Zsolt P. Harsányi, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board of Directors & CEO
Dr. Harsanyi has been President of Porton International (“Porton”), a pharmaceutical and vaccine company based in Washington, D.C. and in London, and is the U.S. holding company for Ipsen Biopharm Ltd., which manufactures Hyate ™ and Dysport ™, and out-licenses Kogenate ™ to Bayer Pharmaceuticals. In 1998 Porton's joint venture with DynCorp ( Reston, Virginia) was awarded a United States Department of Defense vaccine contract with a currently stated value at over $800 million. Prior to joining Porton, Dr. Harsanyi was Vice-President of Corporate Finance at E.F. Hutton, Inc., with responsibility for assessing and financing biotechnology companies. From 1979 to 1981, Dr. Harsanyi directed the first major assessment of biotechnology for the U.S. Congress's Office of Technology Assessment, namely, Impacts of Applied Genetics: Microorganisms, Plants and Animals. He served, concurrently, as an adviser to the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Dr. Harsanyi has contributed chapters to several books and is the author of Genetic Prophecy: Beyond the Double Helix. From 1970 to 1979, he served on the faculty of Cornell University Medical College and conducted research in microbial genetics and infectious diseases, and was a recipient of the Andrew W. Mellon Teacher-Scientist Award. In addition to his responsibilities at EBI, Dr. Harsanyi is a trustee of The Immune Disease Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. He also serves on the Board of Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Dr. Harsanyi received his B.A. degree from Amherst College and his Ph.D. degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.
Michael J. Brownstein, M.D., Ph.D., CSO & Chairman of the SAB
In the position of Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Brownstein brings over thirty years of research experience in the fields of genetics, endocrinology and pharmacology and to the company’s drug development program. Dr. Brownstein joined the National Institute of Health (“NIH”) where, after serving as Chief of the Laboratory of Cell Biology of the National Institute of Mental Health (“NIMH”) he was then appointed Chief of the Laboratory of Genetics of the NIMH and the National Human Genome Research Institute. He has since directed the functional genomics program at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, MD. While at the NIMH, he directed the work in Bethesda on the Brain Molecular Anatomy Project, the goal of which was to catalog genes expressed in the nervous system. Simultaneously, he contributed to the Mammalian Gene Collection, a trans-Institutional effort to clone and sequence cDNAs corresponding to all human, mouse, and rat transcripts. He went to the National Institute of Health to work with Julius Axelrod, recipient of a Nobel Prize in 1970 for his work in the field of neuropharmacology, and stayed there after completing his fellowship. He has worked in the fields of neurobiology, neuroendocrinology, biochemical pharmacology, genetics, and genomics, and is especially interested in developing novel diagnostic tools and therapeutic agents. He has published more than 200 papers in peer reviewed journals, has served on several editorial boards and has served and continues to serve on several scientific advisory boards including the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Translational Genomics Research Institute. He has also participated in founding several successful bio-pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Brownstein earned his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and completed his medical training at University of Chicago, where he received his M.D. and Ph.D. in pharmacology.
Paul W.Th.J. Leufkens, Pharm. D., MBA, Director Product Development
Mr. Leufkens was one of the founders and Vice-President of Business Development of AM-Pharma B.V., a biopharmaceutical company focused on clinical development of novel drugs in the field of severe infectious and inflammatory diseases. AM-Pharma’s peptide technology was a spin out of Pharming Group N.V. (Euronext:PHARM.AS), where Mr. Leufkens held senior positions in both product and business development. After playing a key role in the clinical development of transgenic human Lactoferrin at Pharming Group N.V., Mr. Leufkens took the initiative to commercialize small antimicrobial peptides derived from this large protein as novel antibiotics, leading to the spin-out of AM-Pharma B.V. Prior to AM-Pharma, Mr. Leufkens held positions in regulatory affairs, clinical development and project management with various European companies, including Astellas Europe, a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas Pharma Inc., a public company traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (then Yamanouchi Europe). While at Yamanouchi Europe, Mr. Leufkens headed the project team responsible for the clinical development of Omnic® (Tamsulosin) for benign prostatic hyperplasia in Europe. Mr. Leufkens holds M.Sc. and Pharm. D. degrees from Utrecht University and an MBA from Bradford University (UK).
Bob S. Berns, J.D., Director & CFO
Mr. Berns currently is a director of several companies including EBI, CPAgents, and PackageX, Inc. Mr. Berns founded CPAgents (and its predecessors) in Los Angeles, California in 1977. CPAgents both distributes life and health insurance products through retail and wholesale distribution platforms throughout the US and provides financial, business and estate planning consulting to a range of clientele including international cross border clients in Europe and Asia. Mr. Berns has developed substantial experience in cross-border transactions including management and oversight of securities transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, contracts, tax, litigation and operations. As a Director and CFO of EBI, Mr. Berns has successfully managed the placement of approximately $50 million in private equity capital since EBI’s inception. Investors include US, European and Japanese venture capital along with institutional funding from the European banking and insurance concern, Fortis. As a Director and founder of PackageX, Inc., Mr. Berns has managed the private placement of over $9 million in private equity financing since the inception of the company. PackageX, Inc. is a web based application service provider (“ASP”) offering a suite of digital tools for the packaging industry that connect employees, customers and vendors and is designed to shorten time to market, enhance customer communication and improve organization. PackageX’s collaboration interface is in use by more than 200 NYSE companies including International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) and Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG). Mr. Berns received his J.D. degree from Southwestern University School of Law, Los Angeles, California in 1981 and his B.A. from the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California in 1977.
