Robert E. Hoffman
President, CEO and Chairman of the Board
Robert E. Hoffman has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer since November 8, 2021, as our Chairman since June 2018, and as a director since April 2018. He has served as a member of Aslan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s Board of Directors since October 2018 and as a member of Antibe Therapeutics Inc.’s Board of Directors since November 2020 and as its chairman since May 2022. Mr. Hoffman served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Heron Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly-held pharmaceutical company from April 2017 to October 2020. Prior to joining Heron Therapeutics, Mr. Hoffman was CFO of various biotechnology companies including Arena Pharmaceuticals and AnaptyBio. Mr. Hoffman formerly served as a member of the Board of Directors of Kura Oncology, Aravive, and CombiMatrix Corporation. Mr. Hoffman served as a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Small Business Advisory Committee from 2010 until 2020. Mr. Hoffman holds a B.B.A. from St. Bonaventure University.
Laura Johnson
Director
Laura Johnson has served as a director since June 26, 2020. Ms. Johnson currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Next Generation Clinical Research, a contract research organization that Ms. Johnson founded in 1999. Additionally, Ms. Johnson is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Eufaeria Biosciences, Inc., a development biotechnology company that she founded in 2016. Ms. Johnson is also a founder and former member of the board of directors of SB Bancorp, Inc., a financial holding company, and Settlers Bank, Inc., a Wisconsin chartered business bank. In addition, Ms. Johnson has served as a member of the board of directors of Harmony Hill Farm Sanctuary since 2019. In 2008 and 2010, she was honored as a biotechnology entrepreneur by the national organization, Women in Bio, and in 2008 received the Rising Star Award by the Wisconsin Biotech and Medical Device Association. Most recently, she was the recipient of the Wisconsin Biohealth Business Award at the BioForward Annual Biohealth Summit in October 2019. Ms. Johnson holds a nursing degree from The University of the State of New York-Albany.
Tamara A. (Seymour) Favorito
Director
Tamara A. (Seymour) Favorito has served as a director since April 29, 2021. Ms. Favorito has more than 30 years of life sciences industry experience including 20 years as a chief financial officer. She currently serves as a board member and audit committee chair of Artelo Biosciences, Inc., and Zevra Therapeutics, Inc., both publicly-traded clinical-development stage companies. Ms. Favorito served on the board of directors of Beacon Discovery, Inc. from 2018 until their acquisition in 2021. Ms. Favorito was Interim CFO of Immunic, Inc., a publicly-traded clinical-stage drug development company in 2019. She served as CFO of Signal Genetics, Inc., a publicly-traded molecular diagnostics company, from 2014 to 2017, HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a venture-backed clinical-stage drug development company, from 2010 to 2014 and Favrille, Inc., a publicly-traded clinical-stage drug development company, from 2001 to 2009. While at these companies, she led multiple private and public financings, including Favrille’s IPO. In addition, she was instrumental in M&A transactions and led the finance, investor relations, human resources, administration and managed care and payor reimbursement functions. Ms. Favorito is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive). She received an MBA, emphasis in Finance, from Georgia State University, and a BBA, emphasis in Accounting, from Valdosta State University. She participated in an executive management program at Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. She is a member of the Association of Bioscience Finance Officers and California Society of CPAs.
Robert J. Toth, Jr., M.B.A.
Director
Robert J. Toth, Jr., MBA has served as a director since August 20, 2013. Since 2005, Mr. Toth has primarily been managing his personal investment portfolio. From 2004-2005, Mr. Toth served as a consulting analyst to Narragansett Asset Management, a New York-based healthcare-focused hedge fund, where he advised the firm on biotechnology investments. From 2001-2003, he was the Senior Portfolio Manager for San Francisco-based EGM Capital’s Medical Technology hedge fund, where he was responsible for managing and maintaining a dedicated medical technology portfolio. Mr. Toth began his Wall Street career in 1996 as an Equity Research Associate for Vector Securities International, a healthcare-focused brokerage firm. From 1997-1999 he served as Senior Biotechnology Analyst. He joined Prudential Securities as Senior Vice President and Biotechnology Analyst where he served from 1999-2001 following Prudential’s acquisition of Vector. His responsibilities included the analysis of commercial, clinical and scientific fundamentals of oncology and genomics-based biotechnology companies on behalf of institutional investors. Mr. Toth was named to the Wall Street Journal’s Allstar List for stock picking in 1999. Mr. Toth received an MBA from the University of Washington and Bachelor of Science degrees in Biological Sciences and Biochemistry from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.