Leadership

Management Team

Kent E. Pryor, PhD, MBA

Chief Executive Officer

Previously Chief Operating Officer of SynthRx; Associate Director of Drug Development at Kemia, and Group Leader at Corvas International
X01 grantee from NINDS for RHAPSODY Phase 2 study of 3K3A-APC in stroke patients

Howard Levy, MB BCh, PhD, MMM

Senior Medical Advisor

Previously CMO at Catalyst Biosciences; Sr. Global Medical Program Director at CSL Bering, SVP & CMO at Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals, and Chief of Critical Care Medicine , University of New Mexico
Former Clinical Research Physician and Medical Director, Acute Care, Eli Lilly and Company
Headed post-marketing clinical trials and medical affairs for recombinant Activated Protein C (Xigris) in severe sepsis

Susan Willingham

Director of Finance

• Senior Manager of the tax group, Pioneer Wealth Partners

• Formerly Senior Associate at the Quellos Group, providing wealth management services to high net worth families

• Certified Public Accountant

Craig Van De Mark, JD

VP, Legal

Legal expertise in Corporate Finance, M&A, Insurance & Risk Management and IP
Contracting including Licensing, Drug Manufacturing, Material Transfers and Clinical Trials
Previously General Counsel to Zilkha Biomass Energy and General Counsel to Zilkha Renewable Energy

Lisa Koch-Hulle, RAC

Head of Regulatory Affairs

Principal, LKH & Associates
Previously Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Operations, La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company
Vice President, Clinical Operations and Regulatory Affairs for Light Sciences Oncology

Frieder Hofmann, PhD

Head of Quality

• Principal Consultant, ProCon International: Independent technical regulatory and process development consultant in mainly the recombinant protein and synthetic peptide areas since 1990

• Previously Technical Director of BioTechnetics, and Manager, Technical & Scientific Services for Brunswick GmbH

Scientific Advisory Board

Berislav V. Zlokovic, MD, PhD | SAB Chairman

Dr. Zlokovic is Director of the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Mary Hayley and Selim Zilkha Chair in Alzheimer’s disease research, and professor and chair of the Department of Physiology & Neurosciences at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California (USC). He is also professor of biological sciences at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences of USC. Zlokovic is recognized internationally as a leader in the fields of Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and neurovascular biology. He has a life-long career in studying the role of cerebral blood vessels in Alzheimer’s disease and stroke. He identified the cellular and molecular mechanisms causing blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown, which he showed leads to neurodegeneration. He also discovered molecular mechanisms at the BBB that maintain clearance of Alzheimer’s amyloid-beta toxin, and its re-entry into the brain, reflecting an important physiological function of the BBB in Abeta homeostasis. His basic and pre-clinical findings have contributed to Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease, and a successfully completed phase 2 clinical trial in ischemic stroke patients with activated protein C (APC). Thomson Reuters and Clarivate Analytics listed Zlokovic as one of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds” in 2002-2018 for ranking in top one percent of the most-cited authors in the field of neurosciences and behavioral sciences for 17 consecutive years. He received numerous awards for his research including the MetLife Award for Medical Research, the Potamkin Prize from the American Academy of Neurology, the MERIT Award from NIA, the Javits Award from NINDS, and more recently, the 2019 USC Associates Award for Creativity in Research and Scholarship “the highest honor the university faculty bestows on its members for distinguished intellectual achievements”. He is a fellow of the AAAS, and a member of the Danna Alliance for Brain Initiative, and the European Academy of Sciences. Zlokovic is an active entrepreneur and inventor. He is a co-founder ZZ Biotech.

Thomas P. Davis, PhD

Thomas Davis Dr. Davis is Professor of Medical Pharmacology, Physiology and Neurosciences and Director of the Blood Brain Barrier Laboratory at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

Prior to his position in academia, Dr. Davis worked at Abbott Pharmaceuticals as a member of the team that researched, developed and marketed TDX for therapeutic drug monitoring. The focus of his research over the past 30 plus years is the blood brain barrier (BBB)/Neurovascular Unit in health and disease and specifically the effects of pain, inflammation and stroke on the BBB. He studies how tight junctions of the BBB form a uniquely regulated tight seal while remaining capable of rapid modulation and regulation in neuropathological disease states. Dr. Davis holds several honors including Membership in the Loyola Marymount University College of Science and Engineering Wall of Fame and Founders Day Awardee and speaker at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

Dr. Davis has over 210 peer reviewed scientific publications, 30 invited book chapters, and holds awards from the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Mental Health and National Institute on Drug Abuse, where he has been continuously funded since 1981. Dr. Davis has also served as Chief Scientific Officer for Hansen Beverages Inc., a non-alcoholic beverage company,
since 1981.

John H. Griffin, PhD

Dr. Griffin is Professor of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute. He holds joint appointments in the Center for Integrative Molecular Biosciences and the Kellogg School of Science and Technology.

