Board of Directors
David Scheer, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Optherion; President, Scheer & Company
Mr. Scheer is an entrepreneur who has participated in the founding and building of eight life sciences companies, and advised many other companies during the past 26 years. He is President of Scheer & Company, Inc., a firm founded in 1981, with activities in venture capital, corporate strategy, and transactional advisory services (corporate alliances, licensing arrangements, divestments, mergers, and acquisitions) exclusively in the life sciences. In venture capital, Mr. Scheer has been involved in the founding and has been a member of the Board of Directors of ViroPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ, “VPHM”), OraPharma, Inc. (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (of which he was Chairman, acquired by Pfizer), Sopherion Therapeutics, Inc (of which he was Chairman). His current portfolio of companies and directorships include Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ, “ACHN”), Tengion, Inc., Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Optherion, Inc. (the latter three of which he is serving as Chairman). From 1991 through 1999, he was affiliated with the health care investing team at Oak Investment Partners. He and his colleagues from Scheer & Company have provided corporate strategic advisory services to a broad range of companies including Sirna Therapeutics (acquired by Merck), Agouron Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Warner Lambert/Pfizer), American Cyanamid (now a Division of Wyeth), BF Goodrich, Pharmacia AB, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Hoffmann La-Roche, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and a range of smaller, publicly- and privately-held companies. He has served as a member of the Leadership Council of the Harvard School of Public Health, and a member of the Advisory Committee to the Harvard Malaria Initiative. Mr. Scheer is a Trustee of the Long Wharf Theatre, in New Haven, CT. He received his A.B. cum laude from Harvard College, and his M.S. from Yale University.
Brian Halak, Ph.D., Partner, Domain Associates
Mr. Halak joined Domain in 2001 and became a Partner in 2006. He currently serves on the Board of Alimera Sciences, Esprit Pharma, GI Dynamics, Immune Control, Tobira Therepeutics, Pharmena, and Vanda Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VNDA). From 2000 to 2001, Mr. Halak was an Associate with Advanced Technology Ventures where he participated in the firms investments in Plexxikon, Percardia and Emphasys. From 1993 to 1995, he was a Consultant at the Wilkerson Group where he developed strategies for pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Mr. Halak is currently a member of the Investment Advisory Council for Ben Franklin Technology Partners and BioAdvance, both seed-stage investment groups in Philadelphia. He also serves as an advisor to Elm Street Ventures. He received his B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993 and his Ph.D. from Thomas Jefferson University in 2000.
Ginger More, independent director
Ms. More is a retired General Partner of Oak Investment Partners, a venture capital firm based in Westport, Connecticut. Founded in 1978, Oak manages a venture fund capitalized in excess of $8 billion- one of the largest funds in the United States. The fund has invested in over 400 companies. Ms. More’s particular area of expertise is the healthcare and telecommunications industries. She has been responsible for Oak’s investments and/or Board positions in numerous companies including Alexion, Compaq Computer, Stratus, Genzyme, Pharmacopeia, Dyax, Octel, Network Equipment Technologies, Alkermes, Esperion, OraPharma, Osteotech and KeraVision. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Tengion, NuVasive and several charitable institutions. Ms. More is a Chairman Emeritus of the Connecticut Venture Group, having served as Chairman and President. She is on the Board of the UConn Research and Development Corporation. She serves as an advisor to several venture firms. Prior to joining Oak Investment Partners in 1978, Ms. More held a number of financially-related positions over a ten-year period at Wright Investors’ Service, a pension management firm in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Ms. More studied Mathematics at the University of Bridgeport and became a Chartered Financial Analyst (C.F.A.) in 1978.
Sherrill Neff, Partner, Founding Partner, Quaker BioVentures
Mr. Neff is Founding Partner of Quaker BioVentures. Previously, he was President, COO, and a Director of Neose Technologies, a publicly traded life sciences company. He also has been Senior Vice President for corporate development at U.S. Healthcare and was Managing Director in the investment banking division of Alex. Brown & Son; and a corporate attorney at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. He currently is on the boards of Amicus Therapeutics, Biolex Therapeutics, Neuronetics, and Regado Biosciences, as well as the Resource Capital Corporation (NYSE:RSO), University City Science Center, and the Biotechnology Institute, and is on the Policy Board of WXPN. He formerly was a board member of Resource America, The Bancorp, Jefferson Bank, and Neose Technologies. Mr Neff is the former Chairman of the Greater Philadelphia Venture Group and former President of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Association. Mr. Neff holds his B.A. from Wesleyan University and a J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School.
Colin J. Foster, President and CEO, Optherion
Mr. Foster has two decades of experience in pharmaceutical and diagnostics businesses. Before joining Optherion, he was CEO and President of Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Region Head for the North American Pharmaceuticals business of Bayer AG. Mr. Foster joined Bayer in 1994 as the Vice President, Marketing for the Healthcare Division in Toronto, Canada. In this role, he led the marketing team for the Canadian Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics businesses. He was promoted to Vice President, Marketing, Sales, and Service in the Diagnostics Division, with profit & loss responsibility for the U.S. Diabetes Division. Following this, and just before heading the North American pharmaceutical business, he was appointed Region Head for the Diagnostics Division, UK/Ireland Region, stationed in Newbury, England. Before joining Bayer, Mr. Foster was head of pharmaceutical marketing for Sandoz Canada, Inc. in Montreal. He began his career at A.H. Robins in Canada as a Medical Sales Representative in 1985. Mr. Foster holds his B.Sc.in Zoology and Microbiology from the University of Toronto (1985) and his M.B.A. from the University of Western Ontario (1988) in Canada. He is a board member of the University of New Haven, including Chair of its Finance Committee.