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Informazioni suAbout Us / Supervisory Board
SpePharm has strong principles of corporate governance; the Company has only external directors with no representatives of the management team on the Supervisory Board.
Chairman: Dr. Karl-Gerhard Seifert, Chairman and CEO of AlessaChemie GmbH
From 1973 to 1997, Dr. Seifert worked for Hoechst AG, a life-sciences company based in Frankfurt, Germany. Dr. Seifert was initially employed as a Plant Manager in both Germany and Brazil, before becoming the Manager and subsequently the Head of the Corporate Staff Department. Dr. Seifert became a member of the Board of Management in 1988, with responsibility for a number of sectors over a nine year period including agriculture, operations in Africa, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, cosmetics, information and communication and specialty chemicals. In 1997, Dr. Seifert became CEO of Clariant International Limited, a company based in Switzerland dealing in specialty chemicals. In 1999, Dr. Seifert became the Head of Morgan Grenfell Private Equity Ltd. Germany. Since 2001, Dr. Seifert has been the Chairman and CEO of AllessaChemie GmbH. Dr. Seifert is also a member of a number of advisory and supervisory boards. Dr. Seifert holds a degree in Chemistry and a PhD in Physical-Organic Chemistry from the University of Goettingen, and in 1972, pursued a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at IBM, in San Jose, California.
Member: James C. Gale, Partner, Signet Healthcare Partners
James Gale is the founding partner of Signet Healthcare Partners, part of the Sanders Morris Harris Group. He initiates investments and provides active management oversight to a number of the portfolio companies. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Alpex Pharma SA, and also serves on the Board of Directors of Avantium Technologies BV, Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals Inc, Cydex Inc, Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Inc, and Molecular Medicine BioServices Inc, as well as SpePharm BV. Prior to founding Signet Healthcare Partners, James Gale was head of principal investment activities and head of investment banking for Gruntal & Co., LLC. While at Gruntal, James Gale’s investment activities included Andrx Corporation, Royce Laboratories (merged with Watson Pharmaceuticals), Lifecell Corporation, Neurocrine Biosciences, and BML Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Endo Pharmaceuticals). Prior to joining Gruntal, he originated and managed private equity investments for the Home Insurance Co, Gruntal’s parent. Earlier in his career, James Gale was a senior investment banker at E.F. Hutton & Co.
Member: Hubert Birner, Partner, TVM Capital
Hubert Birner joined TVM Capital in 2000, and is a General Partner for life sciences in the firm’s Munich office. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Direvo Biotech AG (Cologne, Germany), Argos Therapeutics Inc (Durham, North Carolina) as well as SpePharm Holding BV. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Evotec AG (Hamburg, Germany), Jerini AG (Berlin, Germany) and BioXell SA (Milan, Italy), and represents the interests of TVM Capital with Ardana Bioscience plc (Edinburgh, Scotland) and Proteon Therapeutics Inc (Kansas City, Missouri). Before joining TVM Capital, Hubert Birner was Head of Business Development Europe and Director of Marketing for Germany at Zeneca. Hubert joined Zeneca from McKinsey & Company's European Health Care and Pharmaceutical practice. As a management consultant, he gained extensive experience in R&D management, marketing and sales, and joint venture structuring and business development. Hubert Birner has also been an assistant professor for biochemistry at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. In this capacity, he directed various research projects for large pharmaceutical companies. Hubert Birner holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a doctoral degree in biochemistry from Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, where he graduated summa cum laude. His doctoral thesis was honored with the Hoffmann-La Roche prize for outstanding basic research in metabolic diseases.
Member: Lionel Leventhal, General Partner, Paul Capital Partners
Lionel Leventhal joined Paul Capital Partners in 1999, and was instrumental in developing the Royalty Fund's business plan and product offerings with Dr. Flamenbaum. At the Paul Royalty Funds, Lionel Leventhal is primarily responsible for negotiation of transaction structures and transaction execution. Lionel Leventhal has an extensive and diverse background that includes structured finance at CS First Boston and Golub Associates, consulting at Bain & Company, Inc., and extensive operating experience. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and his AB from Harvard College.
Member: Flemming Ornskov, Global Head, Women´s Health Care and General Medicine, Bayer Schering Pharma AG
Dr. Flemming Ornskov currently manages the global business unit, Women´s Health and General Medicine, at Bayer Schering Pharma AG. Prior to that, he held a variety of executive positions in the healthcare, pharmaceutical industries, notably within Merck & Co as Senior Marketing Director – Osteoporosis and Franchise Business Group Leader – Urology and with Novartis where he headed the US Cardiovascular Therapeutic Franchise and subsequently the Ophthalmics Business Unit as well as Bausch & Lomb, INc where he was President of Pharmaceuticals and OTC. Flemming Ornskov is also Chairman of the boards of Evotec AG (Germany) and of Santaris Pharma (Denmark). He initially trained as a physician, in pediatrics, and he also holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Master of Public Health from Harvard University.