Committees

Dr. Khalid Islam has served as our Chairman of our Board of directors since December 2009 and our Chief Executive Officer since November 2009. Dr. Islam has over 22 years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector. From 1999 to 2008, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the SWX-listed anti-infective company Arpida AG. Prior to joining Arpida, he held various research and development roles at Hoechst Marion Roussel and Marion-Merrell Dow, both global pharmaceutical companies. He is the founder/co-founder of several companies and has previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for Arpida AG in Switzerland, Rheoscience A/S in Denmark and Chairman of Arpida Inc. In addition, Dr. Islam is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of C10 Pharma in Norway, an advisor to the venture capital group Kurma Biofund in Paris, a member of the International Scientific Advisory Board of the Network of Excellence in Pathogenomics and of the Editorial Board of Current Drug Discovery and Technologies. He received a Bachelor of Science from Chelsea College, University of London, and his Ph.D. from Imperial College, University of London. He has published over 80 articles in scientific journals and holds numerous patents.

Gigliola Bertoglio has served as one of our directors from December 2004. Ms. Bertoglio has been a partner of Audirevi S.r.l., an Italian registered public accounting firm, since January 2005 and was a self-employed consultant during 2004. From 1970 through 2003 she was employed by Reconta Ernst & Young (the Italian affiliate of Ernst & Young LLP) and its predecessors and was an audit partner beginning in 1977. From 1998 until leaving the firm, she was responsible for the firm’s Capital Market Group in Italy. From 1989 to 1998, she was responsible for directing the firm’s Professional Standards Group, a member of the Accounting and Auditing Standards Group of Ernst & Young International and a coordinating audit partner for clients with international operations. From 1977 to 1989, Ms. Bertoglio was a partner of the Italian firm of Arthur Young & Co. (the predecessor to Ernst & Young) where she was responsible for directing the firm’s Professional Standards Group, served in an advisory role to the Accounting and Auditing Standards Group of Arthur Young International and was a coordinating audit partner for clients with international operations. From 1970 to 1977, she was an Audit Manager (1970 to 1974) and an Audit Principal (1975 to 1977) with the Italian firm of Arthur Young & Co. in its Rome and Milan offices. Prior to 1970, Ms. Bertoglio was employed in the New York offices of Horwath & Horwath and LKH&H, both of which were public accounting firms. She earned a degree in Public Accounting from New York University and a Diploma in Accounting from Economics Institution in Biella, Italy. She is a Certified Public Accountant (active license to August 31, 2003, inactive after that) in the United States and included in the Register of Authorized Auditors of Consob, the Italian Stock Exchange’s regulatory agency for public companies.

Dr. Glenn Cooper has served as one of our directors since October 2009. Dr. Cooper is currently the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Coronado Biosciences, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused  on cancer care. From 1993 until 2009, Dr. Cooper served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nasdaq-listed Indevus Pharmaceutical, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on urology and endocrinology. Prior to joining Indevus in 1993, Dr. Cooper held numerous executive level positions, including President and Chief Executive Officer of Progenitor, Inc., Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Sphinx Pharmaceuticals Corporation, and various clinical and regulatory positions with NYSE-listed Eli Lilly and Company. Dr. Cooper has participated in the development and commercialization of numerous drugs, including Prozac®, Axid®, Lorabid®, Ceclor®, SANCTURA®, SANCTURA XR®, Supprelin-LA®, and Vantas®. Dr. Cooper is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Repligen Corporation, listed on Nasdaq. Dr. Cooper received an M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine, performed his postdoctoral training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the New England Deaconess Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital and received a B.A. from Harvard University.

Dr. Laura Ferro is our former President and Chief Executive Officer (1991 until 2009) and has served as one of our directors since 1991. Dr. Ferro is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of our largest shareholder, FinSirton. From 1991 to 2010, Dr. Ferro also held various positions at Sirton Pharmaceuticals S.p.A., a subsidiary of FinSirton that specializes in manufacturing pharmaceutical products. Prior to that, Dr. Ferro was a practicing physician for 15 years. Dr. Ferro is a member of the executive committee of Farmindustria, an italian pharmaceutical industry group. She is also the President of the Gianfranco Ferro Foundation, a not-for-profit Italian organization with the mission of stimulating research, education and dissemination of information on the correct use of medications and adverse effects of medicines. Dr. Ferro received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Milan, and a MBA from Bocconi University in Milan in 1994. Dr. Ferro is a licensed physician. She was certified in psychiatry at the University of Milan in 1981 and in Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Milan in 1994.

Dr. Bobby W. Sandage, Jr. has served as one of our directors since October 2009. Dr. Sandage currently serves as Vice President of Embedded Therapeutics at NYSE-listed Covidien Plc. From 1991, and until Indevus Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Endo Pharmaceuticals in 2009, Dr. Sandage held various positions at Indevus Pharmaceuticals, including Executive Vice-President of Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer. Following the acquisition of Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Sandage served as the Executive Vice-President for Endo Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company listed on Nasdaq that is engaged in the research, development, sale and marketing of analgesic products and products to treat various urological and endocrinological conditions. Prior to joining Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Sandage held senior drug development positions for DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company, DuPont Cricital Care (formerly American Critical Care) and Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Sandage previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of Osteologix Inc.., a public pharmaceutical company that focuses on the treatment and prevention of diseases of bone and joint tissue. He has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Genta, Inc., also a public company. Dr. Sandage has a B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Arkansas and Ph.D. in Clinical Pharmacy from Purdue University.

Dr. Marco Brughera has over 25 years of experience and management in research and development and operations in the healthcare industry. He has held numerous senior level positions at Pfizer, Pharmacia, Farmitalia Carlo Erba and contributed to the registration of different classes of oncology drugs (cytotoxics, hormonal, kinase inhibitors). Currently, Dr. Brughera is the Managing Director of Corporate Research and Development at Sigma-Tau. In this role, Mr. Brughera manages the global R&D portfolio including several programs in research, preclinical, clinical and registration stages.

Elmar Schnee, 52, has more than 20 years of experience in the international pharmaceutical industry, with specific expertise in strategic planning, business development and marketing acquired through various positions held at Merck, Fisons Pharmaceutical PLC, Sanofi-Synthélabo and UCB Pharma. Since 2011, Mr. Schnee has served as Executive Chairman of Cardiorentis Ltd., a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of acute heart failure (AHF). Previously, Mr. Schnee spent several years in the global pharmaceutical and chemical group at Merck KGaA. He joined Merck in 2003 as Managing Director of Merck Santé s.a.s. in Lyon, France. In January 2004, Mr. Schnee assumed responsibility for global operations of the ethical pharmaceuticals division of Merck KGaA, and in November 2005, Mr. Schnee was appointed as Deputy Member of the Executive Board responsible for the pharmaceuticals business sector. In 2006, he was appointed as Regular Member of the Executive Board and General Partner of Merck KGaA, with responsibility for pharmaceutical products oversight. Mr. Schnee holds a degree in Marketing Management from the Swiss Institute of Business Administration in Zurich.