About Us :: Board of Directors

Arnold L. Oronsky, Ph.D. – Chairman of the Board

Dr. Oronsky has been a member of our Board since November 1996 and became Chairman in February 2006. Dr. Oronsky is a managing director with InterWest Partners, a venture capital firm. Prior to joining InterWest Partners in 1994, Dr. Oronsky was Vice President of Discovery Research for the Lederle Laboratories division of American Cyanamid, a pharmaceutical company. From 1973 until 1976, Dr. Oronsky was head of the inflammation, allergy and immunology research program at Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceutical Company. Dr. Oronsky also serves as a senior lecturer in the Department of Medicine at The Johns Hopkins Medical School. Dr. Oronsky has won numerous grants and awards and has published over 125 scientific articles. Dr. Oronsky serves on the boards of directors of Metabasis Therapeutics Inc., and Anesiva, Inc. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons and his A.B. from New York University.

Nancy L. Buc, Esq.

Ms. Buc was appointed to our Board in November 2005. Ms. Buc is a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm Buc & Beardsley, and has had a long and distinguished legal career with a strong focus on healthcare policy and government service. Ms. Buc formerly served as Chief Counsel for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. During an earlier period of government service, she served successively as Attorney-Advisor to the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Assistant Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Ms. Buc has served as a member of several major government panels, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee, the NIH Consensus Panel on Effective Medical Treatment of Heroin Addiction, and the Office of Technology Assessment’s Advisory Panels on Government Policies and Pharmaceutical Research and Development, and New Developments in Biotechnology. She was also a member of the Institute of Medicine’s committees on Contraceptive Research and Development and NIDA Medications Development. She was also the Chair of the Food and Drug Law Institute’s Board of Directors. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University and her Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Virginia, and was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Brown University. She has served as both a trustee and a fellow on the Brown University Corporation, Brown’s governing body. She has been a director of the National Partnership for Women and Families.

Francis R. Cano, Ph.D.

Dr. Cano was appointed to our Board in 2009. Dr. Cano is President and Founder of Cano Biotech Corp., a consulting firm focusing on the vaccine business. Previously, Dr. Cano was President and Chief Operating Officer for Aviron, which was later acquired by MedImmune in 2001. As a Co-Founder of Aviron, he completed two rounds of venture financing, a licensing agreement with SmithKline Biologicals, and in-licensed Flu-Mist influenza vaccine from the National Institutes of Health. For 21 years, Dr. Cano worked with the Lederle Laboratories Division of American Cyanamid, most recently as Vice President and General Manager of the Biologicals unit. He earned a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Pennsylvania State University, served as a Research Associate at Rutgers Institute of Microbiology, and holds a M.S. in Microbiology and a B.S. in Biology from St. John's University.

Dennis A. Carson, M.D.

Dr. Carson has been a member of our Board since December 1997. Dr. Carson is a noted researcher in the fields of autoimmune and immunodeficiency diseases and is co-discoverer with Dr. Eyal Raz of the immunostimulatory sequences (ISS) that form the basis of our technology. He has played key roles in the founding of Vical, Inc., a gene therapy company, IDEC Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company, and Triangle Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Carson is director of the Rebecca and John Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego and has been a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego since 1990. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine, as well as the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Society of Hematology, and the Association of American Physicians. He received his M.D. from Columbia University and his B.A. from Haverford College. Dr. Carson completed his residency in internal medicine and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California San Diego.

Dino Dina, M.D.

Dr. Dina has been our President and a member of our Board since May 1997 and our Chief Executive Officer, or CEO, since May 1998. From 1982 until he joined us in 1997, Dr. Dina was an employee of Chiron Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company. At Chiron, Dr. Dina held a series of positions with increasing responsibility. He ultimately served as president of Chiron Vaccines (formerly Biocine Company), which he directed from its inception in 1987. Under Dr. Dina’s direction, Chiron Vaccines received the first-ever approval of an adjuvanted influenza vaccine in Italy, successfully completed development of the first genetically engineered pertussis vaccine, and conducted clinical trials for vaccines to prevent HIV, herpes simplex type II, cytomegalovirus, and hepatitis B infections. The virology group he directed was responsible for several key scientific findings, including the discovery, cloning, and sequencing of the hepatitis C virus, and the cloning and sequencing of the viral genomes for HIV and hepatitis A viruses. Prior to joining Chiron, Dr. Dina was employed at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, as an assistant professor of genetics from 1977 to 1982. He received his M.D. from the University of Genoa Medical School in Italy.

