We are a values-driven company that works to embody Integrity, Passion, Accountability, Creativity, and Teamwork in the pursuit of our mission. Our experienced leadership team has decades of proven success in drug development and commercialization from life-science companies large and small.
- Executive Team
- Board Of Directors
David Apelian, MD, PHD, MBA
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
+David Apelian brings extensive clinical development and regulatory experience, spanning 23 years between large pharma and biotechnology companies in all phases of development ranging from discovery to registration, across multiple therapeutic areas including gastroenterology, hepatology, immuno-oncology, infectious diseases, and rare diseases.
Dr. Apelian is currently Chief Executive Officer of Eiger and a Director on Eiger’s Board. Prior to this, he was the founding CEO of BlueSphere Bio from 2020 to 2022. From 201 to-2020, David was Chief Operating Officer and Executive Medical Officer at Eiger where he was head of all R&D and Regulatory Affairs. From 2013 to 2018, he was Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer of Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. At Achillion, he was responsible for creating portfolio strategy and managing the company’s clinical development programs in chronic hepatitis C, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), and other complement-related diseases leading to an HCV partnership with Janssen and ultimate acquisition by Alexion. From 2005 to 2013, Dr. Apelian was Chief Medical Officer and subsequently head of all R&D and Regulatory Affairs for GlobeImmune. He was previously at Bristol-Myers Squibb where he served as Clinical Director and Medical Leader for development of Baraclude (entecavir) for chronic HBV through NDA filing. Prior to that, Dr. Apelian was Clinical Director in the Department of Hepatology & Gastroenterology at Schering Plough, where he coordinated a supplemental NDA filing for interferon alpha-2b and ribavirin for the treatment of pediatric patients with chronic HCV.
Dr. Apelian completed his residency training in pediatrics at New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center and is board certified in Pediatrics. He earned a BA in Biochemistry from Rutgers University, a PhD in Biochemistry from Rutgers University, an MD from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and an MBA from Quinnipiac University.
William Kaichoff
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
+Mr. Kachioff is a highly experienced executive in corporate finance, capital formation, corporate governance and manufacturing accounting and systems. He has over 30 years of life sciences industry experience and is currently a consulting CFO with Danforth Advisors, with whom Eiger has contracted for his services. He recently served as interim CFO at Aduro Biotech (now Chinook Therapeutics), a publicly-traded, clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company and previously served as CFO at GenomeDx Biosciences (now Veracyte) and Biocept, two providers of novel cancer diagnostic services. Prior to that, he was CFO at Althea Technologies (now Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma), a pharmaceutical contract manufacturer. Mr. Kachioff has served as CFO at MicroIslet, a publicly-traded biotech company developing cell transplant therapies for insulin-dependent diabetes and was Director of Finance at Cutera, where he prepared the company for the commercial launch of its first product and its initial public offering.
Mr. Kachioff has a BS in management from the State University of New York at Buffalo and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Association of Bioscience Financial Officers.
James Vollins, JD
General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary
+James Vollins is an experienced public company, biotechnology, and healthcare compliance attorney with significant executive leadership experience and a focus on scaling high-quality biotech companies and best-in-class compliance programs. During his 30-year legal career, he has worked for several global biotechnology companies in roles of increasing responsibility. Prior to joining Eiger, Mr. Vollins was General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary at BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. Prior to that, he was General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary at Bio Products Laboratory Limited. Mr. Vollins also served in a variety of roles with increasing responsibility at Grifols Inc., Talecris Biotherapeutics, Inc. and Pfizer Inc. Mr. Vollins’ career highlights include several significant M&A transactions, numerous successful drug launches, and the IPO of Talecris Biotherapeutics, Inc. He began his legal career as a commercial litigator and has tried cases and argued appeals in state and federal courts throughout the U.S.
Mr. Vollins received his BA from Wesleyan University and his JD from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Christopher Kurtz
Chief Technical Officer
+Christopher Kurtz brings more than 27 years of combined experience in development, scale-up and commercialization of pharmaceuticals, including sterile products and devices in the U.S. and global arenas. Mr. Kurtz has successfully established supply capabilities and navigated numerous products from late-stage development through approval, launch and sustained commercialization.
