John T. Spitznagel
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Oceana Therapeutics, Inc.
David S. Tierney, M.D.
President & Chief Operating Officer
Oceana Therapeutics, Inc.
Frank J. Loverro
Kelso & Company
Christopher L. Collins
Kelso & Company
Matthew S. Edgerton
Kelso & Company
Bob More
Frazier Healthcare and Technology Ventures
John T. Spitznagel
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Oceana Therapeutics, Inc.
Prior to Oceana, John Spitznagel served as Chairman and CEO for Esprit Pharma, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the genito-urinary market. He oversaw Espirit’s growth from a start-up in 2005 to its purchase by Allergan, Inc. in 2007. Previously he was Chairman & CEO of ESP Pharma, a company he co-founded in 2002 to pursue the acquisition, development and marketing of acute-care pharmaceuticals. ESP’s rapid growth in sales and profitability attracted third party suitors and in March 2005, within three years of initiating operations, ESP was acquired for over $500 million. Before ESP, John was President & CEO of Roberts Pharmaceutical which specialized in acquiring in-market and late-stage development drugs. He joined Roberts in 1996 and is credited with leading that company through a dramatic turnaround in profitability and the successful merger of the company into Shire plc in late 1999 in a transaction valued at approximately $1.2 billion. From 1990-1995, John served as President of the Reed and Carnrick division of Block Drug where he also was responsible for a successful turnaround in the division’s performance. John began his career at Warner-Lambert in sales and marketing and spent nearly ten years at Hoffmann-La Roche and ten years at American Home Products where he was Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Wyeth.
Mr. Spitznagel is the recipient of a 2004 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® award and has been honored twice by PharmaVOICE, in 2010 and 2006, as one of the 100 Most Inspiring People in the Life Sciences Industry. He is a trustee for Rider University where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts. John also holds an M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
David S. Tierney, M.D.
President & Chief Operating Officer
Oceana Therapeutics, Inc.
Previously, from 2000 to 2007, David Tierney was President, CEO and Director for Valera Pharmaceuticals where he implemented and executed a business plan successfully transitioning the company from a science-based polymer research organization into an integrated specialty pharmaceutical company. Under his leadership, Valera actively pursued and received a number of regulatory product approvals and successfully completed an Initial Public Offering in 2005. Shortly thereafter, Valera attracted the attention of other pharmaceutical companies and was acquired in 2007. Prior to Valera, Dr. Tierney served as President of Biovail Technologies, a division of Biovail Corporation and from 1997 through 1999 he held the position of Senior Vice President, Drug Development for Roberts Pharmaceutical. At Roberts, he was a principal member of the executive management team responsible for a turnaround in that company’s earnings from losses to accelerating profitability, eventually leading to Roberts acquisition by Shire plc in late 1999 in a transaction valued in excess of $1 billion. Before joining Roberts, Dr. Tierney spent eight years at Elan Corporation in a variety of management positions. During his time at Elan, Dr. Tierney was involved in the development of numerous successful NDAs.
A recipient of a 2005 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® award, Dr. Tierney was named to the 2005 and 2006 PharmaVOICE list of the 100 Most Inspiring People in the Life Sciences Industry. He was also featured in the 2010 inaugural Irish Life Science 50, an honor bestowed by the Irish Voice newspaper and Irish America Magazine, in conjunction with the Irish Government. Dr. Tierney received his medical degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland.
Frank J. Loverro
Kelso & Company
Frank J. Loverro joined Kelso in 1993 and is currently a Managing Director. Prior to joining Kelso, he worked in private equity investing at the Clipper Group. Mr. Loverro started his career in the High Yield Finance Group at CS First Boston, where he focused on debt and equity financing alternatives for leveraged companies. Mr. Loverro received a B.A. with distinction in Economics from the University of Virginia. Mr. Loverro is also a director of KRH Investments, LLC and Buckeye GP Holdings, L.P.
Christopher L. Collins
Kelso & Company
Christopher L. Collins joined Kelso in 2001 and is currently a Vice President. Prior to joining the Firm, he was enrolled at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and prior to that he was an analyst at Stonington Partners. Mr. Collins received a B.A. in English with honors from Duke University and an M.B.A. (Finance and Business Policy) from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Mr. Collins is also a director of AVSC Holding Corp., IGPS Company LLC, Buckeye GP Holdings, L.P. and Renfro Corporation.
Matthew S. Edgerton
Kelso & Company
Matthew S. Edgerton, joined Kelso in 2005 as an Associate. Prior to joining the firm, he was an Analyst in the Investment Banking Division of Deutsche Bank. Mr. Edgerton received a B.A. in Economics and History from Duke University.
Bob More
Frazier Healthcare and Technology Ventures
Mr. More joined Frazier Healthcare in 2008 as a General Partner and is a member of the firm’s biopharma and medical device investment teams. Prior to Frazier Healthcare, Mr. More was a Partner with Domain Associates, having joined the firm in 1996 as a Kauffman Fellow and becoming a Partner in 2000. From 1997-1998, Mr. More served as the Chief Operating Officer of Small Molecule Therapeutics, a Domain portfolio company subsequently purchased by Morphochem AG. And from 1992 to 1995, Mr. More was with Pharmacia Biotech in sales. Prior to joining Pharmacia, Mr. More held a research position at Somatogen, a company developing a recombinant blood substitute that was subsequently bought by Baxter. While attending business school, Mr. More worked with MedVest, an early-stage venture group in Washington, D.C.
Mr. More managed successful investments in and served on the boards of ESP Pharma (acquired by Protein Design Labs, Inc.), Proxima Therapeutics (acquired by Cytyc Corporation), Onux Medical (acquired by C.R. Bard), NovaCardia (acquired by Merck), Esprit Pharma (acquired by Allergan) and IntraLase (acquired by Advanced Medical Optics, Inc.).
Mr. More serves as an advisory board member for Montagu Newhall Associates, Okapi Ventures, The Medical Industry Group of the NVCA and The Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center. He is also a past founding board member of the Kauffman Fellows Program.
Mr. More received his MBA from the Darden School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia and a BA from Middlebury College.
© Oceana Therapeutics, Inc.