Management

Raymond K. Houck, President and CEO
Mr. Houck is a serial entrepreneur with over 25 years experience in the chemistry and biotechnology industries as an entrepreneur, sales & marketing executive and researcher. Prior to Thar Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Houck was a co-founder and the President and CEO of Automated Cell, Inc., a company focused on the discovery and development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer.

Mr. Houck co-founded Suprex Corporation, a separation science company, where he held positions including President, Vice President of Marketing & Sales, and Vice President of Research & Development. Suprex Corporation was sold to Isco, a division of Teledyne. He is the inventor or co-inventor on over fifteen issued and pending patents. Mr. Houck earned his B.S. in chemical engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and his Masters of Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.
 
Mazen Hanna, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Hanna is a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of research experience in pharmaceutical form and formulation. Prior to co-founding Thar Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Hanna co-founded Bradford Particle Design (Bradford, UK) where he lead the development of the novel particle design technology SEDS (Solution Enhanced Dispersion by Supercritical Fluids), which he developed while earning his Ph.D. in pharmaceutical technology at the University of Bradford. Bradford Particle Design was subsequently sold to Inhale Therapeutics (now Nektar).
 
Ira Kalfus, M.D., Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Kalfus was VP of Medical Affairs at Lev Pharmaceuticals, where he led the clinical development for Cinryze, which was approved by the FDA in 2008. Upon the acquisition of Lev by ViroPharma Inc., he has consulted on product launch and expansion and investor relations for ViroPharma. His other positions have included Aetna/US Healthcare (Medical Director), Hillside Medical Associates (Internist), and Long Island Jewish Medical Center (President of the Staff Society and Chairman of Performance Improvement).  Dr. Kalfus completed residency in Internal Medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and graduated from Albert Einstein College of Medicine (M.D.) and Columbia University (B.A. in Biology).

Jason Bablak, J.D., Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
Mr. Bablak was previously Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Product Development for Lev Pharmaceuticals from 2003 to 2008 when the company was acquired by ViroPharma, Inc. Mr. Bablak’s role at Lev included the CMC, regulatory and clinical development for C1 Esterase Inhibitor, which resulted in the first FDA approval for this orphan product and subsequent acquisition of the company. Previously, he was Vice President, Public Policy and Legal Affairs for the Immune Deficiency Foundation, Director, Regulatory Affairs for the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association, and as an attorney for Popham, Haik, Schnobrich & Kaufman in Washington, DC. Mr. Bablak received his B.S. degree in biology and environmental science from Allegheny College and his J.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Board of Directors

Lalit Chordia, Ph.D., Chairman
Dr. Chordia has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, researcher and engineer in the pharmaceutical and food markets. After leaving Suprex Corporation, a company which he co-founded, Dr. Chordia founded Thar Technologies (formerly Thar Designs). Thar Technologies specializes in the development and marketing of supercritical fluid process and equipment technologies. Thar Technologies has seeded and spun off three companies, Thar Instruments, the leading solutions provider for green analytical and preparative chromatography, Thar Process, a company leading the expansion of supercritical fluid technology into new technology sectors, and Thar Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Chordia earned his B.S. in chemical engineering from I.I.T. Madras and his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
 
Phillip Sussman, Director
Mr. Sussman, Managing Director, The Channel Group, has served as a member of senior management (Head of Business Development, CFO, and CEO) of several public and private biotechnology companies, including Perlegen Sciences, Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NasdaqGM: MEMY), and Cadus Pharmaceutical Corp. (OTC BB: KDUS.OB). In these positions he established collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies 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 currently is also an advisor to PsychoGenics Inc., Glyconix Corp., and SCIUS Capital Group LLC and is on the Board of Directors of LCT BioPharma Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Living Cell Technologies Limited (ASX: LCT).

Rob Roy, M.B.A., Director
Mr. Roy has been Executive Director of Ventry Industries, LLC, since 2001. He is responsible for investment policy formulation and oversight, investment manager selection and review, as well as the evaluation of other financial and operating strategies. Earlier Mr. Roy spent six years as CFO and CIO of Peerless Clothing, Inc. Mr. Roy holds a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting and an MBA in finance from Concordia University.
 
Filip Amram, M.B.A., Director
Mr. Amram was a Senior Partner of Intergum AS of Istanbul, which was purchased by Cadbury Schweppes PLC in June 2007. Mr. Amram earned his B.A. at Harvard and his M.B.A. at Columbia University.

Raymond K. Houck, Director – see bio in management

Mazen Hanna, PhD, Director – see bio in management