Dr. Rioux, (San Diego, California) is the co-founder, Director and Chief Executive Officer of Thiogenesis Therapeutics. Dr. Rioux has been deeply involved in the development of drugs for rare diseases over the last 20 years. He was most recently Senior Vice-President, Global Clinical Development at ArmaGen, Inc., a company focused on the development of fusion proteins for the treatment of lysosomal storage diseases. Before Armagen, he was Chief Medical Officer at Raptor Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for securing regulatory approval of PROCYSBI, a delayed-release cysteamine for the treatment of a lysosomal storage disease, nephropathic cystinosis, in both the U.S. and Europe. Dr. Rioux previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Edison Pharmaceuticals, and as Vice President, Clinical at Repligen, where he gained significant orphan disease experience in mitochondrial diseases as well as in autism, and autoimmune diseases. After several years as a clinical researcher at INSERM (France), he started his career in the pharmaceutical industry at Biogen, working on multiple sclerosis, before joining Variagenics, Inc., one of the first pharmacogenomic companies. Dr. Rioux received his Medical Education at Faculte de Medecine Pitie-Salpetriere, his Ph.D. in Mathematical Statistics at Faculte des Sciences, and his Degree of Pharmacology (pharmacokinetics and clinical pharmacology) at Faculte de Medecine Pitie-Salpetriere.
Dr. Starr, (Sonoma, California), Chairman of the Thiogenesis Therapeutics board, has helped bring 6 orphan product drugs to market. He also is currently the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Monopar Therapeutics (Nasdaq: MNPR). Previously, as co-founder and CEO of Raptor Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Starr oversaw the approval, launch, and successful commercialization of Procysbi®. He served as Raptor’s initial CEO since its inception in 2005 through 2014 and continued to serve on Raptor’s board of directors until Raptor was sold to Horizon Pharma in October 2016. Dr. Starr co-founded BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. in 1997 where he last served as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer until starting Raptor in 2006. As Senior Vice President at BioMarin, Dr. Starr was responsible for managing a Scientific Operations team of 181 research, process development, manufacturing and quality personnel through the successful development of commercial manufacturing processes for its enzyme replacement and small molecule products, and supervised the cGMP design, construction and licensing of BioMarin's proprietary biological manufacturing facility. From 1991 to 1998, Dr. Starr supervised research and commercial programs at BioMarin's predecessor company, Glyko, Inc., where he served as Vice President of Research and Development. Dr. Starr was a National Research Council Associate at the National Institutes of Health. He earned a B.S. from Syracuse University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the State University of New York Health Science Center, in Syracuse, New York.
Ms. Tsuchimoto (Petaluma, California) served as the Chief Financial Officer of Monopar Therapeutics from 2015 until her retirement in 2024, where she took the Corporation public in an IPO on Nasdaq in December 2019. Between January 2017 and August 2019, Ms. Tsuchimoto was Chief Financial Officer of Mercaptor Discoveries Inc., a privately held Delaware platform company with preclinical programs in neurology. She was also a co-founder of Mercaptor. Prior thereto, she spent over nine years at Raptor Pharmaceuticals, as its Chief Financial Officer from Raptor’s inception in May 2006 until August 2012, as Raptor’s Vice President of International Finance, Tax & Treasury from September 2012 to February 2015, and lastly served as Raptor’s Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis and Internal Controls from February to May 2015. Prior to Raptor, Ms. Tsuchimoto spent eight years at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. and its predecessor, Glyko, Inc., where she held the positions of Vice President-Treasurer, Vice President-Controller and Controller. At BioMarin, Ms. Tsuchimoto provided due diligence for the Corporation’s IPO in 1999 and helped close BioMarin’s first $500 million of financing between 1997 and 2005. Ms. Tsuchimoto was responsible for BioMarin’s SEC reporting, corporate compliance, 10(b)5-1 trading plans and was BioMarin’s primary liaison with external legal counsel and auditors in the Corporation’s early years. Ms. Tsuchimoto has spent over 20 years drafting numerous SEC mandated reports such as 10-Ks, 10-Qs, Form 4s, S-1s, S-3s and prospectus supplements. Ms. Tsuchimoto received a B.S. in Business Administration from San Francisco State University.
Mr. Riggins is the CFO and a Director of Thiogenesis Therapeutics, based in Prague, Czech Republic. He brings over 25 years of experience in small-cap public markets, with a focus on biotechnology, medical technology, and emerging technologies. Mr. Riggins has held senior financial and strategic roles across both investment firms and publicly traded life sciences companies. He is the founder and Principal of Beruscha Capital s.r.o., a Prague-based strategic financial consultancy established in 2010. His previous roles include Chief Investment Officer at Limetree Capital AG, a Zurich-based merchant bank; Vice President of Finance at Genetronics Biomedical (AMEX: GEB); and Vice President, Research Analyst at Canaccord Capital in London. Mr. Riggins holds a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Mr. Mullally (Winnipeg, Manitoba), currently a director of Thiogenesis Therapeutics, has worked in the life science industry for 20 years. He started his career in pharmaceutical sales and marketing, first with Fournier Pharma and then 3M Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Mullally then transitioned into an investor relations and business development role for a TSX/Amex listed drug development company. Presently and since March 2008, Mr. Mullally has been the founder of a capital markets consulting business, SectorSpeak Inc., focusing on Canadian micro and small cap life science companies, that remains active today. Mr. Mullally has a Masters of Business Administration from the Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba.
Dr. Gregory Enns is a professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Medical Genetics at Stanford University and has been Director of the Biochemical Genetics Program there since 1998. He was trained in Clinical Genetics and Clinical Biochemical Genetics at the University of California, San Francisco, graduating from the program in 1998. As a clinician, he cares for patients who have a broad range of genetic and metabolic conditions, including a focus on diagnosing and managing those who have mitochondrial disorders and lysosomal storage disorders. Dr. Enns is actively involved in clinical research and trials for emerging technologies.
Dr. David Housman is a professor of biology at MIT and is known for his contribution to the discovery of the HTT gene that causes Huntington’s disease. He received both his BA and PhD from Brandeis University in 1966 and 1971, respectively. Dr. Housman received the MIT Science Council Teaching Prize in 1992 and has been honored with the National Biotechnology Award from the National Conference on Biotechnology Ventures. He has also been Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 1988 and the American Academy of Microbiology since 1994. Dr. Housman is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Miriam Vos is a professor in the department of Pediatrics and Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Emory University School of Medicine and Director, Pediatric Fatty Liver Program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. She specializes in the treatment of liver disease in children and is a nationally recognized expert in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (“NAFLD”) and obesity. Dr. Vos is a member of the American Board of Pediatrics, Pediatric Gastroenterology, and Pediatric Transplant Hepatology, and she has been involved in a number of pediatric clinical trials in her scientific field of expertise.