ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The following table sets forth certain information regarding our Directors and Executive Officers. The age of each Director and Executive Officer listed below is given as of May 1, 2020.
Name
|
|
Age
|
|
Position
|
Robert Davidson
|
|
53
|
|
Chief Executive Officer, Director
|
Michael Redard (1)
|
|
61
|
|
Chief Financial Officer
|
Jessica Rousset (2)
|
|
43
|
|
former Chief Operating Officer
|
Mark Udell
|
|
43
|
|
Chief Accounting Officer, Treasurer and Secretary
|
Vered Gigi Ph.D.
|
|
38
|
|
Chief Scientific Officer
|
William Yuan
|
|
59
|
|
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Director
|
Gene Salkind, M.D
|
|
64
|
|
Director
|
Ruben King-Shaw Jr.
|
|
58
|
|
Director
|
Joshua Held
|
|
34
|
|
Director
|
Lauren Chung Ph.D.
|
|
47
|
|
Director
|
Anya Goldin
|
|
57
|
|
Director
|
John Bell
|
|
73
|
|
Director
|
Charles Berman (3)
|
|
75
|
|
former Director
|
Alan Einstein (4)
|
|
53
|
|
former Director
|
Alex Katz (5)
|
|
60
|
|
former Chief Financial Officer
|
________
(1)
|
Mr. Redard was appointed as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer effective May 15, 2019, replacing Alex Katz who resigned as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer on April 5, 2019.
|
(2)
|
Mrs. Rousset resigned as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer on May 8, 2020.
|
(3)
|
Mr. Berman resigned as a Director of the Company effective January 16, 2019.
|
(4)
|
Mr. Einstein was not reelected to be a Director during the Company’s annual meeting of stockholders on August 6, 2019 and was no longer a Director effective August 6, 2019.
|
(5)
|
Mr. Katz resigned as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer on April 5, 2019.
|
Our Directors
Robert Davidson – Chief Executive Officer and Director
Robert Davidson has served as a director and Chief Executive Officer since July 2011 and Chairman of our Board until January 2019. Prior to his role at CURE Pharmaceutical, Mr. Davidson served as President and Chief Executive Officer of InnoZen Inc., Chief Executive Officer of Gel Tech LLC, Chief Executive Officer of Bio delivery Technologies Inc., and Director of HealthSport Inc. Mr. Davidson was responsible for the development of several drug delivery technologies and commercial brand extensions. He has worked with brands such as Chloraseptic™, Suppress™, as well as Pediastrip™, a private label electrolyte oral thin film sold in major drug store chains. Mr. Davidson is also considered an industry expert leader in ODF technology. Mr. Davidson received his B.S. degree with a concentration in Biological Life Sciences from the University of the State of New York, Excelsior College. He has a Masters Certificate in Applied Project Management from Villanova University, Masters of Public Health from American Military University, Virginia and a Masters in Health and Wellness from Liberty University, Virginia. Mr. Davidson is also a Certified Performance Enhancement Specialist and Fitness Nutrition Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and attended Post-Graduate Studies at the University of Cambridge. Mr. Davidson’s experience as our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, and his extensive knowledge of ODF and drug delivery technologies qualifies him to serve on our Board.
William Yuan – Director and Chairman of the Board
William Yuan has served as the Chairman of the Board since January 15, 2019 and as a director since November 7, 2016. Mr. Yuan was most recently Chairman and CEO of Fortress Hill Holdings, an Asian-based investment banking firm. With 23 years in global finance experience, he has served as a key strategist and advisor to international institutions. U.S. companies advised by Mr. Yuan include Amgen Corp., Biogen, GE Capital, Warner Brothers Studios, and Fox News. He has also guided such leading Asian institutions as Sina.com, Shanghai Petrochemicals, Jinlia Pharmaceutical and Tsingtao Beer Corp. In 1995, Mr. Yuan led Merrill Lynch Asset Management Asia, and managed one of the largest pension/retirement funds in the world, with a $488 billion portfolio under his leadership. Simultaneously, he was chairman and portfolio manager of the $1.2 billion AmerAsia Hedge Fund. In 1993, he was the founder and managing director of the Corporate Institutional Services Group at Merrill Lynch Asset Management. Prior to that, Mr. Yuan served as a senior-vice president and co-manager at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney’s Portfolio Management Corporation with dual functions as co-head of the Capital Markets Derivative team, and Chairman of the Technology Investment Management and Executive Policy Committee. He began his finance career at Goldman Sachs in 1983 as an investment banker in Mergers & Acquisitions. Mr. Yuan is a member of the International Who’s Who of Finance, Technology, Media and Telecom. Mr. Yuan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Cornell University and attended Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School as a Mason Fellow. Mr. Yuan’s extensive finance, investment banking and corporate strategy background as well as his experience advising large pharmaceutical companies such as Amgen, Biogen and Jinlia Pharmaceutical qualify him to serve on our Board. Mr. Yuan serves on our Audit, Compensation and Nominating / Corporate Governance Committees.
