Board of Directors
Phillip Frost, M.D.
Dr. Phillip Frost has been our director since May 2014. He has been the CEO and Chairman of OPKO Health, Inc. since March 2007. Dr. Frost was named the Chairman of the Board of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd, or Teva (NYSE:TEVA) in March 2010 and had previously been Vice Chairman since January 2006 when Teva acquired IVAX Corporation. Dr. Frost had served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of IVAX since 1987. He was Chairman of the Department of Dermatology at Mt. Sinai Medical Center of Greater Miami, Miami Beach, Florida from 1972 to 1990. Dr. Frost was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Key Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 1972 until the acquisition of Key Pharmaceuticals by Schering Plough Corporation in 1986. Dr. Frost was named Chairman of the Board of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (NYSE MKT:LTS), an investment banking, asset management, and securities brokerage firm providing services through its principal operating subsidiary, Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., in July 2006 and has been a director of Ladenburg Thalmann from 2001 until 2002 and again since 2004. Dr. Frost also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami and as a Trustee of each of the Miami Jewish Home for the Aged and the Mount Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Frost is also a director of Castle Brands (NYSE MKT:ROX), a developer and marketer of premium brand spirits and Co Crystal Pharma, Inc (OTCBB: COCP), a company developing novel antiviral treatments for serious or chronic viral diseases. Dr. Frost previously served as a director for TransEnterix, Prolor Biotech Inc., Continucare Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corp., and Ideation Acquisition Corp., as Governor and Co-Vice-Chairman of the American Stock Exchange (now NYSE MKT), a Regent of the Smithsonian Institute until November 2010, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Scripps Research Institute until November 2012.
John N. Braca
John N. Braca has been our director since October 2003. Mr. Braca has also served as a director and board observer for other healthcare, technology and biotechnology companies over the course of his career. Since April 2013, Mr. Braca has been the President and sole proprietor of JNB Consulting, which provides strategic business development counsel to biotechnology companies. From August 2010 through April 2013, Mr. Braca had been the executive director controller for Iroko Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held global pharmaceutical company based in Philadelphia. From April 2006 through July 2010, Mr. Braca was the managing director of Fountainhead Venture Group, a healthcare information technology venture fund based in the Philadelphia area, and has been working with both investors and developing companies to establish exit and business development opportunities. From May 2005 through March 2006, Mr. Braca was a consultant and advisor to GlaxoSmithKline management in their research operations. From 1997 to April 2005, Mr. Braca was a general partner and director of business investments for S.R. One, Limited, or S.R. One, the venture capital subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline. In addition, from January 2000 to July 2003, Mr. Braca was a general partner of Euclid SR Partners Corporation, an independent venture capital partnership. Prior to joining S.R. One, Mr. Braca held various finance and operating positions of increasing responsibility within several subsidiaries and business units of GlaxoSmithKline. Mr. Braca is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of Pennsylvania and is affiliated with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Braca received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Villanova University and a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from Saint Joseph’s University.
David Rector
Chief Executive Officer
David Rector has been our acting Chief Executive Officer since January, 2015. Mr. Rector has been our director since February 2002 and also serves as a director and member of the compensation and audit committee of the Dallas Gold and Silver Exchange (formerly Superior Galleries, Inc.) Since January 2014 through present, Mr. Rector serves on the board of directors of MV Portfolios, Inc.(formerly California Gold Corp.) Since 1985, Mr. Rector has been the Principal of The David Stephen Group, which provides enterprise consulting services to emerging and developing companies in a variety of industries. From November 2012 through January 2014, Mr. Rector served as the CEO and President of Valor Gold. Since February 2012 through January 2013, Mr. Rector served as the VP Finance & Administration of Pershing Gold Corp. From May 2011 through February 2012, Mr. Rector served as the President of Sagebrush Gold, Ltd. From October 2009 through August 2011, Mr. Rector had served as President and CEO of Li3 Energy, Inc. From July 2009 through May 2011, Mr. Rector had served as President and CEO of Nevada Gold Holdings, Inc. From September 2008 through November 2010, Mr. Rector served as President and CEO Universal Gold Mining Corp. Since October 2007 through February 2013, Mr. Rector has served as President and CEO of Standard Drilling, Inc. From May 2004 through December 2006, Mr. Rector had served in senior management positions with Nanoscience Technologies, Inc., a development stage company engaged in the development of DNA Nanotechnology. From 1983 until 1985, Mr. Rector served as President and General Manager of Sunset Designs, Inc., a domestic and international manufacturer and marketer of consumer product craft kits, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reckitt & Coleman N.A. From 1980 until 1983, Mr. Rector served as the Director of Marketing of Sunset Designs. From 1971 until 1980, Mr. Rector served in progressive roles in the financial and product marketing departments of Crown Zellerbach Corporation, a multi-billion dollar pulp and paper industry corporation. Mr. Rector received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business/Finance from Murray State University in 1969.
Steven Rubin
Steven D. Rubin. Mr. Rubin has been our director since May 2014. Since May 2007, Mr. Rubin has been the Executive Vice President—Administration at OPKO Health and a director of OPKO since February 2007. Mr. Rubin served as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of IVAX from August 2001 until September 2006. Mr. Rubin currently serves on the Board of Directors of Tiger Media, Inc., (NYSE MKT:IDI), a multi-platform billboard and advertising company in China, Kidville, Inc. (OTCBB:KVIL), which operates large, upscale facilities, catering to newborns through five-year-old children and their families and offers a wide range of developmental classes for Non-Invasive Monitoring Systems, Inc. (OTCBB:NIMU), a medical device company, Tiger X Medical, Inc. (OTCBB:CDOM), an early-stage orthopedic medical device company specializing in designing, developing and marketing reconstructive joint devices and spinal surgical devices, Castle Brands, Inc. (NYSE MKT:ROX), a developer and marketer of premium brand spirits, Cocrystal Pharma Inc. (OTCBB: COCP), a biotechnology company developing antiviral therapeutics for human diseases, and Neovasc, Inc. (NVCN)(MVC:TO), a company developing and marketing medical specialty vascular devices. Mr. Rubin previously served on the Board of Directors of Dreams, Inc., a vertically integrated sports licensing and products company (NYSE MKT: DRJ) and as a director of Safestitch Medical, Inc., a medical device Company (OTCQB:SFES), prior to its acquisition by TransEnterix, Inc. and PROLOR Biotech, Inc. prior to its merger with the OPKO.
Vaughn Smider, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Vaughn Smider has been our Chief Scientific Officer since May 2014 and was the founder and president of Fabrus, Inc. He is also a faculty member at The Scripps Research Institute, where he has directed protein engineering research since 2005. Before Scripps he was Chief Scientific Officer at Integrigen, Inc from . Dr. Smider received his MD and PhD degrees from Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Smider is on the Leadership Council for The American Cancer Society in San Diego and is a founder and board member of The Elizabeth Smider Foundation.