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Company Management
James S. Manuso, Ph.D., MBA
Dr. James S. Manuso was appointed President, Chief Executive Officer and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. in August, 2015. Dr. Manuso also is Chairman and CEO of Talfinium Investments, Inc., an investment entity and financial consultancy, and serves on the board of privately-held, KineMed, Inc. Dr. Manuso formerly served chairman and chief executive officer of Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTX), formerly SuperGen (NASDAQ:SUPG), from July 2011 until October, 2013, at which time he sold the company to Otsuka Pharmaceuticals for $886MM. Previously, from January 2004 to July 2011, he served as chairman, president and CEO, as chief executive officer-elect from September 2003 to December 2003 and as a director since February 2001.
Dr. Manuso co-founded and was general partner of PrimeTech Partners, a biotechnology venture management partnership, from 1998 to 2002, and Managing General Partner of The Channel Group LLC, an international life sciences corporate advisory firm. Dr. Manuso was also president of Manuso, Alexander & Associates, Inc., management consultants and financial advisors to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Dr. Manuso began his career as vice president and Director of Health Care Planning and Development for The Equitable Companies (now Group Axa), where he also served as Acting Medical Director.
Previously, he served on the boards of The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and its Health Section Governing Board, Novelos Therapeutics, Inc. (NVLT:OB; now Cellectar), Merrion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (MERR:IEX; Dublin, Ireland), Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IZP-TSE; Vancouver, Canada), Symbiontics, Inc., (sold to BioMarin as ZyStor, Inc. for $110 Million), Montigen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Galenica Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Supratek Pharma, Inc., and EuroGen, Ltd. (London, UK), where he was chairman.
Dr. Manuso is a biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry CEO and entrepreneur experienced in the foundation, management, financing, governance and sale of start-up, public, private, domestic and international companies with marketed and R&D-stage products. He has extensive investment banking, M&A, general management, and business, financial, corporate, and drug development expertise. Dr. Manuso has served as board chairman, and chairman of audit, governance and nominating, pricing and compensation committees of multiple companies’ boards. He has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for companies and is considered a “financial expert” under Sarbanes-Oxley regulations.
Dr. Manuso was educated in France, Greece and the United States. He earned a B.A. with Honors in Economics and Chemistry from New York University, a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychophysiology and Genetics from the Graduate Faculty of The New School University where he was a New School Scholar, a Certificate in Health Systems Management from Harvard Business School, and an Executive MBA from Columbia Business School where he was an Equitable Companies Scholar. Dr. Manuso is the author of over 30 chapters, articles and books on topics including health care cost containment and biotechnology company management. He has taught and lectured at Columbia, New York University, Georgetown, Polytechnic University, and Waseda University (Japan), and he served as a biotechnology consultant to the prime minister of New Zealand. Dr. Manuso has delivered invited addresses at meetings of the American Management Association, the American Medical Association, the Securities Industry Association, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and many other professional associations. He served previously as Vice President and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Greater San Francisco Bay Area Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Arnold S. Lippa, Ph.D.
Dr. Lippa has been Executive Chairman of the Board of RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. since March 2013, and was appointed Chief Scientific Officer in August, 2015. From March 2013 until August 2015, he served as Chief Executive Officer and President. He is Chairman of the Board of Xintria Pharmaceutical Corporation, which he co-founded in 2006.
Dr. Lippa is a Managing Member and founder of T Morgen Capital LLC, which is an investment and management company specializing in the creation and management of biomedical companies. Since 2005, T Morgen Capital has been a significant equity owner and a managing member of Aurora Capital LLC, a life science focused FINRA member firm, where Dr. Lippa represents T Morgen Capital as a Manager.
In 2004, Dr. Lippa co-founded and currently is representing T Morgen Capital, a Managing Member, as a Manager of Atypical BioCapital Management LLC and Atypical BioVentures Fund LLC, a life science fund management company and fund, respectively, both of which are affiliates of Aurora Capital.
