Board of Directors
Shal Jacobovitz
Chief Executive Officer
Shal Jacobovitz is the Chief Executive Officer of CiVi Biopharma. Mr. Jacobovitz also serves as Chairman of the Board of Clene Nanomedicine, Inc. and is a board member of Eicos Sciences, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CiVi Biopharma.
Prior to joining CiVi Biopharma, Mr. Jacobovitz was the Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Cardiology. In this role, he led the 52,000+ member organization in its mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. From 2004 to 2013, he served as President of Actelion Pharmaceuticals U.S., a biopharmaceutical company specializing in cardio-pulmonary therapies. At Actelion, he developed a strong patient- and customer-centered corporate strategy. Prior to that, Mr. Jacobovitz held positions at F. Hoffmann La Roche, where he served as general manager for Central America and the Caribbean, led the Pharmaceutical, OTC and Diagnostic divisions, and served as the global lifecycle leader for cardiovascular products in Basel, Switzerland. He also held positions with Abbott Canada, Nordic Labs and Marion Merrill Dow—now known as Aventis—in Canada.
Mr. Jacobovitz holds a BS in biology at Western University in Canada.
Henrik Ørum, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Founder, Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Ørum brings more than 25 years of experience in every aspect of creating, building, leading and exiting successful biotechnology companies.
Dr. Ørum started his biotech career at PNA Diagnostics A/S in 1993, serving as chief scientific officer from 1993 to 1999. During his tenure, the company was sold to Boehringer Mannheim in 1994 and later to Hoffman-La Roche in 1997. In 1996, Dr. Ørum co-founded Exiqon A/S, a nucleic acid diagnostics company that was listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange in 2007 (CSE:EXQ). In 2000, he co-founded Santaris Pharma A/S, where he served as chief scientific officer and vice president of business development until the company’s acquisition by Roche in 2014. Following the acquisition, Dr. Ørum worked for Roche Pharma as global head of RNA therapeutics until March 2016, when he left to pursue new opportunities that eventually led him to found CiVi Biopharma Inc.
Dr. Ørum holds an M.Sc. in genetic engineering from the University of Natural Sciences in Copenhagen and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the Medical University of Copenhagen. Following his Ph.D., he conducted a Post. Doc at the Pharmaceutical University. He is the author of more than 70 peer-reviewed publications and numerous patent applications.
Aaron Davis, M.Sc.
Chairman of the Board
Aaron Davis is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Boxer Capital, LLC. In 2005, after joining Tavistock Group as Portfolio Manager, Mr. Davis scaled Tavistock Group’s public healthcare investing activities and formed Boxer Capital. Mr. Davis leads the firm’s research team, deal structuring, and portfolio management.
Mr. Davis is currently Chairman of the Board of CiVi Biopharma and is a Member of the Board of Directors of iTeos Therapeutics, Mirati Therapeutics, Odonate Therapeutics, Sojournix, Inc., and Tango Therapeutics.
Prior to joining Tavistock Group, Mr. Davis worked in the Global Healthcare Investment Banking and Private Equity Group at UBS Warburg, LLC. During this period, Mr. Davis led strategic transactions for public and private biotechnology and medical device companies throughout their growth, advising on financing and mergers and acquisitions. Having also served in various roles with biotechnology and venture capital firms, Mr. Davis has extensive expertise in investment analysis and in overseeing in-licensing activities within the pharmaceutical sector.
Mr. Davis holds an M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Emory University.
Carole Nuechterlein, J.D.
Director
Carole Nuechterlein has headed the Roche Venture Fund since 2001. She joined Roche from SangStat where she was General Counsel from 1998 to 2001. Prior to SangStat, Ms. Nuechterlein worked in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry as an attorney for ten years.
In addition to serving on CiVi Biopharma’s Board of Directors, Ms. Nuechterlein currently serves as a director at Aligos Therapeutics, Arch Oncology, Entrada Therapeutics, Maculogix, Millendo Therapeutics, Mission Therapeutics, Second Genome and Vivet Therapeutics. She was formerly a director at Allakos and AveXis.
She holds a B.A. from Valparaiso University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan.
Christopher Fuglesang, J.D., Ph.D.
Director
Christopher Fuglesang is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Boxer Capital, LLC. After joining Tavistock Group in 2005, Dr. Fuglesang helped scale Tavistock Group’s public healthcare investing activities with Boxer Capital. Dr. Fuglesang assists in managing the firm’s research team, deal structuring, and securities compliance.
In addition to CiVi Biopharma, Dr. Fuglesang serves as a Board Observer of Passage Bio and Pandion Therapeutics.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Fuglesang supervised a variety of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and other strategic collaborations in the healthcare sector. Dr. Fuglesang brings with him years of experience in building and developing life science companies, previously founding and holding board and executive management positions at multiple biotechnology companies.
Dr. Fuglesang holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from the University of California, Los Angeles, a J.D. from the Boston University School of Law, and B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Physics from then University of California, Los Angeles.
