Patrick Soon-Shiong

Patrick Soon-Shiong (born July 29, 1952) is an American transplant surgeon, billionaire businessman, bioscientist, and media proprietor. He is the inventor of the drug Abraxane, which became known for its efficacy against lung, breast, and pancreatic cancer. Soon-Shiong is the founder of NantWorks, a network of healthcare, biotech, and artificial intelligence startups;^[2] an adjunct professor of surgery and executive director of the Wireless Health Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles; and a visiting professor at Imperial College London and Dartmouth College.^[3][4][5] Soon-Shiong has published more than 100 scientific papers and has more than 230 issued patents worldwide on advancements spanning numerous fields in technology and medicine.^[5]

Patrick Soon-Shiong
Soon-Shiong in 2014
Born	(1952-07-29) July 29, 1952 (age 71) Port Elizabeth, Union of South Africa
Citizenship	South Africa United States^[1]
Alma mater	University of the Witwatersrand (MBBCh) University of British Columbia (MS)
Occupations	Transplant surgeon Medical entrepreneur Scientist Inventor
Known for	Inventor of Abraxane Developer of transplant techniques for pancreatic islets
Title	CEO of Nantworks LLC Owner of Los Angeles Times Owner of San Diego Tribune Minority owner of Los Angeles Lakers
Spouse	Michele B. Chan
Children	2, including Nika
Chinese name
Chinese	黃馨祥
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Huáng Xīnxiáng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Wong4 Hing1 Coeng4

Soon-Shiong is the chairman of three nonprofit organizations: the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation, which aims to fund research and erase disparities in access to health care and education;^[6] the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Advanced Health, which is focused on changing the way health information is shared;^[7] and the Healthcare Transformation Institute, a partnership with the University of Arizona and Arizona State University.^[2] He has been a minority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers since 2010, and since June 2018, he has been the owner and executive chairman of the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune.^[8] As of April 2021^[update], Soon-Shiong is estimated by Forbes to have a net worth of US$11.5 billion.^[9] He has committed to the Giving Pledge and has pledged to give away at least half of his wealth to philanthropy.^[6]

Early life and education

Soon-Shiong was born in Port Elizabeth, Union of South Africa (modern day South Africa), to Chinese immigrant parents who fled from China during the Japanese occupation in World War II.^[10][11] His parents were Hakka originally from Meixian District in Guangdong province.^[11][10] His ancestral surname is Wong (黃).^[11]

Soon-Shiong graduated 4th out of his class of 200 from the University of Witwatersrand, receiving a bachelor's degree in medicine (MBBCh) at age 23.^[12] He completed his medical internship at Johannesburg's General Hospital.^[13] He then studied at the University of British Columbia, where he earned a master's degree in 1979,^[14] with research awards from the American College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the American Association of Academic Surgery.^[15]

He moved to the United States and began surgical training at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and became a board-certified surgeon in 1984.^[16] Soon-Shiong is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (Canada) and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.^[15][3] He has acquired United States citizenship.^[1]

Career

Soon-Shiong joined UCLA Medical School in 1983 and served on that faculty until 1991,^[17][3] as a transplant surgeon.^[10] Between 1984 and 1987, he served as an associate investigator at the Center for Ulcer Research and Education.^[3] Soon-Shiong performed the first whole-pancreas transplant done at UCLA,^[18][19] and he developed and first performed the experimental Type 1 diabetes-treatment known as encapsulated-human-islet transplant, and the "first pig-to-man islet-cell transplant in diabetic patients."^[18] After a period in industry, he returned to UCLA in 2009, serving as a professor of microbiology, immunology, molecular genetics and bioengineering until this date. Soon-Shiong served as a visiting professor at Imperial College, London, in 2011.^[20]

