About us

Roderick Wong, MD, is Chairman and Board Executive Director of CORXEL. He also serves as Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of RTW Investments, LP (“RTW”). Rod is responsible for managing the firm’s investments focused on innovative drug development. Prior to forming RTW, he was a Managing Director and sole Portfolio Manager for the Davidson Kempner Healthcare Funds.

Before joining Davidson Kempner, Rod held various healthcare investment and research roles at Sigma Capital Partners and Cowen & Company.

Rod simultaneously received an MD from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and an MBA from Harvard Business School, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BS in Economics from Duke University.

Rod has a keen interest in educating the next generation of life science entrepreneurs. He regularly sits on a variety of corporate boards. In addition, he serves on the board of Penn Medicine, as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Finance at NYU Stern, and as Chairman of the RTW Charitable Foundation.

Peter Fong, PhD, serves on CORXEL’s board of directors. He previously served as the founding Chief Executive Officer of CORXEL during the company’s formation in 2019/2020. He is also the Partner, President at RTW Investments, LP (“RTW”).

Prior to joining RTW, Peter worked at Flagship Pioneering as a member of the innovation team. In this role, he oversaw the creation and financing of four Flagship companies.  Peter also worked at Genentech in Business Development, where he led multiple transactions, including the company’s partnership with BioNTech on their mRNA personalized cancer vaccine. Before Genentech, Peter led the company creation efforts at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and co-founded Carigent Therapeutics.

Peter received a PhD degree in bioengineering from Yale University, where he subsequently was a Brown-Coxe Postdoctoral Fellow, and his BS in biochemistry from Indiana University.

Sandy Mou, MD, serves as Board Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer at CORXEL. She is responsible for leading the full scope of business operations of the company.

Sandy Mou has nearly 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry in China and has held management positions at several multinational pharmaceutical companies including GSK, AstraZeneca, Xi’an Janssen, Johnson & Johnson Medical and MSD. She has led teams to successfully launch several leading brands covering a wide range of therapeutic areas including cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, orthopedics, immunology and oncology. In May 2017, Sandy joined MSD China to establish the oncology business unit and oversaw several product launches including Keytruda. Under her leadership, the MSD China’s oncology business was ranked among the top three oncology businesses of multinational pharmaceutical companies in China after just three years. In March 2020, Sandy joined Shanghai Allist Pharmaceutical Technology Co. (Allist) as the Chief Executive Officer. During her tenure, Allist was successfully listed on the Science and Technology Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, achieved the first new drug approval, commercial launch and listing in the National Reimbursement Drug List. Under Sandy’s leadership, Allist has completed the transformation from a biotech company to an innovative biopharmaceutical company with integrated R&D, manufacturing and commercialization capabilities and has achieved profitability.

Sandy graduated from Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University with a bachelor's degree in Medicine and worked as a clinician for 7 years after graduation. Sandy also holds an EMBA degree from China Europe International Business School.  

Gotham Makker is the Head of Strategic Investments at RTW. Gotham has more than 17 years of healthcare industry experience. Prior to joining RTW, Gotham served as CEO of Simran Investment Group, LLC, a privately held equity investment fund.

Before Simran, Gotham was a healthcare portfolio manager and principal at Citadel Investment Group LLC and before that served in various analyst roles at Oracle Partners LP, covering biotechnology and medical device sectors. He began his career on the life sciences investment banking team at Hambrecht & Quist. 

Gotham serves on the board of directors of Rocket Pharmaceuticals. He received his MD from the University of Nebraska Medical School and completed the Sarnoff cardiovascular research fellowship at Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons and at Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Women’s Hospital.

Xiaolan Zhou currently serves as Board Director at CORXEL；Executive Vice President, Pharmaceuticals Division, Bayer AG, President of Bayer Pharmaceuticals China, and President of Bayer (China) Company Limited. Headquartered in Germany, Bayer is a global leader in life science focusing on healthcare and agriculture. Xiaolan has more than 25 years of sales, marketing, and general management experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to the current roles, Xiaolan Zhou was in the role of Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations, Bayer Pharmaceuticals Division Asia Pacific and Regional Manager Director of Region South, Bayer Pharmaceuticals China. Before joining Bayer, she has held positions of increasing responsibilities in MSD and AstraZeneca China. Xiaolan holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Central China Normal University, and an EMBA from the China Europe International Business School.

Xiaolan Zhou is also a member of the 11th Council Committee of Red Cross Society of China, a member of Executive Committee in R&D-Based Pharmaceutical Association Committee (RDPAC), and Board of Director of German Chamber of Commerce in China, North China. In October 2023, Xiaolan has been consecutively awarded by “Fortune” for the third time as the “Most Powerful Woman (MPW)” in China.