Roger P. Kirman, J.D., M.B.A., Director & Corporate Secretary
Mr. Kirman is Vice President, Business Affairs of ABC Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company. Prior to his current position, Mr. Kirman served as Senior Vice President, Business Affairs of Big Ticket Television, a subsidiary of Paramount/Viacom and prior to that practiced at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson in New York City. Mr. Kirman received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from Lake Forest College, a law degree from Boston College Law School and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Richard M. Carlton, M.D., Director
Dr. Carlton served as The Company’s President from inception until September 2004, and continues as a director of the Company. Prior to founding EBI, Dr. Carlton engaged in private practice, acted as an agent for technology transfer and clinical trials for academia and industry including acting as a principal investigator for several clinical trials through his Center for Research in Anxiety Disorders. Dr. Carlton received his M.D. degree from New York Medical College, and completed his psychiatric residency at The Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic of New York Hospital – Cornell Medical Center.
John F. Bender, Director
Mr. Bender is the former Head Trading Manager for the Amber Fund and managed money for Soros Fund Management, several large pension funds, and several large banks. His trading methodology was profiled in Jack D. Schwager's Stock Market Wizards: Interviews with America's Top Stock Traders. Mr. Bender is currently working on the development of a wildlife refuge dedicated to the scientific study and conservation of the Costa Rican dry Pacific rain forest. Mr. Bender is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania specializing in biophysics with research appointments to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and Wood's Hole Marine Biological Laboratories.
H. Jurjen G. Kruisinga, Director
Since 1980 Mr. Kruisinga he has been Managing Director of the family dairy farm businesses in England, and from 1983 of the proprietary equity & derivatives trading and investment company, Cross Options Beheer BV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Currently he is also a partner of Cross Corporate Consultants & Cross Corporate Finance (since 1990); Member of the Board of Nedap Preference Shares Foundation (since 1993) in Groenlo, The Netherlands, Nedap NV is a listed company at NYSE Euronext-Amsterdam; Chairman of the Board of the Association of Proprietary Traders in Amsterdam (since 2003); and a Member of the Board of the Dutch Securities Institute (from 1999). He was a Member of the Supervisory Board of “Extra” Clearing BV from 1994 – 1996 and Chairman of the Board of Market Makers Association from 1996 to 2003, both in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Mr. Kruisinga received his BA and MA from Groningen University, the Netherlands.
Hugo P.J. Kruisinga, Director
In 1986 Mr. Kruisinga went to Hong Kong to work for Pierson, Heldring and Pierson, now known as Fortis MeesPierson, in the field of asset management and financial engineering. Mr. Kruisinga returned from Hong Kong to Europe mainly to become more involved in the family businesses, including the dairy farms in Sussex, United Kingdom, and the options market maker firm, Cross Options, in Amsterdam. Together with his brother Jurjen, he took full control of the market maker firm Cross Options in 1988. Since then the company developed further into proprietary trading, was involved in clearing of financial products and supported consolidation of stock- and derivatives exchanges, which resulted in the current connections with NYSE Euronext Inc. In 1988 the family was also involved in a pharmaceutical research and development project of which Cross Options took control in 1997. In this project Mr. Kruisinga developed experience in the fields of clinical trials, intellectual property and product registration. Besides involvement in the family business Mr. Kruisinga was a member of the committee of appeal of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange that led into his present membership of the committee of appeal of the Dutch Securities Institute. Cross Options, through its subsidiary Cross Ventures I BV, has been a shareholder of EBI since October 2005. Mr. Kruisinga received his Master of Economics from the Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Ian R. Ferrier, M.D. (MB.,ChB.), Director
Dr. Ferrier is the founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bogart Delafield Ferrier Inc., and has served in such capacity since its inception in 1982. He is on the Board of Directors of Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc., and the advisory boards of Health Level Seven and Sonic Foundry. From 1982 to 1987, Dr. Ferrier served as President of McCann Healthcare Inc. From 1982 to 1983, Dr. Ferrier served as Chairman of The Covington Group of Companies, in 1982 as Executive Vice President of TechAmerica Group and from 1979 to 1982, as Vice President of Kalipharma Inc. From 1975 to 1979, Dr. Ferrier served as Chief Executive Officer of the Monadnock Medical Center. Dr. Ferrier received a B.Sc. in Pharmacology from the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, served his residency training in nephrology/clinical pharmacology at Southmead General Hospital, University of Bristol Associated Hospitals, Bristol, England and completed a post-graduate internship at the Western General Hospital of the University of Edinburgh Associated Hospitals, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Epistem to Provide Preclinical Efficacy Testing Services for Exponential Biotherapies