Soon-Shiong purchased Fujisawa, which sold injectable generic drugs, in 1998. He used its revenues to develop Abraxane, which took an existing chemotherapy drug, Taxol, and wrapped it in protein that made it easier to deliver to tumors. He was able to quickly move it through the regulatory process and made his fortune with this medicine.^[21] In 1991, Soon-Shiong left UCLA to start a diabetes and cancer biotechnology firm called VivoRx Inc. This led to the founding in 1997 of APP Pharmaceuticals, of which he held 80% of outstanding stock and sold to Fresenius SE for $4.6 billion in July 2008.^[22] Soon-Shiong later founded Abraxis BioScience (maker of the drug, Abraxane),^[5] a company he sold to Celgene in 2010 in a cash-and-stock deal valued at over $3 billion.^[23]

Soon-Shiong founded NantHealth in 2007 to provide fiber-optic, cloud-based data infrastructure to share healthcare information.^[24] Soon-Shiong went on to found NantWorks in September 2011, whose mission was "to converge ultra-low power semiconductor technology, supercomputing, high performance, secure advanced networks and augmented intelligence to transform how we work, play, and live."^[25][26] It owns a number of technology companies in the fields of healthcare, commerce, digital entertainment as well as a venture capital firm in the healthcare, education, science, and technology sectors. Particular technologies include machine vision, object and voice recognition, low power semiconductors, supercomputing, and networking technologies.^[27] In October 2012, Soon-Shiong announced that NantHealth's supercomputer-based system and network were able to analyze the genetic data from a tumor sample in 47 seconds and transfer the data in 18 seconds. The goal of developing this infrastructure and digital technologies was to share genomic information among sequencing centers, medical research hubs and hospitals, and to advance cancer research and big science endeavors such as The Cancer Genome Atlas.^[28] In January 2013, he founded another biotech company, NantOmics, to develop cancer drugs based on protein kinase inhibitors. NantOmics and its sister company, NantHealth, were subsidiaries of NantWorks. Soon-Shiong stated that NantWorks' vision for the future of cancer treatment was a convergence of multiple technologies that included diagnostics, supercomputing, network modeling of sharing data on tumor genes and personalized cocktails of cancer drugs in multi-target attacks, to achieve a sustained disease-free state.^[29]

In 2010, with Arizona State University and the University of Arizona, Soon-Shiong founded the Healthcare Transformation Institute (HTI), which he dubs a "do-tank".^[30] HTI's mission is to promote a shift in health care in the United States by better integrating the three now separate domains of medical science, health delivery, and healthcare finance.^[2][31] In July 2015, Soon-Shiong initiated an IPO for NantKwest (formerly ConkWest) that represented the highest value biotech IPO in history, at a market value of $2.6 billion.^[32] In April 2016, the Los Angeles Times reported that Soon-Shiong received a pay package in 2015 from NantKwest worth almost $148 million, making him one of the highest paid CEOs.^[33] Soon-Shiong is also a member of the Berggruen Institute's 21st Century Council.^[34][35]

In 2015, Soon-Shiong's NantPharma purchase the drug Cynviloq from Sorrento Therapeutics for $90 million dollars, including more than $1 billion dollars in compensation for reaching regulatory and sales milestones^[36] Soon-Shiong did not push forward with FDA approval as the agreement dictated, and instead allowed critical patents and deadlines lapse, presumably due to his financial interest in another drug that would compete with Cynviloq. This "catch and kill" method of eliminating competition follows a pattern of questionable business practices by Soon-Shiong,^[37] and claims of "looting" by the celebrity actress and musician Cher.^[38][39]

In early 2016, Soon-Shiong launched the National Immunotherapy Coalition to encourage rival pharmaceutical companies to work together to test combinations of cancer-fighting drugs.^[40] He has also met numerous times with former vice president and current US president Joe Biden to discuss more ambitious approaches to fighting cancer, including conducting genomic sequencing of 100,000 patients to create a massive database of potential genetic factors.^[41]

In 2017, as announced by press secretary Sean Spicer, then President-elect Donald Trump met with Soon-Shiong at his Bedminster, New Jersey estate to discuss national medical priorities.^[42] In May 2017, Soon-Shiong was appointed by House Speaker Paul Ryan to the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee, a committee established by the 21st Century Cures Act.^[43]

In 2017, Soon-Shiong and his wife were invited by the Smithsonian to be part of the permanent exhibit "Many Voices, One Nation" in the West Wing of the Smithsonian museum in Washington DC.^[44]

In early 2021, Soon-Shiong merged a publicly traded company NantKwest (NASDAQ: NK) with a privately held entity ImmunityBio (formerly NantCell).^[45] The new public entity after the merger is known as ImmunityBio, Inc. trading in NASDAQ under ticker symbol: IBRX.

