Kenneth J. Widder

Kenneth J. Widder, M.D., has served as a member of the board of directors since June 2007. Dr. Widder has 36 years of experience working with biomedical companies. Dr. Widder was a General Partner with Latterell Venture Partners and serves on the boards of Quidel Corporation, OrphoMed Inc., Sydnexis, Inc., Vision of Children, and the San Diego Museum of Art. Dr. Widder has founded seven companies and was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of five of these companies. His last company, Sytera Inc., merged with Sirion Therapeutics, an ophthalmology specialty pharmaceutical company. Prior to Sytera, Dr. Widder co-founded and was the initial Chief Executive Officer of NovaCardia, Inc., a company acquired by Merck & Co., Inc. Prior to NovaCardia, Dr. Widder founded and was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Santarus, Inc., which was acquired by Salix Pharmaceuticals in 2013. Additionally, Dr. Widder was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Converge Medical, Inc., a medical device company developing a suture-less anastamosis system for vein grafts in coronary bypass surgery. Dr. Widder started his career as a founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Molecular Biosystems, where he was responsible for the development and approval of Albunex and Optison, the first two ultrasound contrast agents to be approved in the United States. Dr. Widder is an inventor on over 30 patents and patent applications and has authored or co-authored over 25 publications. Dr. Widder holds an M.D. from Northwestern University and trained in pathology at Duke University.