Corporate Governance

Mr. Clark has more than 30 years of biotechnology and pharmaceutical experience, with a focus on business development, commercialization, strategic planning, and general management. Since 2011, he has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceutical company, Genocea Biosciences, Inc. In that role, among other accomplishments, he executed Genocea’s successful strategic pivot from infectious disease to immuno-oncology. Prior to joining Genocea, Mr. Clark was Chief Business Officer at Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company he co-founded in 2004. There, he played central roles in completing the company’s 2006 Nasdaq initial public offering and its 2009 out-licensing deal with Novartis Pharma AG, from which Vanda received an upfront payment of $200 million, plus contingent additional future milestone payments totaling up to $265 million. Previously, he was a Principal at Care Capital, LLC, a venture capital firm investing in biopharmaceutical companies. Earlier in his career, he spent 10 years at SmithKline Beecham Corporation (now part of GlaxoSmithKline plc) in a variety of business development roles. Mr. Clark holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Harvard University.

Dr. Brenner has a strong history of success heading drug discovery and development teams at several of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer Inc., and Merck Research Laboratories. Most recently, Dr. Brenner served as the CSO at Pfenex Inc., which, using its patented Pfēnex Expression Technology® platform, created an advanced pipeline of therapeutic equivalents, vaccines, biologics and biosimilars. Pfenex was acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated for approximately $516 million in October 2020.

Previously, Dr. Brenner served as the CSO at Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on accelerating drug discovery for rare diseases and diseases with high unmet medical need. Prior to his time at Recursion, he was Vice President and Head of Research & Early Development at Stoke Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company using antisense oligonucleotides to increase gene expression for the treatment of rare diseases. Prior to Stoke, he was Executive Director at Merck, where he built a biotech unit from scratch, focusing his team’s research on diabetes and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Earlier in his career, Dr. Brenner was the Senior Director and Head of cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism (CVRM) biosciences at AstraZeneca. In addition, Dr. Brenner was an Associate Research Fellow at Pfizer where he led the islet biology and in vivo pharmacology in the CVMED Target Exploration Unit before assuming the role of Head of the Insulin Resistance Group.

General (Ret.) James T. Hill was the Commander of the 4-Star United States Southern Command, reporting directly to the President and Secretary of Defense at the time of his retirement from active duty. As such, he led all U.S. military forces and operations in Central America, South America and the Caribbean, worked directly with U.S. Ambassadors, foreign heads of state, key Washington decision-makers, foreign senior military and civilian leaders, developing and executing United States policy. His responsibilities included management, development and execution of plans and policy within the organization including programming, communications, manpower, operations, logistics and intelligence. General Hill's deep experience managing and leading large diverse organizations through periods of great change is a key resource.

Dr. Kropotova is a biopharmaceutical executive with 20+ years of global R&D experience in all phases of global clinical development, translational medicine, and medical affairs. Currently, she is Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer at SAb Biotherapeutics, leading the strategy, direction, and execution of the company’s portfolio of innovative polyclonal antibody assets. Prior to joining SAb Biotherapeutics, Dr. Kropotova was Therapeutic Area Head of Global Specialty R&D at Teva Pharmaceuticals, leading innovative drug development across a broad portfolio of immunology and immuno-oncology assets spanning from pre-IND to BLA/NDA filing of biologics and complex drug-device combination products. Dr. Kropotova also served in various roles at Sanofi, including Vice President, Strategy & Strategic Planning Head, North American Medical Affairs; Associate Vice President and subsequently Vice President, Immuno-Inflammation, Global R&D Clinical Development; and Senior Medical Director, Respiratory, Allergy & Anti-Infectives. She also served in various roles at Wyeth and Pfizer. Dr. Kropotova received her MBA from Ohio University Graduate School of Business, Athens, Ohio; and her M.D. in Internal Medicine from the Vladivostok State Medical University, Vladivostok, Russia.

In an executive leadership career spanning more than 20 years, Mr. Schimmelpennink has applied his strategic and functional expertise across corporate development, commercial operations, manufacturing, and R&D to help build and scale a number of global public and private biopharmaceutical businesses. He currently serves as President and CEO of LENZ Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company with a lead late clinical-stage program that represents a potential best-in-class therapy for presbyopia. Previously, he served as CEO of Pfenex Inc., a NYSEA-listed company which, using its patented Pfēnex Expression Technology® platform, created an advanced pipeline of therapeutic equivalents, vaccines, biologics and biosimilars. Pfenex was acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated for approximately $516 million (including contingent value rights) in October 2020. Previously, Mr. Schimmelpennink served as CEO of Alvotech Ehf, a global biopharmaceutical company focused on becoming a leader in the biosimilar monoclonal antibody market. Prior to joining Alvotech, he held variety of progressive roles with Pfizer Inc., Hospira, Inc., Synthon BV and Numico NV. Mr. Schimmelpennik also serves on the board of directors of Pipeline Therapeutics, Inc. Mr. Schimmelpennink holds a Masters in Bioprocess Engineering from the Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Gary Sender is currently President of Sender Consulting LLC and previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Nabriva Therapeutics plc from 2016 until his retirement in 2021. Nabriva is a Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceutical company engaged in the commercialization and development of innovative anti-infective agents to treat serious infections. Prior to joining Nabriva, he served as CFO and Executive Vice President at Synergy Pharmaceuticals from 2015 to 2016. From 2009 until 2015, Mr. Sender served as Senior Vice President, Finance at Shire Plc., supporting its Specialty Pharmaceuticals business and subsequently its Global Commercial businesses. Mr. Sender also serves on the board of directors of Schrodinger Inc., Harmony Biosciences Holdings, Inc. and Elucida Oncology. He is the Chairman of the three Board’s Audit Committees. Mr. Sender received his B.S. from Boston University and an M.B.A from Carnegie‑Mellon University.