Prior to joining Eiger, Mr. Kurtz served as Executive Vice President of Technical Operations at Cidara Therapeutics where he established and validated the supply chain for a novel antifungal agent, as well as advancing a pan-genotypic biologic flu prophylactic into first in human studies. Prior to Cidara, Mr. Kurtz served as Head of Commercial API Manufacturing at Gilead Sciences, where he and his team played an instrumental role in the launch and ongoing production of products such as Descovy, Biktarvy and Veklury (remdesivir). Mr. Kurtz previously served as Vice President of Drug Device Industrialization at AbbVie, where he led product scale-up and industrialization projects for drug-device combinations. Prior to that, Mr. Kurtz held a number of leadership positions where managed the development, scale-up and commercialization of drugs, biologics, medical devices and combination products at various companies, including Monsanto, Nektar Therapeutics, Alza Corporation, Alexza and Novo Nordisk.
Mr. Kurtz holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado and is a graduate of the Westinghouse S3G Nuclear Engineering Program. He was a member of the United States Navy, serving in the Submarine Force, where he was a graduate of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion School.
Thomas J. Dietz, PHD
Chairman of the Board, Chairman and CEO of Waypoint Holdings, LLC
Thomas Dietz is Chairman and CEO of Waypoint Holdings, LLC, a diversified financial holdings and services company. Dr Dietz was co-CEO then CEO and a Director of Pacific Growth Equities, LLC, a San Francisco-based investment bank and institutional brokerage firm from 2004 to 2009, when the firm was acquired by Wedbush Securities.
Dr. Dietz served as Head of the Investment Banking Division at Wedbush until November 2010. Prior to taking the CEO role at Pacific Growth, Dr. Dietz served as the Company’s Director of Equities Research and was an award-winning biotechnology and biopharmaceutical analyst. Dr. Dietz joined Pacific Growth in 1993. Previously, he was a member of the research faculty in the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and the VA Medical Center. Dr. Dietz also serves as a Director of Paratek Pharmaceuticals (PRTK: Nasdaq), Leap Therapeutics (LEAP: Nasdaq) and several private companies.
Thomas Dietz holds a PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry from Washington University, St. Louis, and was a National Science Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow.
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David Apelian, MD, PHD, MBA
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
David Apelian brings extensive clinical development and regulatory experience, spanning 23 years between large pharma and biotechnology companies in all phases of development ranging from discovery to registration, across multiple therapeutic areas including gastroenterology, hepatology, immuno-oncology, infectious diseases, and rare diseases.
Dr. Apelian is currently Chief Executive Officer of Eiger and a Director on Eiger’s Board. Prior to this, he was the founding CEO of BlueSphere Bio from 2020 to 2022. From 201 to-2020, David was Chief Operating Officer and Executive Medical Officer at Eiger where he was head of all R&D and Regulatory Affairs. From 2013 to 2018, he was Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer of Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. At Achillion, he was responsible for creating portfolio strategy and managing the company’s clinical development programs in chronic hepatitis C, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), and other complement-related diseases leading to an HCV partnership with Janssen and ultimate acquisition by Alexion. From 2005 to 2013, Dr. Apelian was Chief Medical Officer and subsequently head of all R&D and Regulatory Affairs for GlobeImmune. He was previously at Bristol-Myers Squibb where he served as Clinical Director and Medical Leader for development of Baraclude (entecavir) for chronic HBV through NDA filing. Prior to that, Dr. Apelian was Clinical Director in the Department of Hepatology & Gastroenterology at Schering Plough, where he coordinated a supplemental NDA filing for interferon alpha-2b and ribavirin for the treatment of pediatric patients with chronic HCV.
Dr. Apelian completed his residency training in pediatrics at New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center and is board certified in Pediatrics. He earned a BA in Biochemistry from Rutgers University, a PhD in Biochemistry from Rutgers University, an MD from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and an MBA from Quinnipiac University.
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Evan Loh, MD
DIRECTOR, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF PARATEK PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
Evan Loh has been Paratek’s Chief Executive Officer since June 2019. Prior to that, Dr. Loh served in various roles including President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Medical Officer from 2014 until June 2019.