By summer 2021, ImmunityBio had developed a T cell-inducing universal COVID-19 vaccine booster shot had reached Phase III trials in his native South Africa, with a stated goal of completely blocking transmission and stemming an endemic tide of COVID-19 variants.^[46] In December 2021, Soon-Shiong shared pre-clinical results of giving two different vaccine platforms (heterologous) and showed beneficial T cell levels using an adenovirus and mRNA technology.^[47]

In September 2021, Soon-Shiong and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa announced via a virtual press conference a new venture called NantSA with NantWorks to expand the capability of vaccine development for Africa.^[48] NantWorks has signed a collaboration agreement with the South African government's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation.^[49]

In January 2022, Soon-Shiong opened a new manufacturing facility and campus in Cape Town, South Africa with President Ramaphosa.^[50] Soon-Shiong and his entities are reported to be investing over 4 billion RAND (~$250 million dollars) into the continent.^[51]

In Feb 2022, Soon-Shiong announced results from ImmunityBio regarding a clinical trial in Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC) with a 24.1 median duration and 71% complete remission.^[52]

Investments

In 2013, Soon-Shiong became an early investor in Zoom, the video conferencing company.^[53]

In September 2014, NantWorks LLC, a company headed by Soon-Shiong, invested $2.5 million in AccuRadio.^[54]

In 2015, NantWorks LLC invested in Wibbitz in their $8 million series B funding.^[55]

In February 2018, the Los Angeles Times reported that Soon-Shiong's investment firm NantCapital reached a deal to purchase the paper and The San Diego Union-Tribune from Tronc Inc. for "nearly $500 million in cash" as well as the assumption of $90 million in pension obligations.^[56] Soon-Shiong, with this acquisition, became one of the first Asian-Americans to be a media proprietor through ownership in a major daily newspaper in the United States.^[57] The sale closed on June 18, 2018.^[8]

In September 2018, his company NantEnergy announced the development of a zinc–air battery with a projected cost of $100 per kilowatt-hour, which is less than one-third the cost of lithium-ion batteries.^[58]

In 2019, Soon-Shiong became an investor in Directa Plus, a European-based graphene based technology company, where he owns 28 percent of the company.^[59]

In 2021, Soon-Shiong announced a new investment of $29 million in a biorenewables company called NantRenewables in SeaPoint in Savannah, Georgia.^[60][61]

In 2022, Soon-Shiong invested in Sienza, a lithium battery company in Pasadena, California.^[62]

In July 2023, Soon-Shiong sold the San Diego Union-Tribune to MediaNews Group.^[63][64]

Personal life

Soon-Shiong is married to former actress Michele B. Chan. They have two children, including Nika Soon-Shiong, and live in Los Angeles.^[9]

