Team
Chairman + CEO
Anthony P. Mack is an entrepreneur who has founded three successful pharmaceutical companies, served on executive boards and has more than 35 years of experience in the industry including 10 years in finance. Prior to founding and taking Virpax Pharmaceuticals public (Nasdaq: VRPX), Mr. Mack founded Scilex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SCLX) and served as President, CEO and Director until February 2018. Scilex was sold to a publicly traded company. Mr. Mack founded his first pharmaceutical company, ProSolus Pharmaceuticals, in 2009 where he served as President and Director before selling the company to Mission Pharmacal in 2015. As a key executive in the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Mack has overseen global strategies to advance business development, product development, market research, regulatory positioning, marketing and commercialization. Prior to his pharmaceutical career, Mr. Mack worked in the financial sector, starting as a Series 7 broker dealer then a Series 24 licensed Principal, allowing him to supervise and manage brokers at affiliated branches. Mr. Mack holds an Executive MBA in Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing from Saint Joseph’s University.
EVP, Chief Medical Officer
Jeffrey Gudin, MD, is co-founder and Executive Vice President at Virpax. Dr. Gudin completed both an anesthesiology residency and pain management fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine, and has been active in the pain management space as a clinician, consultant and researcher for more than 25 years. He is Board Certified in Pain Medicine, Anesthesiology, Addiction Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Gudin is on faculty at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine and Pain Management. He has assisted in the development and marketing of numerous analgesics, and is currently principal investigator on an analgesic project awarded a grant through the National Center for Advancement of Translational Sciences at the NIH. He has presented at numerous national and international pain congresses, and has dedicated his career towards risk management and the development of safer, more effective pain medications.
EVP, Commercial Operations
Gerald W. Bruce has spent over 30 years, including 20 years in senior leadership roles, in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Nutrition industry. He started his career at Johnson and Johnson where he was an award-winning sales representative and held leadership positions of increasing responsibility in sales and marketing ending with his role as Group Product Director of Analgesics. He then served as Vice President of Sales at Bristol-Myers Squibb where he led the Cardiovascular and Metabolic sales force responsible for over $1.2 Billion in sales. He later served as Vice President of Managed Markets where he led the team responsible for the development and implementation of the reimbursement strategy for the Bristol-Myers Squibb $7 billion US portfolio. Mr. Bruce went on to become the Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at NitroMed where he was responsible for building the commercial strategy and led the team responsible for the development and implementation of the commercial plan for the start-up company’s first product for the treatment of Heart Failure. He also spent close to ten years in the Medical Nutrition industry where he was Vice President of Sales for Nutricia North America, Danone Medical Nutrition Division. Mr. Bruce currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Lincoln University and serves on the executive committee of the Board for the National Sales Network. He received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Lincoln University and a master’s degree in Leadership from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
Chief Financial Officer
Christopher M. Chipman has been a managing member of Chipman & Chipman, LLC, since November 2000, a consulting firm that assists public companies with the preparation of periodic reports required to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. The firm also provides outsourced financial resources to clients assisting in financial reporting, forecasting and accounting services for a variety of clients including pharmaceutical, agriculture and construction industries. Mr. Chipman is a CPA and was Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Capital Gold Corporation from 2006 to June 2011. Capital Gold Corporation was a publicly-held gold production and exploration company, until its acquisition by AuRico Gold, Inc. (formerly, Gammon Gold). During his tenure, Capital Gold Corporation’s market capitalization increased from $40 million to $420 million. In addition, Capital Gold experienced an increase in proven and probable reserves in excess of 200%. Mr. Chipman successfully negotiated and facilitated the $420 million sale of Capital Gold Corporation to AuRico Gold representing a 67% premium over its market price to its shareholders. Additionally, Mr. Chipman oversaw the acquisition and integration into Capital Gold Corporation of Nayarit Gold in 2010, a $48 million Canadian advanced exploration company, including involvement in its valuation accounting and application of the purchase price allocation for the transaction. From 1996 to 1998, he was a senior accountant with the accounting firm of Grant Thornton LLP; a Senior Financial Analyst for GlaxoSmithKline (1998-2000); and an Audit Examiner for Wachovia Corporation (1994-1996). He received a B.A. in Economics from Ursinus College in 1994 and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of the American and Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Sheila A. Mathias has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry accelerating drug development. She brings extensive global regulatory affairs strategic guidance and clinical development experience having worked across a range of therapeutic areas, including pain management, addiction medicine, and dermatology. This experience has spanned across big pharma, mid-sized, to start-up biotechnology companies. Most recently, she held the position Senior Director Global Regulatory Affairs at Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company. Sheila has held increasing roles of responsibilities, entering the pharmaceutical industry at Merck US Human Health in the position of Medical Science Liaison. Dr. Mathias transitioned into Regulatory Affairs at Aventis Pharmaceuticals and has successfully brought multiple products through regulatory approval. Dr. Mathias received a B.S in Zoology from Howard University, a PhD in Neurophysiology from Meharry Medical College, an executive MBA from Saint Joseph’s University, and a JD from Northwestern California University School of Law. Since 2018 she has served on the Advisory Board for Tennessee State University Department of Biology.