Dr. Loh has been a member of the Paratek Board of Directors since 2014. Prior to the merger with Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Loh had served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Medical Officer. Previously, Dr. Loh served as Senior Vice President, Development and Strategic Operations, Worldwide Research and Development, at Pfizer. While at Pfizer, Dr. Loh’s responsibilities included scientific, operational, and strategic drug development oversight for all R&D pre-proof of concept development phase programs and leading global portfolio prioritization.
Dr. Loh joined Pfizer from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, where he was Vice President, Multiple Therapeutic Areas where he was responsible for global development strategy and clinical operational deliverables. At Wyeth, he led multiple successful global registration programs, including for Torisel and Tygacil. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Windtree Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Loh served as Chairman of the Antimicrobials Working Group (AWG), an industry leading coalition of biotech companies focused on antimicrobial development from 2019 to 2021, and currently serves on its Executive Committee. Dr. Loh served as a Director on the Board of Nivalis from 2012 until the completion of its sale to Alpine Immunotherapeutics in 2017.
Dr. Loh served as a faculty member at both Harvard Medical School and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Loh received his AB from Harvard College and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed his Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
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Amit K. Sachdev, JD
INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR
Amit K. Sachdev is Executive Vice President, Chief Patient Officer & Chief of Staff to the CEO at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where he has served over the past fourteen years in numerous executive leadership roles spanning the business as an executive officer and member of the Executive Committee, including regulatory affairs as Chief Regulatory Officer, global market access and pricing, health economics and outcomes research, international commercial operations, alliance management, public affairs and corporate communications.
During this time, the Company experienced ten-fold growth and successfully developed and commercialized five novel breakthrough medicines for patients with serious liver disease and for patients with a life-threatening lung disease called cystic fibrosis. Today, Vertex is one of the world’s leading global biotechnology companies with its headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts.
Mr. Sachdev serves on several non-profit boards, including MassBIO, Team Impact, Imagine and Answer to Kid’s Brain Cancer, and the Stanford Center for Longevity Studies. Mr. Sachdev received a BS from Carnegie Mellon University and a JD from Emory University School of Law.
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Kim Sablich, MBA
Director
Kim Sablich most recently served as Executive Vice President and General Manager, U.S. at Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc, where she oversaw all of Jazz’s U.S. regional business structure, which included, Commercial Operations, Market Access and Medical Affairs teams.
Ms. Sablich previously served as Chief Commercial Officer of Myovant Sciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, from December 2018 to May 2020. Prior to that, she served in various executive roles at GlaxoSmithKline plc, a multinational pharmaceutical company, including as Vice President, U.S. Primary Care Marketing from May 2015 to May 2018, as Vice President, Global Medicines Commercialization from July 2013 to May 2015, and as Vice President, U.S. Vaccines Commercial Strategy from October 2010 to June 2013. Prior to 2010, Ms. Sablich served in various positions of increasing responsibility at Merck & Company, a global healthcare company in its commercial organization across sales, product management, pricing/access, and customer insights, with a focus on the cardiovascular, respiratory, and vaccines business areas.
Ms. Sablich holds a BA in Economics from Denison University and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
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Lisa Kelly-Croswell, MA
INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR
Lisa Kelly-Croswell is the Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Boston Medical Center Health System (BMC), leading the HR and organizational agenda for BMC’s $5 billion health system, full-service academic medical center, and 450,000-member managed healthcare plan since 2013.
Ms. Kelly-Croswell has over 30 years’ experience in global human resources including nearly 25 years within the biopharmaceutical and life sciences industries. Prior to BMC, Ms. Kelly-Croswell led HR for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, playing a pivotal role in the company’s transformation from a research organization into a fully sustainable commercial biotechnology company. Before Vertex, Ms. Kelly-Croswell held senior leadership roles within Nitromed, Cigna, and Monsanto. She currently serves on the board of Synelogic, Inc., and is a current and past board member of multiple non-profit organizations.
Ms. Kelly-Croswell received a BS in Finance and an MA in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is the holder of the 2022 NEHRA Diversity Champion Award and is a 2021 awardee for Boston’s Most Impactful Black Women. She was appointed to the Eiger board in July 2022.
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