He serves on several editorial boards and is an honorary member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Dr. Griffin is a world expert on the activated Protein C system.

He is involved in long-term studies of plasma proteins that regulate thrombosis and hemostasis.

His biochemical, molecular biological and clinical research studies have contributed to define molecular mechanisms or defects that are related to development of thrombosis and ischemic stroke.

His work is also focused of protein engineering to establish structure-function relationships for clotting factors. Dr. Griffin has over 350 publications and holds several awards from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Dr. Griffin received a BS in Physics from Santa Clara University and then a PhD in Biophysics from the University of California, Davis, in 1969. Following four years of postdoctoral training in spectroscopic studies of protein structure and function with Dr. Elkan R. Blout at Harvard Medical School and with Dr. Christian B. Anfinsen at the NIH in Bethesda, he continued NMR studies of peptide and protein structure at the French Atomic Energy Commission Laboratory (C.E.A.) in Saclay, France.

Board of Directors

Joseph J. Romano | Executive Chairman

Mr. Romano has worked with Michael and Selim Zilkha in the energy industry since 1989. Mr. Romano was President and Chief Executive Officer of Zilkha Renewable Energy and Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Zilkha Energy Company.

He presently serves on the Board of Directors of Contango Oil and Gas (NYSE: MCF), President and CEO of Olympic Energy Partners, and director and Vice President of Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard. He served as Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, and Controller of Texas International Company from 1986 to 1988 and as its Treasurer and Controller from 1982 to 1985.

Prior to 1982, Mr. Romano spent five years working in the Worldwide Energy Group of the First National Bank of Chicago.

He earned a BA in economics and political science from the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire and an MBA from the University of Northern Illinois.

Kent E. Pryor, PhD, MBA | Chief Executive Officer and Director

Dr. Pryor joined the company full-time in 2010 to coordinate drug development operations including manufacturing, quality systems, regulatory affairs, and clinical research.

Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer of SynthRx, Inc., Associate Director of Drug Development at Kémia, Inc., and Group Leader at Corvas International, Inc. Dr. Pryor has served on the Boards of Directors for multiple non-profit corporations and served on the Advisory Board of Assay Depot.

Dr. Pryor received his BA in chemistry magna cum laude from Rice University, a PhD in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego.

Craig M. Van De Mark, JD | Vice President, Legal, and Director

Mr. Van De Mark is an experienced attorney with legal expertise in Corporate Finance, M&A, Insurance & Risk Management and IP. His contracting experience includes Licensing, Drug Manufacturing, Material Transfers and Clinical Trials.

Mr. Van De Mark served as General Counsel to Zilkha Biomass Energy from 2005 until June 2008, and also served as General Counsel to Zilkha Renewable Energy from 1998 to 2005 and Zilkha Energy Company from 1994 to 1996.

He also worked with Sterling Consulting Group providing strategy consulting to Fortune 500 energy companies for two years, and was previously in private legal practice for several years with a national law firm.

Mr. Van De Mark earned a BBA degree in finance from the University of Texas at Austin and a JD degree cum laude from the University of Houston,
where he served on the Houston Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif.

Jay Hennock | Director

Mr. Hennock has over 25 years in corporate advisory services with Citibank, Bank of America and Jacanda Capital.

He founded Access Systems, which was sold to International Gaming Technology Inc in 1999. He was a Director and CFO of Nuon Therapeutics Inc, and a co-founder and CEO of Bioatrix Pty Ltd. which was acquired by ZZ Biotech, LLC in 2015.

He earned a BEc from the University of Sydney.

Tadeusz Wellisz, MD | Director

Dr. Wellisz is the Chairman of Ceremed, Inc. and co-founder and Chairman of Bioplate, Inc. At the time of founding Bioplate in 1993, he was Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center.

Dr. Wellisz received a BA in biology from the University of Chicago and an MD from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He did surgical residency at the New York University School of Medicine and plastic surgery residency at the University of Southern California.

Hewmun Lau, MBA | Board Observer

Hewmun Lau, MBA, is a Principal at Broadview Ventures.

Hewmun shares responsibility for the day-to-day investment activities at Broadview Ventures, including identification and screening of new opportunities, due diligence, negotiation of deal structure, and portfolio company board involvement.

Previously, Hewmun was at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals where she held several roles with increasing responsibility. She was most recently Director of Corporate Development where she led the company’s business development activities. Her prior positions within Merrimack include Associate Director of New Product Planning and Senior Manager of Commercial Analytics where she supported the launch of Merrimack’s first marketed drug. Before Merrimack, Hewmun was a Senior Consultant at Navigant Consulting’s Life Sciences Practice. Hewmun began her career in biomedical research including lab research positions at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and McLean Hospital.

Hewmun holds a B.S. from Brandeis University, an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a M.S. from the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology.