Management

Sanford (Sandy) Zweifach
President & Chief Executive Officer

Sanford Zweifach has over 25 years’ experience in the life sciences industry, with an extensive background in corporate partnering, business development, operations, private and public investing, and capital raising. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nuvelution Pharma, Inc. Previously, Mr. Zweifach served as CEO of Ascendancy Healthcare, Inc., which he also founded. He has also been a Partner at Reedland Capital Partners, a boutique investment bank, where he headed its life sciences M&A and advisory efforts. Prior to this, he was CEO of Pathways Diagnostics, a biomarker development company. Mr. Zweifach was a Managing Director/CFO of Bay City Capital, a venture capital/merchant banking firm, specializing in the biotech and the life science industry, where he was responsible for oversight of the firm’s finance department, as well as President of the firm’s M&A and financing division. Prior to this, he was President and CFO of Epoch Biosciences, which was acquired by Nanogen in 2004. Currently, he is a Chairman of Lyric Pharmaceuticals Inc., a director of Realm Therapeutics, Inc., and Chairman of IMIDomics, S.L.. Earlier in his career, Mr. Zweifach was a Certified Public Accountant for Coopers & Lybrand and held various investment banking positions focusing on biotech. He received his BA in Biology from UC San Diego and an MS in Human Physiology from UC Davis.

Barry Gertz, MD, PhD
Chief Physician Scientist

Barry Gertz, MD, PhD, is Venture Partner at Clarus Ventures and Chief Medical Advisor for Relay Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Clarus-backed development company. Prior to joining Clarus, Dr. Gertz was Senior Vice President of Global Clinical Development at Merck, where he was responsible for overseeing all aspects of Merck's clinical research from exploratory clinical pharmacology to global Phase 3 trials and life cycle management. He was instrumental in the development and approval of more than 25 new drugs and vaccines, including six new approvals in 2014, as well as the blockbuster products Fosamax® and Januvia®. Dr. Gertz also has co-authored over a hundred scientific publications and articles. Dr. Gertz received an MD, PhD, as well as BA, from the University of Pennsylvania. He trained in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and held fellowship and faculty positions at University of California San Francisco.

James Cornwall, PhD
Chief Business Officer

James Cornwall, PhD, brings more than 25 years of clinical development, operational and strategy experience across preclinical, exploratory and late phase in large pharma, biotech and CRO, including strategic portfolio management. Dr. Cornwall most recently served as Vice President of Corporate Development for Quintiles, the world’s largest pharmaceutical services provider. During his tenure at Quintiles, he oversaw the development of strategic partnerships with biopharmaceutical companies and financial institutions across the US, EU, and Asia Pacific region. He also worked for Quintiles private equity investment groups PharmaBio Development and NovaQuest, where he led and managed multiple transactions with biopharma companies. Dr. Cornwall gained a BSc in Pharmacology and a PhD in Neuropharmacology from the University Of Bristol, and completed postgraduate training in Executive Leadership at the University of North Carolina Kenan Flagler Business School.

Joe Poirier
Chief Financial Officer

Joe Poirier joined the Nuvelution team in January 2016, bringing more than 20 years' experience in the Medical Device and Life Science industries, in the disciplines of Finance, Accounting, Business Development and Administration. Most recently, he served as Chief Financial Officer with SFJ Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on pharmaceutical development partnering and strategic funding. Prior to that, Mr. Poirier held a variety of financial leadership positions within the Corporate Finance, Corporate Tax and Global Operations groups at Boston Scientific, one of the world’s largest developers, manufacturers and marketers of medical devices. Mr. Poirier holds an MBA from Providence College and a BS Degree in Finance from Bryant University in Smithfield Rhode Island.

Operational Deal Leadership

Randa Zeitouni, PhD
Vice President, Clinical Operations

Randa Zeitouni, PhD, is an executive leader with a career that spans 27 years in both aca-demic and pharmaceutical industry including 23 years experience in Clinical Research, ini-tially in a clinical capacity, then with the last 19 years in Project Management roles. Randa worked for small, midsize and large CROs managing and providing oversight to cross-functional teams executing full service large-scale projects and programs. She has successfully planned, directed and delivered a number of high profile and very well known global clinical trials that resulted in innovative breakthrough therapies and changed the standard of care. She also worked as a consultant to Pharma and Biotech companies providing CRO management and oversight. A pharmacy graduate she holds a MSc in Clinical Biochemistry from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, an AES in Haematology and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Lyon I, France. Randa is a Project Management Professional, a Chartered Scientist and Fellow at the Institute of Biomedical Science.

Elizabeth Garofalo, MD
Expert CNS Consultant

Elizabeth Garofalo, MD, has 25 years of drug development experience in clinical development and regulatory affairs.  Dr. Garofalo has worked extensively in CNS drug development including in the pediatric population. Prior to joining Nuvelution she was SVP, Global Head of Clinical Development, Novartis. Dr. Garofalo joined Novartis in 2011 as SVP, Neuroscience Development Franchise Head. Prior to Novartis she was Vice President, CNS Therapy Area, Astellas and Executive Director Regulatory Affairs, Pfizer Research and Development.  She has been instrumental in the development and/or approval of several CNS blockbuster products including Neurontin®, Lyrica® and Gilenya®.  Dr. Garofalo received her medical degree from Indiana University where she completed a Pediatrics residency.  She completed her Pediatric Neurology and Epilepsy Fellowships at the University of Michigan where she became an academic Pediatric Neurologist. She is board certified in Pediatrics, in Neurology with Special Competence in Child Neurology. She was an Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan until 2011.

