Vice President
Robert J. Beckman
Robert J. Beckman, Managing Partner and co-founder of The Channel Group, was previously a co-founder and immediate past CEO of Intergen Company. He founded Intergen through a management buyout of Armour Pharmaceutical Co.'s biochemical business from Rorer Group Inc. Under Mr. Beckman's guidance, Intergen became a global leader focused on providing technology and biologicals to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and clinical diagnostic industries. Mr. Beckman led the company through its profitable history during which time Intergen acquired five companies, created business units in Canada, Europe, and Japan, established significant manufacturing capacities, and developed an extensive portfolio of technology that it sold and licensed for use in cancer research, pharmaceutical discovery, and genomics.
Mr. Beckman previously served as Vice President, Marketing Services, at Revlon Health Care Group (which included USV Pharmaceutical Corp. and Armour Pharmaceutical Co.) until he was appointed Vice President and General Manager of the Biochemical and Diagnostic Division of Revlon Healthcare Group. Upon the sale of Revlon's pharmaceutical businesses to Rorer, Mr. Beckman continued in this position until he co‑founded Intergen.
During his tenure at Intergen, Mr. Beckman served on the Board of Directors of two public companies, Editek, Inc. and Medtox Laboratories, Inc., and was instrumental in the formation of two of the leading biotechnology associations in the United States, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and the New York Biotechnology Association (NYBA). At BIO, Mr. Beckman served as a founding Board Member, member of the Executive Committee, and Chairman of the Emerging Company Board of Governors. Mr. Beckman was a Founding Board Member of NYBA and served as Chairman of the Association. He testified before the Ways and Means Committee of the United States House of Representatives several times, addressing issues of health care reform and tax policy supporting entrepreneurial ventures.
Mr. Beckman's extensive global business experience includes the completion of numerous corporate transactions on four continents. He has traveled extensively and has developed business, technical, and financial networks in the life sciences industries in Western Europe, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, China, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. At Intergen, Mr. Beckman established a significant portion of its commercial business through the company's international presence in Canada, United Kingdom, and Japan. Through his positions at BIO and NYBA, he also has represented the biotechnology industry by participating in industry and U.S. government trade missions throughout Asia.
Mr. Beckman also served on the New York City Executive Committee of the Council for Biomedical Research, on Mayor Giuliani's Task Force on Biomedical Research and Biotechnology, and as Co-Chair of the Biomedical Section of the Regional Planning Association's New York Regional Plan. He has contributed to numerous articles on the biotechnology industry and has been interviewed on this area and related topics on many occasions. Mr. Beckman has addressed professional associations and organizations globally on biotechnology, entrepreneurial management, and the growth of technology companies. Mr. Beckman holds a B.S. Pharm Degree from Columbia University.
Mr. Beckman served on the Executive Committee and was Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee of the Board of Directors of E-Z-EM, Inc. (NasdaqGS: EZEM), a provider of medical products, prior to its acquisition in 2008 by Bracco Diagnostics Inc., the U.S.-based subsidiary of Bracco Imaging SpA and part of the Bracco Group, and was previously a Trustee of New York Medical College. He previously was on the Board of Directors of LCT BioPharma Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Living Cell Technologies Limited (ASX: LCT), and served as a member of the Board of Directors of Phage Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty biopharmaceutical manufacturer and developer of therapeutic proteins. He co-founded and is a member of the Board of Directors of Lesanne Life Sciences, LLC, a private company developing a biochemical diagnostic for ischemic stroke.
>>topPhilip N. Sussman
Philip N. Sussman, Managing Partner of The Channel Group, served as a member of senior management (Head of Business Development, CFO, and CEO) of several public and private biotechnology companies, including Perlegen Sciences, Inc., Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp., and Cadus Pharmaceutical Corp. In these positions he established collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca AB, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Eli Lilly & Co., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Pfizer Inc., Solvay Pharmaceuticals B.V., and Unilever plc that provided in aggregate more than $100 million in research funding and equity investments. His deal sheet lists 27 significant life sciences transactions, including an IPO led by Hambrecht & Quist and a strategic equity investment in Axiom Biotechnologies Inc. (now part of Sequenom, Inc. (NasdaqGM: SQNM), where he served as a member of the Board of Directors. He also initiated and was responsible for in-licensing of late-stage clinical and pre-clinical drug candidates.
