Ernest Mario, PhD
Chairman
Ernest Mario, PhD
Chairman
Dr. Mario joined our Board of Directors in August 2007 and served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until February 2014 when he was named Chairman. From April 2003 to August 2007, Dr. Mario served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Reliant Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held pharmaceutical company that was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline for approximately $1.6 billion in 2007. Dr. Mario served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of ALZA Corporation, a research-based pharmaceutical company, from November 1997 to December 2001, when ALZA was acquired by Johnson & Johnson for approximately $12 billion. Previously he served as Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chairman of ALZA from August 1993 to November 1997. From January 1992 until March 1993, Dr. Mario served as Deputy Chairman of Glaxo Holdings plc., a pharmaceutical company, and as Chief Executive from May 1989 to March 1993. Dr. Mario has past service on a number of corporate boards including Boston Scientific Corporation, Celgene Inc., Eyenovia Inc., and Kindred Biosciences Inc. Dr. Mario earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in physical sciences at the University of Rhode Island and a B.S. in pharmacy at Rutgers. He holds honorary doctorates from the University of Rhode Island and Rutgers University. In 2007, he was awarded the Remington Medal by the American Pharmacists’ Association, pharmacy’s highest honor.
Anish Bhatnagar, MD
Chief Executive Officer
Anish Bhatnagar, MD
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Bhatnagar was appointed as our Chief Executive Officer in February 2014. Prior to that, he served as our President and Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Bhatnagar joined us in 2006, and has held positions of increasing responsibility since then. Dr. Bhatnagar is a physician with over 15 years of experience in the medical device and biopharmaceutical industries. His experience spans development of biologics, drugs, drug-device combinations and diagnostic as well as therapeutic medical devices. His prior experience includes working at Coulter Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 1998 to 2000 and Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2000 to 2006. He is the author of several peer-reviewed publications, abstracts and book chapters. He obtained his medical degree at SMS Medical College in Jaipur, India and completed his Residency and Fellowship training in the U.S. at various institutions, including Georgetown University Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania.
William G. Harris
William G. Harris
Mr. Harris has been a member of our Board of Directors since June 2014. From 2001-2016, he was the Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Xenoport, Inc. Arbor Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a specialty pharmaceutical company, acquired Xenoport in 2016. From 1996 to 2001, he held several positions with Coulter Pharmaceutical, Inc., a biotechnology company engaged in the development of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, the most recent of which was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Corixa Corp., a developer of immunotherapeutic products, acquired Coulter Pharmaceutical in 2000. Prior to Coulter Pharmaceutical, from 1990 to 1996, Mr. Harris held several positions at Gilead Sciences, Inc., the most recent of which was director of finance. Mr. Harris received a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego and an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University, Leavey School of Business and Administration.
Gwen A. Melincoff
Gwen A. Melincoff
Ms. Melincoff joined our Board of Directors in April 2019. Ms. Melincoff has over 25 years of leadership experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Her experience has spanned public and private company boards, venture financing, business development, licensing, mergers and acquisitions, research operations, marketing, product management and project management. She currently sits on the board of directors of Protalix Biotherapeutics, Inc., Collegium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Gain Therapeutics, Inc. Ms. Melincoff was a Venture Advisor at Agent Capital until January 2021. She is also an advisor to Verge Genomics and was a board member at Tobira Therapeutics from 2014-2016 when Allergan acquired it for $1.7 billion. She served as Vice President of Business Development at BTG International Inc. a UK- specialist healthcare company from 2014-2016. From 2004 to the 2013, Ms. Melincoff was Senior Vice President of Business Development at Shire Pharmaceuticals. Additionally, she led Shire’s Strategic Investment Group (SIG). She served as a board member/board observer at DBV Technologies, AM Pharma, ArmaGen Technologies, Photocure ASA, Promethera Biosciences, Naurex Inc. (acquired by Allergan) and Enterome. She was responsible for the collaboration with New River Pharmaceuticals that led to the $2.6 billion acquisition of the company. Ms. Melincoff was named a “Top Women in Biotech 2013” by Fierce Biotech as well as being named to the Powerlist 100 of Corporate Venture Capital in 2012 and 2013. Prior to joining Shire, Ms. Melincoff was Vice President of Business Development at Adolor Corporation. Ms. Melincoff worked for Eastman Kodak for over ten years in a number of their health care companies. Ms. Melincoff has a B.S in Biology, a Master’s of Science in Management, and has attained the designation of the Certified Licensing Professional (CLP™).
Andrew Sinclair, PhD
Abingworth LLP
Andrew Sinclair, PhD
Abingworth LLP
Dr. Sinclair has been a member of our Board of Directors since December 2018. Since 2008, Dr. Sinclair has held various positions at Abingworth LLP, a life sciences investment group, where he is currently a Partner and Portfolio Manager. Dr. Sinclair currently sits on the boards of Sierra Oncology Inc. and Verona Pharma plc, Adicet Bio, Inc., and Locki Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Sinclair is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Dr. Sinclair received a BSc in Microbiology from King's College London and his Ph.D. in Chemistry and Genetic Engineering at the BBSRC Institute of Plant Science, Norwich.
Birgitte Volck MD, PhD
Birgitte Volck MD, PhD
Dr. Volck joined our Board of Directors in June 2019. Since July 2021, Dr. Volck has served as Senior Vice President, Head Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Ascendispharma, and since October 2022, she has also served as Interim Chief Medical Officer. From December 2018 to October 2020, Dr. Volck served as the President R&D at AVROBIO Inc., a clinical stage gene therapy company. From 2016 to 2018, she served as head of Research and Development, Rare Diseases, for GlaxoSmithKline. From 2012 to 2016, Dr. Volck served as the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Development at Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB. Prior to this, from 2007 to 2012, she held various positions at Amgen Inc., including Executive Development Director, Bone, Neuroscience & Inflammation. From 2004 to 2007, Dr. Volck served as Nordic Medical Director and Project Director at Genzyme A/S, and from 2001 to 2004, she served as Head of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Pharmexa. Since May 2021, Dr. Volck has served as a director for Nykode A/S. Dr. Volck served as a director for Ascendis Pharma A/S from 2016-2021. She also served as a director for Wilson Therapeutics AB from May 2017 to May 2018 until it was acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $850 million. Dr. Volck served as a director of TFS International AB from 2016-2020. Dr. Volck received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Copenhagen University, Denmark.
Developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases