[Revised for the appointment of Bruce Downey and the reduction in the number of directors from 11 to 10. (As previously posted, Robert Langer resigned from the BoD effective at yesterday’s annual meeting.)]
MNTA’s BoD consists of ten directors as follows:
• Two insiders: Craig Wheeler, MNTA’s CEO since 2006, and Ram Sasisekharan, co-founder of MNTA and a professor at MIT.
• Two venture capitalists whose firms have owned MNTA shares dating back to the company’s pre-IPO period: John Clarke and Alan Crane. (Crane is a former CEO of MNTA and could be considered a quasi-insider.)
• Six independent directors: Bruce Downey, Marsha Fanucci, Peter Hutt, Bennett Shapiro, Elizabeth Stoner, and the Chairman, James Sulat. Among these six directors are: two MD’s who are former SVP’s at Merck; the former CFO of Millennium Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Takeda in 2008); the former CFO of Memory Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Roche in 2008); the former CEO of Barr Labs (acquired by Teva in 2008); and the former Chief Counsel of the FDA.
No single shareholder or group of affiliated shareholders is in a position to unduly influence the BoD. MNTA’s largest shareholder is its development partner, Novartis, who has an 11.8% equity stake (#msg-37695353).
All told, I think any reasonable person would agree that MNTA’s BoD is a distinguished group. The directors are listed below in alphabetical order.
John K. Clarke, age 55; term expires 2012; director since 2002:
Mr. Clarke founded Cardinal Partners, a venture capital firm, in 1997 and has served as the Managing General Partner since 1997. He has founded and served as interim Chief Executive Officer of a number of portfolio companies, including Alkermes, Inc., Arris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the DNX Corporation. Mr. Clarke is chairman of the board of directors of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and serves as a member of the board of directors of Visicu, Inc. and a number of privately-held health care companies. He received his B.A. in Biology and Economics from Harvard College and his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Alan L. Crane, age 45; term expires 2011; director since 2001:
Mr. Crane served as our President and Chief Executive Officer from May 2002 through August 2006 and September 2006, respectively. Mr. Crane also held the position of Chairman of the Board from June 2001 until June 2005 when, in connection with the determination of our board of directors to separate the positions of chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Mr. Crane resigned as Chairman. Mr. Crane has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Tempo Pharmaceuticals since December 2006. Mr. Crane also serves as a venture partner at Polaris Venture Partners, a venture capital firm, and serves on the boards of several privately-held biopharmaceutical companies. From February 1997 to May 2002, Mr. Crane held various management positions at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. He most recently served as Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Development, where he led Millennium’s strategic alliance, mergers and acquisitions and licensing activities. Mr. Crane received his B.A. in Biology, summa cum laude, from Harvard College and both his M.A. in Biology and M.B.A. in General Management from Harvard University.
Bruce Downey, age 61, term expires 2012; director since Jun 2009:
Mr. Downey has served as a partner at NewSpring Capital, a venture capital firm, since March 2009. From 1994 through December 2008, Mr. Downey was Chairman and CEO of Barr Pharmaceuticals, a global specialty-pharmaceutical company. Barr, acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals in a $9B deal in Jul 2008, is the originator of the business model based on Paragraph-IV patent challenges. Downey knows more about the generic-drug business than anyone on the planet, IMO.
Marsha H. Fanucci, age 56; term expires 2011; director since 2005:
Ms. Fanucci served as Chief Financial Officer of Millennium Pharmaceuticals from 2004 through Jan 2009. (Millennium was acquired by Takeda in May 2008.) From 2000 through 2004, she served as Vice President, Finance and Corporate Strategy and Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy. From 1998 through 2000, she was Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Genzyme. From 1987 to 1998, Ms. Fanucci was employed at Arthur D. Little, Inc. where she most recently served as Vice President and Director. She received her B.S. in Pharmacy from West Virginia University and her M.B.A. from Northeastern University.