Gene Salkind M.D. – Director
Dr. Gene Salkind has served as a director of the Company since January 15, 2019. Dr. Salkind is board certified in neurological surgery by the American Board of Neurological Surgery and completed various residencies, fellowships and postgraduate training at Abington Memorial hospital, The Graduate Hospital, Veteran’s Administration Hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Medical Degree from Temple University School of Medicine and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania. He has had numerous faculty, hospital and administrative appointments at virtually every major hospital in the northeastern Philadelphia and surrounding areas. As a prolific pharmaceutical investor, some of Dr. Salkind’s previous successful investments include Intuitive Surgical, Pharmacyclics, which grew from less than $1 per share to subsequently being acquired by Abbvie for $250/share, and Centocor, one of the nation’s largest biotechnology companies, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson for $4.9 billion in stock. Dr. Salkind currently sits on the board of DermTech, a private company based in San Diego that has become the global leader in non-invasive dermatological molecular diagnostics. Dr. Salkind’s medical background and experience as well as his extensive finance and investing experience qualifies him to serve on our Board.
Ruben King-Shaw, Jr. – Director
Ruben King-Shaw has served as a director of the Company since January 29, 2019. Mr. King-Shaw is currently the President of Steward Health Care Network (SHCN) since June 2018 where he leads the business unit focused on managing integrated, coordinated and community-based health care services delivery in 9 states. He is also the President, since April 2004, of Mansa Equity Partners, Inc. (Mansa), the King-Shaw family’s personal holding company and investment vehicle. In addition to SHCN and Mansa, Mr. King-Shaw has three decades of executive leadership experience in the healthcare technology and private equity sectors and held c-suite positions with leading private companies including Neighborhood Health Partnership, Inc. and JMH Health Plan. He recently served on the board of Atlanta-based Cotiviti Holdings, Inc. and currently serves on the board of privately-held Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems of Pensacola, FL. Past board service consists of Lead Director of Athena health; Independent Living Systems, of Miami, FL; and WellCare Health Plans, Inc. of Tampa, FL. He served on the Obama Administration's Medicare Program Advisory and Oversight Committee, and he was COO and deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) during the administration of President George W. Bush, administering a federal budget of $600 billion. Over the past year, Mr. King-Shaw has provided advice on areas of healthcare policy to the Trump Administration, including CMS and the National Economic Council. Mr. King-Shaw completed his undergraduate studies at Cornell University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Labor Relations, and earned both a Master of Health Service Administration and a Master of International Business degree from Florida International University. He also completed advanced studies in Corporate Governance at the Harvard Business School. Mr. King-Shaw’s executive experience and administrative expertise in the healthcare field qualifies him to serve on our Board.
Joshua Held – Director
Joshua Held has served as a director of the Company since May 14, 2019. Mr. Held is currently the President of Form Factory Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Acreage Holdings (ARCG.CN) the largest multi-State cannabis operator licensed in 20 States. Since August of 2018, he has led the manufacturing and strategy divisions of Form Factory Inc. Mr. Held is the founder and CEO of Chemistry Holdings, Inc. a formulation technology company that creates innovative, sustainable delivery systems for a variety of industries. Chemistry Holdings was recently acquired by Cure Pharmaceutical. Mr. Held previously founded and was the CEO of Made by Science, rebranded as Form Factory Inc. a private company acquired by Acreage Holdings for $160 Million in December of 2018. Form Factory is at the forefront of the creation of next-generation delivery systems that raise the bar for cannabis product manufacturers and sellers by eliminating common problems in efficacy, formulation, onset, dosage, and labeling. In his prior role as a Vice President of Investments for JP Morgan, Mr. Held managed more than $100 million in investment dollars for high-net-worth individuals and families. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the California State University, Long Beach. He's a licensed real estate broker in California and formally held his Series 7 & 66 licenses. Mr. Held’s accomplishments as the founder of several medical technology companies, including the Company’s acquisition of Chemistry Holdings, qualifies him to serve on our Board.
