Biography

Garheng Kong has served as a director of the Company since December 2013, Lead Independent Director since June 2023, and Vice Chairman of the Board since December 2025. Dr. Kong also serves as the Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee for the Company. Dr. Kong is the managing partner of HealthQuest Capital, a healthcare-focused investment firm, a role he has held since he founded HealthQuest Capital in 2012. He was previously a general partner at Sofinnova Investments, a healthcare investment firm, a position he held from 2010 to 2013. Before joining Sofinnova, Dr. Kong was a general partner from 2000 to 2010 at Intersouth Partners, a venture capital firm, where he was a founding investor or board member for various life science ventures, several of which were acquired by large pharmaceutical companies. Prior to his investing career, Dr. Kong was employed by GlaxoSmithKline, McKinsey & Company, and TherOx.

Dr. Kong serves on the board of directors of Xeris Biopharma Holdings, Inc., a biopharma company, since 2015; Smith & Nephew, a medical device company, since 2025; and IKS Health, a care enablement platform company, since 2025.  Dr. Kong previously served on the board of directors of Alimera Sciences, Inc., a pharmaceutical company that specializes in the commercialization and development of ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, from October 2012 to May 2023; Histogenics Corporation, a biotechnology company, from July 2012 until February 2019; Avedro, Inc., a commercial-stage ophthalmic medical technology company, from April 2017 until November 2019; Melinta Therapeutics, Inc., a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Cempra Pharmaceuticals, from September 2006 until June 2019; and Venus Concept, a medical technology company, from July 2017 to December 2024. Dr. Kong has also served on the boards of Duke University, Duke University Health System, Be The Match, Dell Children’s Foundation, University of Texas President’s Commercial Advisory Board, and the Austin Healthcare Council.

Dr. Kong received undergraduate degrees in both Chemical Engineering and Biological Sciences from Stanford University, and earned an M.D., Ph.D. and MBA from Duke University.