Prior to his joining the biotechnology industry, he was Director of Strategy & Business Development at Ciba-Geigy Corp.'s Pharmaceuticals Division (now Novartis AG). He previously was on the Board of Directors of LCT BioPharma, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Living Cell Technologies Limited (ASX: LCT), and served on the Board of Directors of Phage Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty biopharmaceutical manufacturer and developer of therapeutic proteins. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Thar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He co-founded and is a member of the Board of Directors of Lesanne Life Sciences, LLC, a private company developing a biochemical diagnostic for ischemic stroke.
Mr. Sussman is the author of articles in Current Drug Discovery, The Journal of Commercial Biotechnology (special issue on the financing of biotechnology companies), Scrip Magazine, The Journal of BioLaw and Business, The Journal of Business Strategy, Computerworld, and Datamation; he is currently on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Commercial Biotechnology. In addition to presentations at life sciences investor conferences, he is a frequent speaker at biotechnology industry meetings including the annual meetings of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (co-chairman of the Translational Research Forum and chairman of session in the Finance Track) and the New York Biotechnology Association. He was guest speaker before the Drug Discovery Technology Conference, Association of Biotechnology Financial Officers, Licensing Executives Society, Association of University Technology Managers, New York State Bar Association Annual Meeting, and The MIT Enterprise Forum of New York, among others. He was the subject of a cover story in BioPeople Magazine and has been interviewed for articles focusing on biotechnology in San Francisco Business Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BioCentury, and BioWorld, among others.
For over ten years he was a member of the review panel for the Innovative Technology Research Grant and Collaborative Postdoctoral Scientist Grant programs sponsored by the Center for Biotechnology, New York State Science and Technology Foundation. He held part-time faculty positions at the graduate engineering schools of Columbia University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has a B.S. in Physics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Master of Science in Biotechnology from Manhattan College, and an S.M. in Management with a concentration in Finance from the Sloan School of Management, MIT.
>>topVijay Aggarwal, Ph.D.
Vijay Aggarwal, Ph.D., a Managing Partner of The Channel Group, has more than 30 years of senior executive experience in both pharmaceutical services and clinical diagnostics. Previously, Dr. Aggarwal was CEO of VaxiGenix, Inc., an early-stage therapeutic vaccine company developing companion diagnostics and treatments for colorectal cancer. Dr. Aggarwal was President and CEO of Aureon Laboratories, Inc., a venture capital-backed predictive pathology company offering advanced tissue analysis services to practicing physicians and the pharmaceutical industry. Previously, he was President of AAI Development Services, Inc., a contract research and development services company serving the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Prior to that appointment, he was President of Quest Diagnostic Ventures, where he had responsibility for new technology, new business models, clinical trials testing, and direct-to-consumer strategies.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Aggarwal held many positions within SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories ("SBCL"), the clinical laboratory operations of SmithKline Beecham plc, including direct responsibility for all of SBCL's U.S.-based laboratories as Executive Vice President of Laboratories and responsibility for all reimbursement contracting as Vice President of Managed Care. Dr. Aggarwal currently serves on the boards of several private diagnostic companies, including: AccuGenomics, Inc.; Genisphere LLC; Hycor Biomedical, Inc.; Mitomics Inc.; Targeted Diagnostics and Therapeutics, Inc.; and Viracor-IBT Laboratories. He earned a Ph.D. in Pharmacology/Toxicology from the Medical College of Virginia.
>>topWalter Flamenbaum, M.D.
