Board of Directors
Charles Cohen, PhD | Chairman of the Board of Directors, Partner of Advent InternationalTimothy P.W. Edwards | Chief Executive Officer
Johnston L. Evans | General Partner, INVESCO Private Capital
Jason S. Fisherman, MD, MBA | Managing Director, Advent International
Jean-François Formela, MD, MBA | General Partner, Atlas Venture
Stelios Papadopoulos, PhD, MBA
Francesco De Rubertis, PhD | General Partner, Index Ventures
Charles Cohen | is one of the founders of Cellzome and served as the company's President and CEO for two years. He joined Advent International as a partner in 2003. Dr. Cohen has more than 25 years experience in the biotechnology industry. He was a founder of Creative BioMolecules, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, and served as its President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1985 to 1995. Dr. Cohen is also a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of several biotechnology companies, including Exelixis, Inc., an integrated drug discovery and development company, Xenon Genetics, Inc., a population based genomics company and Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on the identification and development of novel anti-infective agents. Dr. Cohen received his PhD in 1976 from New York University School of Medicine.
Tim Edwards | is President and Chief Executive Officer of Cellzome Inc, a privately-owned drug discovery company identifying a new generation of kinase-targeted drugs to treat inflammatory diseases, using its leading Kinobeadstm technology. Previously, Tim had various positions at British Biotech plc including Board Director and Acting CEO, and before that was an Investment Banker in London specialising in the healthcare sector. This followed a 14-year period as an entrepreneur in other industrial sectors, managing and developing three privately-held businesses in which he was a major shareholder.
Tim is a Director of the BioIndustry Association, the trade association for innovative enterprises in the UK's bioscience sector; Chairman of The Mulberry Bush Organisation, a charity founded in 1948 providing therapeutic and residential care for children aged 5-12 with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties; and a Fellow of the RSA, a charity founded in 1754 which drives ideas, innovation and social change. From 2005-2007, Tim was Chairman of ReOx Limited, a biotech company spun out of the University of Oxford by Peter Ratcliffe FRS and others from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics. Tim lives in Oxfordshire and is married with 3 sons.
Tim is a Director of the BioIndustry Association, the trade association for innovative enterprises in the UK's bioscience sector; Chairman of The Mulberry Bush Organisation, a charity founded in 1948 providing therapeutic and residential care for children aged 5-12 with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties; and a Fellow of the RSA, a charity founded in 1754 which drives ideas, innovation and social change. From 2005-2007, Tim was Chairman of ReOx Limited, a biotech company spun out of the University of Oxford by Peter Ratcliffe FRS and others from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics. Tim lives in Oxfordshire and is married with 3 sons.
Johnston Evans | is a veteran venture capitalist with over thirty years of investment experience. Prior to joining INVESCO in 1995, Mr. Evans served as General Partner for Wolfensohn Partners after establishing Kuwait Middle East Financial Investment Company. He also established KME Management Services, Inc. where, as President, he was responsible for venture capital and real estate investments of partnership funds raised in Kuwait. During his combined tenure at KME and Wolfensohn, Mr. Evans was responsible for funding a total of 33 companies. He received a B.A. in Political Science from Boston University in 1970.
Jason S. Fisherman | is a Managing Director at Advent International. Dr. Fisherman has led or co-led Advent's investments in 23 companies. He is currently a Director of ILEX Oncology Inc., Exelixis Pharmaceuticals Inc., Oridion Systems Ltd., Mediconsult.com, Managed Healthcare Associates Inc., Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Neurogenetics Inc., Med e-Manager Corp., Anadys Pharmaceuticals Inc. and IntroGene BV. Prior to joining Advent, Dr. Fisherman was Senior Director of Medical Research at Enzon. Previously, at the National Cancer Institute, he was responsible for developing a portfolio of anti cancer drugs, including Taxol. Dr. Fisherman received a BA in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale, an MD from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Jean-François Formela | joined Atlas Venture in 1993. Previously, he was Senior Director, Medical Marketing and Scientific Affairs at Schering-Plough in the US.During his tenure there, he was responsible for the marketing of Intron A, Schering-Plough's alpha-interferon. In his last position at Schering-Plough, he directed the US Phase IV studies in all therapeutic areas, as well as the health economics and biotechnology pre-marketing groups. As a medical doctor, Jean-François practiced emergency medicine at Necker University Hospital in Paris. Since joining Atlas Venture, Jean-François has been involved in the formation of companies such as Adnexus, Archemix, ArQule (NASDAQ: ARQL), Aureon Laboratories, Cellzome, deCODE (NASDAQ: DCGN), Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL), MorphoSys (Xetra: MOR.DE), NxStage (NASDAQ: NXTM), Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals and SGX Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SGXP). He was also an investor in Nuvelo (NASDAQ: NUVO). Jean-François received his MD from Paris University School of Medicine and his MBA from Columbia University.
Dr. Stelios Papadopoulos' | career in biotech spans more than two decades. Dr. Papadopoulos retired as Vice Chairman of Cowen & Co., LLC in August 2006 after six years with the firm where as an investment banker he focused on the biotech and pharma sectors. Prior to joining Cowen, he started as an investment banker and was most recently Chairman of PaineWebber Development Corp. Before, he was Vice President in the Equity Research Department of Drexel Burnham Lambert. Prior to Drexel, he was a biotechnology analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Before coming to Wall Street, Dr. Papadopoulos was on the faculty of the Department of Cell Biology at New York University Medical Center. He continues his affiliation with NYU Medical Center as an Adjunct Associate Professor. Dr. Papadopoulos holds a PhD in biophysics and an MBA in finance, both from New York University.
Dr. Papadopoulos is a co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Exelixis, co-founder and member of the Board of Anadys Pharmaceuticals and Cellzome, and is also a member of the Board of BG Medicine. In the not-for-profit sector, Dr. Papadopoulos is a co-founder and Chairman of Fondation Santé and a member of the Board of Visitors of Duke University Medical Center.
Dr. Papadopoulos is a co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Exelixis, co-founder and member of the Board of Anadys Pharmaceuticals and Cellzome, and is also a member of the Board of BG Medicine. In the not-for-profit sector, Dr. Papadopoulos is a co-founder and Chairman of Fondation Santé and a member of the Board of Visitors of Duke University Medical Center.
Dr. Francesco De Rubertis | is General Partner responsible for the firm's life sciences practice as well as Index's networks within the scientific community. His areas of expertise include biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals. Dr. De Rubertis joined Index in 1998 and has served on the board of several companies including Cellzome, 7TM, ParAllele Bioscience, BioXell and GeneBio. Prior to joining Index, Dr. De Rubertis was involved in post-doctoral research in genetics at the Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also the author of several publications in international scientific journals including Nature. Dr. De Rubertis has a BA in Genetics and Microbiology from the University of Pavia and a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Geneva. He is also a CFA charter holder.
