Roger Newton

President & CEO

Roger Newton has worked for more than 27 years in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. He is currently founder, President & CEO, and a director of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to his current role, he was Senior Vice President, Pfizer Global R&D and Director, Esperion Therapeutics, a Pfizer, Inc. company. He was co-founder, President & CEO of the original Esperion founded in July 1998. Under Roger's leadership and the team's effort, Esperion was acquired by Pfizer for $1.3 billion in February 2004. Pfizer then divested Esperion in May 2008 and Roger restarted the company as an independent enterprise with $23 million in venture capital funding.

Prior to founding the original Esperion, Roger was with Warner Lambert/Parke-Davis (now Pfizer) from 1981-1998. As a Distinguished Scientist and Chairman of the Atherosclerosis Drug Discovery Team, he co-discovered and was the product champion of what is now the most prescribed cholesterol-reducing drug in the world, atorvastatin (Lipitor®).

Roger's research interests for the past thirty years have focused on the nutritional and pharmacological regulation of cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism as they relate to atherosclerosis and vascular diseases. Roger is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan Medical School. He has co-authored nearly one hundred peer-reviewed articles and chapters during his research career. Roger has a Ph.D. in nutrition from the University of California, Davis, a Master of Science degree in nutritional biochemistry from the University of Connecticut, and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Lafayette College.

Roger is a member of the Board of Directors of Rubicon Genomics, Resverlogix, Inc., and Ann Arbor Spark. He is a member of the National Advisory Boards of the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center and University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute. He is also a member of the Technology Advisory Boards of Arboretum Ventures and Metagenics, Inc.

Alison Kiley

Director, Alta Partners

Ms. Kiley joined Alta Partners as an Associate in 2001 and became a Director of Alta Partners VIII in 2006. Her primary investment focus at Alta is on medical technology and biopharmaceuticals. She serves on the Board of Directors for Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Insulet Corporation, Prolacta Bioscience, Sierra Surgical Technologies, and SurgRx. Prior investments include the original Esperion Therapeutics and Kerberos Proximal Solutions.

Prior to Alta, Ms. Kiley was a Senior Associate in Robertson Stephens' Life Sciences Investment Banking Group with primary responsibilities for the execution of corporate finance transactions including IPOs, follow-on equity, and convertible preferred offerings. Previously, she was an Associate in Robertson Stephens' Equity Research Group where she focused on growth medical technology companies. She began her career in the business development group at Geron, a biotechnology company. Ms. Kiley earned a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in history from Colgate University.

Nicole Vitullo

Partner, Domain Associates, LLC

Ms. Vitullo joined Domain in 1999 and became a Partner in 2004. She has full management responsibility for Domain Public Equity Partners, L.P. and is also involved in distribution/liquidation strategies for the public companies in Domain Associates' venture capital portfolios. Present board memberships include Calixa Therapeutics, Celator Pharmaceuticals, Marinus Pharmaceuticals, and VentiRx Pharmaceuticals. Past board memberships include Cerexa, Eunoe, Ruxton Pharmaceuticals, and Onyx Pharmaceuticals. From 1992-1999, Ms. Vitullo was Senior Vice President at Rothschild Asset Management, Inc. where she had responsibility for the U.S. public market investments of International Biotechnology Trust PLC and Biotechnology Investments Limited. From 1991-1992, Ms. Vitullo served as the Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at Cephalon, a publicly traded biotechnology company. Prior to Cephalon, Ms. Vitullo spent 12 years at Eastman Kodak, most recently in Corporate Development where she was involved in the development management of Kodak's venture capital activities. Ms. Vitullo received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester in 1979 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Rochester in 1990.

Dov A. Goldstein, M.D.

Partner, Aisling Capital

Dr. Goldstein serves as a Partner of Aisling Capital. Previously, Dr. Goldstein was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Vicuron Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Pfizer in 2005 for $1.9 billion. While at Vicuron Pharmaceuticals, he raised more than $250 million dollars in an IPO, PIPE, follow-on, and block trade transactions. He led the valuation and finance due diligence for the merger with Biosearch Italia (Nuovo mercato: BIO.MI), the first US and Italian public-to-public company merger. He also ran the investor relations and press relations efforts for the company. Prior to Vicuron, Dr. Goldstein was Director of Venture Analysis at HealthCare Ventures. He also completed an internship in the Department of Medicine at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Goldstein currently serves as a director of ADMA Biologics, Inc., BioRelix, Inc., CardioKine, Inc., Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Topaz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Goldstein received his M.D. from Yale School of Medicine. He received his Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School and he received his Bachelor of Science with honors from Stanford University.