Management

NephRx’s internal management team and Board of Directors comprise key individuals with the expertise needed to advance development of NX001. NephRx has also established consultant and contract relationships with a number of outside individuals and organizations for strategic planning and the completion of specific studies.

Management Team

James Koziarz, Ph.D, President & CEO

Dr. Koziarz has been involved in the diagnostics business for over 25 years, beginning as a bench chemist at Abbott Laboratories in 1979. In this capacity, he helped developed Abbott’s first ELISA test for CEA, later moving into product support for the newly formed Cancer Business Unit in 1980. His next position was that of R&D manager for endocrine function diagnostics. He was promoted to general manager of that business unit and later named the general manager of Abbott’s Hepatitis and Retrovirus business unit, in which he managed the development of numerous assays for HIV and was involved with regulatory bodies internationally. Dr. Koziarz was appointed Vice President for Research and Development for the Abbott Diagnostics Division in 1992 and was elected corporate officer in 1993. Since his retirement from Abbott in 2004, he has focused his efforts on assisting start-up companies. Dr. Koziarz received his B.S. degree in chemistry from DePaul University and a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Chicago.

Ann E. Berger, Ph.D., Vice President, Research and Development

Dr. Berger joined NephRx in April 2005 as Vice President of Research and Development. Dr. Berger has 25 years of experience in drug discovery and development at Pharmacia Corporation and its predecessor companies. At Pharmacia, Dr. Berger held the positions of Research Scientist in the areas of Inflammation, Infectious Diseases and Genomics. She also served as leader of multidisciplinary program teams organized to bring specific compounds to the clinic and director of a multidisciplinary research unit, and as Director of Cell Biology and Inflammation. Dr. Berger received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Kalamazoo College and her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Duke University. Dr. Berger provides day-to-day coordination and oversight of all ongoing studies and overall development strategies.

F. Gary Toback, M.D., Ph.D., Founding Scientist/Consultant

Dr. Toback is the Founding Scientist of NephRx. He is also Professor of Medicine and Cell Physiology at the University of Chicago and a practicing clinical nephrologist at the University of Chicago Hospitals. As a result of his cutting edge research, Dr. Toback is a recognized thought-leader in the area of acute renal failure. In addition to his discovery of WGF-derived peptide for the potential treatment of acute renal failure, he is an author and inventor of the AMP-derived peptide patent for the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Dr. Toback will be involved with the continuous development of both NX001 and NX002 toward clinical progress outcomes and will be working on the discoveries for the mechanism of action for each peptide. Dr. Toback received his M.D. from New York University and completed his training at Case Western Reserve University and Harvard Medical School. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Boston University. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, many of which focus on epithelial growth factors for the treatment of kidney and gastrointestinal diseases.

Board of Directors

Philip Long, Chairman

Mr. Long serves as Chair of NephRx Corporation’s Board of Directors and is an investor. Previously, he was President of Biggs|Gilmore Communications, a marketing advertising firm located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, specializing in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Specifically, Mr. Long managed a variety of client services, including product introductions, communications with investors and financial analysts, and strategies for mergers and acquisitions. He worked closely with clients on strategic planning initiatives for their domestic and international divisions and directed the development of collateral material and interactive marketing. Mr. Long received his BBA and MA degrees from Western Michigan University and has served on a number of corporate and community services boards.

Thomas K. Cox

Mr. Cox has over 19 years of private equity investing, executive management, corporate development, and legal experience in both Fortune 500 and small business settings. He has extensive background in healthcare and services businesses and is currently a principal with Seneca Health Partners. Before joining Seneca, he served as President of White Pines Ventures, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based investment firm. Prior to that, he was President and CEO of Peiser’s, Inc., a private equity-backed distributor of home medical supplies. Mr. Cox has also served as Vice President, Corporate Development for CareMonitor, Inc., a venture-backed provider of software and services for the alternate site care industry, and held progressively responsible general management, business development, and legal positions during nine years with Baxter Healthcare Corporation. Mr. Cox began his professional career as an attorney with Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, a global full-service law firm headquartered in Chicago. He received a B.A. from Williams College, a J.D. from Boston College Law School, and an M.M. from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Business at Northwestern University. He is a member of the Illinois Bar Association.