References

1. https://www.congress.gov/117/meeting/house/114568/witnesses/HHRG-117-FA16-Bio-Soon-ShiongP-20220331.pdf
2. Moukheiber, Zina (November 10, 2011). "Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong Wants To Remake The U.S. Health Care System" (online). Forbes. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
3. Biographies providing these details include "Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D." UCLA Engineering. UCLA. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015., Soon-Shiong, P. (2015). . Institute for Technology Advancement. UCLA Engineering. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2015., and Soon-Shiong, P. (2008). "Curriculum Vitae. Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., MSc, FRCS(C), FACS" (PDF). INC5. California NanoSystems Institute. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
4. Biographies providing these details include Soon-Shiong, P. (2016). . NantKwest.com. Archived from the original on November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
5. "LA 500: Patrick Soon-Shiong". Los Angeles Business Journal. August 10, 2017.
6. "Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation". Foundation Directory Online.
7. "Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD". CEO Council on Health and Innovation.
8. "tronc, Inc. Announces Closing of the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune Sale" (Press release). Chicago: Tronc. June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
9. Forbes Staff. "Forbes profile: Patrick Soon-Shiong". Forbes.com. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
10. Whitford, David [with Jones, Marty] (December 9, 2013). "Whitford, David" (print and online). Fortune. pp. 138–140. Retrieved November 20, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
11. GoldSea Staff (c. 2010). "Biotech Kahuna Patrick Soon-Shiong". GoldSea.com. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
12. Armstrong, David (June 10, 2003). "Vindication". Forbes.com. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
13. "Who is Patrick Soon-Shiong? An L.A. billionaire with big ideas — and mixed achievements". Los Angeles Times. February 7, 2018.
14. "Fundic Inhibition of Acid Secretion and Gastrin Release (Master's Thesis)". October 1979. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
15. . April 13, 2015. Archived from the original on April 13, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
16. "American Board of Surgery".
17. Wileen Wong Kromhout (May 21, 2009). "UCLA names Soon-Shiong executive director of Wireless Health Institute".
18. Light, Leti McNeill (2015). "Visions of Progress and Courage [Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong — Medical Visionary Award]" (print and online). U Magazine (Spring): 42f. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
19. Whole pancreas transplantation began as a part of multi-organ transplants, in the mid-to-late 1960s, at the University of Minnesota. See Squifflet, J.P.; Gruessner, R.W.; Sutherland, D.E. (2008). "The History of Pancreas Transplantation: Past, Present and Future". Acta Chir. Belg. 108 (3, May–June): 367–378. doi:10.1080/00015458.2008.11680243. PMID 18710120. S2CID 25795725. The first attempt to cure type 1 diabetes by pancreas transplantation was done at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, on December 17, 1966… [This] opened the door to a period, between the mid-[1970s] to mid-[1980s] where only segmental pancreatic grafts were used... In the late [1970s] – early [1980s], three major events… boosted the development of pancreas transplantation… [At] the Spitzingsee meetings, participants had the idea to renew the urinary drainage technique of the exocrine secretion of the pancreatic graft with segmental graft and eventually with whole pancreaticoduodenal transplant. That was clinically achieved during the mid-[1980s] and remained the mainstay technique during the next decade. In parallel, the Swedish group developed the whole pancreas transplantation technique with enteric diversion. It was the onset of the whole pancreas reign. The enthusiasm for the technique was rather moderated in its early phase due to the rapid development of liver transplantation and the need for sharing vascular structures between both organs, liver and pancreas. During the modern era of immunosuppression, the whole pancreas transplantation technique with enteric diversion became the gold standard… [for SPK, PAK, PTA].
20. . May 6, 2011. Archived from the original on May 22, 2012.
21. Knapp, Alex (August 27, 2020). "The Inside Story Of Biotech's Barnum And His Covid Cures". Forbes. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
22. Angela Cullen; Eva von Schaper (July 7, 2008). . Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on August 27, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
23. Crowe, Deborah (October 18, 2010). "Celgene Closes Abraxis Acquisition". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved October 20, 2010.(subscription required)
24. "Company Overview of NantHealth, LLC". Bloomberg Businessweek. February 27, 2013. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
25. Shawn Baldwin (September 20, 2014). "Dr. Patrick Soon Shiong Generates Billions of Value Creation in Medicine". Fast Company.
26. Dolan, Brian (September 8, 2011). "'Soon-Shiong's big rollup gets a name: NantWorks'". Retrieved January 24, 2012.
27. "NantWorks LLC – Company Profile and News". Bloomberg News.
28. McBride, Ryan (October 4, 2012). "Biotech billionaire's supercomputer cuts cancer analysis to 47 seconds". fiercebiotechit.com. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
