‘American Dream’ pursuit brings Liang to UConn, Cornovus

Dr. Bruce Liang, dean, UConn School of Medicine

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By John Stearns

Connecticut Innovations is investing more than $1 million in Cornovus Pharmaceuticals, not just because of its promising heart medication, but also because of the doctor behind it.

That person is Dr. Bruce Liang, a clinical cardiologist and researcher at UConn Health since 2002 and dean of the UConn School of Medicine since 2015.

When Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state's quasi-public venture arm, first met with Liang a few years ago to weigh an initial $150,000 investment, the agency had the standard questions about the science and the business, “but you don't really leave questioning Bruce,” said Dan Wagner, CI's managing director-investments. “That was always the thing. … We believed that it was worth a shot, an investment.”

When Cornovus hired longtime pharmaceutical executive Glenn Mattes as CEO last December to guide the company's business as a complement to Liang's science, the picture was complete.

“Obviously, all these deals are risky in capital, but we really do try to invest in people,” Wagner said. “When they found Glenn, that combination kind of tips it over, you have two good folks … they're going to give it their all, and they're easy to work with — that's really it.”

Liang feels good about Cornovus' chances given early results from animal testing of its molecule to help people with advanced heart failure. Those results helped the company land about $3.5 million in investor money to fund additional preclinical testing over the next 18 months to apply for investigational new drug (IND) status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a prerequisite to human testing. Getting the money is a victory in itself, as many therapeutic concepts never get that far, Liang said.

Going from early academic invention to IND is so risky it's called the Valley of Death of therapeutic discovery, he said.

“It's like walking through the Valley of Death because most of us won't make it,” he said, acknowledging being in the valley now. But he's optimistic about Cornovus' chances, as its technology has shown enough innovation and promise to get funding on its way toward a hoped-for IND.

Liang, 60, joined UConn as chief of the Division of Cardiology and as the Ray Neag distinguished professor of cardiovascular biology and medicine. He gained administrative experience heading the cardiology group and was appointed interim dean of the medical school in 2011 and 2015, before landing the job permanently. He's also been director of the nationally recognized Pat and Jim Calhoun Center for Cardiology since 2003.

Seeing patients as a clinical cardiologist, he gained insights on a condition that represented an unmet medical need: helping patients with advanced heart failure who, for various reasons, don't qualify for a heart transplant or ventricular assist device. He wanted to help such patients avoid further decline in heart function.

Working with Kenneth Jacobson, a chemist at the National Institutes of Health, the two collaborated on developing a molecule they say fills that unmet need.

Liang became interested in cardiology at Harvard Medical School. He thought he wanted to be an endocrinologist because he was curious how things worked, desiring to do endocrinologic science and be a clinician. But in med school, he was exposed to more research in cardiology and did a rotation in it.

He discovered the quick gratification, compared to other specialties, from helping heart patients by opening blocked arteries and watching patients walk out the door in a couple days or shocking hearts back into rhythm in 30 seconds.

He was fascinated by the ability to do research and help patients, a joy he continues today. He does his Cornovus work on the side, separate from his day job as dean, as he pursues a scientific therapy to help people with heart failure.

‘American Dream’

Liang came to the U.S. in 1972 from Taiwan with his parents when he was 15. His mother, an accountant, and father, a merchant marine and later a sea captain, moved to be nearer to other family members who had previously moved to the U.S., but “more importantly, they wanted to give me and my brother and sister a better educational opportunity, or life opportunity, as immigrants, the American Dream,” Liang said.

They initially settled in New York City before moving more upstate, where Liang finished high school before going to Harvard for his bachelor's degree and medical degree, which he earned in 1982. He did his residency at the University of Pennsylvania, then returned to Harvard for fellowship training in cardiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a major teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. He then returned to Penn as a med-school faculty member to teach cardiovascular medicine and practice clinical cardiology before joining UConn 14 years ago.

CI's Wagner said Liang has the ability to interact well with people and clearly explain Cornovus' science.

Mattes, the Cornovus CEO, called Liang extremely bright and hard working, holding a formidable job at UConn and collaborating with Mattes on Cornovus after hours or on weekends.

“He's very committed to seeing this through to success,” Mattes said.

Liang also has an attribute important to Mattes.

“One thing … I look for in these folks that are more in the academic or clinical side is, 'Do they respect and appreciate people of other industry skills?' ” Mattes said. “And that was clear that he respected the experience that I have. He's willing to listen and partner with me.”