Lauren Chung, Ph.D. – Director
Dr. Lauren Chung has served as a director of the Company since August 6, 2019. Dr. Chung has 20 years of healthcare investment management and advisory experience. Dr. Chung founded in 2012 MINLEIGH LLC identifying, evaluating and partnering with companies for investments and various strategic, operational, and commercial planning, as well as providing growth capital. Dr. Chung was a Managing Director in Healthcare Research at WestPark Capital, where she joined in 2017. Prior to that she was a Senior Healthcare Equity Analyst at Maxim Group. Previously, Dr. Chung was a Co- Founder of Tokum Capital, a global healthcare fund, which merged with Perella Weinberg Partners. Prior to that, Dr. Chung managed healthcare investment portfolios at RBR Capital, Kingdon Capital, and Pequot Capital. Earlier in her career, Dr. Chung was a recognized research scientist conducting cutting edge research in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and Angelman Syndrome at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, respectively. Dr. Chung has published many highly regarded peer reviewed scientific journals. Dr. Chung serves as a board member in private healthcare companies. Dr. Chung holds a PhD in Neuropathology from Columbia University-College of Physicians & Surgeons, and a BA with honors in Biochemistry and Economics from Wellesley College. Dr. Chung’s experience in healthcare investments and her academic accomplishments in scientific fields qualifies her to serve on our Board.
Anya Goldin
Anya Goldin has served as a director of the Company since August 6, 2019. Mrs. Goldin is an accomplished executive with 28 years of experience and demonstrated success across the law, private equity, venture capital, healthcare and telecommunications industries. Since 2014, she has worked as a consultant advising companies on strategic and business issues, complex and cross-border transactions, as well as corporate restructurings and multi-jurisdictional disputes. Anya is also practicing at Nolan Heimann law firm and is teaching a course on International Business Negotiations at the USC’s Gould School of Law. She has co-founded a technology start-up Provenance Laboratories, and engages in entrepreneurial, investment and philanthropic activities. Throughout her executive career, Anya has held leadership positions as a managing partner at Latham & Watkins (17 years), as well as the General Counsel, Vice President and Chair of the Risk Management Committee of a $20-billion London Stock Exchange-listed conglomerate that controlled four other public companies listed on the New York and London Stock Exchanges, as well as a variety of private international assets. Her responsibilities included managing all aspects of the legal and compliance functions of the group. Anya has served on the boards of eight public and private companies in Europe, Russia, India and the UK, and for seven years oversaw international operations of a global regulated private equity fund in her capacity as the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors. Anya is currently on the Advisory Board of a California private equity fund, Lumia Capital, on the Board of Trustees of Westmark School, and on the Board of Berkeley Law Alumni’s L.A. Chapter. Mrs. Goldin is a member of the State Bar of California. She holds a BA in Mass Communications from University of California Berkeley, as well as a JD from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, graduating in the top ten percent of her class with both degrees. Ms. Goldin’s experience in both business and law, specifically her experience related to start-up and technology companies, qualifies her to serve on our Board.
John Bell
John Bell has served as a director of the Company since November 15, 2019. Mr. Bell is currently the Chairman of Canopy Rivers Corp (TSX: RIV) and Director and Past-Chair of Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC). He is Chairman and CEO of Onbelay Capital Inc., a private equity and investment Company based in Cambridge Canada. Mr. Bell also serves as a director of DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDQ: DMPI) and Chair of the Audit Committee. He has sat on the boards of a number of public, private, not for profit and government boards. He is currently a Governor of the Stratford Festival. He was founder, owner and CEO of Shred-Tech Inc a global Manufacturer of Shredding and recycling equipment and creator of the mobile shredding Industry. He was owner and CEO of Polymer Technologies Inc. a global manufacturer of auto-parts. He was Chairman and principal shareholder of BSM Technologies Inc., a fleet management Company, and was CEO and director of ATS Automation (TSX: ATA-T) with 23 global plants. Mr. Bell is a graduate of Western University Ivey School of Business, a Fellow of the institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, a graduate of the Institute of Directors Program of Canada.. Mr. Bell’s financial and executive business experience qualifies him to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors.