29. Tirrell, Meg (January 28, 2013). "Cancer Researcher-Turned-Billionaire Starts New Company". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
30. Soon-Shiong, Patrick (September 8, 2011). . Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
31. Crow, Patrick; Soon-Shiong, Pattrick (September 5, 2012). "'Patrick Soon-Shiong Talks With ASU's Michal Crow about the Imminent, Hoped-For Healthcare Revolution'".^{[dead link]}
32. Driebusch, Corrie (July 28, 2015). "NantKwest Gives Biotech Another Big IPO". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
33. Petersen, Melody (April 27, 2016). "L.A. Billionaire Soon-Shiong Gets $148-Million Payday Even as His Firm's Stock Tanks" (online). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
34. . Archived from the original on January 6, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
35. Palmeri, Christopher. "'Homeless Billionaire' Charms L.A. With $500 Million Gift", Bloomberg News, May 4, 2016
36. Idrus, Amirah Al (April 3, 2019). "Sorrento sues Soon-Shiong over 'catch-and-kill' of its cancer drug, a potential Abraxane rival". Fierce Biotech. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
37. Taylor, Nick Paul (April 1, 2019). "Settlement set to sling Soon-Shiong out of biotech investment". Fierce Biotech. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
38. Adams, Ben (June 27, 2017). "Despite 'looting' claims, Soon-Shiong's NantCell to buy Altor". Fierce Biotech. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
39. Tahir, Darius (January 9, 2018). "Cher escalates legal feud with Soon-Shiong". POLITICO. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
40. "Rival drug firms team up to test new cancer treatment approach". STAT. January 11, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
41. Baker, Peter (November 1, 2015). "If Cancer Becomes Biden's Cause, a Bold but Polarizing Doctor Is On Call". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
42. "The full transcript from the Trump transition team's Tuesday call to reporters". The Washington Post. January 10, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
43. "Ryan appoints controversial cancer doctor to HHS committee". Politico. May 30, 2017.
44. Anderson, Maria (May 9, 2017). ""Tracing American Journeys" Chronicles Experiences of 17 Immigrant Entrepreneurs". Smithsonian Insider. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
45. "ImmunityBio and NantKwest Complete Merger". ImmunityBio. March 9, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
46. Swisher, Kara (August 12, 2021). . New York Times. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
47. "Preclinical data shows enhanced T-cell responses & neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants with ImmunityBio heterologous vaccination". News-Medical.net. December 5, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
48. President Cyril Ramaphosa attends the launch announcement by Dr Soon-Shiong of NantAfrica COVID-19, retrieved October 8, 2021
49. Sguazzin, Antony (September 24, 2021). "L.A. Times owner plans South Africa vaccine plant". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
50. Roelf, Wendell (January 19, 2022). "Billionaire Soon-Shiong opens new vaccine plant in South Africa". Reuters. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
51. Venter, Irma. "Ramaphosa, billionaire Soon-Shiong open NantSA vaccine production campus in Cape Town". www.engineeringnews.co.za. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
52. "ImmunityBio Announces Over 24 Months Median Duration of Complete Remission, with 100% NMIBC CIS Patient Survival, Setting a New 'Magnitude of Benefit' in Patients with BCG Unresponsive Bladder Cancer". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
53. Etherington, Darrell (September 24, 2013). "Zoom Video Conferencing Adds $6.5M In Funding To Drive Expansion And Uptake In Education And Health". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 8, 2021.^{[permanent dead link]}
54. "AccuRadio Gets $2.5 Million from Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong..." Digital Music News. September 5, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
55. "Wibbitz Raises $8M to Create All the News that Is Fit to Automate". AlleyWatch. June 3, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
56. "Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong reaches deal to buy L.A. Times, San Diego Union-Tribune". February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
57. "L.A. Times Sold to Asian American Billionaire". February 7, 2018.
58. Penn, Ivan (September 26, 2018). "How Zinc Batteries Could Change Energy Storage". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
59. "Biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong raises stake in graphene maker Directa Plus". Proactiveinvestors NA. October 25, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
60. "Gov. Kemp Announces Bioplastics Company to Open Facility in Savannah, Creating Over 100 Jobs". September 8, 2021.
61. "NANTRenewables to Build New Bioplastics Manufacturing Plant at SeaPoint Industrial Terminal Complex in Savannah".
62. "Sienza Energy Snags Series A For Battery Technology". February 18, 2022.
63. "LA Times sells San Diego Union-Tribune to MediaNews Group affiliate". KPBS Public Media. July 10, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
64. "LA billionaire sells San Diego Union-Tribune to owner of Southern California News Group". Orange County Register. July 10, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.