EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

Howard Weisman
Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman

Prior to co-founding EKR Therapeutics, Howard Weisman co-founded ESP Partners, LLP, the predecessor to ESP Pharma which was formed in 2002 as a specialty pharmaceutical company to pursue a growth model similar to that of EKR. He served as Director, President and COO for ESP Pharma from its start-up, overseeing an approximate four-fold increase in revenues, until its 2005 acquisition by PDL Biopharma in a transaction valued at approximately $500 million. A veteran pharmaceutical executive, Howard previously held positions in hospital sales and marketing management for Merck & Co before joining Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals where he served as Senior Director, Diabetes Marketing and as Senior Director of Strategic Partnership Development. He holds a B.A. degree in Chemistry from Rutgers University.


Richard DeSimone,
Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer, Acting CFO, and Director

Mr. DeSimone is an award winning business entrepreneur with more than 30 years experience in finance, including the management early-stage enterprises. As founder and managing member of Roxiticus Ventures LLC, Richard has held board positions and served as CEO for a number of successful business ventures. Serving as general partner of the Roxiticus Valley Life Sciences Fund, he has demonstrated significant expertise in private equity investments in the life sciences and health care sectors, including having provided advisory services and funding assistance to the founding team of ESP Pharma, a specialty pharmaceutical company which was sold for approximately $500 million within three years of starting operations. He is a founding director of Patient Care Management Associates, Inc. and PsycheNutrition Sciences, Inc., early-stage life science firms.


Graham S. May, M.D.
Chief Medical Director

Graham May, M.D. has more than 25 years experience in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology industries in the US and Europe, and is responsible for multiple product approvals in a wide array of therapeutic areas. Prior to EKR, he held senior management positions with Esprit Pharma and ESP Pharma, specialty pharmaceutical companies which have since been acquired. He came to the US in 1980 as a visiting scientist at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, MD where he participated in a number of landmark cardiovascular studies. He also previously held senior research positions at Hoechst-Roussel, Pharmacia, and Cytogen and served as a principal with Gemini Consulting, a leading healthcare management consulting company. Dr. May received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Cambridge University and is an Elected Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Physicians.