Board Members

Thomas Dyrberg, MD

​Thomas Dyrberg, MD joined Novo A/S in 2000. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of Delenex Therapeutics AG, Ophthotech Corporation, PanOptica Inc., and Veloxis Pharmaceuticals A/S. Dr. Dyrberg held research positions at the Hagedorn Research Institute, Denmark, and at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, US. In 1990, he joined Novo Nordisk A/S, initially working in Health Care Discovery on various aspects of diabetes immunology and pathogenesis, and from 1996 in Health Care Clinical Drug Development. Dr. Dyrberg obtained an MD degree from the University of Copenhagen in 1981 and a DMSc degree, also from the University of Copenhagen in 1986.

Martin Edwards

Martin Edwards is Senior Partner at Novo Ventures, the venture capital arm of Novo A/S. In addition to serving on the board at Novateur, he is Chairman of Vantia Ltd and NeRRe Therapeutics Ltd, and a Director on the boards of Tarsa Therapeutics Inc., Kalivista Ltd., CoLucid  Inc., Acacia Pharma Ltd, Karus Ltd, and Epsilon 3 Bio Ltd. Prior to this Mr. Edwards was CEO of ReNeuron Ltd from 1998 to 2003, taking the company public in 2001. He was world wide head of drug development for Novo Nordisk from 1994 to 1998, Senior Vice President at Novo Nordisk (USA) from 1992 to 1994, and CMO/ Vice President at Zymogenetics from 1989 to 1992. Mr. Edwards trained in physiology and medicine in Manchester UK and in business at Warwick University. In 2009, he was made Adjunct Professor at CBS SIMI in Copenhagen.

Nicholas Galakatos, PhD

Nicholas Galakatos, PhD, has been Managing Director of Clarus Ventures since the firm's inception in 2005. Prior to Clarus Ventures, Dr. Galakatos was a General Partner at MPM Capital, a healthcare venture capital firm. He has over 27 years of industry and investment experience in the healthcare sector. From 1997 to 2000, Dr. Galakatos was Vice President of New Business at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (presently Takeda) and a member of the Management Team. He is a founder of Millennium Predictive Medicine and TransForm Pharmaceuticals, where he was the Chairman and founding CEO. Prior to Millennium he was at Venrock Associates focusing on early stage biotechnology investments. Prior to Venrock he was Head of Molecular Biology Research at Novartis (formerly Ciba). Dr. Galakatos is currently a member of the Director’s Council of the Koch Institute at MIT, and the Genetics Advisory Council at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Galakatos earned his PhD in Organic Chemistry from MIT and performed his post-doctoral studies at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Galakatos represents Clarus Ventures on the Board of Directors of Catabasis Pharmaceuticals, Ophthotech (NASDAQ:OPHT), and Nanostring (NASDAQ:NSTG). In addition, he is a Director of Portola (NASDAQ:PTLA). Previous directorships include, Aerovance, Aveo (NASDAQ: AVEO), Caliper (NASDAQ: CALP), Critical Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CRTX), Link Medicine (acquired by AstraZeneca) Millennium Biotherapeutics (acquired by Millennium), Millennium Predictive Medicine (acquired by Millennium), Syrrx (acquired by Takeda), and Taligen (acquired by Alexion). Also, he was the Chairman of TransForm (acquired by J&J) and Hypnion (acquired by Eli Lilly), and the Lead Director at Affymax (NASDAQ: AFFY).

Arthur J. Higgins

Through leadership positions with large healthcare developers and manufacturers in both the US and Europe, Arthur J. Higgins has gained deep knowledge of the healthcare market and the strategies for developing and marketing products in this highly regulated area. Currently a consultant with Blackstone Healthcare Partners of The Blackstone Group, Mr. Higgins previously served as Chairman of the Board of Management and as CEO of Bayer HealthCare AG, a developer and manufacturer of human and animal health products. While at Bayer, Mr. Higgins led the restructuring of the company, including the acquisition and integration of Schering AG and the over-the-counter medicines business of Roche. Previously, he was Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Enzon Pharmaceuticals, and prior to this, he spent 14 years with Abbott Laboratories, attaining the position of President of the Pharmaceutical Products Division. Mr. Higgins is a member of the Board of Directors of EcoLab, Endo International plc, and Zimmer Inc. He graduated from Strathclyde University, Scotland, and holds a BS in Biochemistry.

