Since we are doing a little comparison and we have heard some nursery rhyme quotes of late. We can play "one of these things is not like the other". Let's compare their board members and go take a look at Pluristem's and see which one has more pharma experience, and which one has pretty much none, except for one who was a board member at Brainstorm from 2003 to 2004.
Dr. Irit Arbel
Dr. Irit Arbel, one of Brainstorm’s co-founders, joined the Company in May 2004 as a director and served as President of the Company for six months.
Currently, Dr. Arbel is the Chair of the Governance, Nominating and Compensation Committee. Dr. Arbel serves as Executive Vice President, Research and Development at Savicell Diagnostic Ltd. since July 2012. Savicell Diagnostic Ltd. is a biotechnology company and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Online Disruptive Technologies, Inc. From 2009 through 2011, Dr. Arbel served as Chairperson of Real Aesthetics Ltd., a company specializing in cellulite ultrasound treatment, and BRH Medical, developer of medical devices for wound healing. She was also Director of M&A at RFB Investment House, a private investment firm focusing on early stage technology related companies. Previously, Dr. Arbel was President and Chief Executive Officer of Pluristem Life Systems, a biotechnology company, and prior to that, Israeli Sales Manager of Merck, Sharp & Dohme, a pharmaceutical company.
Dr. Arbel earned her Post Doctorate degree in 1997 in Neurobiology, after performing research in the area of Multiple Sclerosis. Dr. Arbel also holds a Chemical Engineering degree from the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology.
Dr. June Almenoff
Dr. June Almenoff is an accomplished executive with 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. She recently served as President and CMO of Furiex Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Actavis plc (now Allergan) for $1.2B. Furiex developed eluxadoline (VIBERZI®), which was recently approved in both the US and EU. Prior to joining Furiex, Dr. Almenoff was at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for 12 years, where she held various positions of increasing responsibility. She was a Vice-President in the Clinical Safety organization, chaired a PhRMA-FDA working group and worked in the area of scientific licensing. Dr. Almenoff also led the development of pioneering systems for minimizing risk in drug development, which have been widely adopted by industry and regulators.
Dr. Almenoff is currently an independent biopharma consultant and Board Director. She is Executive Chair of RDD Pharma and a Director of Tigenix NV (TIG), and Ohr Pharmaceutical (OHRP). She serves on the advisory boards of several private companies and the investment advisory board of the Harrington Discovery Institute.
Dr. Almenoff graduated from the M.D. Ph.D. program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She completed her medical training at Stanford University Medical Center and served on the faculty of Duke University School of Medicine
Arturo Araya
Arturo Araya joined the Company in February 2017 as a director.
Arturo Araya has nearly two decades of international commercial experience in pharmaceutical commercialization, marketing and general management. He was formerly the Vice President and Head of Global Commercial for Novartis’ Cell and Gene Therapies Unit, where he led a cross-functional team to commercialize a portfolio of cell and gene therapies. As Global Brand Leader for CTL019, a CAR-T therapy, he was responsible for developing early launch plans, including worldwide and multiple indication forecasts and resource modeling. He has led the Oncology Unit for Novartis in seven countries. Prior to his tenure at Novartis, Mr. Araya was with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, most recently as Associate Director of Marketing Intelligence, Business Development & Licensing.
Mr. Araya earned an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.A. and B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Connecticut.
Chen Schor
Chen Schor joined the Company as a director on August 22, 2011, and was appointed as a member of the Audit Committee as of November 9, 2017.
