Jeffrey Wolf
Founder, Chairman and CEO
Jeffrey Wolf is founder and CEO of NightHawk Biosciences. He also founded Seed-One Ventures, a firm focused on the systematic formation and management of new biomedical companies founded on breakthrough ideas and technology.
Throughout his career, Mr. Wolf has specialized in building new life-science companies from the ground up and plays an active role in supporting the growth of his companies. Mr. Wolf’s start-ups include Avigen (co-founder and director), a NASDAQ-listed gene therapy company; TyRx Pharma (co-founder and chairman), which was focused on the development of novel biocompatible polymers and acquired by Medtronic; and EluSys Therapeutics (co-founder and founding CEO), a biodefense company focused on the development of Anthim® antibody therapeutic, an approved medical countermeasure to mitigate the effect of anthrax exposure after a natural incident or intentional attack.
Mr. Wolf received his M.B.A. from Stanford Business School, his J.D. from New York University School of Law, and his B.A. from the University of Chicago where he graduated with honors in economics.
John Prendergast, Ph.D.
Lead Independent Director
John Prendergast is co-founder of Palatin Technologies, a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted, receptor-specific peptide therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with significant unmet medical need and commercial potential. He has been chairman of the board at Palatin since June 2000 and director since August 1996. Dr. Prendergast is also president of Summercloud Bay, an independent consulting firm providing services to the biotechnology industry, and director and executive board chairman of Antyra, a privately-held biopharmaceutical firm. From 1991 through 1997, he was managing director of The Castle Group Ltd., a medical venture capital firm. Dr. Prendergast received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of New South Wales, and a C.S.S. in administration and management from Harvard University.
John Monahan, Ph.D.
Director
Dr. Monahan has served on our Board since November 2009. Dr. Monahan Co-Founded Avigen Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGN) in 1992, a company which has become a leader in its sector for the development of novel pharmaceutical products for the treatment of serious human diseases. Over a 12 year period as CEO of Avigen he raised over $235M in several private and public financings including its IPO. From 1989-1992, he was VP of R&D at Somatix Therapy Corp., Alameda, CA and from 1985-1989 he was Director of Molecular & Cell Biology at Triton Biosciences Inc., Alameda, CA. Prior to that from 1982-1985, he was Research Group Chief, Department of Molecular Genetics, Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc. Nutley, NJ, and from 1975 to 1977 he was an Instructor at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1974 from McMaster University, Canada and his B.Sc. from University College Dublin, Ireland in 1969. Dr. Monahan is a Scientific Advisory Board member of Agilis Biotherapeutics. He is also a board member of Synthetic Biologics, Inc., a clinical stage company developing therapeutics to protect the gut microbiome (NYSE MKT: SYN), a board member of the biotech company ITUS Corporation and also a board member of a number of Irish biotech companies including Genable, Cellix, Luxcel, and GK Technologies.
We selected Dr. Monahan to serve on our Board because he brings extensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical and biologics industry. Having served in senior corporate positions in many medical companies he has a vast knowledge of the industry.
Elizabeth Posillico, PhD
Director
Dr. Posillico has 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and has held senior positions in general management, business development, marketing, and operations. She joined Elusys in 2002, as Vice President of Business Development and was promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations. In January 2005, she was named President and CEO until finalization of acquisition of Elusys by NightHawk Biosciences in 2022. Prior to joining Elusys, she was Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at Physiome Sciences and Senior Vice President of Business Development at Apoptogen, Inc., a Canadian biotech company developing novel therapies for the treatment of apoptosis-related diseases. She also served on the management committee of the Canadian Medical Discovery Fund, an early-stage venture capital fund. Dr. Posillico spent eight years at Genzyme Corporation in several management positions, including Director of Sales and Marketing for ImmunoBiological Products and, ultimately served as General Manager and Senior Vice President in the Diagnostics Division.
She has served a term as Co-Chair of the Alliance for BioSecurity. Dr. Posillico also served as treasurer of the Board of Directors of BioNJ, the Biotechnology Council of New Jersey. Dr. Posillico received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam and a PhD from Duke University.
Edward B. Smith, III
Director
Mr. Smith has served on our Board since November 2010. Since January 1, 2015, Mr. Smith has also been Managing Member of Aristar Capital Management, LLC, a New York-based investment firm founded in 2015. From April 14, 2017 through July 14, 2017, Mr. Smith served as the interim Chief Executive Officer and interim Chief Financial Officer of Agritech Worldwide, Inc. (“Agritech,” formerly Z Trim Holdings, Inc.) (OTCPink: FBER), a manufacturer of environmentally friendly agricultural functional ingredients, From January 2015 until May 2016, Mr. Smith also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Agritech and from 2009 through July 2017 he served as a board member of Agritech. From April 2005 through December 2014, Mr. Smith served as the Managing Partner of Brightline Capital Management, LLC (“BCM”), a New York-based investment firm founded in 2005. Prior to founding BCM, Mr. Smith worked at Gracie Capital from 2004-2005, GTCR Golder Rauner from 1999-2001 and Credit Suisse First Boston from 1997-1999. Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies from Harvard College and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
We selected Mr. Smith to serve on our Board because he brings a strong business background to our company, and adds significant strategic, business and financial experience. Mr. Smith’s business background provides him with a broad understanding of the issues facing us, the financial markets and the financing opportunities available to us. His service on other public company boards provides him with extensive corporate governance knowledge and insight into issues faced by companies similar to ours.