Thomas Wiggans

Chairman of the Board

Mr. Wiggans was Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Peplin, Inc., which was acquired in 2009 by LEO Pharma of Copenhagen, Denmark. Prior to that, he served as CEO of Connetics Corporation from 1994 until 2006, when the company was acquired by Stiefel Laboratories. From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Wiggans served as President and Chief Operating Officer of CytoTherapeutics, a biotechnology company. From 1980 to 1992, Mr. Wiggans served in various positions at Ares-Serono Group, a pharmaceutical company, including President of its U.S. pharmaceutical operations. Mr. Wiggans currently serves as a Director of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Sangamo Biosciences and Somaxon Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Wiggans holds a B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Kansas and an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University.

Farah Champsi

Managing Director, Alta Partners

Farah joined Alta in 2000, prior to the formation of Alta BioPharma II. She is currently on the board of directors of Aerovance, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Myocor, Portola Pharmaceuticals, Sanarus Medical, and Trevena, and serves as the Chairperson of the Board for Zelos Therapeutics. Farah also led Alta’s investment in Agensys. Prior investments include Cytokinetics, Esperion, Orphan Medical and Renovis. She focuses her efforts on biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies.

Prior to Alta, Farah was an investment banker at Robertson Stephens & Company between 1987 and 1999, where she focused on biotechnology and other life sciences companies. She was elected a General Partner in 1992 and head of the global life sciences investment banking group in 1995. During that time, she was responsible for building one of the most successful life sciences investment banking franchises on Wall Street.

She holds a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Smith College.

Nicholas M. Dean, Ph.D.

Founder and Chief Scientific Officer

Prior to founding Excaliard in the spring of 2006, Dr. Dean served for four years as Vice President of Functional Genomics and Oncology at Isis Pharmaceuticals where he also served as Managing Director, Isis Singapore. Dr. Dean originally joined Isis Pharmaceuticals in 1991 and served in various roles in the molecular pharmacology department until 2000 at which time he became Executive Director and Vice President, Functional Genomics for Isis Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Dean received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Welsh National School of Medicine. He then spent time conducting research at the National Cancer Institute and the University of Hawaii before joining Isis Pharmaceuticals. Dr Dean has authored more than 110 scientific papers, and more than 50 issued patents.

J. Gordon Foulkes, Ph.D.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Dr. J. Gordon Foulkes has more than 25 years of experience in biopharmaceutical research and development. Gordon served as the founding CEO of Excaliard from 2007-2009, and has now resumed that role. Gordon headed R&D, and served on the board of multiple biotechnology companies, including Oncogene Science, Inc. (OSI pharma was acquired by Takeda in 2010), Aurora Biosciences (acquired by Vertex in 2001), and Elitra Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Merck). At OSI, he pioneered the early development of cell-based high-throughput drug screening and oversaw multiple drug discovery and development programs. In his operating roles, Gordon had a lead role in securing more than 15 corporate partnerships, resulting in over $200 million in recognized collaborative revenues. He has also directly participated in raising over $160 million in private, IPO, and follow-on public offerings. Prior to re-joining Excaliard, he served as a Managing Director at RiverVest Ventures, representing the fund in Mpex (acquired by Axcan), CGI Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Gilead), Cabrellis (acquired by Pharmion), Conforma (acquired by Biogen), MacroGenics and Excaliard. Prior to joining Industry, Dr. Foulkes held academic positions at both MIT and the MRC (UK).

Niall O’Donnell, Ph.D.

Principal, Rivervest

Niall O’Donnell joined RiverVest® in May 2006 as a Kauffman Fellow and became a principal in March 2010. He focuses on biopharmaceutical, diagnostic and medical device opportunities and contributes to the formation, development and business strategies of RiverVest portfolio companies. Niall serves on the board of Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and is an observer at Otonomy, Inc. and Mpex Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to joining RiverVest, Niall spent five years as an immunologist at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in San Diego. He was part of a successful cross-disciplinary team of chemists and biologists that drove small molecule anti-inflammatory drugs into clinical trials. Niall co-authored the first paper validating the newly discovered histamine H4 receptor as a key regulator of immune pathologies.

Niall earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Dundee, Scotland, and M.A. in Biochemistry from Pembroke College, Oxford. He also received an M.B.A. from the Rady School of Management of the University of California, San Diego. His professional affiliations include the American Thoracic Society, American Association of Immunologists and the Society of Glycobiology. Niall is a guest lecturer to the Kauffman Global Scholars entrepreneurship program at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Alain Schreiber, M.D.

Partner, ProQuest Investments

Dr. Schreiber joined ProQuest as a General Partner in 2000. His extensive industry experience provides a commercially-focused operational discipline and a depth of drug development expertise. Prior to joining ProQuest, Dr. Schreiber served as President, Director, and CEO of Vical. Previously, at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi-Aventis), Dr. Schreiber served in several roles, including Senior Vice President of Research. Prior to his tenure at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, Dr. Schreiber was Department Head of Biochemistry at Syntex (now Roche Bioscience). He has previously served on the Board of Directors of ActivX Biosciences, BioRexis Pharmaceutical Corp., Cabrellis Pharmaceuticals, Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Conforma Therapeutics, Gemin X and Somalogic. Currently Dr. Schreiber serves on the Board of Directors of Aires Pharmaceuticals, Concentric Medical, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, LEAD Therapeutics, Optimer Pharmaceuticals and Tragara Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Schreiber received a B.S. in chemistry, summa cum laude, and an M.D., summa cum laude, from the Free University in Brussels, Belgium. Subsequently, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

Jay Birnbaum, Ph.D.

Independant Board Member

Dr. Jay Birnbaum is a dermatology consultant specializing in ethical and OTC drugs, medical devices, and cosmeceuticals. His 35 years of industry experience span the areas of discovery research, formulations, clinical R&D, regulatory and marketing, and he has been involved in the development and commercialization of numerous drug and consumer products and brands. Dr. Birnbaum is a co-founder and former Chief Medical Officer of Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, a company developing products in aesthetic dermatology. Prior to starting his own consulting company in 1999, he was with Novartis/Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation, serving most recently as Vice President, Global Project Management, with responsibilities for strategic planning and development of the company's dermatology portfolio. Prior to that, Dr. Birnbaum held various management positions at the Medical and Consumer Product Divisions of American Cyanamid Company (Wyeth).

Dr. Birnbaum has broad relationships in industry and academia, and has published extensively on his work in drug development. His professional affiliations include the American Academy of Dermatology, Society of Investigative Dermatology, European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, and International Society of Dermatology. He is a member of the board of directors of Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCLS) and is on the Science Advisory Boards of Evolva, NanoBio Corp, NexMed, Inc., Topica Pharmaceuticals, and Transport Pharmaceuticals.

He received a B.S. degree from Trinity College and a Ph.D in Pharmacology from the University of Wisconsin.