Board of Directors

Dr. Jerel Banks, M.D., Ph.D. has been a Director since October 2016, Chairman of our Board since October 2017 and Chief Executive Officer since June 2018. Dr. Banks was formerly the Chief Investment Officer of Nant Capital, LLC. Prior to joining Nant Capital, LLC, Dr. Banks served as vice president, portfolio manager and research analyst for the Franklin Biotechnology Discovery Fund at Franklin Templeton Investments from 2012 to 2015. Prior to his tenure at Franklin Templeton Investments, he worked as a biotechnology senior equity research analyst at Sectoral Asset Management from 2011 to 2012. From 2008 to 2011, Dr. Banks worked as a biotechnology equity research analyst at Apothecary Capital, the healthcare investment management team for the family investment office of the Bass Family of Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Banks began his career in investment management as a healthcare equity research associate at Capital Research Company where he was a member of the equity research team from 2006 to 2008. Dr. Banks earned an M.D. from the Brown University School of Medicine and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Brown University, and he holds an A.B. in Chemistry from Princeton University.

Megan Boston has previously been Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of several companies, including entities listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. With over 13 years of experience, Ms. Boston has been a director across a range of industries where she chaired company boards as well as board sub-committees particularly in the area of finance and risk management. Specifically, Ms. Boston has been a Director of Benitec since August 2016 and Executive Director since June 2018. From 2014 until joining Benitec, Ms. Boston was CEO of listed companies on the Australian Stock Exchange, Omni Market Tide Ltd and Rision Ltd. Previously, Ms. Boston held senior executive roles at various banking institutions in the area of risk and compliance, as well as working for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ms. Boston holds a Bachelor of Commerce and is an Australian Chartered Accountant. Ms. Boston has also completed the company directors course diploma administered by the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

J. Kevin Buchi has been a Director since April 2013. Mr. Buchi previously served as Chief Executive Officer of BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. and of TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Mr. Buchi served as Chief Executive Officer of Cephalon, Inc., or Cephalon, from December 2010 through its acquisition by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd in October 2011. After the acquisition Mr. Buchi served as Corporate Vice President, Global Branded Products of Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. Mr. Buchi joined Cephalon in 1991 and held various positions, including Chief Operating Officer, from January 2010 to December 2010, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Business Development prior to being appointed Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Buchi is also on the board of directors of Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: AMRX) and Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRNA. Mr. Buchi has a B.A. in chemistry from Cornell University and a Masters in Management from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Peter Francis has been a director since February 2006 and was previously Chairman of the Board until October 2017. Since 1993, Mr. Francis has been a partner at Francis Abourizk Lightowlers, a firm of commercial and technology lawyers with offices in Melbourne, Australia. He is a legal specialist in the areas of intellectual property and licensing and provides legal advice to corporations and research bodies. Mr. Francis completed his studies in law and jurisprudence at Monash University.

Mr. Mehta has over 15 years of experience in the financial industry and is currently a Portfolio Manager at Suvretta Capital Management, LLC, where he is focused on its healthcare investment strategies. Mr. Mehta currently sits on the Board of Directors of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: BHVN), where he was a strategic adviser on various business development, capital structure and communication strategies. Prior to Biohaven, Mr. Mehta was a portfolio manager at Surveyor Capital, a Citadel LLC strategy, focused on global small-, mid- and large-capitalization biotechnology, pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare services companies. Prior to Surveyor, Mr. Mehta was an analyst at Adage Capital where he evaluated and participated in numerous mezzanine and pre-IPO private healthcare investments. Mr. Mehta held a similar role at Apothecary Capital and started his career as a mergers and acquisitions analyst at Evercore Partners, where he focused on life sciences. Mr. Mehta graduated from New York University with a degree in finance and accounting.

Edward Smith has been a director since April 2020 and brings more than 20 years of experience in executive finance and operations leadership in the biotechnology industry to our Board. Mr. Smith presently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Reunion Neuroscience, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on treating depression and other mental health disorders.  Prior to joining Reunion, Mr. Smith served as CFO and took public LAVA Therapeutics N.V. (Nasdaq: LVTX), Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNS) and PolyMedix, Inc. (Nasdaq: PYMX). Prior to that, he was executive director of finance at InKine Pharmaceutical Company, Inc., now part of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. Earlier in his career, he held various positions of increasing responsibility in public accounting, most recently in the audit practice at Deloitte.