Management

Dan Browne, Co-Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Browne’s career encompasses over 20 years of operating experience with biotherapeutic and device products. He served as President & CEO of Neomend (biologics) from 2000 to 2001, where he guided the company through from discovery to human proof-of-concept and pivotal testing. Mr. Browne served as President & CEO of Prograft Medical (stent-grafts and drug delivery stents) from 1996-2000, where he established the company’s first steady-state manufacturing facility, supported four stent-graft and stent projects from inception into Phase III studies, all four of which were approved for use by the US FDA and are now product leaders in the category. Previously, Mr. Browne served for more than 17 years at W.L. Gore and Associates, lastly as General Manager and Business Leader of W.L. Gore Medical Products Division, where he had direct P&L responsibility for worldwide cardiovascular and vascular products and he contributed to establishing the GORE-TEX brand as the global market leader.

Jacob Waugh, MD, Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Waugh has over 17 years of experience in applied cross-disciplinary research. He trained with pioneering leaders in molecular medicine and chemistry, has received numerous awards, and has authored over 40 research manuscripts and publications. Dr. Waugh served as a Senior Scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine from 2001 to 2004, where he pioneered real-world in vivo tissue engineering applications. Dr. Waugh has also served as an advisor in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.

David Styka, Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Styka has over 20 years of finance and operations executive management experience and is a veteran of Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial environment, having raised in excess of $100 million for various companies. He has served as CFO of Equal Elements, a private equity management firm, CFO of The b-EQUAL Company, a family gaming company, a Partner at Incubasia, a Hong Kong based venture capital firm, and as CFO for Entercept, a network security firm acquired by McAfee. He has successfully completed 9 M&A transactions in the last 11 years.

Sharon Hall, Vice President of Regulatory and Clinical Affairs

Ms Hall has over 15 years of increasing experience responsibility in pharmaceutical regulatory affairs and product development, from research through product approval and commercialization. Ms. Hall has managed regulatory and development programs for investigational and commercial drug products, including several with international approvals. Previously, Ms Hall held positions at Pharmacofore from 2005-2008; Connetics Corporation from 2002 to 2005 where she led the submission and approval of several dermatological products for additional indications or initial marketing approval including OLUX® and Evoclin®; and Aerogen from 2000-2002.

Niquette Hunt, Senior Vice President of Commercial Development

Ms. Hunt is an experienced marketing professional with over 20 years experience at both large corporations (including Procter and Gamble from 1987 to 1993 and Warner-Lambert/Pfizer from 1993 to 1996 and small start-up companies (Amira Medical, ChemTrak). As the Principal of the McLean-Hunt Consulting Group, Ms. Hunt guided the commercialization efforts of over 16 venture backed start-up companies. Ms. Hunt has proven her ability to drive significant growth on a variety of businesses across multiple industries. She had direct responsibility for launching 18 new medical technology and consumer products into each of their representative markets.

Curtis Ruegg, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Research and Development

Dr. Ruegg has more than 14 years of management responsibility for preclinical and product development including manufacturing across all company development programs (recombinant proteins, small molecules and semi-synthetics) as well as drug-device combinations, spanning pre-IND to post-approval stage programs with core participation in compilation/authoring CMC and nonclinical sections of regulatory filings and interactions (IND to NDA). Previously, Dr. Ruegg has held management and R&D positions at Co-Therix from 2004 to 2006 where he led the development effort for Ventavis™ to FDA approval and commercial launch, InterMune from 2002 to 2004, and Dendreon from 1993 to 1998.