Walter Flamenbaum, M.D., Managing Partner of The Channel Group, was a Founding Partner of Paul Capital Healthcare Funds, which have invested over $1 billion in forty investments, and is currently a Partner Emeritus at Paul Capital. He has led the development and refinement of its investment strategy, processes, and techniques -- as well as actively participating in the majority of the Fund's investments, including roles in sourcing, negotiating and other activities. He was primarily responsible for the development of the diverse team of healthcare and financial investment professionals, allowing for the Fund's development and successes to date. Dr. Flamenbaum's healthcare experience includes the development and evaluation of pharmaceutical and biotechnology based-drugs, medical devices, and diagnostics. During the ten years prior to joining Paul Capital Partners in 1999, he had extensive experience in the licensing of healthcare product-related intellectual properties and the assessment of healthcare investing opportunities. He also founded Health & Sciences Research, Inc., a contract research organization; started Therics, Inc., a biomedical company; and was President and Chief Operating Officer of SIGA Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company.
Dr. Flamenbaum is on the Board of Directors of OSE Pharma SA, a European startup that in-licensed a therapeutic cancer vaccine discovered at San Diego-based Epimmune Inc. that had remained undeveloped following that company's 2005 merger with Immuno-Designed Molecules SA, of Paris; Allergen Research Corporation, a company established with assistance from the Food Allergy Initiative to clinically develop a pharmaceutical-grade food allergen with the FDA -- with the clinical endpoint of de-sensitization to an oral peanut challenge; Norphan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a startup focusing on obtaining U.S. regulatory approval under orphan drug status for certain pediatric central nervous system therapeutics that are currently on the market outside the U.S.; Uman Pharma Inc., a Canadian privately-owned generic pharmaceutical company; and Heart Metabolics Ltd., a U.K.-based company with U.S. operations that is developing a treatment for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
During the course of his career, Dr. Flamenbaum has been a member of the boards of directors of both public and private biomedical companies, as well as involved in a number of venture capital investing activities.
Dr. Flamenbaum has authored or co-authored more than 100 articles, abstracts, or book contributions. These contributions are in the following areas: Clinical Medicine and Nephrology; Renal Physiology and Pathophysiology; Clinical and Experimental Hypertension, Cardiovascular Disease; and Clinical Pharmacology. He is board certified in internal medicine, nephrology, and clinical pharmacology and was Chief, Division of Nephrology, Beth Israel Medical Center and Professor of Medicine, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Chief, Renal Section, the Boston VA Medical Center and Professor of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine -- during which time he was a Member of the VA Cooperative Study Group on Hypertension and Director, Vasoactive Hormone Laboratory; and Chief, Department of Nephrology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Departments of Medicine and Physiology, Georgetown University School of Medicine and Assistant Chief, Department of Nephrology, Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Dr. Flamenbaum was a Fellow, American Society for Clinical Pharmacology; Fellow of the American College of Physicians; Fellow in Nephrology, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and Harvard Medical School; and an Intern and Resident, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He earned a B.A. from Washington & Jefferson College and an M.D. from Columbia University's College of Physicians & Surgeons.
>>topAllan R. Goldberg, Ph.D.
Allan R. Goldberg, Ph.D., Advisory Partner and co-founder of The Channel Group, has been instrumental in the formation and development of a number of start-up life science companies. In addition, he co-founded a venture management partnership called PrimeTech Partners that created, financed, and developed several companies engaged in biomedicine. Dr. Goldberg was a co-founder and director of ZyStor Therapeutics, Inc., a Milwaukee-based biotechnology company that developed a protein manufacturing and delivery platform technology for the treatment of various lysosomal storage diseases, including an enzyme-based protein therapeutic for Pompe disease that is currently in a Phase I/II clinical trial. BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NasdaqNM: BMRND) acquired ZyStor in August, 2010. He is President and CEO and a founder of Avacyn Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company developing a new generation of anti-bacterial drugs.