100+ YEARS
OF COMBINED EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
Chairman + CEO
Anthony P. Mack is an entrepreneur who has founded three successful pharmaceutical companies, served on executive boards and has more than 35 years of experience in the industry including 10 years in finance. Prior to founding and taking Virpax Pharmaceuticals public (Nasdaq: VRPX), Mr. Mack founded Scilex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SCLX) and served as President, CEO and Director until February 2018. Scilex was sold to a publicly traded company. Mr. Mack founded his first pharmaceutical company, ProSolus Pharmaceuticals, in 2009 where he served as President and Director before selling the company to Mission Pharmacal in 2015. As a key executive in the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Mack has overseen global strategies to advance business development, product development, market research, regulatory positioning, marketing and commercialization. Prior to his pharmaceutical career, Mr. Mack worked in the financial sector, starting as a Series 7 broker dealer then a Series 24 licensed Principal, allowing him to supervise and manage brokers at affiliated branches. Mr. Mack holds an Executive MBA in Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing from Saint Joseph’s University.
EVP, Chief Medical Officer
Jeffrey Gudin, MD, is co-founder and Executive Vice President at Virpax. Dr. Gudin completed both an anesthesiology residency and pain management fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine, and has been active in the pain management space as a clinician, consultant and researcher for more than 25 years. He is Board Certified in Pain Medicine, Anesthesiology, Addiction Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Gudin is on faculty at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine and Pain Management. He has assisted in the development and marketing of numerous analgesics, and is currently principal investigator on an analgesic project awarded a grant through the National Center for Advancement of Translational Sciences at the NIH. He has presented at numerous national and international pain congresses, and has dedicated his career towards risk management and the development of safer, more effective pain medications.
EVP, Commercial Operations
Gerald W. Bruce has spent over 30 years, including 20 years in senior leadership roles, in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Nutrition industry. He started his career at Johnson and Johnson where he was an award-winning sales representative and held leadership positions of increasing responsibility in sales and marketing ending with his role as Group Product Director of Analgesics. He then served as Vice President of Sales at Bristol-Myers Squibb where he led the Cardiovascular and Metabolic sales force responsible for over $1.2 Billion in sales. He later served as Vice President of Managed Markets where he led the team responsible for the development and implementation of the reimbursement strategy for the Bristol-Myers Squibb $7 billion US portfolio. Mr. Bruce went on to become the Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at NitroMed where he was responsible for building the commercial strategy and led the team responsible for the development and implementation of the commercial plan for the start-up company’s first product for the treatment of Heart Failure. He also spent close to ten years in the Medical Nutrition industry where he was Vice President of Sales for Nutricia North America, Danone Medical Nutrition Division. Mr. Bruce currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Lincoln University and serves on the executive committee of the Board for the National Sales Network. He received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Lincoln University and a master’s degree in Leadership from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
Director + Chairman, Science and Technology Committee; Compensation Committee
Dr. Floyd is Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance at Silence Therapeutics. Eric has 24+ years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology experience in Regulatory Affairs roles of increasing responsibility at Merck, Aventis, Novartis, Lundbeck, Axovant Sciences, and Neurogene, Inc. Dr. Floyd has a passion for addressing the unmet medical needs of patients with few to no therapeutic options. Most recently, he served as founder and Chief Regulatory Officer at Neurogene, Inc. Neurogene is focused on developing life-changing genetic medicines for patients and their families affected by rare, devastating neurological diseases. Eric previously served as the Global Head of Regulatory Affairs at Axovant Sciences and the US Head of Regulatory Affairs at Lundbeck, where he was responsible for strategic regulatory and clinical development activities related to the company’s approvals of Sabril, Onfi, Northera (orphan approvals) as well as Anti-Depression and Schizophrenia drug approvals. Eric is the principal and CEO of Floyd Regulatory Strategic Consulting Group, LLC. Dr. Floyd serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School and Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He serves as a board member to Virpax Pharmaceuticals, Advent Therapeutics Inc., and is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Meharry Medical College. Dr. Floyd completed his undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Illinois, a Master’s degree in Neuroscience from Tennessee State University, a Doctorate in Neurophysiology from Meharry Medical College, an Executive MBA in Pharmaceutical Marketing from Saint Josephs’ University, and completed an MBA degree in International Business from the INSEAD Business School in Fountainebleu, France. In his spare time, he enjoys mentoring high school and college students and community service projects of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Director + Chairman, Audit Committee
Mr. Jerrold Sendrow has been a Certified Financial Planner since 1986, and maintains an active practice. Mr. Sendrow also served as an outside Director on the Board of Directors of SCILEX Pharmaceuticals Inc. from 2014 to 2016. In addition, up through 2014, Mr. Sendrow has more than 35 years of experience as Chief Financial Officer and Director in companies with revenues in excess of $500 million. Jerry has led these companies through start-up, survival, turnaround and growth modes. Prior to that, Mr. Sendrow was an accountant in the audit departments of Touche Ross & Co. and Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co after returning from military service of two tours in the Vietnam conflict. Mr. Sendrow holds business degrees from Bernard Baruch College of the City University of New York and Adelphi University.