Denise M. Gilbert, Ph.D.

Dr. Gilbert was appointed to our Board in March 2004. Dr. Gilbert is currently an independent consultant and strategic advisor to life science companies. From 2001 to 2002, she served as Chief Executive Officer of Entigen Corporation, a private life science information technology company. From 1995 to 1999, Dr. Gilbert served as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Incyte Pharmaceuticals (now Incyte Corporation), and from 1993 to 1995 she was Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Affymax. From 1986 through 1993 Dr. Gilbert was a Managing Director and senior biotechnology analyst at Smith Barney Harris & Upham and Vice President and biotechnology analyst at Montgomery Securities. Dr. Gilbert serves on the board of Cytokinetics, Inc. and KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Gilbert holds a B.S. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Harvard University.

Mark Kessel

Mr. Kessel was appointed to our Board in 2009. Mr. Kessel is a Partner of Symphony Capital LLC, co-founded Symphony in 2002 and is widely recognized as the leader in structuring product development investments for the biopharmaceutical industry. Mr. Kessel is a director and Chairman of Symphony Icon, Inc., and a director of OXiGENE, Inc., both Symphony portfolio companies. In addition, Mr. Kessel is a director of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, Fondation Sante´ and the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Mr. Kessel was formerly the Managing Partner of Shearman & Sterling LLP, with day-to-day operating responsibility for this large international law firm. He received a B.A. with honors in Economics from the City College of New York and a J.D. magna cum laude from Syracuse University College of Law. Mr. Kessel has written on financing for the biotech industry for Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, Nature Biotechnology and other publications, and on issues related to governance and audit committees for such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Deal and Euromoney.

David M. Lawrence, M.D.

Dr. Lawrence was appointed to our Board in December 2006. Dr. Lawrence is the Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (KFHP/KFH). Dr. Lawrence currently serves on the Boards of Agilent Technologies, Raffles Medical Group of Singapore, McKesson Corporation, and the RAND Health Advisory Board, among others. He also serves in advisory roles to the biotechnology industry. He has been a consultant to Dynavax since May 2005. Dr. Lawrence joined Kaiser in 1981. He was named chief executive officer of KFHP/KFH in 1991 and chairman of its Board in 1992. Prior to that, he served as vice chairman and chief operating officer as well as a key executive in Kaiser Permanente divisions in Oregon and Colorado. He retired on December 31, 2002. Dr. Lawrence is a graduate of Amherst College (B.A.), the University of Kentucky (M.D.), and the University of Washington (M.P.H.). He is Board Certified in General Preventive Medicine (the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Washington). He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha (Medical Honorary Society) and the Institute of Medicine (National Academy of Sciences).

Peggy V. Phillips

Ms. Phillips was appointed to our Board in August 2006. Ms. Phillips currently also serves on the boards of directors of Portola Pharmaceuticals and the United States Naval Academy Foundation and she served on the board of Western Wireless from 2004 until the acquisition by Alltel in mid-2005. From 1996 until 2002, she served on the board of directors of Immunex Corporation and from 1999 she served as the Chief Operating Officer until the company was acquired by Amgen in 2002. During her career at Immunex, she held positions of increasing responsibility in research, development, manufacturing, sales and marketing. As senior vice president for pharmaceutical development and general manager for Enbrel ® , she was responsible for clinical development and regulatory affairs as well as the launch, sales and marketing of the product. Prior to joining Immunex, Ms. Phillips worked at Miles Laboratories. Ms. Phillips holds a B.S. and a M.S. in microbiology from the University of Idaho.

Stanley A. Plotkin, M.D.

Dr. Plotkin was appointed to our Board in August 2005. Dr. Plotkin is Emeritus Professor of the University of Pennsylvania and Executive Advisor to Sanofi Pasteur. Until 1991, he was Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania, and Professor of Virology at the Wistar Institute and at the same time, Director of Infectious Diseases and Senior Physician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 1991, Dr. Plotkin left the University to join the vaccine manufacturer, Pasteur-Mérieux-Connaught (today, Sanofi Pasteur), where for seven years he was Medical and Scientific Director, based at Marnes-la-Coquette, outside Paris. Dr. Plotkin’s career included internship at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, residency in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Hospital for Sick Children in London and three years in the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Centers for Disease Control of the U.S. Public Health Service. He has been Chairman of the Infectious Diseases Committee and the AIDS Task Force of the American Academy of Pediatrics, liaison member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and Chairman of the Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Research Committee of the National Institutes of Health.