Mr. Schor is a global industry leader with vast experience in biotechnology, medical devices, business development and private equity. Mr. Schor led multiple licensing and M&A transactions valued at over $8 billion with companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen, Pfizer, Bayer, Merck-Serono and OncoGeneX Pharmaceuticals, and raised significant funds from reputable investors. Mr. Schor has a broad range of experience in multiple therapeutic areas including Neurology, Respiratory, Oncology, Auto-Immune, Genetic Diseases, and Women’s Health. In addition to leading the global business development at Teva Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Schor played a key role in building early stage companies to regulatory approvals, IPOs and M&As. Since December 2014, Mr. Schor has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., a NASDAQ listed biopharmaceutical company. From March 2009 until September 2011, Mr. Schor served as Vice President of Business Development, global branded products at Teva Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Teva, Mr. Schor was Chief Business Officer at Epix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly known as Predix Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) from December 2003 until March 2009, leading the formation of more than $1.5 billion in collaborations with GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen and additional pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining Epix, Mr. Schor was a Partner at Yozma Venture Capital from September 1998 until December 2003, managing the fund’s investments in biotechnology and medical device companies.
Mr. Schor previously held positions at Arthur Anderson and BDO Consulting, an advisory firm. Mr. Schor holds an M.B.A., a B.A. in Biology, a B.A. in Economics and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Dr. Robert Shorr
Dr. Robert Shorr joined the Company in March 2005 as a director.
Since 1999, Dr. Shorr has served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Science Officer of Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company. He has also been a member of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at SUNY Stony Brook, where he also serves as Director of Business Development for the University’s Center for Advanced Technology. He has served as trustee at the Tissue Engineering Charities, Imperial College, London. From 1999 until 2005, Dr. Shorr was Vice-President of Science and Technology (CSO) of United Therapeutics, a NASDAQ listed biotechnology company. Prior to 1998, he was Vice President, Research and Development at Enzon, Inc., a NASDAQ listed pharmaceuticals company, and AT Biochem, a pharmaceuticals company, of which he was also founder. Dr. Shorr also served on the Board of Directors of Biological Delivery Systems Inc., a NASDAQ listed company.
Dr. Shorr holds both a Ph.D. and a D.I.C. from the University of London, Imperial College of Science and Technology as well as a B.Sc. from SUNY Buffalo.
Malcolm Taub
Malcom Taub joined the Company in March 2009 as a director, and was appointed Chair of the Audit Committee of the Board as of November 9, 2017.
Since October 2010, Mr. Taub has been a Partner at Davidoff Malito & Hutcher LLP, a full service law and government relations firm. From 2001 to September 30, 2010, Mr. Taub was the Managing Member of Malcolm S. Taub LLP, a law firm which practiced in the areas of commercial litigation, among other practice areas. Mr. Taub also works on art transactions, in the capacity as an attorney and a consultant. Mr. Taub has also served as a principal of a firm which provides consulting services to private companies going public in the United States. Mr. Taub has acted as a consultant to the New York Stock Exchange in its Market Surveillance Department. Mr. Taub acts as a Trustee of The Gateway Schools of New York and The Devereux Glenholme School in Washington, Connecticut. Mr. Taub has served as an adjunct professor at Long Island University, Manhattan Marymount College and New York University Real Estate Institute.
Mr. Taub holds a B.A. from Brooklyn College and a 77 J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. Mr. Taub formerly served on the Board of Directors of Safer Shot, Inc. (formerly known as Monumental Marketing Inc.).
Uri Yablonka
EVP, CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER
Uri Yablonka joined the company on June 6, 2014 as Chief Operating Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors.
Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Yablonka served since December 2010 as owner and General Manager of Uri Yablonka Ltd., a business consulting firm. He also served since January 2011 as Vice President, Business Development at ACC International Holdings Ltd. (Holdings). Holdings is also an affiliate of ACCBT Corp. Prior to serving with Holdings, Mr. Yablonka served as Senior Partner of PM-PR Media Consulting Ltd. From 2008 to January 2011, Mr. Yablonka was Senior Partner at PM-PR Media Consulting Ltd., where he led public relations and strategy consulting for a wide range of governmental and private organizations.
From 2002 to 2008, he served as a correspondent at the Maariv Daily News Paper, including extensive service as a Diplomatic Correspondent.
