Chairman and Director
Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Co-Founder/SVP Corporate Development
Cardiokine, Inc.
Mr. Mervis has been a catalyst for success in technology-based companies in life sciences and communications. He has an extensive background in securities and commercial transactions, defining and establishing strategic alliances, and securing the financial and human resources for corporate growth. Mr. Mervis is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors at Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Co-Founder/Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at Cardiokine, Inc. He was also a co-founder of Barrier Therapeutics, Inc. (BTRX), the successful spin-out of Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ) dermatology development portfolio. Before Barrier, Mr. Mervis was Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Apple Tree Partners, L.L.C. and Co-Founder & Executive Vice President of MedicinePlanet Inc., a developer of healthcare services for the mobile world. He was also a Founder & Managing Director of Crunch Media Corporation, a multimedia production company where he was producer/co-creator of A Brief History of Time with Stephen Hawking: An Interactive Adventure. Mr. Mervis received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and his B.S. from Cornell University .
Co-Founder, President, CEO and Director
Before co-founding CoDa, Mr. Duft was a partner in the Duane Morris law firm. From 1990 through 1998, Mr. Duft was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Amylin Pharmaceuticals. His 25 year legal practice focused on biotechnology company strategy and growth, with an emphasis on intellectual property licensing, strategic patent prosecution, and litigation. In addition to experience in crafting and building U.S. and worldwide patent portfolios, Mr. Duft has drafted and negotiated numerous agreements, including local and worldwide joint research agreements, joint development agreements and corporate partnership agreements, as well as numerous licenses. Mr. Duft is a graduate of the George Washington University Law School, where he received a Masters in Patent and Trade Regulation, (LL.M., with highest honors), the California Western School of Law (J.D., cum laude ) , and the University of Colorado where he received his degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology.
Back to Top
Managing Partner
Domain Associates
Mr. Blair has been a Partner of Domain since its founding in 1985. Present board memberships include Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Cell Biosciences, Five Prime Therapeutics, GenVault, NeuroPace, Novacea, NuVasive, Pharmion and Volcano. Mr. Blair has over thirty-five years experience with venture and emerging growth companies. In the course of this experience, he has been involved in the creation and successful development at the Board level of over forty life sciences ventures, including Amgen, Aurora Biosciences, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Applied Biosystems, Dura Pharmaceuticals, GeneOhm Sciences and Molecular Dynamics. A former managing director of Rothschild Inc., Mr. Blair was directly involved at a senior level with Rothschild/New Court venture capital activities from 1978 to 1985. From 1969 to 1978, he was associated with F.S. Smithers and Co. and White, Weld and Co., two investment banking firms actively involved with new ventures and emerging growth companies. From 1961 to 1969, Mr. Blair was an engineering manager with RCA Corporation, during which time he received a David Sarnoff Fellowship. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and he is on the Advisory Boards of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania . Mr. Blair graduated from U. of Pennsylvania with his M.S.E. and Ph.D. in 1969 and from Princeton University with his B.S.E. in 1961.
Back to Top
Managing Partner
GBS Ventures Partners
Dr Geoff Brooke joined GBS in 1996 and has more than 15 years venture capital experience. He was formerly President of Medvest Inc., a US-based early-stage venture capital group he co-founded with Johnson & Johnson. Geoff's experience includes company formation and acquisitions, as well as public listings on both NASDAQ and ASX. He has been an investor, executive and director of private and public companies and has an extensive network of international contacts. Geoff is on the board of GBS portfolio companies Cerylid Biosciences, CogState, Phenomix, Portland Orthopaedics, Promics and Sunshine Heart.
Geoff is licensed in clinical medicine by the Medical Board of Victoria, Australia and his post-graduate studies were in anaesthesiology/intensive care. He earned his Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery from the University of Melbourne, Australia and a Masters of Business Administration from IMEDE (now IMD) in Lausanne , Switzerland .
Back to Top
Co-Founder and Director
Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Mr. Greene is a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of Amylin Pharmaceuticals and has served as a director at Amylin since its inception in 1987. Mr. Greene serves on the Audit Committee and the Finance Committee. Mr. Greene is an entrepreneur who has participated in the founding and/or management of eleven medical technology companies over two decades, including three companies for which he served as chief executive officer. From 1987 to 1996, Mr. Greene served as Amylin's Chief Executive Officer. From 1986 until 1993, Mr. Greene was a founding general partner of Biovest Partners, a seed venture capital firm. He was Chief Executive Officer of Hybritech from 1979 until its acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company in 1986, and he was co-inventor of Hybritech's patented monoclonal antibody assay technology. Prior to joining Hybritech, he was an executive with the medical diagnostics division of Baxter Healthcare Corporation from 1974 to 1979 and a consultant with McKinsey & Company from 1967 to 1974. He is a director of Biosite Incorporated. Mr. Greene received an M.B.A. from Harvard University
Back to Top
Co-Founder, President, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and Director
Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Dr. Thompson is an experienced biotechnology executive and entrepreneur. He co-founded Trubion Pharmaceuticals, and is presently its President, Chief Executive Officer, and a Director. Dr. Thompson is the former Vice President, Research and Technology Department of BD Bioscience and the former Vice President & General Manager of Chiron Informatics at Chiron Corporation. Dr. Thompson also co-founded iMetrikus where he served as CEO and Chairman. He is the managing director of Strategicon Partners, an investment and management service company that he founded and is also on the Board of AllianceVista. Dr. Thompson is a board-certified internist and oncologist. He was on staff at the National Cancer Institute following his training at Yale University .
Back to Top
Co-Founder and Director
Professor Green, an eminent cell biologist with an international reputation in research into cell-to-cell interactions, is the first recipient of the newly funded chair W & B Hadden Chair of Ophthalmology and Translational Vision Research at the University of Auckland . Professor Green has been in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University for the past 12 years, and previously held a personal chair in the department of Anatomy with Radiology, and was director of the Biomedical Imaging Research Unit. He graduated from The University of Auckland with a PhD in Zoology in 1980 and spent 12 years conducting research in international centres in France , England and the United States before returning to New Zealand .
Back to Top
