Biosortia is on the cutting edge of natural products discovery. Its scientific team and advisors have the experience and know-how to decipher this complex, unexplored environment in a very efficient manner that will bring thousands of novel natural product compounds to market at a time where there is a critical need for new drugs to combat cancer, CNS, inflammation, and infectious disease.
Biosortia has established deep relationships with best in class advisors. Each relationship is uniquely selected based upon its ability to accelerate Biosortia’s aspiration of becoming the premier, aquatic natural products discovery company. The advisory team is multi-disciplinary and brings the full range of operational leadership experience across the critical disciplines – science, technology, product development and senior leadership – within the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.
Each Advisor is actively involved with Biosortia and provides perspective, expertise and counsel from their years of executive experience at successful companies. They also provide critical access to established relationships and extensive networks throughout the life sciences, industry, and academic communities. Our relationships provide deep knowledge of discovering and advancing the unique, novel, and rare compounds and fractions through the drug discovery and development process.
Dr. Dominique Bridon – Chief Executive Officer at DIACCURATE (Paris, France) – Dr. Bridon brings more than 29 years of executive and scientific leadership experience to the Diaccurate team. Before Diaccurate, Dr. Bridon was the CEO of Biodesy and prior to that, he was Chief Development Officer at Nuritas, driving a disruptive approach to Peptide Discovery. Prior to that role, Dr. Bridon led the development of novel transporter-mediated oncology and CNS drugs at Optivia. He also held various leadership positions at Ipsen, Conjuchem, Redcell, and Abbott. Dr. Bridon has served as a Director for Enobia (acquired by Alexion) and Neuronax and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Syntaxin (acquired by Ipsen) and Biosortia. He holds a Master of Science, Chemical Engineering and Polymer Sciences from Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Paris XI, ICSN, Orsay, France with Nobel Laureate Sir Derek H. R. Barton as Research Advisor. He completed post-doctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley.
Robert Ferri – Founder of Robert Ferri Partners, is a shareholder-advisor to public and private technology companies. His areas of focus include early-stage and public company growth, investor relations, corporate development, business development, corporate communications, and public policy. Robert has helped found, grow and finance a number of companies in the U.S. and Europe, including online securities brokers, transaction technology providers, and enterprise solutions companies. Robert has launched and headed media relations and investor relations departments at Nasdaq, Montgomery Securities, and two Omnicom firms. In Washington, D.C., he was Communications Director to U.S. Senator John Heinz. He also was a columnist and reporter in the Washington bureau of Thomson Newspapers, as well as Founder of The Amherst News, a weekly newspaper in his native Massachusetts. With an MPA from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Robert serves on the School’s Executive Council of the HKS Fund, the Dean’s Alumni Leadership Council and the San Francisco Area Advisory Committee of the Center for Public Interest Careers at Harvard College. He serves on a number of boards.
William H. Gerwick, Ph.D. – Dr. Gerwick received his B.S. in Biochemistry (UC Davis, 1976), his Ph.D. in Oceanography (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1981), and did post-doctoral studies at the University of Connecticut (1981-82). He was a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico (1982-84) and then moved to the College of Pharmacy, Oregon State University as a Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences (1984 – 2005). In 2005 he became Professor of Oceanography and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Scripps Oceanography and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy, UC San Diego, and in 2011 was promoted to Distinguished Professor. He has received several awards and prizes and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Society of Pharmacognosy. His research focuses on the discovery of novel natural products from marine cyanobacteria and alga; the development of new methodologies in structure analysis; the biomedical applications of marine natural products; and investigations of natural product biosynthesis.
Salah Kivlighn, Ph.D. – Dr. Salah Kivlighn’s expertise spans oncology, vaccines, immuno-oncology, and cardiovascular disease treatments, including R&D, commercialization, and global market oversight for iconic brands. Salah is currently serving as CEO of HepaTx corporation. Prior to HepTx, Salah served as the Senior Vice President of Global Strategic Marketing and Program Operations for United States Pharmacopeia (USP). Before his tenure at USP, Salah served as Commercial Vice President of Kite Pharma, Inc., a subsidiary of Gilead Sciences, a cancer immunotherapy company. At Kite Pharma, Salah delivered strategic guidance and was responsible for “Focused on the Cure” branding. In this role, he defined the market and differentiating product features, thus positioning the product for launch success. As Global Product Development Team Lead at MedImmune, Inc., a subsidiary of AstraZeneca, Salah and his team spearheaded the development of a Leukemia drug, LUMOXITI (moxetumomab pasudotox) which was acquired by INNATE Pharma, an independent clinical-stage biotech company. He co-led the integration of strategic marketing for the new Medi/AZ organization resulting in a pipeline of approximately 100 programs across oncology, autoimmunity, asthma, CV, and GI, where he was accountable for the corporate strategic plan. He is a sought-after global speaker and thought leader, and he has also authored more than 77 peer-reviewed scientific publications. Salah holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Texas Medical Center (the University of Houston, Baylor College of Medicine & University of Texas Medical School), he completed a Fellowship in Integrated Physiology under the esteemed advisors Arthur C. Guyton and Thomas Lohmeier at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and a Bachelor of Science in Distributed Studies from Iowa State University.
