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 (INTERIM)
+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 interim Chief Executive Officer of Eiger and a Director on Eiger’s Board. He is the founding CEO of BlueSphere Bio. Prior to that, 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 received 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. He earned a BA in Biochemistry from Rutgers University.
Eldon Mayer III, MBA
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
+Eldon Mayer is a seasoned leader who brings extensive experience in building and managing high-performance commercial teams, as well as product launch planning and lifecycle management.
Prior to joining Eiger, Mr. Mayer was Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Rigel Pharmaceuticals where he built and led the commercial organization of over 60 people and the successful launch of Tavalisse (fostamatinib disodium hexahydrate) for chronic immune thrombocytopenia, a rare disease. Previously, Mr. Mayer was Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at Questcor Pharmaceuticals, focused on serious, rare diseases, where he built and managed a commercial team of over 400 people, successfully commercialized Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection), and grew annual sales to over $1 billion. Questcor was acquired by Mallinckrodt for $5.6 billion in 2014. Earlier in his career, he held positions of increasing responsibilities at companies including Schering-Plough, ALZA, Chiron, and Connetics, in functional areas including strategic planning, marketing, sales, market research and analytics, operations, and finance. Mr. Mayer has served as a member of the board for Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc., Promet Therapeutics, LLC, and the National Community Oncology Dispensing Association.
Mr. Mayer holds a BS in Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an MBA in Marketing from Syracuse University.
Ingrid Choong, PHD
Senior Vice President, Clinical Development
+Ingrid Choong brings more than 15 years of experience within the biotechnology / pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Choong joined Eiger as a member of the founding team in 2008 as a Principal Scientist before transitioning into operations as the company focus evolved toward HDV and other orphan diseases. She has been a contributing member on all aspects of our programs, from licensing through each stage of clinical and regulatory development, leading to the late stage pipeline we are now advancing at Eiger. Along the way, she played a key role as head of Investor Relations and Corporate Development, participating in every financing to fund company operations. As SVP of Clinical Development, Dr. Choong leads the HDV program, including both Lonafarnib and Lambda programs.
Dr. Choong earned a BS in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley.
Dr. Colin Hislop, M.B.B.S.
Senior Vice President, Clinical & Development Operations
+Dr. Hislop has over 34 years of experience in drug development including small molecules, peptides and biologics, across therapeutic areas in both large pharma and start-up companies. Prior to joining Eiger full-time, Dr. Hislop was the Company’s senior medical advisor to the Progeria program and was instrumental to Eiger’s first NDA submission of Lonafarnib for the treatment of Progeria and Progeroid Laminopathies. Prior to joining Eiger, Dr. Hislop served as Chief Medical Officer at Versartis and Anthera. He was previously Vice President and Head of Clinical Development at Peninsula Pharmaceuticals developing doripenem for systemic infections. Peninsula was acquired by J&J for $245 million. Dr. Hislop served as Vice President of Clinical Development at CV Therapeutics where he developed and filed an NDA for Ranexa® for angina. CV Therapeutics was acquired by Gilead for $1.4 billion. He previously led the development of Actonel® through initial FDA approvals for osteoporosis at Proctor & Gamble. Dr. Hislop began his industry career at Eli Lilly as Medical Director of Endocrinology for insulin and growth hormone. During his career, Dr. Hislop has been involved in all phases of drug development from IND to Phase 4,and has led numerous US, European and global regulatory filings, including 4 NDAs.
Dr. Hislop earned a Bachelor of Science in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Surrey and a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.B.S.) at the University of London.
Rich Franco, MBA
Chief Regulatory Officer
+Rich Franco has been in the healthcare industry for more than 25 years. He has held leadership roles across a variety of functional areas including commercial, marketing research, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, managed markets, customer service, and medical affairs. Mr. Franco joined Eiger in 2016 as the VP of Clinical Strategy.
Mr. Franco is responsible for alignment between clinical and commercial functions across all of Eiger’s development programs. He is also leading the company’s efforts to develop and launch a global expanded access program for children with Progeria. Before joining Eiger, he served as the Vice President and General Manager of Valeant Pharmaceutical’s Pain and Hospital divisions. While there he played a significant role in gaining FDA approval and launching Relistor tablets for opioid induced constipation. In 2014, Mr. Franco joined Sprout Pharmaceuticals as the corporate officer responsible for commercial, medical affairs, and pharmacovigilance. He played an essential role in advisory committee preparations and gaining FDA approval for Addyi, the first drug approved for female hyposexual desire disorder. While at Sprout he led the company’s efforts to develop one of the industry’s most comprehensive Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS). Earlier in Mr. Franco’s career, he cofounded Arbor Pharmaceuticals and held leadership positions at GlaxoSmithKline, Slate Pharmaceuticals, Clinical Data Inc, and LipoScience.
