Board of Directors
Tim Gupton, Chair
Tim Gupton is a CPA and partner with Hughes, Pittman & Gupton, LLP (http://www.hpg.com/partners/gupton) and former partner with KPMG. He has had a broad cross-section of audit, tax, finance, and M&A responsibilities for companies in the biopharma, healthcare services, clinical research, lab services, and medical technology industries. Mr. Gupton joined KPMG in 1972 and Hughes Pittman & Gupton, LLP, in 1992, where his practice has been centered on entrepreneurial business ventures, primarily in the life sciences industry.
Mr. Gupton has served as the start-up CFO for seven biopharmaceutical start-ups in the Research Triangle area. He is currently the CFO for CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, which is developing a new migraine drug. In addition to launching and managing start-ups, Mr. Gupton was a founder and general partner for Research Triangle Ventures, which is an investor in Gentris.
David Drutz, MD, Director
Dr. David J. Drutz has an extensive background in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, having been VP Biological Sciences (drug discovery) and VP Clinical Research (Phase 1, 2a antivirals) at SmithKline & French Laboratories (PA); and VP Clinical Development (anti-infectives, oncology) at Daiichi Pharmaceutical Corporation (NJ). He was also President & CEO of Sennes, Inc. (cancer support therapeutics), Houston, TX; and Inspire Pharmaceuticals (CF, COPD) in RTP, NC. In addition, he was co-founder of Tranzyme Pharma and its Chairman for 11 years.
He has been an international advisor and reviewer for Genome Canada for a number of years and was recently elected to membership of its Science and Industry Advisory Committee (SIAC), which reports to the Board of Directors.
Dr. Drutz is currently a General Partner with Pacific Rim Ventures Co., Ltd., a Japan-based venture capital firm with a portfolio of international investments in the biotechnology industry. He is also a Director of DARA BioSciences, Inc. (DARA:NASDAQ; metabolic diseases), RTP; MethylGene Inc (MYG:TSX; oncology, anti-infectives), Montreal; and Vaxin, Inc. (intranasal vaccines), Birmingham, AL. He holds a current certificate of director education from the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).
Dr Drutz was previously professor of medicine and microbiology and chief of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, where he was also founder and director of the Center for Cell Regulation, a NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC). He has held similar academic positions at UC San Francisco (UCSF), the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Baylor College of Medicine. He is board-certified in internal medicine (FACP) and a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (FIDSA). He holds B.A. and M.D. degrees from the University of Louisville.
Rick Williams, Chief Executive Officer
Rick Williams is an experienced executive who has been involved with a number of successful for-profit ventures (Merck, Genentech, Amerisource Bergen, and CellzDirect-Invitrogen) and non-profit organizations (The Hamner Institutes at RTP and North Carolina Biotechnology Center). Early in his career, as Genentech’s Director of Marketing and Health Economics, Williams helped to introduce biotechnology to the U.S. medical community and build the initial commercial platform at Genentech. Most recently, he has been involved in developing translational research and entrepreneurial business programs with collaborators throughout China. After leaving Genentech, Williams became president of an Amerisource Bergen division focused on providing commercial-outsourcing and reimbursement services to the bio/pharma industry. He was also chief business officer at an in vitro hepatic research company later acquired by Invitrogen. During his past three years at The Hamner Institutes, Williams set up international academic partnerships, an Accelerator, the Hamner-China Biosciences Center, and commercialization initiatives with the Oslo Cancer Cluster. Additionally, he helped to establish the Hamner-University of North Carolina Institute for Drug Safety Sciences as well as the Drug Discovery Center of Innovation, a virtual drug-discovery network funded by a $2.5M grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. Williams is active in community service, serving as an advisor for Gov. Beverly Perdue’s China Council and North Carolina State University’s School of Management as well as special programs for the Council for Entrepreneurial Development. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the North Carolina China Center and the Drug Discovery Center of Innovation. Williams earned a B.A. in Speech and Hearing Science at the University of Pittsburgh in 1977, graduating summa cum laude. A University Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa member, he also completed graduate courses at Carnegie Mellon University and Temple University. His first book on American history was published in 2005; his second book is scheduled to be released next year by a leading academic publisher.