Leo Melchers, Ph.D. – Dr. Melchers earned his Molecular Plant Sciences Ph.D. from Leiden University and has 30+ years of international experience in executive management and leadership roles at a biotech startup and with industry leaders, including Zeneca Agrochemicals and Syngenta. He joined the plant biotechnology company MOGEN International, became Research Director in 1996, and operated as Managing Director of Zeneca MOGEN from 1997 to 2001. Following the formation of Syngenta, Leo worked for 4 years at Syngenta Biotechnology Inc. (RTP, North Carolina, USA) in various research and business leadership roles. Upon his return to Europe, he was appointed in 2005 Head Licensing at Syngenta, and in addition operated, from 2011-2015, as lead counsel for Syngenta’s Cereals business. Dr. Melchers has worked in NL, USA, UK, China, and Switzerland and is an expert in developing and implementing strategy on corporate/business/research level with extensive expertise in plant research, seeds, biotechnology, business development, licensing & IP. Since 2018, Dr. Melchers works as an expert consultant with innovative start-up companies, supporting the commercialization of their novel technology, products, and/or traits.
Peter Moeller, Ph.D. – Dr. Moeller, NOAA Research Scientist, leads the Toxins Natural Products Program at Hollings Marine Laboratory and is a faculty member at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Moeller is an internationally recognized authority in aquatic natural products chemistry. He brings over 30 years of experience and has been involved with Biosortia since 2010. He provides daily counsel to our research team embedded at NOAA in South Carolina. Through our CRADA (Cooperative Research and Development Agreement) with NOAA, Dr. Moeller is a key member of our team providing expert experience in defining our harvesting strategy to ensure a continual stream of unique compounds.
Sophia Ononye-Onyia, Ph.D. – Dr. Sophia Ononye-Onyia is a Nigerian-American entrepreneur and life science strategist with interests in and passion for oncology, innovative drug development, digital health, and value-based care. She recently founded The Sophia Consulting Firm where she leads the provision of fully integrated communication services for clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, healthcare technology, and consumer space. A former Pfizer scientist and Yale-trained molecular oncologist, Sophia utilizes her multidisciplinary background (Ph.D., MPH, MBA) to advise clients in the life science industry on value communications and strategic planning for new drug launches with a specialty focus on oncology.
Tim Wright – Timothy R. Wright was appointed Executive Vice President, Business Development, Strategy, and Innovation, for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in April 2015. Mr. Wright currently serves as Founder and Chairman of the Drug Discovery and Development Institute for The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. He has previously served as President of Covidien Pharmaceuticals from 2007 – 2010. He was CEO (Interim) & President, BOD, and Chief Operating Officer from 2004 – 2007 at AAI. He was CEO (Interim) & President, a member of the board of directors, and Chief Operating Officer at AAI Pharmaceuticals/Xanodyne from 2004-2007. He served at Elan Bio-Pharmaceuticals as President, Global Operations from 2001-2004 and President, Europe, Japan & ROW and Executive Vice President, Business Development & Licensing from 2001-2002. During 1984-1999, he served at DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company, holding roles such as Senior Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Business Development from 1996-1999, Vice President, Strategic Marketing & Operations – Europe from 1995-1996, President & CEO, Toronto, Canada from 1993-1995, and Vice President, Marketing from 1990-1993. Mr. Wright holds a Bachelor of Science degree from The Ohio State University. He brings a wealth of knowledge to the company and experience specific to the pharmaceuticals’ manufacturing space and related impacts on drug discovery.
Paul V. Zimba, Ph.D. – Dr. Zimba is currently a Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Dr. Zimba until 2021 was the Director of the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Center for Coastal Studies. He is an internationally renowned expert in aquatic culturing and biology He is an adjunct at the University of Mississippi and the State University of New York SUNY and has also served as an Adjunct Faculty member at the Loyola University of New Orleans. His research interests include aquatic ecosystem ecology, algal toxin assessment, harmful algae wetlands aquaculture, micro-algal taxonomy, and physiology carbon fixation assessment. He also studies remote sensing aquatic ecosystem stressors and cyanobacteria secondary metabolites. Dr. Zimba earned his Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences at Virginia Wesleyan College; a Masters in Biology from Old Dominion University; and a Ph.D. from Mississippi State University. Dr. Zimba has presented at the Gordon Conference on Mycotoxins and Phycotoxins and served on the editorial board of two international journals as well as the Board of Trustees of the Phycological Society of America.