Dr. Lippa was a founder of DOV Pharmaceutical, Inc. and served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer from its inception in April 1995 until 2005. Prior to founding DOV, from 1987 until 1994, Dr. Lippa co-founded and co-managed a number of life sciences companies, including Praxis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which Dr. Lippa co-founded and took public in 1985. He served as President and Chief Operating Officer from 1984 until 1987. Prior to 1985, he served as Director of Molecular Neurobiology and held other positions at the Medical Research Division of the American Cyanamid Corporation.
Dr. Lippa has consulted for various pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and was a graduate faculty professor at the New York University School of Medicine and the City University of New York. Dr. Lippa has held numerous scientific and editorial positions, has testified on the development of anti-AIDS drugs before a Congressional committee and has served as a consultant and special reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
Richard Purcell
Mr. Purcell has been the Senior Vice-President of Research and Development for RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. since 2014, leading the development of the company’s portfolio of pipeline products for respiratory indications. He is a biopharmaceutical development specialist, with extensive experience in providing consulting services to financial, venture capital, and start-up companies to concentrate on new business strategy and clinical development of novel compounds.
Mr. Purcell is also the President and CEO of intelliSantè, Inc., a private software development firm focused on patient-centric health information management systems. Previously, he was president of ClinPro, Inc., a clinical research organization (CRO), where he led this full-service, technology driven CRO specializing in Phase I, II, and III clinical trial management. His work included the design and implementation of a number of early stage clinical development programs.
Prior to joining ClinPro, he worked for SCP Communications, a medical communications company, where he served as Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the Clinical Programs Division. He previously headed the Life Sciences Consulting Group for Kline and Company.
Mr. Purcell started his career as a molecular biologist, where he developed and patented a second generation TPA with increased half-life. He has also conducted primary research and published manuscripts on the topics of AIDS and immunomodulators. He graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Biochemical Sciences, and attended Rutgers Graduate School of Management focusing on marketing and finance.
Jeff Margolis
Mr. Margolis has been a member of the Board of Directors, Treasurer, Secretary and Vice-President of RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. since March 2013. He is also Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board Directors of Xintria Pharmaceutical Corp, which he co-founded in 2006.
Mr. Margolis has served as President of Aurora Capital LLC, a boutique investment bank and securities firm specializing in the life science sector, since he founded its predecessor company, Aurora Capital Corp. in 1994. Aurora Capital Corp. was registered with the SEC and became a member of the FINRA (formerly NASD) in May 1995. Aurora Capital LLC succeeded to the business of Aurora Capital Corp. on September 16, 1998.
In 2004, Mr. Margolis co-founded and currently is a manager and indirectly a member of Atypical BioCapital Management LLC (Atypical Bio) and Atypical BioVentures Fund LLC, a life science fund management company and fund, respectively, that are affiliates of Aurora Capital. Prior to founding Aurora, Mr. Margolis was at D. Blech & Company Incorporated from 1992 until 1994, an investment banking firm specializing in biotechnology companies.
Before becoming involved in financing and advising life science companies, Mr. Margolis worked for approximately a decade for the Fundamental Brokers Group, an international affiliated group of fixed income securities brokers. His last position with the firm was chief financial officer.
Mr. Margolis currently holds the following securities industry registrations: (i) general securities principal (Series 24), (ii) registered representative (Series 7), (iii) state agent (Series 63), (iv) financial and operations principal (Series 27), (v) municipal securities principal (Series 54), (vi) options principal (Series 4).
Robert Weingarten
Mr. Weingarten has been a member of the Board of Directors, Chief Financial Officer and Vice-President of RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. since May 2013.
Mr. Weingarten is an experienced business consultant and advisor with an ongoing consulting practice. Since 1979, he has provided financial consulting and advisory services to numerous public companies in various stages of development, operation or reorganization.
Mr. Weingarten was the Non-Executive Chairman of New Dawn Mining Corp. ("New Dawn") from August 31, 2005 through September 30, 2010, and was named the Executive Chairman of New Dawn in October 2010. On July 8, 2010, Mr. Weingarten was appointed to the board of directors of Central African Gold Limited (formerly known as Central African Gold Plc and listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange at that time). |
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