Management Team
Prabhavathi Fernandes, Ph.D., Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Prabhavathi Fernandes has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Cempra Pharmaceuticals since its inception in January 2006. She was previously President and Chief Executive Officer of DarPharma, Ricerca Biosciences and Small Molecule Therapeutics. Prior to this, Dr. Fernandes held leadership positions at pharmaceutical corporations having worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Abbott Laboratories and The Squibb Institute for Medical Research. During these years she was directly involved in the development of antibiotics, four of which have been approved and one, Clarithromycin, achieving sales over a billion dollars. Dr. Fernandes has served on the U.S. Congressional Panel for Assessment of Impact of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria and on the American Society for Microbiology Advisory Panel for Antibiotic Resistance. She serves on the editorial board of six journals, is a member of the Product Development working group for Biodefense for the NIAID, is an Advisory Board Member of Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and has written numerous publications and books. She was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship to Fox Chase Cancer Center from the National Institutes of Health and received her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Thomas Jefferson University.
J. Carl Craft, M.D., Head of Medical Affairs
Dr. J. Carl Craft was the Chief Scientific Officer for Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) in Geneva from 2002-2008. MMV has grown from a portfolio of 11 projects to the present portfolio with 20 projects; three in Phase III clinical trials, four in Phase I/II, one in preclinical development and 12 projects in discovery. To date MMV has raised over $250 million to support the largest ever anti-malarial drug development portfolio. Prior to this Dr. Craft worked at Abbott Laboratories in Anti-Infective Development. He joined Tulane University in the Department of Pediatrics Infectious Diseases and Department of Pathology. At Tulane, he was the Director of Pediatric Closed at the Care Charity Hospital of New Orleans and Director of The Clinical Microbiology Laboratory Tulane Medical Center. He served for two years in the Navy with a rank of Lieutenant Commander and was Chief of Pediatrics at the U.S. Naval Regional Medical Center, Guam, M.I. He was a Research Fellow in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at The University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School under Drs. John Nelson and George McCracken. He did his residency in Pediatrics at Milwaukee Children's Hospital. He received his M.D. from The George Washington University, Medical School.
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Mark W. Hahn, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Hahn has over 25 years of experience as a senior financial executive in biotechnology and high technology companies. He has conducted over $500 million in financial transactions for both public and private companies. Prior to joining Cempra, Mark was CFO of Athenix Corp., a leading agricultural biotechnology company where he led the company in its $400 million merger with Bayer CropScience. He previously was the CFO of several rapidly growing technology companies including BuildLinks, Inc. and Charles & Colvard, Ltd. where he led the growth of the firm from three to 75 employees and spearheaded that company's IPO. Mark began his career with Ernst & Yoiung. Mr. Hahn holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Maryland.
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Drusilla Scott Drusilla Scott, Ph.D., R.A.C., Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs
Dr. Drusilla Scott has over 20 years of experience in regulatory affairs in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Cempra, she worked at EMD Pharmaceuticals, Isis Pharmaceuticals, and Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert (later Pfizer). She was responsible for constructing and overseeing regulatory strategies for the development and registration of several new drugs, with a focus in the area of anti-infectives. She was the regulatory affairs representative throughout the development of Omnicef� (cefdinir) and also worked on a number of quinolones. Prior to this, she held increasingly responsible positions at Pennwalt Corporation (later Fisons). Dr. Scott is a faculty member for the Drug Information Association IND and NDA training courses. She also held positions as adjunct professor at the University of Michigan and Temple University, and as lecturer at Eastern Michigan University. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from Western Carolina University and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
David Pereira, Ph.D., Vice President of Chemistry
Dr. David Pereira has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Prior to joining Cempra, he was a Director in the Synthesis Group of Cardinal Healthcare, where he was responsible for the process development of numerous drug candidates. He previously held positions at Baxter Healthcare in their IV Systems Division, Hemoglobin Therapeutics Group and the Corporate Research and Technical Division. He worked in parenteral drug development, medical product development and hemoglobin-based oxygen carrying solutions. Dr. Pereira earned his B.S. degree in Biochemistry from Virginia Tech followed by a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University. He continued his training as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Illinois.
Thorsten P. Degenhardt, Ph.D., Vice President of Drug Development
Dr. Thorsten Degenhardt has over 10 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Prior to joining Cempra, he was Project Director at BioStratum, Inc., where he was responsible for moving its lead drug candidate from early preclinical development through the completion of Phase 2 studies. He also established a second-generation program and assisted with the creation and implementation of development plans for other drug candidates. He previously worked as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina, where he, along with Dr. John Baynes, identified and analyzed Advanced Glycation Endproducts that are implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. Dr. Degenhardt received his M.S. in Biochemistry from the Technical University of Darmstadt, and subsequently obtained a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the area of diabetes and diabetic complications from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Heidelberg, in collaboration with Boehringer Mannheim.
Donald C. Olsen, EVP, Business Development
Mr. Olsen has 33 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has worked in South Africa, Europe and the US. He is a seasoned business development professional and most recently spent 14 years with the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Licensing Group where he was responsible for leading and negotiating numerous licensing and asset sale transactions. His experience spans numerous therapeutic areas including anti-infective strategic marketing and licensing. In his business development capacity, he was also most recently a member of the management board of Ortho-Biotech Products, Inc. In addition to his business development experience, Mr. Olsen held positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing and strategic marketing within a number of operating entities within Johnson & Johnson.
