Stephen Roth, Ph.D., President, CEO
In 1990, while a professor of biology at the University of Pennsylvania, Stephen Roth became the scientific founder of Neose Technologies, Inc. He left Penn to become Neose's chief scientific officer in 1992, and was made chief executive officer and chairman of the board in 1994. He took Neose public in 1996. In 2002, Dr. Roth brought in a new CEO and remained a director until 2004. Before going to Penn, where Dr. Roth was biology chairman from 1982-1987, he was on the faculty at The Johns Hopkins University from 1970-1980.
Patrick Gage, Ph.D.
Pat Gage has enjoyed various positions of leadership in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry since 1971. After eighteen years at Hoffmann-La Roche, he joined Genetics Institute, Inc. in 1989 first as R&D head, then COO, and then President in 1997 after Wyeth [now Pfizer] acquired the company. In 1998, Dr. Gage was named president of Wyeth Research, and was ultimately responsible for global pharmaceutical and vaccine R&D of Wyeth, in addition to global biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Pat retired from Wyeth in June, 2002, and has since served as a venture partner at Flagship Ventures, a director of Serono [acquired by Merck KGaA], chairman and subsequently interim CEO of PDL BioPharma [PDLI], chairman of Adnexus Therapeutics [now a unit of Bristol Myers Squibb Research], and chairman of Neose Technologies [NTEC]. Pat is founder of enGage Biotech Consulting, and currently serves as executive chairman of Virdante Pharmaceuticals, and as a director of four biopharmaceutical companies: Acceleron Pharma, Immune Control, Alvine Pharmaceuticals, and Cytokinetics, Inc [CYTK]. He also serves on the Visiting Committee for Biological Sciences and Pritzker School of Medicine, U. of Chicago, and is a trustee of the Marine Biological Laboratories, Woods Hole, MA.
Brian Halak, Ph.D.
Dr. Halak is a partner at Domain Associates. He currently serves as a director of Alimera Sciences, GI Dynamics, Carticept Medical, Tobira Therapeutics, Oraya Therapeutics and Vanda Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Domain, he worked for Advanced Technology Ventures, where he participated in the firm's investments in Plexxcion, Percardia, and Denovis. Earlier, he worked at the Wilkerson Group, a management consulting firm devoted exclusively to the medical industry. Dr. Halak developed strategy for leading firms in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. He received a Ph.D. in immunology and has published and presented on the topic of tumor immunology. He also serves on the investment advisory councils for Ben Franklin Technology Partners and BioAdvance in Philadelphia.
Hyman Kahn, M.D.
Dr. Kahn was senior vice president and medical director at U.S. Healthcare. He subsequently served as a medical consultant to Aetna. Dr. Kahn currently sits on several boards, including MacroArray, and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Jefferson Health System.
Zev S. Scherl
Mr. Scherl is a General Partner of NewSpring Capital, with significant experience in principal investing, corporate management and finance, focused exclusively in the health care and life sciences industries. Prior to joining NewSpring in 2003, Mr. Scherl worked with Pequot Ventures, which managed venture funds in excess of $1 billion within Pequot Capital. Previously, he was a member of the health care investment team of Behrman Capital, a private equity investment firm which managed over $700 million. Before entering private equity in 1997, he served as Senior Director, Strategic Planning, for Value Health, the largest independent pharmacy and mental health benefit management company, prior to its successful sale to Columbia HCA. He also served as U.S. Manager, Pricing Policy at Merck & Co., and prior to that was in the investment banking group at Lehman Brothers. Mr. Scherl is currently a board member of Core Essence Orthopaedics, EKR Therapeutics, Immune Control, and Nitric BioTherapeutics. He was a board member of AppTec Laboratory Services prior to its sale to Wuxi Pharma and Scandius BioMedical prior to its sale to Covidien. He received a BA with honors in economics from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Geeta Vemuri, Ph.D.
Dr. Vemuri is a partner at Quaker BioVentures. Previously she was an associate at Toucan Capital, where she was responsible for investments in seed-stage and start-up biotech opportunities. She also was an associate equity analyst at SalomonSmithBarney and First Union Securities covering specialty pharmaceuticals and healthcare sectors. Dr. Vemuri currently serves on the boards of Argolyn and Arginetix, was former board member of Protez Pharmaceuticals, and is a board observer at Optherion, Regado Biosciences, Tengion, and Tranzyme Pharma. She is on the advisory committee of the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator, the board of directors of Southeast BIO, and the advisory committee of the BioAdvance Greenhouse of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Dr. Vemuri earned her M.S. degree from Central University in India, her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Indian Institute of Sciences, and her M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.