residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.3

Current Initiatives

At Catamaran Bio, Dr. Shih is leading efforts to advance the company's TAILWIND™ Platform, which focuses on engineering and manufacturing off-the-shelf CAR-NK cell therapies. This platform aims to enhance the effectiveness of these therapies against solid tumors by utilizing innovative synthetic biology techniques.2

In addition to his role at Catamaran, he has recently been appointed to the Board of Directors at Zevra Therapeutics, further expanding his influence in the biopharma sector.3