Prior to founding PrimeTech Partners, Dr. Goldberg was co-founder of Innovir Laboratories, Inc., a public biotechnology company that engaged in developing technologies based on harnessing the natural ribozyme RNase P for pharmaceutical and genomic research and the treatment and prevention of disease. He brought together key persons, including Dr. Hugh Robertson and Dr. Sidney Altman (Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of the ribozyme RNase P), and key patents and licenses to attract financing to Innovir. Dr. Goldberg assembled a high-level Science Advisory Board and played a primary role in the growth of the company, including corporate management and administration of research and development. During his tenure at Innovir, he was involved in the completion of an initial public offering. Dr. Goldberg was at various times the Chief Scientific Officer, Chairman, and CEO. Following a merger of Innovir with VimRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., he managed as CEO of Innovir two additional facilities in Cambridge, England, and Gottingen, Germany.
Dr. Goldberg has been a consultant to several pharmaceutical companies and to several private and public academic institutions. He has served on the Board of Directors of the New York Biotechnology Association.
Dr. Goldberg was a professor of virology and the Richard King Mellon Foundation Fellow at The Rockefeller University prior to founding Innovir. During that time he contributed to the field of viral oncology through his studies on transformation and presented widely at academic conferences. He is co-author on numerous patents and patent applications, most of which concern novel human biotherapeutics. His academic honors include Special Fellow of the Leukemia Society of America, American Cancer Society Post-doctoral Fellowship, and an NIH Research Career Development Award. He is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences and member of several professional societies, including the American Society for Biological Chemists and Molecular Biologists, the American Society for Virology, Sigma Xi, The Harvey Society, American Society of Microbiology, and American Association of Immunologists. Dr. Goldberg was an editor of the Journal of Experimental Medicine for twelve years, and during his tenure at The Rockefeller University also was ad hoc reviewer for numerous other journals. He was on the Biology Department Visiting Committee for the University of Pennsylvania, the Corporate Advisory Council of Hunter College of the City University of New York, the Corporate Advisory Board of The Irvington Institute, and was Chairman of the Microbiology Council of the New York Academy of Sciences.
He also currently serves on the Board of Directors of Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NasdaqGM: STX), a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutics for solid tumors and hematological malignancies. He was previously on the Board of Directors of LCT BioPharma Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Living Cell Technologies Limited (ASX: LCT), and served as a member of the Board of Directors of Phage Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty biopharmaceutical manufacturer and developer of therapeutic proteins. He co-founded and is a member of the Board of Directors of Lesanne Life Sciences, LLC, a private company developing a biochemical diagnostic for ischemic stroke.
Dr. Goldberg earned a B.A. in English and Mathematics from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry/Biology from Princeton University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
>>topShmuel Einav, Ph.D.
Shmuel Einav, Ph.D., Advisory Partner of The Channel Group, is well-known for his studies on the cardiovascular circulatory system and his seminal contributions to the field of biomedical engineering. He is currently Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University and the Director of the Medical Technologies Division at the Center of Excellence for Wireless and Information Technologies ("CEWIT"). CEWIT is a $200 million public/private partnership in which New York State, various technology companies (including CA Technologies, Motorola, and Cisco Systems, Inc.) and the University have combined to build a 100,000 sq. ft. center for advanced applied research at the Stony Brook University Research and Development Park. In addition, CEWIT houses several incubator companies. Dr. Einav established the Medical Technologies Division of CEWIT and currently manages $20 million in research projects and industrial programs.
As Director of Ramot - University Authority for Applied Research and Industrial Development Ltd., the technology transfer organization of Tel Aviv University, he initiated more than 15 start-up companies and managed $30M in assets and 90 employees. Dr. Einav also was a founder or advisor to several medical device companies, including: NiCast, Ltd., a developer and marketer of bio-impedance based cardiac monitors; Florence Medical Ltd., a stent and cardiovascular diagnostic technology company; IntelliDX Inc. (formerly Glucon Medical Ltd.), a developer and marketer of a blood glucose testing system for monitoring hospital patients who have abnormally elevated sugar levels; and, Ventor Technologies Ltd., a developer of trans-catheter heart valve technologies that was acquired by Medtronic, Inc. for $325 million in 2009. He also was a member of the advisory board of several venture capital funds, including Veritas Venture Partners, InnoMed Fund of Jerusalem Global Ventures, and Ramot Medical Fund.
