Choon-Peng Ng

Choon-Peng Ng is co-founder and CEO of ImmunoScape, a company that partners with drug development firms to advance immunotherapy in cancer, infectious, and autoimmune diseases, leveraging its cutting-edge Immune Profiling Technology Platform. Previously, he was the senior director of the pharmaceuticals and biologics cluster at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore, where he was responsible for formulating the country’s biomedical research strategy. He also has served as CEO Asia for LEO Pharma, a global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Denmark. He doubled LEO’s business in 15 Asian countries by breaking new ground and pushing for professionalism in key functional areas.

Choon started his career in the biopharmaceutical industry at GlaxoSmithKline, USA, and later at Scios, Inc., a Fremont, Calif.-based subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson. He rose through the ranks at Johnson and Johnson to become country manager of Janssen-Cilag Singapore, another Johnson and Johnson subsidiary. Choon’s first career was with the Singapore Armed Forces as a combat officer, and he holds the rank of lieutenant colonel (retired).

Choon earned an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross Business School and completed an executive education program at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland. He graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science degree in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, under a scholarship from the Singapore Armed Forces.

Describe your interest in the Rogel Cancer Center. What drew you to being on the National Advisory Board?

Globally, one in three persons will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lives. To be on the National Advisory Board of the Rogel Cancer Center -- which carries the goal of improving patient outcomes through research, innovation, and collaboration — is my privilege. There is much to be done against this dreadful disease.

I saw for myself how lives can be changed through advances in medical science when my own uncle, who was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, was treated with immunotherapy. He went from being on the verge of death to going back to work as a cab driver. However, he is one of the lucky ones, because immunotherapy only works for three out of 10 patients. The Rogel Cancer Center continues to push the frontiers of science to care for cancer patients, and that is what attracts me to being on its board.

What are your hopes for what the Rogel Cancer Center can accomplish in the next decade?

I hope that the Rogel Cancer Center continues to collaborate with the best in the world to bring forth cutting-edge treatments for cancer patients in the next decade and beyond. While breakthroughs in science are led by individuals, today’s complex problems cannot be solved by one party alone. Seeking out and collaborating with the best partners globally in research and innovation requires vision, and I believe that as Wolverines who are Victors, we can lead the way.

How do you envision the National Advisory Board contributing to that success?

The National Advisory Board, comprising members of diverse backgrounds and experiences, will be able to provide support and a network for the leadership team of the Rogel Cancer Center to tap into. The impact that the Rogel Cancer Center can make goes beyond Michigan, beyond national boundaries, into the lives of cancer patients across the world.