Management

Brian Lian, Ph.D.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Lian serves as our President and Chief Executive Officer, and as a director. Prior to founding Viking Therapeutics, he was a Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, where he was responsible for coverage of small and mid-cap biotechnology companies with an emphasis on the diabetes, oncology, infectious disease, and neurology spaces. Prior to SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, he was an Executive Director and Senior Biotechnology Analyst at CIBC World Markets, responsible for coverage of mid and small-cap biopharmaceutical companies. Prior to his career in equity research, he was a research scientist in small molecule drug discovery at Amgen, focused on cancer and endocrine diseases. Prior to Amgen, he was a research scientist at Microcide Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Lian holds an MBA in accounting and finance from Indiana University, an M.S. and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from The University of Michigan, and a BA in chemistry from Whitman College.

Marianne Mancini

Chief Operating Officer

Marianne Mancini serves as our Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Mancini has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry focusing on the management and oversight of clinical trials from early-stage to late-stage drug development and most recently served as the company’s senior vice president of clinical operations. Prior to joining Viking, she was Senior Director of Clinical Operations at Ambit Biosciences Corporation, a company focused primarily on the development of oncology therapies for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Previously, Ms. Mancini was the Senior Director of Clinical Operations at Aires Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on developing therapies for pulmonary vascular disorders. At Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc, she served as Senior Director of Project Management and Clinical Operations and was also the Project Team Leader for the company’s lead obesity compound, BELVIQ®‎. Ms. Mancini held management positions at Baxter BioSciences a division of Baxter Healthcare Corporation where she was the Global Director of Clinical Operations overseeing the company’s global clinical trials involving coagulation disorders, biosurgery, and critical care. She has also previously held positions at Genentech and Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Mancini holds a MA in Bioethics from Loyola Marymount University, a MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a BS in Nutritional Sciences from McGill University.

Greg Zante

Chief Financial Officer

Greg Zante serves as our Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Zante possesses nearly 25 years of financial management experience at public and private companies in the biotechnology and accounting industries and most recently served as Viking’s senior vice president of finance. Prior to joining Viking, Mr. Zante was Chief Financial Officer at Dance Biopharm, a diabetes-focused biopharmaceutical company, where he managed the company’s private financing strategy and positioned it for initial public offering activities. Mr. Zante has also previously held senior positions at several biopharmaceutical companies including Sangamo Therapeutics, Calyx Therapeutics and Matrix Pharmaceuticals. He is a certified public accountant in the state of California and has previously served as a senior staff accountant at Ernst & Young. Mr. Zante received his bachelor’s degree in business-economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Geoffrey Barker, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development

Geoffrey Barker, Ph.D. serves as our Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development. Dr. Barker has over 23 years of pharmaceutical and nonclinical development experience. Before being appointed as Senior Vice President, Dr. Barker served as Executive Director of Pharmaceutical Development at Viking Therapeutics. Prior to joining Viking, he was Project Director at Pyramid Laboratories, a fill/finish aseptic manufacturing facility. Before joining Pyramid, Dr. Barker was senior director of Product Development at Aires Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on developing therapies for pulmonary vascular disorders. Dr. Barker has also previously served as associate director of pharmaceutical development at TargeGen, Inc., where he oversaw the development of two Phase 2 candidates and one Phase 1 candidate for the treatment of hematological malignancies and certain other disorders and as a scientist at Merck and Company (previously SIBIA Neurosciences), a biotech company focused on central nervous system disorders. Dr. Barker earned a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Michael Morneau

Vice President, Finance and Administration

Michael Morneau serves as our Vice President of Finance and Administration. Mr. Morneau has over 20 years of accounting and financial experience at public and private companies in the biotechnology and accounting industries. Prior to Viking, he was VP of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer at Trius Therapeutics, Inc., a subsidiary of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, following Cubist’s acquisition of Trius. Prior to Trius, he was Director of Lilly Research Labs Finance at Eli Lilly and Company, a pharmaceutical company. Prior to Eli Lilly, he was Director of Finance and Accounting at SGX Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, which was acquired by Eli Lilly. Prior to SGX, he was Controller at Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company. Mr. Morneau earned his MBA and Master of Arts in accounting from New Hampshire College, and a BA in mathematics from the University of New Hampshire.