Dr. Einav is Emeritus Professor and Incumbent of the Herbert Berman Chair for Vascular Bioengineering at Tel Aviv University, and is well known for his studies on blood flow through heart valves and circulatory assist devices, coronary circulation, blood-tissue interaction, and flow and turbulent characteristics in occluded arteries. The focus of his research is the role of hemodynamics in the initiation of atherosclerosis, the dynamics of cardiovascular flows, and the influence of flow and the associated shear stress on vascular endothelial biology. In recognition of his significant achievements in science, biomedicine, and technology, he has been elected as a Fellow of the International College of Medical and Biological Engineering, the Biomedical Engineering Society, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering ("AIMBE") and a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers ("ASME"). Dr. Einav is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the California Institute of Technology ("Caltech"). In addition, he was the President of the Israeli Society for Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Einav has published 86 scientific papers in leading journals, five invited chapters, and numerous abstracts in biomedical engineering, biofluid mechanics, and various medical fields. He was an author of several issued patents, and his inventions include: a prosthetic heart valve, detection of turbulent blood flow using MRI, an ultrasound recanalization system, and characterization of arterial stenosis using reflected pressure waves.
Dr. Einav's academic awards include: Miller Professorship for a distinguished scientist of great talent, University of California, Berkeley 1992; Member, National Academy and Health Research Institute, Taiwan, 2005; and, Member and Fellow, International Academy Medical and Biological Engineering, 2005. He is the Founding Director of the Slezak Super Center for Cardiac Research and Biomedical Engineering, and the Founding Director of the Kodecz Medical Engineering and Physical Sciences Institute, both of Tel Aviv University. He is also the Founding Director of the California Friends Laboratory for Biomedical Computing and Parallel Processing.
Dr. Einav earned a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering from the Technion (Israel), and a Ph.D. in Biomechanical Engineering from Stony Brook University.
>>topMikhail Rozenfeld
Mikhail Rozenfeld, Vice President of The Channel Group, previously led business development, strategy, and product realization activities at AT&T ForHealth, a unit of AT&T Inc., with specific focus on mobile health and healthcare information technologies. His responsibilities included analyzing disease management, wellness, telehealth, mobile health, remote patient monitoring, independent aging, electronic medical records, health information exchange, transitions of care, readmissions, radiology software, health insurance exchange and other markets, and identifying technology vendors who would power AT&T solutions.
Mr. Rozenfeld played an instrumental role in completing contractual agreements that allowed the launches of AT&T's Remote Patient Monitoring offers, Transitions of Care solution, and Mobile Personal Emergency Response System offers. He negotiated the contractual agreements and worked with AT&T teams and technology vendors to determine market pricing, channel management, and distribution approaches. He also served as a liaison between AT&T ForHealth and AT&T's rapid development and innovation organization, AT&T Foundry, and initiated several healthcare-related projects, including the use of smart phones and mobile applications to drive medication and behavior compliance in Medicaid population that was closely tied to the AT&T mHealth Platform initiative for mHealth application developers.
Previously, Mr. Rozenfeld was as an Associate at SFW Capital Partners, LLC, a middle-market private equity fund with a focus on businesses that provide analytical tools and related outsourced analytical services. Healthcare and life sciences were major investment areas for the fund. At SFW he was involved in evaluating over 300 analytical tools and outsourced analytical services companies to identify acquisition targets and conducted acquisition due diligence activities on over 50 of these companies.
Prior to SFW, Mr. Rozenfeld worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Company. There he was a member of the Corporate Finance and Telecommunications practices, which advised large corporations and financial sponsors on issues ranging from long and short term strategy, pricing, wireless spectrum auction bidding, operational improvements, and Department of Justice transaction approval process to major acquisitions, and post-acquisition operational turnarounds in a context of private equity investors. He also worked as an investment banking professional at Deutsche Bank AG in media and telecommunications coverage, as well as a corporate finance analyst at Nike, Inc.
He graduated magna cum laude from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan with a BBA and emphases in finance, accounting, and corporate strategy.
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