Andrei Floroiu, MBA
President & Chief Executive Officer
Andrei Floroiu has been a member of our board of directors since April 2020 and the CEO since 15th June 2020. Most recently, Andrei was with Agenus, Inc., an immuno-oncology and vaccine pioneer, where he held executive positions and was responsible for structuring strategic partnerships and other transactions, including the origination and execution of a $115 million royalty transaction based on GSK’s Shingrix vaccine.
Prior to Agenus, Andrei was a Managing Director at Exigo Capital providing strategic advice to C-suite executives and Boards. He also brings prior biopharma investment and advisory experience with The Invus Group, a leading healthcare investment firm, and McKinsey & Co, the leading management consultancy.
Andrei holds an MBA from the Wharton School, an MSc. from the University of Maryland, and a degree in Engineering from the Politechnica University of Bucharest.
Bob Yedid
Director
Bob Yedid has over twenty five years’ experience in healthcare as a buy-side analyst, portfolio manager, private equity investor and investment banker. Since 2014 has been Managing Director of LifeSci Advisors, the largest healthcare dedicated investor relations/public relations firm globally.
Bob worked as a Managing Director at ICR Inc., in their Healthcare IR from Dec. 2011-Oct 2014. Before working with companies on investor relations, he was a Portfolio Manager and Senior Research Analyst at Principled Capital, a fund with $1.5 billion of AUM, and a Vice-President at Warburg Pincus, one of the world’s largest private equity and venture capital firms, investing in health care.
Bob has a BA in Economics from Yale University and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
W. Mark Watson
Director
Mr. Watson is a Certified Public Accountant with over 40 years of experience in public accounting and auditing, having spent his entire career from January 1973 to June 2013 at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and its predecessor, most recently as Central Florida Marketplace Leader.
He has served as lead audit partner and lead client service partner on public companies ranging from middle market firms to Fortune 500 enterprises.
Mr. Watson also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Inhibitor Therapeutics, Inc. He previously served as a director and member of the Audit Committee of Sykes Enterprises, Inc and BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc.
A member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Mr. Watson is qualified to serve on the Board due to his expertise in public accounting and his experience with life science and pharmaceutical companies.
He received his undergraduate degree in Accounting from Marquette University.
Dr. David Wheadon
Director
David Wheadon is a former senior executive of AstraZeneca Plc, having recently retired as senior Vice-President (SVP), global regulatory affairs, patient safety and quality assurance. He joined the board of Vaxart in April 2021.
David has had a long and distinguished career in the healthcare sector in senior leadership positions, including: Executive VP, research and advocacy at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; SVP, scientific and regulatory affairs at PhRMA; SVP of global pharmaceutical regulatory and medical sciences at Abbott Laboratories; SVP of US regulatory affairs at GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals; Vice-President and director CNS/GI Clinical Research at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals; and clinical research physician at Eli Lilly and Company.
David has been integral to the successful development and approval of several important drugs for central nervous system diseases, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders and diseases in other therapeutic areas. He currently serves on the board of Karuna Therapeutics Inc. and ConnectiveRx.
David holds a M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an A.B. in Biology from Harvard University. He completed his post-doctoral training in Psychiatry at Tufts/New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
Elaine J. Heron, Ph.D.
Director
Dr. Heron currently serves on the boards of BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc., a leader in developing and commercializing first- or best-in-class therapies for rare genetic diseases, Palvella Therapeutics, Inc., a private clinical-stage therapeutics company, Visgenx, Inc., a private early-stage therapeutics company, and Watershed Medical, Inc., a private early-stage therapeutics company. Dr. Heron also serves as an advisor to Kyto Technology and Life Science, Inc.
From February 2009 to October 2015, Dr. Heron served as Chair and CEO of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a private drug development company acquired by Pfizer, Inc.
From July 2001 to October 2008, Dr. Heron was Chair and CEO of Labcyte Inc., a private biotechnology company. Before joining Labcyte Inc., she spent six years in positions of increasing responsibility at the Applied Biosystems Group of Applera Corporation, a biotechnology company, including the position of General Manager and Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Dr. Heron earned a B.S. in chemistry with highest distinction, a Ph.D. in analytical biochemistry from Purdue University, and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University.