Our Executive Officers Who are Not Directors
Michael Redard – Chief Financial Officer
Michael Redard has served as the Chief Financial Officer of CURE Pharmaceutical since May 2019. Mr. Redard has over 30 years of experience in financial operations, strategic planning and capital markets across a broad range of industries including medical devices, healthcare, consumer and industrial products, and manufacturing. Prior to CURE Mr. Redard served as CFO of Casa Pacifica, a California based behavioral health services provider. Before that he held CFO, Vice President and General Manager positions with several venture and private equity backed companies including Inogen, Medical Analysis Systems (acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific), CDTi Advanced Materials, and Abrisa Technologies. Earlier experience includes management roles with Pepsi and in public accounting. He is a CPA (inactive) and received his B.S. in Business Administration from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Jessica Rousset – Chief Operating Officer
Jessica Rousset has served as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer since January 22, 2018. She previously served since March 15, 2017 as the Company’s Chief Business Officer, oversees operations and drives corporate strategy and growth. Mrs. Rousset previously served as Head of Innovation at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where over a ten-year period from 2006 to November 2016, she helped launch both therapeutic and medical device companies and founded and operated a national pediatric technology accelerator. Prior to that, Mrs. Rousset held positions at The Scripps Research Institute and GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals in laboratory, clinical research and business development roles. She is a seasoned business development and commercialization leader, expert in bridging corporate, academic and governmental interests toward the common goal of improving patient’s lives. She brings more than fifteen years of experience fostering innovation in large organizations and advising start-ups to bring novel healthcare solutions to market and into clinical use. She trained as a biochemical engineer at the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées in Lyon, France. Mrs. Rousset resigned as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer on May 8, 2020.
Mark Udell – Chief Accounting Officer, Treasurer and Secretary
Mark Udell has served as the Chief Accounting Officer since November 2018 and as Treasurer and Secretary of CURE Pharmaceutical since July 2011. He is a Certified Public Accountant with over 17 years of experience in finance and accounting. Prior to joining the Company in 2011, Mr. Udell served as InnoZen, Inc.’s Chief Accounting Officer and Controller and was responsible for establishing, monitoring and enforcing policies and procedures for the company as well as conducting audits and working with external auditors. While working at CURE and InnoZen, Inc., Mr. Udell gained valuable knowledge in the drug delivery industry and is a key contributor in the development and commercialization of various drug delivery technologies. He has also held the position as Auditing Manager at Green Hasson & Janks, LLP in Los Angeles. Mr. Udell received his B.A. in Business Economics with a concentration in accounting from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Vered Gigi Ph.D. – Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Vered Gigi has served as the Chief Scientific Officer since October 1, 2019. She previously served since January 22, 2018 as the Company’s VP of Strategy and Business Development a role in which she governed and aligned CURE’s strategy to its scientific operations to deliver sustained growth and diversified revenue from CURE’s nutraceutical and pharmaceutical pipelines. Before joining CURE, Dr. Gigi served as a project leader at The Boston Consulting Group from July 2014 to January 2018 working with global biopharma and medtech companies focusing on corporate and network strategy, operations and marketing. Dr. Gigi graduated from Tel-Aviv University in Israel with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree investigating immunotherapy and stem cell. She then went on to earn her Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Pennsylvania, focusing her studies on DNA repair mechanisms and genome sequencing.
Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors currently consists of eight members. All directors hold office until the next annual meeting of stockholders. At each annual meeting of stockholders, the successors to directors whose terms then expire are elected to serve from the time of election and qualification until the next annual meeting following election.
Management has been delegated the responsibility for meeting defined corporate objectives, implementing approved strategic and operating plans, carrying on our business in the ordinary course, managing cash flow, evaluating new business opportunities, recruiting staff and complying with applicable regulatory requirements. The Board of Directors exercises its supervision over management by reviewing and approving long-term strategic, business and capital plans, material contracts and business transactions, and all debt and equity financing transactions and stock issuances.