Richard DeSchutter
Following a 35-year career at Monsanto Company where he last served as Vice Chairman and Chief Administration Officer, Mr. De Schutter transitioned to Pharmacia Corporation, a drug manufacturer created through merger of Monsanto and Pharmacia & Upjohn in April 2000, as Chief Administrative Officer and a Director. Previously he had served as President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of G.D. Searle Company from 1995 through 1999. In July 2000, Mr. De Schutter joined DuPont Pharmaceutical Company as Chairman. He later was named Chief Executive Officer and remained until the 2001 sale of the company to Bristol Myers-Squibb.
Mr. De Schutter currently serves as a director of Smith and Nephew, plc., Varian Inc, Ecolab Inc, ING Americas, Navicure Inc, and presides as Non Executive Board Chairman of Incyte Corporation. His past affiliations include former directorships at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare where he additionally served as Chairman of the Research Institute, MedPointe Pharmaceuticals, Metaphore Pharmaceuticals, the U.S. Japan Business council, General Binding Corp. and ReliaStar Financial Group. In addition he served on the executive committee of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and as a Trustee of Northwestern University.
Mr. De Schutter received his Bachelor and Master of Science Degrees in chemical engineering at the University of Arizona and completed the Advanced Management Program at Columbia University.
W. Robert Dahl
Mr. Dahl is the Vice Chairman and co-founder of Golden Pond Healthcare, a publicly-traded acquisition company focused on the healthcare industry. Previously he was a managing director of The Carlyle Group where he oversaw The Carlyle Group’s investing activities in the healthcare industry. Prior to joining The Carlyle Group, he spent 13 years with Credit Suisse First Boston, most recently as managing director and co-head of their U.S. Healthcare Group.
Mr. Dahl is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar and a Loeb Rhodes fellow, and Middlebury College.
Doug Eckert
Mr. Eckert is a partner in Hoar Construction LLC, one of America’s leading general contractors; he serves as the firm’s General Counsel, heads up Risk Management, and is responsible for strategic decision-making company wide.
Prior to joining Hoar, Mr. Eckert was a partner in Bradley, Arant, Rose & White’s Construction and Procurement Group, chairman of the firm’s International Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He was the North American representative for the London Court of International Arbitration. He has represented more than two dozen of Engineering News-Record’s Top 400 general contractors on projects across the country and overseas.
Mr. Eckert holds a U.E. certificate from the International School in Suva, Fiji, a law degree from the University of Virginia School Of Law and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Virginia. He also serves on the Board of the American Contractor’s Insurance Group and Magic Moments, Alabama’s largest wish granting organization for children with life threatening illnesses.
Trygve Mikkelsen
Mr. Mikkelsen is the founder and General Partner of T+T Holdings, LLC, a private investment company focused on private equity and hedge fund investments. His current Board positions include: Diabetica Solutions Inc. and Slate Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Prior to founding T+T Holdings, Mr. Mikkelsen was a Managing Director with Citigroup (2004-2007), Deutsche Bank (1999-2002), and Credit Suisse First Boston (1987-1999). His specialty as an investment banker was M&A advisory, primarily with a focus on health care. Mr. Mikkelsen has completed transactions with an aggregate value over $50 billion, representing a diverse group of companies in the health care, consumer products and industrials sectors. In addition to his advisory responsibilities, Mr. Mikkelsen held several management positions including Head of US Healthcare at Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was also appointed to the Investment Banking Management Committee. Prior to investment banking, Mr. Mikkelsen worked for McKinsey & Co. in Scandinavia.
Mr. Mikkelsen graduated cum laude with a BS from University of Utah, where he was an All-American skier, and received an MBA with Honors from Columbia University.
Anthony Wild, PhD
Dr Wild is a co-founder and General Partner of BOWS Pharmaceuticals AG, a Swiss drug-delivery technology.
Until its acquisition by Meda AB of Sweden in August 2007, Dr Wild was the Chairman of the privately-held MedPointe Pharmaceuticals Inc., a specialty pharmaceuticals company based in Somerset (NJ), having served also as CEO from 2001 to 2006. MedPointe was formed around the 2001 acquisition of the Carter-Wallace Company by MedPointe Capital Partners LLC, an investment group founded by Dr Wild in 2000.
Between 1995 and 2000, Dr Wild worked for the Warner-Lambert Company, of Morris Plains (NJ). Starting as President of Warner-Lambert’s Parke-Davis (North America) unit, Dr Wild was promoted to Executive Vice President and President of its global Pharmaceutical Sector in 1996.
Before joining Warner-Lambert, Dr Wild spent 22 years with the Schering-Plough Corporation in Switzerland, Sweden, South Africa, the Netherlands, the United States and culminating as the Japan-based President of its Japanese operations for six years.
Prior to joining Schering-Plough, he was a Development Chemist at Sandoz AG in Basel, Switzerland.
Dr Wild is a native of the U.K. where he graduated in 1968 from the University of York with an honours degree in Chemistry and also holds a Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry in 1971 from the University of Cambridge (Churchill College).
He is a member of the Board of Directors of Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. as well as of the privately held Fovea Pharmaceuticals S.A. of France. He also chairs the board of advisors of Ferrer, Freeman and Co., a healthcare private equity firm, is an advisor to HBM Bioventures of Switzerland as well as to Golden Pond Healthcare Inc., a special acquisitions corporation.
Dr Wild is a director of the University of York in America Foundation, and of the Churchill Archives at Churchill College Cambridge, is a past Chairman of the International Section of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), and a past Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ).
Bob Whitehead
President & CEO
In May 2006, Mr. Whitehead founded Slate Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, and he has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Slate since that time. From June 2004 to March 2005, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly-traded specialty pharmaceutical company in the fields of urology and men’s health. From June 2003 to March 2004, Mr. Whitehead served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Prestwick Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company. From December 2001 to June 2003, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer at ZymoGenetics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. Prior to joining ZymoGenetics, Mr. Whitehead served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and President, Americas, of Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which acquired Dura Pharmaceuticals in 2000.
Mr. Whitehead received his B.S. degree from Temple University and he serves on the boards of directors of Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., Protiva Biotherapeutics, Inc., airPharma, LLC and Meditrina Pharmaceuticals, Inc., all private companies.
Mike Ford
Mr. Ford will assist Mr. Whitehead in running Slate. Prior to Slate, Mr. Ford ran Searle in Europe an organization with 2500 employees, $1 billion in annual revenues and three manufacturing plants ( Spain, Germany and Russia ). He was a member of the Searle worldwide management team. Previously, Mr. Ford has experience in managing affiliates in India, Pakistan, Middle East & Africa and was general manager of United Kingdom operations. As well as significant operating roles, he has also been corporate vice president of licensing and acquisition and vice president for finance Europe.
Mr. Ford has more than thirty years experience in the pharmaceutical industry and helped launch Celebrex which became a blockbuster drug. He has lived and worked in Switzerland, United States and the United Kingdom, where he currently resides.