0+Yearsof Shared Vision

"What drew me back to Sofusa was seeing what was possible for patients who had responded poorly to systemic injections of biologic medicines. I remember one grandmother who struggled to get out of bed without help. After switching to lymphatically delivered Enbrel in our Sofusa study, she told us she could pick up her grandkids with ease and took them to Disney World. I do this to create these stories for as many patients as possible."

Brian R. Cooley is an accomplished healthcare executive with 30+ years of experience driving innovation in the development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals, drug delivery systems, and digital health platforms. As both an engineer and commercialization leader, Brian has held key executive roles responsible for global and U.S. launches of 12 pharmaceutical and medical device products, including Byetta® (the first-in-category GLP-1 agonist).

His career spans leadership positions at Eli Lilly, Genentech, Roche, Kimberly-Clark, Medicia.ai, Samepage Behavioral Health, and Sorrento Therapeutics (where he previously led the Sofusa® lymphatic treatment division). Brian is also the Founder and Managing Member of Higher Level Healthcare LLC and serves on the board of Akretiv Animal Health.

Outside of work — Brian enjoys travel, fitness, hiking, skiing, and playing guitar. An avid sports fan, he follows Carlos Alcaraz and the Indiana Pacers.

"When I first saw the clinical data—where non-responsive patients achieved a 100% response rate at half the standard dose—I realized Sofusa wasn't just another financial investment. It's a breakthrough technology with genuine potential to change lives across a $100B+ addressable market. Combined with a proven, de-risked supply chain, I knew we had something special that deserved every chance to succeed."

Akash Gupta brings over 20 years of experience as an investor specializing in special situations and turnaround opportunities. Throughout his career, he has focused on identifying high-potential assets and providing the support needed to help them thrive. Recognizing the immense promise of Sofusa's platform, Akash purchased the rights to the technology and stepped in as lead investor and Chairman to ensure the team has the resources and backing to realize its full clinical potential.

Outside of work — Akash enjoys spending time with friends and family, mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs, and staying active playing squash and hiking the outdoors.

"Over two decades of underwriting healthcare companies, I learned to separate incremental improvements from technologies that change the economics of care. When I understood what Sofusa's lymphatic delivery could do for patients and potential to represent a new frontier in precision medicine and the administration of immune system treatments, I didn't just want to help raise the capital. I wanted to invest in it myself."

Warren Hsiung is a finance executive and operator with more than 20 years of buy-side investment experience at leading global and middle-market firms. An experienced credit investor across leveraged loans, high yield, and private credit, he has invested through CLO, BDC, and private credit platforms within leading private equity and alternative asset managers. His focus has been primarily on healthcare, with additional coverage of aerospace and defense, business services, and energy.

Warren has held senior investment roles at TPG, Blue Owl, CIT, and Wellfleet. He later moved from investing in companies to building them, serving as Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of a multi-specialty physician practice organized as a management services organization (MSO) and professional corporation (PC). At Sofusa, he helps with capital formation, business development ideas, and is also an investor in the company.

Outside of work — Warren enjoys golf and basketball, though these days most of his free time goes to keeping up with his two-year-old daughter.

"I've spent nearly two decades researching the overlooked lymphatic system—visualizing lymphatic vessel function in ways never before possible. Yet a critical gap remained: no clinical technology could reliably deliver therapeutic drug levels directly to the lymphatics. Sofusa is bridging that gap, and the opportunity to build that missing tool is what drew me back."

Sunkuk Kwon, Ph.D. is an accomplished translational scientist with more than 20 years of experience in preclinical and translational research across oncology, autoimmune diseases, pulmonary fibrosis, and neurodegenerative disorders. His work specializes in lymphatic-targeted drug delivery to improve therapeutic efficacy and immune modulation, as well as molecular imaging for lesion detection.

Dr. Kwon has extensive experience in IND-enabling studies and translational pharmacology. He previously served as Senior Scientist and Director at Sorrento Therapeutics (supporting lymphatic delivery in oncology and immunology), Senior Scientist at PRISM, and Assistant Professor at UTHealth Houston. At Sofusa Holdings LLC, he leads preclinical development, clinical development, and regulatory strategy.

Outside of work — Sunkuk enjoys cheering on his daughter at soccer games and his son at baseball games, playing golf, hiking, traveling, and watching baseball.

“While serving as Chief Medical Officer at Sorrento Therapeutics, I saw Sofusa’s lymphatic delivery system achieve remarkable clinical results—100% of refractory rheumatoid arthritis non-responders responded at half the standard weekly dose, while dramatically reducing systemic drug toxicity. When you see a technology with the potential to double therapeutic efficacy while slashing toxicity, you realize you’re looking at a true paradigm shift in medicine.”

Dr. Royal is a pharmaceutical executive with 25 years of clinical development and medical affairs experience after an extensive research and clinical career in academia and private practice. He is board certified in internal medicine, pain medicine, and anesthesiology with additional qualifications in pain management.

He has been an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology/Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He has 200 publications, including book chapters, peer-reviewed articles and abstracts/posters, and has been an invited speaker at national and international meetings.

His educational background: BS (MIT), MD (UMass Med Sch), JD (UMaryland Sch of Law), and MBA (TRIUM: NYU Stern, London School of Economics, Hautes Études Commerciales).

Outside of work — While Mike no longer does ultramarathons, he loves to volunteer at tough races like the recent Jacksonville Ironman and local marathons. He still hikes and runs in 5Ks, but prefers playing pickleball (indoors thankfully)!

"What I find most exciting about the Sofusa technology is not only that it addresses an unmet need by effectively and reliably delivering fluids to the lymphatics. It is the future that follows: the scientific discovery and clinical benefits achieved by leveraging this method of administration. Sofusa is the vehicle that accesses the lymphatics, enabling scientists and clinicians to develop life-saving therapies."

Daniel J. Tomko is a senior engineer and leader with 30+ years of experience in the design, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of Class I, II, & III medical devices. His background includes 7 years in drug/biologic/device combination products and 3 years in human tissue processing and cryopreservation.

Dan has held senior technical positions at Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark Healthcare, and Integer, as well as executive leadership roles at CryoLife, MiMedx, Sorrento Therapeutics, and SpineMedica. He previously served as Senior Director of Quality at Sorrento's Sofusa Division, where he established the entire Quality Management System (QMS) and oversaw design controls for the Sofusa® nanotopography-draped microneedle system.

Outside of work — Dan spends much of his free time outdoors hunting, fishing, SCUBA diving, and watching Pittsburgh Penguins hockey or vintage Clint Eastwood movies with his family.