Colin Broom, BSc, MB BS, MRCP, FFPM
CEO
Dr. Broom has been our CEO since September 2019. Over the past 35 years he has been involved in all stages of drug development and commercialization across multiple therapeutic areas including oncology, anti-infectives and pulmonary medicine. He served as CEO of Nabriva Therapeutics plc from 2014 to 2018, remaining on the Board until 2023. Previously he was Chief Scientific Officer at ViroPharma Inc. until its acquisition by Shire in 2014 and was a member of the Board of NPS Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Shire in 2015. Previous positions include a range of international leadership roles with Amgen, SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo (now Glaxo SmithKline). He has a BSc in Pharmacology from University College, London and received his medical degree and clinical training at St George’s Hospital Medical School in London. He is a member of the Royal College of Physicians of the UK and a fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine.
LEO LINBECK, III
Chairman
Mr. Linbeck has been our Chairman for more than a decade, and recently served as our Executive Chairman until September 2019. He is CEO of Aquinas Companies, a private, diversified holding company with annual revenues in excess of $300 million. He is Founder and Chairman of Fannin Innovation Studio, Houston’s most active life science technology development company. Under his leadership, Fannin has launched more than 15 companies and raised dilutive and non-dilutive funding of more than $125 million. He is one of the inventors of the Brevitest diagnostic system, and holds a number of patents. He serves on the board of Procyrion, a clinical-stage medical device company and is interim President of Raptamer Discovery Group, a next-generation aptamer development company. He has been on the faculty of Stanford Graduate School of Business since 2005 and is active in a number of political and philanthropic organizations.
MAGNUS HÖÖK, PHD
A Regents Professor at the Institute of Biosciences and Technology of Texas A&M, where he is the Director of the Center for Infection and Inflammation. Dr. Höök was recognized in 2005 as one of the top 5% funded scientist from the NIH for the past 25 years. Dr. Hook is an inventor and co-founder of Pulmotect. He is also a co-founder of Inhibitex, Inc., a publicly traded company. He has served on scientific advisory boards of several companies.
ATUL VARADHACHARY, MD, PHD
The Managing Partner of Fannin Innovation Studio. Dr. Varadhachary brings over two decades of experience in life sciences and healthcare in both corporate and entrepreneurial settings. Previously he served as President of U.S. Operations at Reliance Life Sciences (RLS), part of the Reliance Group, India’s largest private sector enterprise with over $64 billion in annual revenues and for nine years as President & COO of Agennix, Inc., a late-stage biotechnology company where he helped lead a successful sale of the company. He also served as Senior Engagement Manager at the global management consulting firm, McKinsey & Co. He has served on the Board of Managers of the Harris Health System and as an Adjunct Professor at the Baylor College of Medicine and at the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University. He serves on the Life Sciences Advisory Committee of the Houston Technology Center, on the board of Reliance Life Sciences. and has served on the University of Houston Biotechnology Industrial Advisory Committee.
BRUCE GIVEN, MD
Dr. Given (M.D. University of Chicago/Harvard) is an independent director and chair of the compensation committee for Pulmotect. He was most recently CEO of Bitterroot Bio, Inc. He served as COO of Arrowhead Research, Inc (Nasdaq: ARWR) from 2011 to 2020. Previously, Dr. Given retired as Chairman of Board for ICON, plc (Nasdaq: ICLR) in 2013. From 2002 to 2007, Dr. Given served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Encysive Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Encysive, he was with Johnson & Johnson for 9 years, serving in several capacities including as President, International, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics and as Group Vice President, Head of U.S. Marketing & Sales, Research & Development for Janssen. Dr. Given chairs the Board of Directors for Botaneco, Inc. and is an Operating Partner at Gauge Capital and serves on the board of ECIR, Inc., a Gauge affiliate. Prior to entering the pharmaceutical industry he was on the medical faculty at the University of Chicago.