Peter Barton Hutt, age 74; term expires 2011; director since 2001:
Mr. Hutt is a senior counsel at the law firm of Covington & Burling and has been an attorney with that firm since 1975. He served as Chief Counsel for the Food and Drug Administration from 1971 through 1975. Mr. Hutt is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and teaches a course on Food and Drug Law each Winter Term at Harvard Law School. He co-authored the casebook used to teach Food and Drug Law and has published numerous papers on the subject. Mr. Hutt is a member of the board of directors of CV Therapeutics, Inc., Favrille, Inc., Introgen Therapeutics, Inc., Ista Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Xoma Ltd. and several privately-held life sciences companies. Mr. Hutt received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale University, his L.L.B. from Harvard University and his L.L.M. from New York University.
Ram Sasisekharan, PhD, age 44; term expires 2010; director since 2001:
Co-founder of Momenta. Dr. Sasisekharan has been a Professor of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1996 and is affiliated with the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Dr. Sasisekharan’s research on complex polysaccharides has led to over 106 publications and over 34 patents, including the core technologies of Momenta. He has won both the Burroughs Wellcome and Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Awards and was the recipient of the 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 CaPCure Awards from the CaPCure Foundation. Dr. Sasisekharan serves on the steering committee of the Consortium for Functional Glycomics. Dr. Sasisekharan received his Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from Harvard Medical School.
Bennett M. Shapiro, MD, age 68; term expires 2010; director since 2003:
Since 2003, Dr. Shapiro has served as a private consultant providing advice to executives. From September 1990 to July 2003, Dr. Shapiro served as an Executive Vice President of Merck & Co., Inc., a research-based pharmaceutical company. Dr. Shapiro is the former head of Worldwide Licensing and External Research at Merck; prior to that he served as the head of Basic and Preclinical Research at Merck and as Chairman of the Biochemistry department at the University of Washington. Dr. Shapiro serves on the board of numerous privately-held biopharmaceutical companies. Dr. Shapiro received his B.S. in Chemistry from Dickinson College and his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College.
Elizabeth Stoner, MD, age 58; term expires 2010; director since 2007:
Dr. Stoner recently joined MPM Capital as an Executive Partner following a 22-year career at Merck Research Laboratories. At the time of her retirement from Merck, Dr. Stoner was Senior Vice President of Global Clinical Development Operations with responsibility for the company's clinical development activities in more than 40 countries. She also oversaw the clinical development activities of Merck's Japanese partner, Banyu, led the clinical development for the Merck/Schering-Plough Joint Venture for Zetia/Vytorin, and played a critical leadership role in Merck's efforts to transform its worldwide clinical development operations. Earlier in her career at Merck, Dr. Stoner had led the Proscar clinical development program from inception, establishing Merck as a leader in the field of prostate disease. As Endocrine Therapeutic Head, Dr. Stoner's responsibilities included all steroid and lipid metabolism, as well as the growth hormone secretagogue clinical research programs. Prior to her position at Merck, she was an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Cornell University Medical College. Dr. Stoner received a BS in Chemistry from Ottawa University, KS, an MS in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and an MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
James R. Sulat, age 58; term expires 2012; director since 6/5/08:
Mr. Sulat was appointed Chairman of the Board in December 2008 (#msg-33979910). Previously, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Memory Pharmaceuticals from February 2008 to December 2008 (when it was acquired by Roche) and as Memory Pharmaceuticals' President and Chief Executive Officer from May 2005 until February 2008. Jim has also served as a member of the board of directors of Memory Pharmaceuticals since May 2005. From May 2003 to February 2004, Mr. Sulat served as the Senior Executive Vice President of Moore Wallace Incorporated. Following the acquisition of Moore Wallace by R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company in February 2004, Mr. Sulat became Chief Financial Officer of R.R. Donnelley and served in that position until May 2004. From 1998 to 2003, Mr. Sulat served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Chiron Corporation. Mr. Sulat serves as a director of Maxygen, Inc. and Intercell AG. Mr. Sulat received a B.S. from Yale University, and an MBA and an M.S. in Health Services Administration from Stanford University.
