Pearl Fong

Chief R&D Officer
Protect Biotech Inc.

Pearl has worked over 20 years in the human biomedical industry, serving both operational and consulting roles. With in-depth knowledge of CMC, regulator affairs, and project management, she brought the first biological medicinal product from preclinical to commercial in Taiwan. On business development, she is experienced in global business development for licensing-in, licensing-out, and CDMO services. On corporate development, she was involved in the establishment of the business plan, the fund-raising, and the strategic reorganization of team structure.

In 2023, she pivoted her career from human medicine to the companion animal medicine space by working at Protect Animal Health. Serving as chief R&D officer, she established the team, focusing on research and developing first-in-class or best-in-class advanced healthcare products that were only meant for human use and working to make them accessible for pets.
 

Speech title & Synopsis

Startup of the Year

Protect Animal Health, founded in 2019 by a group of pet-loving scientists and biotech professionals, addresses the significant gap in animal-health treatment options despite the market's growth. Having raised over $20M from prominent investors, our seasoned team leverages over five decades of human drug development, venture capital and business development experience to advanced therapeutics for companion animals, aiming to become a global leader in animal health. Protect is committed to modernizing the outdated animal health landscape and to address unmet needs across high-potential disease areas in pets. Our mission, ultimately, is to enable longer and healthier lives for all pets.

Our first oncology pipeline, PT-001, is a novel therapeutic cancer therapeutics vaccine for canines, harnessing from proven human immunotherapy techniques such as the PD-1/CTLA-4 immune checkpoint inhibitor. This year, 2024, we are entering pivotal field trial (equivalent to human phase-III) under the Taiwan ministry of agriculture and simultaneously starting our development plan in the U.S. market. Our pipeline also includes, PT-401, a Gene Therapy for Canine Mitral Valve Disease and an antibody phase-display platform, allowing us to create next generation monoclonal antibody treatments for pets. Beyond the treatments for serious illness, we also offer comprehensive product coverage– ranging from diagnostic tools, vet clinic systems, or nutraceuticals– to streamline the entire pet-care eco-system. 

We achieve growth by globally sourcing promising technology and establishing strategic partnerships. Through co-development and licensing, we act as incubator for innovative technologies. Our vision is fully focused on nurturing global competitiveness and growing into an animal health pharma.