Leadership Team

Clifford J. Stocks
Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Stocks brings more than twenty-eight years of experience in the biotech industry to OncoResponse. Most recently, Mr. Stocks served as Chief Executive Officer at Theraclone Sciences, where he was responsible for leading all aspects of the company’s efforts to discover and develop novel therapeutic antibody immunotherapies for the treatment of infectious disease. Prior to Theraclone, Mr. Stocks served as Chief Business Officer of Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he led the partnering activities and M&A teamwork that resulted in the acquisition of Calistoga by Gilead for $600 million in Q2 2011. Prior to Calistoga, Mr. Stocks spent over 15 years at ICOS Corporation, where he served as an Executive Officer and Vice President of Business Development. While at ICOS, he led acquisitions and joint venture activities, as well as alliance formation, strategy, licensing and deal making. He played an instrumental role on the leadership team that developed and launched Cialis®, and was a key architect of the Lilly ICOS joint venture partnership leading to the $2.3 billion acquisition of ICOS in 2007. Mr. Stocks's early career includes a turn as a management consultant in the Health Services practice of Booz, Allen & Hamilton, as well as academic research in the department of immunology at the University of Utah and the department of molecular genetics and cell biology at the University of Chicago.

Mr. Stocks received a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago, Booth Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Utah.

Alice Bexon, MD
Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Bexon brings to OncoResponse more than 25 years of management experience in the clinical development of biopharmaceuticals. Prior to joining OncoResponse, Dr. Bexon has worked for global pharmaceutical companies, co-operative groups, CROs, and biotech organizations.  She most recently served as the CMO of Sapience Therapeutics from 2019-2022, and as the CMO of Vyriad since 2017. She was previously Vice President of Clinical Development of Idera Pharmaceuticals.  From 2001-2006, she held positions of increasing responsibility at Roche Oncology, including serving as a key member of the clinical development and life cycle teams responsible for Xeloda®, and prior to that was responsible for the oncology medical team at Sanofi France. Along with a wide-ranging knowledge of clinical development and medical marketing, she has extensive experience of interacting with regulatory bodies such as the FDA and the CHMP. Her team of MDs, scientists, and writers at Bexon Clinical Consulting has broad knowledge of the design and conduct of phase 1-3 trials as well as the writing and review of regulatory submissions worldwide. Dr. Bexon founded Bexon Clinical Consulting in 2008, which provides clinical development support to the pharma and biotech industries. Her team is also supporting OncoResponse in the execution of our clinical programs.

Dr. Bexon earned her medical degree from Bristol University Medical School in the United Kingdom and her oncology diploma at the Institut Gustave Roussy in France.

Kamal D. Puri, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Puri joined OncoResponse from Celgene where he led a preclinical research group to discover new molecular entities for the immunology pipeline as well as identified and supported new indications for existing portfolio molecules. Prior to Celgene he was Associate Director of Research at Gilead, where he contributed to the approval of Zydelig™ a first-in-class PI3K delta inhibitor for the treatment of hematological malignancies. Dr. Puri also led internal teams and managed external collaborations to deliver a best-in-class PI3K delta inhibitor and advanced it into clinical development, and directed research efforts on multiple discovery projects in inflammation. Prior to Gilead, which acquired Calistoga Pharma, Dr. Puri was Head of Biology at Calistoga and was responsible for a wide range of activities including preclinical research and portfolio strategy and biomarker discovery with success in advancing three drug candidates into clinical development for multiple indications. Earlier in his career, Dr. Puri also led drug discovery efforts at ICOS Corporation and CytoTherapeutics.

Dr. Puri received his PhD from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. During his research period, he was a Research Fellow of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. Dr. Puri undertook his immunology training with Timothy A. Springer, PhD Latham Family Professor at the Harvard Medical School.

Chris Russell, MBA
Chief Financial Officer

Chris Russell provides financial and operational leadership at OncoResponse. He has over 30 years of experience as a growth company executive and entrepreneur, launching highly successful products and companies. He served as President of Oracle Corp.’s online division, where he launched their on-demand offerings, now a multi-billion-dollar business. Mr. Russell has also helped lead and grow numerous successful new companies. He was on the team who conceived and funded ArcSight, which completed a successful IPO and was acquired by HP for $1.5 billion. He led product and marketing at WageWorks, who completed an IPO and was later acquired by HealthEquity for $2 billion. As founding COO, he helped fund and grow TrustArc, the leader in internet data privacy. Earlier in his career, Mr. Russell was a strategy consultant at Booz Allen and a CPA at both EY and PwC.

Mr. Russell holds a degree in Accounting from the University of Washington and an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago, Booth Graduate School of Business.