Charles M. Hall, Ph.D

Dr. Hall has more than 30 years of experience in all phases of drug discovery, development and registration at Pharmacia Corporation and its predecessor companies, Pharmacia & Upjohn and The Upjohn Co. During his career, he has held management positions of increasing responsibility in drug discovery and development. Most recently, Dr. Hall served as Vice President of Product Development for CNS and Infectious Disease with accountability for worldwide product development and registration. He led the multidisciplinary team responsible for the successful worldwide registration of Zyvox (linezolid), the first truly novel antibiotic in over 30 years. Dr. Hall has been successful in executing discovery, development and market penetration strategies within the pharmaceutical industry. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Minnesota. He was a Public Health Service Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute für Organische Chemie in Munich, Germany. Dr. Hall provides guidance on all development and regulatory issues and scientific studies.

Douglas R. Morton, Ph.D

Dr. Morton is the CEO of the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center. He spent the majority of his career in the pharmaceutical industry, joining the Upjohn Company as a research scientist in 1973. He remained through Upjohn's merger with Pharmacia AB in 1996, the consolidation of Pharmacia & Upjohn with Monsanto in 2000, and, recently, Pharmacia's merger with Pfizer in 2003 serving in a series of increasingly significant discovery research management positions. At the time of the Pfizer merger, he was Group Vice President of Technology Acquisitions & Operations for Discovery Research in Pharmacia Corporation. In this position, he was responsible for technology acquisition and operations for worldwide Discovery Research throughout Pharmacia. Dr. Morton holds an A.B. in Chemistry from Kenyon College and a Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from Columbia University. He completed postdoctoral studies in Organic Chemistry at Stanford University. Dr. Morton has served on the Board of Directors of TissueInformatics, Inc. and Icoria, Inc. (formerly Paradigm Genetics, Inc.) and Interim CEO of Icoria from April-December 2005. Additionally, he has served as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Celltech R&D of Slough, UK, and is a member of the Industrial Advisory Board of Cleveland Clinic Foundation Innovations. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the SWMF Life Science Fund and a board member of Michigan’s Core Technology Alliance Corporation and MichBIO. Dr. Morton regularly attends NephRx Board meetings and serves as an advisor to NephRx on matters of science, development and business.

Donald R. Parfet

Mr. Parfet is Managing Director of the Apjohn Group, a Kalamazoo, Michigan-based venture capital and management firm. Prior to founding Apjohn, he was a Senior Vice President at Pharmacia, where he was responsible for all of the Associated Businesses (Animal Health, Diagnostics, Pharmaceutical Commercial Services and Plasma Products). Additionally, Mr. Parfet oversaw the company's investments in Amersham Pharmacia Biotech and Biacore International AB, and he had overall site-management responsibility for the company’s operations in Kalamazoo. Parfet received his B.A. in Economics from the University of Arizona and his M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Michigan. Mr. Parfet is a trustee of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Trustee and past Chairman of the Board of Bronson Healthcare Group, Chairman of the Board of the Kalamazoo College Board of Trustees, and a board member of Biacore International AB.

Patrick Morand
Patrick G. Morand is Managing Director of the SWMF Life Science Fund, headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Prior to joining the Fund, Mr. Morand was Executive in Residence of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, a Public/Private investor in regional life sciences companies. In his role, he provided executive support to founders, investors and executives of promising regional life sciences start-up and development stage companies. At PLSG, Mr. Morand grew his personal portfolio from 14 to 65 companies (diagnostics, therapeutics, medical devices, services), representing $100M of investment and 121 employees. Prior to PLSG, Mr. Morand was a three-time CEO in the biologics industry, Vice President of Commercial Operations for Genesis Therapeutics (an Aventis Behring spinout company) and Executive Vice President of Sequitor Medical Technologies, a startup company founded and funded by former Elan Pharmaceutical executives.  Mr. Morand is a graduate of The Athenaeum of Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy.