Board of Directors
Michael Powell, Ph.D.
General Partner, Sofinnova Venture Partners (Chairman)
Dr. Michael Powell has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical development experience, focusing on clinical-stage product companies, particularly in the oncology, endocrine, and neurology areas. Prior to joining Sofinnova Ventures as a General Partner in 1997, he worked on 20 clinical products and authored almost 100 papers and books, including a 1,000–page treatise on vaccine design. He was the initial investor in Actelion (SWX: ATLN), InterMune (Nasdaq: ITMN), Anesiva (Nasdaq: ANSV), Orexigen Therapeutics (Nasdaq: OREX), Seattle Genetics (Nasdaq: SGEN), Threshold Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: THLD), and Trius Therapeutics (Nasdaq: TSRX), as well as several private companies, such as Alvine, Ascenta and Intellikine (acquired by Millennium/Takeda). Dr. Powell is currently Board President of AVAC (AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition) in NYC, a past Advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a past Strategic Advisor to One World Health, and a Founding Venture Advisory Board member of the IAVI (International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) Innovation Fund. He also serves on the University of Kansas board of IAMI (Institute for the Advancement of Medical Innovation), and the University of Minnesota’s CPD (Committee for Pharmaceutical Development). Earlier in his career, Dr. Powell worked with Genentech, and also held positions at Cytel and Syntex Research. He was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Kansas, an Editorial Board member of J. Pharm. Sci., and a Scientific Advisor to the Controlled Release Society. He received his PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Toronto and completed his post-doctorate work in Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of California, where he was subsequently a faculty member.
Elaine V. Jones, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Venture Capital-Worldwide Business Development, Pfizer Inc.
Dr. Elaine V. Jones serves as Executive Director at Pfizer Venture Investments, Venture Capital. She is responsible for making and managing venture investments for Pfizer and currently manages the PVI investments in Aquinox Pharmaceuticals, Flexion Therapeutics, Merus B.V., and NeuroTherapeutics Pharma. Elaine brings 10 years of venture capital experience and a strong background in research and product assessment, built on her significant experience in pharmaceutical drug discovery and business development to the PVI team. Recently, Dr. Jones was a General Partner with the venture fund, EuclidSR Partners where she was responsible for the fund's investments in Acurian, Fluidigm, InnaPhase and Targacept. Prior to joining ESR, Dr. Jones began her private equity career in 1999 at S.R. One, GlaxoSmithKline's venture fund, where she managed investments, including Adolor, Avantium, Nucleonics, Scynexis and Vicuron. Previously, she served as Director of Scientific Licensing for SmithKline Beecham and was a research scientist in SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceutical R&D. Dr. Jones is a graduate of Juniata College and received her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh.
Ed Mathers
Partner, New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
Ed Mathers is a Partner at NEA and focuses on biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals investments. He is a director of Intarcia, Liquidia Technologies, Plexxikon, Ra Pharmaceuticals, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, and Satori Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining NEA in 2008, Ed served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Venture, at MedImmune, Inc. In this role, he was a member of the leadership team that executed the sale of the company to AstraZeneca for $15.6 billion in 2007. While at MedImmune, Ed was responsible for the company’s corporate and business development activities and led the company’s venture capital subsidiary, MedImmune Ventures, Inc. Before joining MedImmune in 2002, he was Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Licensing and Acquisitions at Inhale Therapeutic Systems. Ed spent 15 years at Glaxo Wellcome, Inc. (GlaxoSmithKline), where he held sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility. He earned his B.S. degree in chemistry from North Carolina State University.
Matthew Winkler, Ph.D.
Founder, CEO & CSO, Asuragen
Dr. Matt Winkler is CEO of Asuragen, Inc. He received a B.S. degree in Genetics and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of California at Berkeley. He was a Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Hawaii and the University of California at Davis. He joined the Zoology Department of the University of Texas as an Assistant Professor in 1983. He is the author of over 30 scientific publications and has 9 issued patents. In 1988, as an Associate Professor, he started Ambion, Inc., a molecular biology “tool” company. Ambion became the preeminent ”molecular biology tools company” focusing on RNA with about 400 employees located in Austin, Cambridge, England and Tokyo, Japan. In 2002, he was the Austin winner of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year and a National Finalist. In March of 2006, he sold the research products division of Ambion to Applied Biosystems and with about 100 employees started Asuragen, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company with a strong focus around RNA in general and miRNA in particular. In December of 2007, Asuragen created Mirna Therapeutics, Inc., as a “carve out of Asuragen” to develop cancer therapeutics based on miRNA.
Corey S. Goodman
Ph.D., Partner, venBIO
Dr. Corey Goodman is a renowned scientist, entrepreneur, educator, CEO, and corporate executive. Dr. Goodman is Founding Partner of venBio, Adjunct Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and Chair of the Board of Directors of Limerick BioPharma, Second Genome, Oligasis, and Ossianix, and member of the Board of NeuroTherapeutics Pharma. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. Dr. Goodman was previously President of Pfizer's Biotherapeutics and Bioinnovation Center and a member of its Executive Leadership Team. He is a co-founder of Exelixis, Renovis, and Second Genome, and served as CEO of Renovis prior to its acquisition. Dr. Goodman is also a member of the California Council on Science and Technology, the Pacific Institute, the Board of the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience, BayBio, Biotechnology Institute, Bay Area Science and Innovation Consortium, New York Stem Cell Foundation, QB3 (UCSF-UCB-UCSC) Industry Advisory Board, Stanford's BioX Biosciences Advisory Council, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation, and is former Chair of the National Research Council's Board on Life Sciences. During his academic career, Dr. Goodman spent over two decades as a professor of biology and neuroscience at Stanford and U.C. Berkeley, and earning numerous scientific awards such as the Alan T. Waterman Award from the National Science Board, the Gairdner International Award for Achievement in Medical Sciences, and the March-of-Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology. He was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Evan Rauch Chair of Neuroscience, and co-founded the Wills Neuroscience Institute. Dr. Goodman received his B.S. from Stanford University, Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley, and was a postdoctoral fellow at U.C. San Diego.
Clay B. Siegall
Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Seattle Genetics
Dr. Siegall co-founded Seattle Genetics in 1998 and is the company’s President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Under his leadership, Seattle Genetics has built a diverse pipeline of antibody-based cancer therapies, including ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) that was granted accelerated approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2011. Dr. Siegall has also guided Seattle Genetics/ capital-raising activities, securing more than $675 million through public and private financings, including the company’s initial public offering in 2001. Prior to co-founding Seattle Genetics, Dr. Siegall was with the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute from 1991 to 1997 and the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health from 1988 to 1991. He serves on the Board of Directors of Alder BioPharmaceuticals, a private biotechnology company. Dr. Siegall is an author on more than 70 publications and holds 15 patents. He received a Ph.D. in Genetics from George Washington University and a B.S. in Zoology from the University of Maryland.
Paul Lammers, M.D
President & CEO
Dr. Paul Lammers is President and CEO of Mirna Therapeutics. Prior to joining Mirna Therapeutics, Dr. Lammers was most recently president of Repros Therapeutics. Dr. Lammers served for 6 years as the Chief Medical Officer for EMD Serono Inc. and began his career with Organon spending 8 years in the commercial and clinical operations in Europe and the US. He also served 4 years as Senior Vice President of clinical and regulatory affairs at Zonagen. Dr. Lammers obtained his Medical Degree and Masters of Science degree from the Catholic University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and moved with his family to the US in 1992.