Senior Management
Todd Davis
Chief Executive Officer
Todd C. Davis is Ligand’s Chief Executive Officer, a position he has held since December 2022, and has served as a member of the Board since March 2007. From 2006 until 2018, Mr. Davis was a Founder and Managing Partner of HealthCare Royalty Partners, a global healthcare investment firm which grew from zero to approximately $4 billion in capital commitments during his tenure. Previously, Mr. Davis served as a partner responsible for biopharmaceutical growth equity investments at Apax Partners. Mr. Davis began his business career in sales at Abbott Laboratories where he held several sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility. Subsequently he led corporate development and held strategic planning and general management responsibilities at Elan Pharmaceuticals. Cumulatively he has almost thirty years of experience in both operations and investing in the biopharmaceutical and life sciences industries. Mr. Davis has been involved in over $3 billion of healthcare financings including growth equity, public equity turnarounds, structured debt and royalty acquisitions. He has also led, structured and closed over 40 additional intellectual property licenses, as well as hybrid royalty-debt transactions. Mr. Davis is a navy combat veteran and holds a B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. He currently also serves on the boards of Palvella Therapeutics Inc. and ViroCell Biologics – both privately held companies. He is a former board member of the Harvard Business School Healthcare Alumni Association.
Matthew Korenberg
President and Chief Operating Officer
Matthew Korenberg, has served as our President and Chief Operating Officer since November 2022 and prior to that as our Chief Financial Officer since August 2015. Prior to joining our company, commencing in September 2013, Mr. Korenberg was the founder, Chief Executive Officer and a director of NeuroCircuit Therapeutics, a company focused on developing drugs to treat genetic disorders of the brain with an initial focus on Down syndrome. Prior to founding NeuroCircuit Therapeutics, Mr. Korenberg was a Managing Director and member of the healthcare investment banking team at Goldman Sachs from July 1999 through August 2013. During his 14 year tenure at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Korenberg was focused on advising and financing companies in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors and was based in New York, London and San Francisco. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Mr. Korenberg was a healthcare investment banker at Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. where he spent two years working with healthcare companies in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors and industrial companies. Mr. Korenberg serves on the board, audit and compensation committees of Qualigen Therapeutics, Inc., a company which develops and manufactures oncology focused therapeutics and diagnostic products. Mr. Korenberg holds a B.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Michigan
Tavo Espinoza
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Espinoza has been with Ligand since 2016 serving in a variety of finance leadership roles at Ligand, most recently as Senior Vice President, Finance. Prior to joining Ligand, Mr. Espinoza served as Senior Director, Finance for Receptos, a publicly traded drug-discovery company, that was acquired by Celgene (now Bristol-Myers Squibb). Before Receptos, Mr. Espinoza was Senior Director, Accounting for Illumina, a publicly traded life sciences analytics and genetics sequencing tools company, and prior to Illumina, served as Senior Manager, Accounting at Intuit. Mr. Espinoza began his professional career in public accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers and holds a B.S. in business administration from San Diego State University and a license as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of California.
Andrew Reardon
Chief Legal Officer
Prior to joining Ligand, Mr. Reardon was with HealthCare Royalty Management, a manager of investment funds investing in biopharmaceutical products primarily through royalty purchases and structured credit. Prior to HealthCare Royalty Management, Mr. Reardon was an associate with the international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where he focused on corporate transactions, including finance and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Reardon earned his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law, graduating with High Distinction and receiving the Alan I. Widiss Faculty Scholar Award, and received his B.A. with honors from the State University of New York College at Old Westbury.
Audrey Warfield-Graham
Chief People Officer
Audrey Warfield-Graham directs Human Resources at Ligand. Ms. Warfield-Graham has worked continuously in the Human Resources department since joining the Company in December 1994. She has held a progression of positions with increased responsibilities during her tenure at Ligand. She was promoted to Chief People Officer in 2022, Senior Vice President, Human Resources in 2018 and to Vice President, Human Resources in 2007. Her previous human resources experience was with Fresh Western, an interstate agricultural business located in Monterey County, California. Ms. Warfield-Graham's management experience includes benefits administration, change management, employee relations, leave management, recruitment, staffing strategies, stock administration and performance management. She received her SPHR certification in January 2007.