Board of Directors

Günter Knorr Chairman
Partner, Knorr Rechtsanwälte AG

Dr. Knorr has practised law in Germany since 1975. For more than 20 years, he has provided legal and business advice in contract research and development of pharmaceutical products, acting as #counsel to German, Swiss and American companies. He has also acted on advisory boards of German information technology companies and was involved in the publication of commentary to the German Drug Act in 2001. Dr. Knorr’s law office has represented AKELA in Europe since the company’s inception.

 Maurice St-Jacques
Professor, University of Montreal

Professor. St-Jacques received a B.Sc. from the University of Ottawa and a Ph.D. (Chemistry-NMR) from the University of California at Los Angeles. He is presently a Professor in the Universite de Montreal Chemistry Department, and has also served as Chairman of the Chemistry Department, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Associate Vice-Rector for Research and Vice-Rector for Research and Planning. Prof. St-Jacques was responsible for setting up the Office of University-Industry Liaison, and he has been a Board Member of many interdisciplinary research centres.

Robert O. (Bill) Williams III, Ph.D.

Bill Williams is the Johnson & Johnson Centennial Professor of Pharmaceutics at the College of Pharmacy, University of Texas at Austin.  He earned a B.S. in Biology from Texas A&M University, a B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Texas at Austin and Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutics in 1986 from the University of Texas at Austin.  Dr. Williams worked 9 years in the pharmaceutical industry in the United States and France before returning to the University of Texas at Austin.  Dr Williams was elected a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists in 2006.  Dr. Williams is a member of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, American Chemical Society, Association de Pharmacie Galenique Industrielle, Controlled Release Society, and European Federation of Biotechnology.  He was the co-founder and President of PharmaForm LLC, and is a Director of AKELA Pharma Inc.  Dr. Williams’ research interests include development of novel drug delivery systems for oral, pulmonary, nasal, injectable, buccal and topical applications, development of novel particle engineering technologies for low molecular weight drugs, peptides and proteins, and analytical technologies to characterize actives, excipients and polymers.  He has published over 225 articles, abstracts and book chapters in the fields of pharmaceutical technology and drug delivery.  He is an inventor on numerous patents and patent applications.  Dr. Williams is the Editor-in-Chief of the research journal Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, and serves as a reviewer for International Journal of Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Research, European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, S.T.P. Pharma Sciences, AAPS PharmSciTech, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmaceutical Development and Technology, Journal of Membrane Science, and Journal of Controlled Release.

Peter Barrett
Sector: Life Sciences
Sub-sectors:
Boards: Archemix Corp, Aureon Biosciences, Helicos BioSciences Corporation, Vitae Pharmaceuticals, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Alnylam, Ivrera

Peter Barrett is a Senior Partner in the life sciences sector, and joined Atlas Venture in 2002. Previously, he was a co-founder and Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Celera Genomics, positions he had held since 1998. Within two years of the founding of the company, Celera announced the first successful sequencing of the human genome.  At Celera, Peter helped launch the company as a publicly traded entity in 1999 and helped transform Celera into a leading force within the biotechnology industry, and established contracts with key customers of over $150 million. He led Celera’s expansion into drug discovery and development, forging strategic alliances with technology companies and leading the acquisition of Axys Pharmaceuticals.

 

Before Celera, Peter held senior management positions at The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, most recently serving as Vice President, Corporate Planning and Business Development. During his tenure, he expanded the life science business units through a series of licensing agreements, partnerships and acquisitions including: Applied Biosystems, Tropix, Molecular Informatics, PerSeptive Biosystems, and Genscope. Also during this time, Peter co-founded Celera Genomics with Dr. J. Craig Venter and the Applera Corporation management team. Additional managerial roles included Executive Vice President of the Applied Biosystems Division of Perkin-Elmer.

Peter's past board appointments include:  Chairman of the Board of the Analytical and Life Science System Association, HuBit Genomix, Genecore, Roche Strategic Alliance, and Sciex Joint Venture. He currently is Vice Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Barnett Institute of Chemical and Biological Analysis at Northeastern University,is a member of the Developmental Medicine Center Advisory Board of Childrens Hospital and is a member of the Partners Healthcare Research Accelerator Program.
Peter received his Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Lowell Technological Institute (now known as the University of Massachusetts, Lowell) and his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Northeastern University. He also completed Harvard Business School’s Management Development Program.

 

Hans Rainer Hoffmann
Member of Executive Board, LTS Pharma

Dr. Hoffmann has been a scientist and manager in the pharmaceutical industry for over 20 years. He received his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the Philips-University Marburg. A pioneer in transdermal drug delivery, Dr. Hoffmann became Managing Director of LTS Lohmann Therapy Systems, the largest manufacturer of transdermal products in the world. Presently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Rhode Island, Dr. Hoffmann is the inventor or co-inventor of more than 40 patents and co-author of the new edition of "Pharmazeutische Technologie".

Rolf K. Reininghaus
 

Yves Glaude