Nicholas J. Simon

Nicholas J. Simon has been a Managing Director of Clarus Ventures since the firm’s inception in 2005. Prior to Clarus Ventures, Mr. Simon was a General Partner at MPM Capital, a healthcare venture capital firm. He has over 20 years of operating and investment experience in the biopharmaceutical industry including Genentech from 1989 to 2000 where he was Vice President of Business and Corporate Development. Mr. Simon received a BS degree in microbiology from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Loyola University. Mr. Simon is a member of the Foundation Board at the Gladstone Institute, a private not-for-profit research institute affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco.

Chris Viehbacher

Chris Viehbacher brings more than 25 years of healthcare experience to Nuvelution, most recently serving as CEO of Sanofi. During Mr. Viehbacher's six-year tenure, Sanofi underwent a significant business transformation, completing over $30 billion of acquisitions, most notably that of Genzyme, and developed a novel approach to building a pipeline of new medicines. Prior to joining Sanofi, he had a 20 year career with GlaxoSmithKline, ultimately as President of GSK's North American pharmaceutical division. Mr. Viehbacher also was a Member of the Board of Directors of GSK plc in London and Co-President of GSK's Portfolio Management Board. He also co-chaired the CEO Roundtable on Neglected Diseases with Bill Gates, which led to over 1.3 billion people being treated for such diseases free of charge, and he continues to chair the CEO Roundtable on Cancer. Mr. Viehbacher was the Chairman of the Board of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), as well as President of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations. Mr. Viehbacher began his career with Price Waterhouse Coopers, after graduating with a degree in Commerce at Queen’s University in Canada.

Sandy Zweifach

Sanford Zweifach has 25 years' experience in the life sciences industry, with extensive background in corporate partnering, business development, operations, P&L, private and public investing, and capital raising. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nuvelution Pharma, Inc. Previously, Mr. Zweifach served as CEO of Ascendancy Healthcare, Inc., which he also founded, and before this, he was a Partner at Reedland Capital Partners, a boutique investment bank, where he headed its life sciences M&A and advisory efforts. Prior to this, he was CEO of Pathways Diagnostics, a biomarker development company. Previously, Mr. Zweifach was Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director of Bay City Capital, a merchant bank specializing in the biotech and the life science industry, where he was responsible for oversight of the firm's finance department, as well as President of the firm's M&A and financing division. Prior to this, he was President and CFO of Epoch Biosciences, which was acquired by Nanogen in 2004. Currently, he is a director of Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Lyric Pharmaceuticals, and Viventia Bio. Earlier in his career, Mr. Zweifach was a Certified Public Accountant for Coopers & Lybrand and held various investment banking positions focusing on biotech. He received his BA in Biology from UC San Diego and his MS in Human Physiology from UC Davis.

Business Advisory Board

Jeremy Levin, DPhil, MB BChir

Jeremy Levin, DPhil, MB BChir, has more than 25 years of experience in the global pharmaceutical industry, leading companies and people to develop and commercialize medicines that address compelling medical needs worldwide. Dr. Levin is Chief Executive Officer of Ovid Therapeutics, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for rare and orphan diseases of the brain. Prior to joining Ovid, Dr. Levin served as President and CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA). Previously, he was a member of the Executive Committee of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) where he had global responsibilities for strategy, alliances and transactions. In this role, he devised and led BMY’s “String of Pearls” strategy, which resulted in the transformation of the company. Prior to BMY, he was Head of Global Business Development and Strategic Alliances at Novartis (NYSE:NVS). In this role, he established and managed strategic collaborations with multiple companies around the world. Dr. Levin has served on a number of public and private company boards, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Biocon Ltd. (NSE:BIOCON) and privately-held ZappRx. Dr. Levin holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Zoology and was awarded a Masters of Arts and a Doctorate in the structure of Chromatin from the University of Oxford. He also received Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees from the University of Cambridge. He has practiced internal medicine at University Hospitals in England, Switzerland and South Africa.

Paul Sekhri

Paul Sekhri is President and Chief Executive Officer of Lycera, a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing breakthrough immune modulatory medicines. Prior to joining Lycera, Mr. Sekhri was Senior Vice President, Integrated Care at Sanofi, where he led the creation of innovative solutions and business models to meet patient needs. Previously, he served as Group Executive Vice President, Global Business Development and Chief Strategy Officer at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Prior to this, Mr. Sekhri was Operating Partner and Head, Biotech Ops Group at TPG Biotech, the life science venture arm of the global private investment firm TPG, where he was responsible for a portfolio of more than 50 life science firms. Previously, Mr. Sekhri founded and was President and Chief Executive Officer of Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, focused on autoimmune diseases and pain management, and prior to that, he was President and Chief Business Officer of Ariad Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in his career, he held senior positions at Novartis Pharma AG, including as Senior Vice President and Head, Global Search and Evaluation and M&A. He also held managerial positions at Millipore Corporation and PerSeptive Biosystems. Mr. Sekhri has served as a director of numerous private and public company boards, including KAI Pharmaceuticals, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Macrogenics, PatientSafe Solutions, and Tandem Diabetes, and as board advisor to IMS Health. Currently, he is director of Veeva Systems Inc., Enumeral Biomedical Holdings Inc., and Pharming N.V. Mr. Sekhri completed postgraduate studies in clinical anatomy and neuroscience at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine and received his BS degree from the University of Maryland.