Cathy Frieden Lineberry, Director
Ms. Lineberry is currently Principal and Co-Founder of Sunrise Therapeutics, LLC, a firm that provides consulting services on corporate development and strategic business issues as well as on clinical and regulatory issues in drug development. Ms. Lineberry was formerly the Co-Founder and President of Lineberry Research Associates (LRA), a privately held contract research organization and strategic consulting firm that provided drug development services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies both nationally and internationally.
LRA received numerous awards and recognition in the business and scientific community for its sustained growth and success over more than a decade. In addition, the company was highly regarded for its emphasis on corporate culture and community service.
LRA was acquired by Constella Group in November 2006 and Ms. Lineberry subsequently served as Vice President, Strategic Affairs for the new organization. Ms. Lineberry has more than 25 years of cross-functional pharmaceutical experience in basic and clinical research, as well as experience in business development and marketing. Prior to the founding of LRA, Ms. Lineberry was employed at Burroughs Wellcome Co. (now GlaxoSmithKline) for 14 years where she held various positions involving new product development, product management, managed care marketing and sales, Rx-to-OTC switches, and public affairs. As a speaker at industry and trade meetings, Ms. Lineberry covers topics ranging from drug development and product commercialization issues to corporate culture and entrepreneurial leadership strategies.
She served on the planning committee for the CED Biotechnology Forum series and was the 2007 co-chair of the Southeastern BIO Conference. One of Ms. Lineberry’s proudest accomplishments was being asked to speak about the LRA corporate culture at the 2006 Shelton Leadership Forum at NC State. Ms. Lineberry continues to be active in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology community. She is currently an advisor to several firms in the RTP area, including Gentris Corporation and Impact Pharmaceutical Services. She also serves on the advisory board for the Durham Tech Clinical Trials Research Associates program.
In addition, Ms. Lineberry has continued her focus on community service, currently serving on the area Board of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and maintaining an association with several area animal rescue organizations. Ms. Lineberry has previous work experience in behavioral and neurological toxicology at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and academic training in pharmacy administration. She graduated with highest honors with a B.A. in psychology and is Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Keith Stoneback, Director
Mr. Stoneback’s diverse career brings a deep and broad base of business development experience to the Gentris advisory board. Having contributed to the success of several businesses in the start-up phase, as well as a few that required turnaround and/or repositioning; Keith has lead teams to compete and win in the healthcare services, medical device and hospital equipment space during the last 30 years.
Throughout his career Mr. Stoneback has demonstrated a keen and intuitive focus on the customer, coupled with a relentless drive to define, validate and then consistently deliver the value proposition. Keith is currently the CEO of Agile Sciences, an early stage company with a compound library with applications in Healthcare, Agriculture and Industry. Prior to joining Agile Sciences, Mr. Stoneback planned, organized and then implemented the US market launch of the unique and innovative patient monitoring product developed by Hoana Medical, the Hawaii-based medical device start-up.
Prior to that assignment, Mr. Stoneback served as the president of the Health Management Services division of SHPS, an $85M/yr industry leader in providing disease management services to Fortune 1000 employers. Keith was promoted to that position after serving as the Chief Operating Officer for SHPS for several years. Prior to joining SHPS, he served as the CEO and/or president for several healthcare companies, including Surgical Laser Technologies (acquired by Photomedex) and AMSCO, a $500M/yr market leader in hospital decontamination systems. (AMSCO was acquired by Steris). At AMSCO, Keith served as the president of the Scientific Division and was a key member of the management team that took the company public in 1991, providing an 8X return for the private equity investors. Keith built the Scientific Division to $100M in annual revenues in less than three years.
Mr. Stoneback began his career with American Hospital Supply Corporation after graduating from Duke University in 1975.