Mr. Franco has also been a consultant to Halozyme Pharmaceuticals, BASF, Intrexon, IQVIA, Novan Pharmaceuticals, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Dara BioSciences, Talecris and Ashfield Commercial Services.
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.
Dr. Colleen Craig, M.D.
Vice President, Metabolic Diseases
+Dr. Colleen Craig joined Eiger in 2015 and serves as the Vice President, Metabolic Diseases overseeing the avexitide development program.
Dr. Craig worked in the Division of Endocrinology at Stanford University School of Medicine, where her research centered on incretin hormones and their role in in hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic conditions, including post-bariatric hypoglycemia (PBH) and congenital hyperinsulinism (HI). Dr. Craig was the recipient of several prestigious awards including the National Institute of Health’s Career Development Award, Stanford’s SPARK Award and Stanford’s Translational and Applied Medicine (TRAM) Research Award. She has led clinical investigations establishing the critical role of the incretin gut hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in mediating PBH and other forms of hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia. She has also authored numerous publications and holds several patents that support Eiger’s development of avexitide for the treatment of PBH and HI.
Dr. Craig obtained her M.D. from Brown University School of Medicine and completed her postdoctoral research fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine.
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 (INTERIM)
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 interim Chief Executive Officer of Eiger and a Director on Eiger’s Board. He is the founding CEO of BlueSphere Bio. Prior to that, 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 received 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. He earned a BA in Biochemistry from Rutgers University.
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Evan Loh, MD
DIRECTOR, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF PARATEK PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
Evan Loh, M.D. 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 A.B. 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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Christine Murray, MS, RAC
INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR
Christine Murray was appointed as a member of the Board in January 2019. Ms. Murray serves as Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Inc. (NASDAQ: RARE). Prior to joining Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Inc, Ms. Murray was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Raptor Pharmaceuticals, a company that developed products for serious, ultra-rare diseases, from 2015 to 2017.
Raptor Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Horizon Pharma plc. in 2017. Ms. Murray also held positions of increasing responsibility at a number of biopharma companies, including Achaogen, Inc. from 2011-2015, Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2008–2011, and Gilead Sciences, Inc. from 2004-2008, in Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance.
Ms. Murray holds a BS in Biochemistry from Liverpool University, UK, an MS in Clinical Biochemistry from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, and a Regulatory Affairs Certification from the University of California Santa Cruz Extension.
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Jeffrey S. Glenn, MD, PHD
DIRECTOR, SCIENTIFIC FOUNDER
Jeffrey Glenn is a Professor of Medicine, Gastroenterology & Hepatology at Stanford University, and the Director of the Center for Hepatitis and Liver Tissue Engineering.
Dr. Glenn is an author on over 100 scientific articles and book chapters, is an inventor on over 50 issued and pending patent applications, and has been an active consultant for a variety of biotechnology and large pharmaceutical companies. His primary research interest is in molecular virology, with a strong emphasis on translating this knowledge into novel antiviral therapies. He is the principal investigator on multiple NIH grants, an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and a member of the FDA Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee.
Dr. Glenn’s work has focused on the function and cell biology of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) non-structural proteins, targeting RNA secondary structure in influenza virus, and identifying host cell targets exploited by a wide range of viruses. Dr. Glenn discovered the role of prenylation in the life cycles of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) and other viruses including as a trigger of virus assembly and a target for a promising antiviral treatment that is the basis of the Company’s lead programs. Other interests include NASH, novel anti-cancer therapies, and the engineering of human liver tissues.
Jeffrey Glenn received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley summa cum laude in Biochemistry and French Civilization, and both a PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics and an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco Medical Scientist Training Program. He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine, as well as a fellowship in gastroenterology, at Stanford University’s School of Medicine.
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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
Director
Kim Sablich serves as Executive Vice President and General Manager, U.S. at Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc, where she oversees all of Jazz’s U.S. regional business structure, which includes, 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 B.A. in Economics from Denison University and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
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Lisa Kelly-Croswell
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 B.S. in Finance and an M.A. 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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