Craig A. Wheeler, age 48; term expires 2012; director since 2006:
Mr. Wheeler has served as President since August 22, 2006 and was appointed as our Chief Executive Officer effective as of September 12, 2006. Prior to joining Momenta, Mr. Wheeler served as President of Chiron Biopharmaceuticals from August 2001 until June 2006. Prior to joining Chiron, Mr. Wheeler was a senior member of The Boston Consulting Group’s health care practice from August 1988 until August 2001. Mr. Wheeler was appointed to the board of directors of Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in September 2005. Mr. Wheeler received B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering from Cornell University and an M.B.A. degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
›Momenta Pharmaceuticals Announces Appointment of Bruce L. Downey to Board of Directors
Friday June 12, 2009, 8:00 am EDT
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 12, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MNTA ), a biotechnology company specializing in the characterization and engineering of complex drugs, announced the appointment of Bruce L. Downey to its Board of Directors, effective June 11, 2009. Mr. Downey is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and a former Chairman of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA). He succeeds Momenta co-founder Robert S. Langer, who is leaving the board after eight years of service. Dr. Langer will continue to serve as a scientific consultant to the company following his departure from the board.
``We are very pleased to have Bruce join our Board of Directors,' stated Craig Wheeler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Momenta. ``From his distinguished tenure at Barr, Bruce brings extensive industry experience, a deep understanding of the development and commercialization of both generic and branded drugs, and a wealth of global operational experience. We look forward to his advice and guidance as we execute on our growth strategy, including the development and commercialization of our pipeline, and creation of future partnerships and alliances.'
``I believe Momenta offers the potential to build a leading position in the development and commercialization of complex mixture and follow-on biologic drugs, as well as further leverage its scientific platform and capabilities to discover and develop novel drugs,' said Mr. Downey. ``I'm excited to be part of the next wave of drug development as a member of Momenta's board,' he concluded.
``As Bob Langer leaves our board I would like to acknowledge his special role as both a co-founder of Momenta and an active board member,' Mr. Wheeler added. ``There are very few individuals with Bob's scientific pedigree, entrepreneurial experience and track record in biotechnology and we thank him for his considerable contributions over the years. We look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role.'
About Bruce Downey
Mr. Downey has served as a Partner at NewSpring Capital, a venture capital firm, since April 2009. Previously, Mr. Downey was Chairman and CEO of Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a global specialty pharmaceutical company that operated in more than 30 countries worldwide and was acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals in 2008. Mr. Downey joined Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in 1993 and was appointed Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in 1994. Prior to joining Barr, Mr. Downey was a capital partner in Winston & Strawn, and a predecessor firm, Bishop, Cook, Purcell and Reynolds. In 1979, he founded Baller & Downey, which later merged with Bishop, Cook, Purcell and Reynolds. Mr. Downey graduated with honors from Miami University in 1969 and received his law degree cum laude from Ohio State. In 2006 and 2007, Mr. Downey served as the Chairman of the Board for the Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA), the trade association for the generic pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Downey is currently the Chair of the Board of Ambassadors for Johns Hopkins' Project RESTORE that funds research and clinical trials to support the creation of progressive treatments for transverse myelitis and multiple sclerosis.
About Momenta
Momenta Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, specializing in the detailed structural analysis of complex mixture drugs. Momenta is applying its technology to the development of generic versions of complex drug products, as well as to the discovery and development of novel drugs.‹
One more flashback from Downey: In a Teva/Barr luncheon in July 2008, he indicated that Barr/Pliva previously analyzed the generic Copaxone opportunity, but rejected it due to the product complexity, undefined regulatory pathway and patent portfolio.
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