Prabhavathi Fernandes, Ph.D., Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Prabhavathi Fernandes has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Cempra Pharmaceuticals since its inception in January 2006. She was previously President and Chief Executive Officer of DarPharma, Ricerca Biosciences and Small Molecule Therapeutics. Prior to this, Dr. Fernandes held leadership positions at pharmaceutical corporations having worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Abbott Laboratories and The Squibb Institute for Medical Research. During these years she was directly involved in the development of antibiotics, four of which have been approved and one, Clarithromycin, achieving sales over a billion dollars. Dr. Fernandes has served on the U.S. Congressional Panel for Assessment of Impact of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria and on the American Society for Microbiology Advisory Panel for Antibiotic Resistance. She serves on the editorial board of six journals, is a member of the Product Development working group for Biodefense for the NIAID, is an Advisory Board Member of Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and has written numerous publications and books. She was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship to Fox Chase Cancer Center from the National Institutes of Health and received her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Thomas Jefferson University.
J. Carl Craft, M.D., Head of Medical Affairs
Dr. J. Carl Craft was the Chief Scientific Officer for Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) in Geneva from 2002-2008. MMV has grown from a portfolio of 11 projects to the present portfolio with 20 projects; three in Phase III clinical trials, four in Phase I/II, one in preclinical development and 12 projects in discovery. To date MMV has raised over $250 million to support the largest ever anti-malarial drug development portfolio. Prior to this Dr. Craft worked at Abbott Laboratories in Anti-Infective Development. He joined Tulane University in the Department of Pediatrics Infectious Diseases and Department of Pathology. At Tulane, he was the Director of Pediatric Closed at the Care Charity Hospital of New Orleans and Director of The Clinical Microbiology Laboratory Tulane Medical Center. He served for two years in the Navy with a rank of Lieutenant Commander and was Chief of Pediatrics at the U.S. Naval Regional Medical Center, Guam, M.I. He was a Research Fellow in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at The University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School under Drs. John Nelson and George McCracken. He did his residency in Pediatrics at Milwaukee Children's Hospital. He received his M.D. from The George Washington University, Medical School.
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Mark W. Hahn, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Hahn has over 25 years of experience as a senior financial executive in biotechnology and high technology companies. He has conducted over $500 million in financial transactions for both public and private companies. Prior to joining Cempra, Mark was CFO of Athenix Corp., a leading agricultural biotechnology company where he led the company in its $400 million merger with Bayer CropScience. He previously was the CFO of several rapidly growing technology companies including BuildLinks, Inc. and Charles & Colvard, Ltd. where he led the growth of the firm from three to 75 employees and spearheaded that company's IPO. Mark began his career with Ernst & Yoiung. Mr. Hahn holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Maryland.
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Drusilla Scott Drusilla Scott, Ph.D., R.A.C., Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs
Dr. Drusilla Scott has over 20 years of experience in regulatory affairs in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Cempra, she worked at EMD Pharmaceuticals, Isis Pharmaceuticals, and Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert (later Pfizer). She was responsible for constructing and overseeing regulatory strategies for the development and registration of several new drugs, with a focus in the area of anti-infectives. She was the regulatory affairs representative throughout the development of Omnicef� (cefdinir) and also worked on a number of quinolones. Prior to this, she held increasingly responsible positions at Pennwalt Corporation (later Fisons). Dr. Scott is a faculty member for the Drug Information Association IND and NDA training courses. She also held positions as adjunct professor at the University of Michigan and Temple University, and as lecturer at Eastern Michigan University. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from Western Carolina University and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
David Pereira, Ph.D., Vice President of Chemistry
Dr. David Pereira has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Prior to joining Cempra, he was a Director in the Synthesis Group of Cardinal Healthcare, where he was responsible for the process development of numerous drug candidates. He previously held positions at Baxter Healthcare in their IV Systems Division, Hemoglobin Therapeutics Group and the Corporate Research and Technical Division. He worked in parenteral drug development, medical product development and hemoglobin-based oxygen carrying solutions. Dr. Pereira earned his B.S. degree in Biochemistry from Virginia Tech followed by a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University. He continued his training as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Illinois.
Thorsten P. Degenhardt, Ph.D., Vice President of Drug Development
Dr. Thorsten Degenhardt has over 10 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Prior to joining Cempra, he was Project Director at BioStratum, Inc., where he was responsible for moving its lead drug candidate from early preclinical development through the completion of Phase 2 studies. He also established a second-generation program and assisted with the creation and implementation of development plans for other drug candidates. He previously worked as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina, where he, along with Dr. John Baynes, identified and analyzed Advanced Glycation Endproducts that are implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. Dr. Degenhardt received his M.S. in Biochemistry from the Technical University of Darmstadt, and subsequently obtained a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the area of diabetes and diabetic complications from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Heidelberg, in collaboration with Boehringer Mannheim.
Donald C. Olsen, EVP, Business Development
Mr. Olsen has 33 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has worked in South Africa, Europe and the US. He is a seasoned business development professional and most recently spent 14 years with the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Licensing Group where he was responsible for leading and negotiating numerous licensing and asset sale transactions. His experience spans numerous therapeutic areas including anti-infective strategic marketing and licensing. In his business development capacity, he was also most recently a member of the management board of Ortho-Biotech Products, Inc. In addition to his business development experience, Mr. Olsen held positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing and strategic marketing within a number of operating entities within Johnson & Johnson.