Director + Chairman, Corporate Governance
Dr. Thani Jambulingam is a Pfizer Fellow and Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing at St Joseph’s University, Erivan K. Haub School of Business, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He teaches in the executive MBA program for biopharmaceutical, medical device and physician executives. Dr. Jambulingam served as the chair of the department for 8 years. He is trained at Harvard in case method for teaching. Dr. Jambulingam’s research interests are in pharmaceutical and healthcare strategy, and innovation and published in marketing and management journals. Dr. Jambulingam has also served as a consultant and facilitated training sessions in innovation and strategy for senior leadership and/or brand teams within several small, mid and large pharma and healthcare firms including Alkermes, Abbott, Astra Zeneca, Lancaster General, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Solvay and Procter & Gamble. During his sabbatical, he joined Pfizer with the Prevenar Global Commercial Team contributing to development of Prevenar franchise positioning, healthy aging platform development, vaccine business strategy for emerging markets, pediatric expanded age strategy (life cycle management) and conducted strategy session for executive leadership within the specialty care division of Pfizer. Dr. Jambulingam is a pharmacist and obtained his Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Director
Dr. Singh was the immediate past Chief Medical Officer in the US Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”). She served as the Chairperson of the highly regarded HHS Task Force in conjunction with the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration. Dr. Singh is a clinical associate professor of Anesthesiology, Pain and Peri-operative Medicine at Stanford and is a teaching mentor at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. She served in medical ethics as well as on scientific editorial boards, committees for the American Society of Regional Anesthesia, American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, California Medical Association, and the Santa Clara County Medical Association. Dr. Singh, who is double board-certified in pain and anesthesiology, focuses her practice on regional anesthesia and peri-operative, subacute, and the development of chronic pain, with an appreciation for complimentary and traditional medicine approaches that emphasize an individualized patient-centered approach. She completed a masters in academic medicine as part of her professional development to further enhance leadership, educational curriculum development, and interdisciplinary work. Dr. Singh received her medical degree from George Washington University Medical School and her B.A. from U.C. Berkeley in Cell Biology/Economics.
Director
Michael Dubin is an accomplished senior executive, Certified Public Accountant, independent consultant, advisor, and thought leader with 40 years of experience and success in manufacturing, distribution, financial services, business and professional services, pharma, technology, retail and various other industries. His areas of expertise and experience also include leading executive teams, executive leadership training, operations management, profit optimization, board governance, financial reporting, and other financial management matters. Previously, Mr. Dubin held the title of Managing Partner, PA/SNJ Offices, with RSMUS LLP (RSM), a $2.8B professional services company with over 12,000 employees. He was presented with RSM’s “National Achievement Award” in 2010, and was a finalist for the company’s “National Integrity Award.” Mr. Dubin obtained a BS in Economics (magna cum laude) from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania. He served as a Board Member for RSM for four year and is also a board member and the Audit Committee Chairman for a privately held business in Philadelphia engaged in supplying energy efficiency services and facilities, and a board member and the Risk Management Committee Chairman for a commercial bank in Pennsylvania. Mr. Dubin is professionally affiliated with the PICPA and AICPA. He was also an adjunct faculty member and course teacher for the Wharton School of Business for two years and has also been a guest lecturer, at the Wharton School-University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, University of Scranton and Lehigh University. He also served as an expert witness/consultant for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC).
MET • Envelta • NobrXiol • AnQlar
Dr. Uchegbu is a multi-award winning nanotechnology scientist and Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. She is the founding Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Nanomerics. In addition, Dr. Uchegbu holds a chair in Pharmaceutical Nanosciences at University College London. She has received a number of awards, notably the UK’s Women of Outstanding Achievement Award (2007) in Science Engineering and Technology.
