Bala
Venkataraman was previously Chief
Operating Officer (2002- 2003), Chief Financial
Officer (1999- 2002), VP Business Development,
Strategic Planning and Operations (1998 -2000)
at First Horizon Pharmaceutical Corporation. Bala
was responsible for growing the company from an
operating loss and sales of approximately $5M,
to, at its peak, an operating profit of approximately
$14M and sales of approximately $115M in 5 years.
In addition, Bala was responsible for in-licensing
or acquiring over 15 drugs, commercializing 8
products, concluding 5 co-promotion agreements,
and developing the company’s product pipeline
through partnerships with contract manufacturers,
research organizations and drug development companies.
He successfully took the company public and raised
in excess of $500M in debt and equity capital,
and built the company employee base from approximately
70 people to approximately 300 people. Bala’s
previous experiences includes: venture capitalist
in managing specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology
investments for EJ Financial (Neopharm, First
Horizon Pharmaceutical, ProtoMed), product management
at Schering-Plough (oncology drug Intron®A),
Licensing and New Business Start-up, at the University
of Pennsylvania Center for Technology Transfer,
Marketing Manager at Curative Technologies Inc.
(marketing of wound care services and launch of
autologous growth factor Procuren®), Technical
Sales Representative for Millipore Corporation
(purification equipment to pharmaceutical companies),
Senior Research Chemist at Scios Inc. (cardiovascular
and inflammation product development). Bala has
an M.S. degree in Organic Chemistry from Case
Western Reserve University and an M.B.A. degree
from the Wharton School of Business. Bala has
several research publications, holds three patents
and has several patent applications pending. He
is a member of the Licensing Executives Society.
William
(Bill) Campbell was previously
Controller (1998 - 2003), Treasurer (1999 - 2003)
and VP of Administration (2002 - 2003) at First
Horizon Pharmaceutical Corporation. At First Horizon,
Bill was responsible for all aspects of the finance
function, including inventory management, budgeting,
managing the cash flow, product acquisition, debt
and equity financing, operationalizing the sales
force and managing human resources. Bill was critical
in making the company profitable and successfully
sustaining the profits, completing a successful
IPO with limited equity financing prior to the
IPO, helping raise over $350M in equity and $150M
in debt, managing over 50 operating agreements,
managing 12 manufacturers and over 40 product
SKUs, and operating the company under high leverages.
Prior to joining First Horizon, from 1995 to 1998,
Bill was the Controller/Chief Financial Officer
of Dialysis America, Inc. and was responsible for
the successful and profitable sale of the company
to Fresinius. He was the Associate Administrator/Chief
Financial Officer of Stringfellow Memorial Hospital
from 1993 to 1995, and from 1989 to 1993, was
the Director of Budgets, Costs and Reimbursement
at Grady Memorial Hospital. His prior professional
experience also includes a number of for-profit
and not-for-profit consulting, big four public
accounting, governmental auditing and internal
audit positions. Bill is a Certified Public Accountant.
He received a B.A. degree in Accounting from
Walsh College of Accountancy and Business Administration,
and an M.B.A. degree in Accounting from Kennesaw
State College.
Connie
Swanson was previously Senior
Director of Marketing (1999 - 2001) and National
Sales Trainer (1996 - 1999) at First Horizon Pharmaceutical
Corporation. Connie was responsible for hiring,
training, deploying and successfully leading
a significant majority of the First Horizon sales
force and sales management during several sales
force expansions prior to 2001. In addition, as
head of Marketing, Connie launched several of
First Horizon’s key brands including Ponstel® (Women’s Health), Zebutal® (Tension
Headache), Nitrolingual Pumpspray® (Cardiology),
Robinul® (Gastroenterology) and Tanafed® (Pediatric) while leading a team of product managers.
Connie was also instrumental in the selection
and acquisition of three of First Horizon’s
key products, Robinul®, Ponstel® and Nitrolingual® Pumpspray. She was the Company’s top
producing sales representative and district manager
during its formative years (1993 - 1995). Connie
earned a B.S. degree in Chemistry from North Georgia
College and State University and worked as a pharmacy
technician while obtaining her degree.
Virinder
Nohria was previously the Chief
Medical Officer of Xcel Pharmaceutical (2004-2005)
and Chief Medical Officer of DevCo Pharmaceutical
(1999-2003). He was a Senior Research Physician
for UCB Pharma and Global Physician, Neurology
Division, for Eli Lilly and Company. Dr. Nohria
was responsible for the development and approval
of Keppra® and Permax®. He was also part
of the team that was responsible for the development
and approval of Zyprexa®. Dr Nohria has eight
years of clinical practice in the area of pediatric
neurology in both the United Kingdom and the United
States. Dr. Nohria was an Assistant Professor
of Pediatrics and Neurology at University of Virginia
and is currently an Assistant Professor at the
Emory School of Medicine. He earned his medical
degree at Cambridge University and his Ph.D. at
Leeds University.
