Board of Directors
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James
J.
Marino,
J.D.
Chairman
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Mr. Marino brings more than three decades of experience advising numerous leading life science companies in connection with corporate transactions and strategic alliances. He has served as a Director of Onconova since July 2015, a Director of Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. since March 2017, and previously as a Director of Pharmacopeia, Inc. Mr. Marino served on the Board of Trustees of Wake Forest University and its renowned Medical Center, and previously served on the Board of Trustees of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. He is a co-founder of BioNJ, a trade association of biotechnology companies. Mr. Marino was a partner with the global law firm of Dechert LLP for 28 years, where he served as Managing Partner of the Princeton, N.J. office, and focused on the representation of leading life sciences companies in a broad range of corporate transactions including innovative strategic alliances, joint-ventures, and spin-offs. Mr. Marino received his B.A., J.D., and MBA from Rutgers University.
Chairman of the Board
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Steven
M.
Fruchtman,
M.D.
President & CEO
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Dr. Fruchtman joined Onconova in January 2015 as Chief Medical Officer. He was promoted to President in July 2018 and to CEO in January 2019. He has extensive experience in large and small biopharmaceutical companies and has led successful clinical development programs while serving in senior positions at Ortho Biotech Products, Novartis, Allos Therapeutics, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals and Syndax Pharmaceuticals.
Previously, Dr. Fruchtman was on the faculty of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Director of the Stem Cell Transplantation and Myeloproliferative Disorder Programs at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He is an author of more than 170 lectures, presentations, books, chapters, and abstracts and serves as an external reviewer for multiple medical journals.
Dr. Fruchtman received his medical degree from New York Medical College with the distinction of membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha honorary medical fraternity.
- Peter Atadja, Ph.D.
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Peter Atadja, Ph.D., joins Onconova’s Board with over two decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He is currently the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of CommBio Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to developing a new class of medicine for a spectrum of diseases by modulating intestinal functions. Prior to joining CommBio, Dr. Atadja co-founded and served as the CSO of K36 therapeutics, a biotechnology company that aims to translate epigenetic modulation of oncogenic pathways into first-in-class small molecule therapeutics. From 1997 – 2021, Dr. Atadja held roles of increasing responsibility at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, most recently serving as the company’s Executive Director & Head, Drug Discovery & Translational Research. While at Novartis, he led the discovery, development, and registration of the first FDA and EMA approved HDAC inhibitor (FARYDAK®) and launched three major research programs (oncology, liver diseases, regenerative medicine), resulting in the addition of 20 novel targets, eight first-in-class candidates, and two clinical candidates to the company’s global pipeline. In 2008, Dr. Atadja was the recipient of Novartis’ highest award in drug discovery, the VIVA Award. He has a Ph.D. in molecular oncology from University of Calgary, a Master of Science in pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry from Hebrew University, and a Bachelor of Pharmacy in medicinal chemistry from Kumasi University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi, Ghana.
- Trafford Clarke, Ph.D.
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Trafford Clarke, Ph.D., is a pharmaceutical industry veteran who has dedicated his career to the discovery, development, and launch of new medicines. He spent 31 years working in roles of increasing responsibility at Eli Lilly and Company, most recently serving as a Managing Director and UK Research and Development Site Head. In this role, Dr. Clarke led a team of approximately 700 people and oversaw significant improvements in site productivity, infrastructure investment, and ethics and compliance standards. As Eli Lilly’s European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations R&D representative, Dr. Clarke was a member of the Research Directors Group and championed Lilly’s strategic engagement and leadership of 32 European Union Innovative Medicine Initiative projects. He has previously served as Board Member for Eli Lilly and Company Ltd. UK and on the Innovation Board of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. Dr. Clarke has a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Imperial College, London and a Bachelor of Science in organic chemistry from University of Liverpool.
- Jerome E. Groopman, M.D.
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Dr. Groopman holds the Dina and Raphael Recanati Chair of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and is Chief of Experimental Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He received his B.A. from Columbia College summa cum laude and his M.D. from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York where he was elected to AOA. He served his internship and residency in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, then his specialty fellowships in hematology and oncology at the University of California and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Groopman chaired the Advisory Committee to the FDA for Biological Response Modifiers. He serves on several scientific editorial boards and has published many research papers. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2000. Dr. Groopman's research has focused on blood development, cancer, and AIDS, and he has been a major participant in the development of many AIDS-related therapies. He is a staff writer for The New Yorker and has written for The New York Times and The Washington Post. He is author of "The Measure of Our Days" (1997), “Second Opinions” (2000), "The Anatomy of Hope" (2004), and the recently released, "How Doctors Think." "The Measure of Our Days," explores the spiritual lives of patients with serious illness and was the basis for the ABC Television series "Gideon's Crossing."
- Viren Mehta, Pharm.D.
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Dr. Mehta, Managing Member of Mehta Partners, has over thirty years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, investment research, strategic advisory services, and asset management. Prior to founding Mehta and Isaly, where he pioneered an in-depth valuation methodology for biotechnology companies, Dr. Mehta was a part of the strategic planning team of the International Division at Merck & Co. Dr. Mehta earned a Doctor of Pharmacy at the University of Southern California, and an M.B.A. Degree from the Anderson School of Business at the University of California, Los Angeles.
- M. Teresa Shoemaker
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M. Teresa Shoemaker served as the President and CEO of commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical company Medexus Pharma, Inc. from October 2018 to May of 2020. She has extensive experience in senior leadership roles with a broad range of commercial and operational expertise in the life science industry, including her role as National Sales Director and later as Senior Director of U.S. Commercial Operations for Pharmion Corporation, where she was integral in the launch of azacitidine for myelodysplastic syndromes. In 2008, when Celgene Corporation acquired Pharmion, Ms. Shoemaker remained as Executive Director of Strategic Commercial Operations working as part of the executive transition team.
Ms. Shoemaker joined Onconova’s Board of Directors in May of 2020 and brings more than 30 years of extensive commercial and leadership experience to the Company.
- Jack E. Stover
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Since December 2015, Mr. Stover has served as Interim President and CEO of Interpace Diagnostics Group, Inc., formerly known as "PDI, Inc.", and has served on their board of directors since August 2005. He was the chair of PDI's audit committee from August 2005 until December 2015. Mr. Stover has been Chief Executive Officer of Zebec Therapeutics LLC ("Zebec") since April 2014. Zebec is the successor to Quadrant Pharmaceuticals LLC, which Mr. Stover co-founded and was President and Director of from September 2013. From 2009 to February 2012, Mr. Stover served as the executive chairman of Targeted Nano Therapeutics LLC, a privately held biotechnology company focused on targeted delivery of peptides and proteins. Mr. Stover was also chairman of the audit committee and a member of the board of directors of Arbios Systems Inc. from 2005 to 2008 and a member of the board of directors of Influmedix, Inc. from 2010 to 2011. From 2004 to 2008, he served as chief executive officer, president and director of Antares Pharma, Inc., a publicly held specialty pharmaceutical company listed on the American Stock Exchange. Prior to that, Mr. Stover was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sicor, Inc., a publicly held company which manufactured and marketed injectable pharmaceutical products, and which was acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Prior to that, Mr. Stover was executive vice president and director of a proprietary women's pharmaceutical company, Gynetics, Inc. ("Gynetics"), and before Gynetics, he was senior vice president and director of B. Braun Medical, Inc., a private global medical device and pharmaceutical company. For more than five years prior to that, Mr. Stover was a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (then Coopers and Lybrand), working in the bioscience industry division in New Jersey. Mr. Stover received his B.A. in Accounting from Lehigh University and is a Certified Public Accountant.