Probudur
Dr. Neil Singla, a board-certified anesthesiologist, is the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Lotus Clinical Research. Since its inception in 2001, Dr. Singla has served in several roles within the organization including: Research Coordinator, Sub-Investigator, Principal Investigator, Coordinating Investigator, and Chief Scientific Officer.
Dr. Singla has published extensively and is a frequent lecturer for physicians, pharmaceutical companies, and medical research institutes throughout the country. He currently chairs the Analgesic Clinical Trials Shared/Special Interest Group at the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), chaired the Clinical Trials Shared Interest Group at the American Pain Society (APS) through 2019, chairs the annual Conference on Analgesic Clinical Trials, which aims to help experts advance best practices in analgesic drug development, as well as, serving on the Clinical Research Committee at Huntington Hospital.
The main focus of Dr. Singla’s academic endeavors has been to analyze and understand how the inherent variability in subjective endpoint analgesic clinical trials can be minimized. As a result, he has developed novel techniques for patient education designed to minimize variability, reduce placebo response, and increase effect size.
Neurologist & Epileptologist
NobrXiol
Dr. Sommerville is a board-certified neurologist and was in private practice in Lebanon, Pennsylvania 1980-1991. He was in charge of the EEG lab and was a consultant to a local psychiatric hospital and held a clinical position at the Hersey Medical Center. He joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1991 and since that time has been in Clinical Research for drugs in epilepsy, pain (abuse-deterrent opioids), and movement disorders including Parkinson Disease and Restless Leg Syndrome. He also contributed to research on a drug for prostatic hypertrophy. He has been the Medical Director or Vice-President for over one dozen NDA filings that have achieved approval. He has also been in charge of the clinical data for several drugs for epilepsy including vigabatrin, tiagabine, divalproex, intravenous valproate, lacosamide, diazepam injection, and most recently cannabidiol which received approval after a rapid clinical program of just four years. He has been in charge of clinical data for successful submissions in Parkinson Disease (rotigotine patch) and abuse-deterrent opioids (morphine and oxycodone formulations). He worked for a number of companies including Abbott, Schwarz, UCB, Marion Merrill Dow, King, Pfizer, and lastly Greenwich Biosciences (GW Pharma). He retired in 2018 after the submission of cannabidiol for Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet Syndrome. He has extensive experience in epilepsy and development of other CNS drugs.
Pediatric Neurologist & Epileptologist
NobrXiol
Dr. Lawrence Fried’s research focuses on telemedicine, family engagement, transition of care, and increased coordination with primary care for pediatric epilepsy patients. He is also interested in healthcare disparities, especially as it pertains to telemedicine. He received his medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine.
He currently serves as an Attending Physician in the Pediatric Regional Epilepsy Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania and is a Corporate Advisory Committee member of the American Epilepsy Society. Following medical school, he completed five years in residency positions in pediatrics and pediatric neurology, followed by a fellowship in epilepsy and pediatric neurology and has published extensively in those fields.
AnQlar
Dr. Jeffrey Murray is a leading expert in infectious diseases who spent almost 30 years of his career with the FDA, including as the Deputy Division Director for the Division of Antivirals, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Dr. Murray has published many articles related to antivirals and served as a reviewer for the New England Journal of Medicine while at FDA. He will assist Virpax in AnQlar’s regulatory strategy and clinical trial design.
IP Portfolio
Dr. Smith previously held the positions of Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for Alpharma, Inc. and before that Head of North American Intellectual Property for Sanofi Aventis. In both positions, Dr. Smith had global responsibility for all intellectual property issues related to multiple business units involved with various technologies including branded products, animal health products, active pharmaceutical ingredients, generic drugs, and vaccines. Dr. Smith also brings extensive background and knowledge in the area of abuse-deterrent intellectual property. Dr. Smith has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Houston, an M.B.A from Lehigh University, and a J.D. from the University of Houston.
Our experienced executive team and board have
PROVEN TRACK RECORDS
developing, launching, and marketing numerous FDA approved products
The U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR)
Virpax entered into a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) on May 5, 2022 to evaluate Virpax’s Probudur™, an injectable long-acting liposomal bupivacaine in a hydrogel formulation that is injected at the wound site. Probudur is being developed to significantly reduce or eliminate the need for opioids after surgery in approved indications. In pre-clinical trials, Probudur has shown pain control for 96 hours. The USAISR is the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) primary laboratory for developing solutions for trauma and critical care challenges in combat casualties.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
Virpax advances Envelta™ Development with NCATS Under CRADA Agreement to support the development and manufacturing of Envelta. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded research and development contracts to support Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) production of drug substance and drug product. as well as to support Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) toxicology, safety studies and preclinical efficacy studies to develop Envelta.
Envelta is Virpax’s endogenous enkephalin intranasal spray for Acute pain, including pain associated with cancer. Virpax entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with NCATS on August of 2020.
