Governance

Erik Emerson is the President of Apimeds Pharmaceuticals US, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in innovative treatments for osteoarthritis. He assumed the role of CEO in September 2023. His experience extends from building commercial organizations to extensive fundraising and M&A transactions.

Before joining Apimeds, Mr. Emerson served as Chief Commercial Officer at Odyssey Health, Inc., where he was instrumental in driving commercial strategies. He also held the position of Chief Commercial Officer at Mezzion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., contributing to the company's growth and market presence.

In 2013, Mr. Emerson co-founded Symplmed Pharmaceuticals LLC and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer, leading the development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. His earlier career includes roles as Senior Director of Commercial Development at XOMA Corporation and Marketing Director at Gilead Sciences, Inc., where he gained extensive experience in product development and marketing within the pharmaceutical industry.

Mr. Emerson holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon. Erik is the father of 4 and enjoys golf, family, and the beach during his free time.

Elona is an experienced public company board member, Compensation Committee Chairwoman, and Audit Committee member.

Elona is a respected strategic leader in corporate strategy, and M&A having led over $10 billion of merger and acquisition transactions resulting in significant deal premiums and increases in shareholder value and a thought leader in corporate governance.

Elona has significant leadership experience and an operational record of success in product life cycle management from R&D through commercialization, capital raising experience, and therapeutic expertise in oncology, CNS, and cell and gene therapy. Elona's strong financial background and operational expertise are reflected in her election as the Compensation Committee Chair, and Audit Committee member of Cardax, Inc., a public company developing safe, anti-inflammatory medicines. Elona currently serves as the General Counsel of Seer, Inc., a life sciences company focused on enabling exceptional scientific outcomes through unbiased proteomics analysis. In her prior role, Elona served as the General Counsel for Selecta Biosciences, an immune tolerance company, developing novel treatments in gene and cell therapy and rare diseases during which she negotiated several gene therapy collaborations in rare diseases, and helped lead several financing rounds in excess of $75 million. In a prior role, Elona served as the General Counsel and SVP of Government Relations for ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, a rare disease oncology company, during which she led the successful creation of the Government Affairs function, and the strategic sale of the Company for over $5 Billion. Prior to that, Elona held roles of increasing responsibility at King Pharmaceuticals, Inc., acquired by Pfizer, and Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceuticals.

Elona is a founding co-chair of the Women Leaders in Life Sciences conference. Elona is passionate about the arts, educational initiatives improving public school education, and raising the profiles of women and minorities in the legal field and the boardroom.

Mr. Jakap Koo has served as a director since October 2023. Mr. Koo is also the Chief Executive Officer and President of both Apimeds Korea and its parent company, Inscobee Inc. (KRX: 006490), where he has served since March 2020.

Before joining Apimeds Korea and Inscobee, from March 2015 to December 2019 he served as the Chief Executive Officer at Lotte Auto Lease Co. Ltd., where he grew company revenue through various financial services of car rental, installment payment, automobile leasing and investment banking to both B2B and B2C clients. Mr. Koo has spent more than 35 years mostly as C-level executives in various financial institutions and IT companies. His management and operational experiences cover banking, asset management, venture capital, private equity, and biotechnology companies. Mr. Koo has received his MBA from Stern School of New York University. He graduated from Seoul National University majoring in Law.

Carol O’Donnell has over four decades of financial services and investment experience. She has served as a key member of executive teams in the capacity of CEO, General Counsel, CCO, and independent director. Carol brings a comprehensive understanding of how traditional corporate environments intersect with the entrepreneurial strategies necessary for business expansion.

Carol O’Donnell has served as a director since October 2023. Ms. O’Donnell is currently a Director and Member of the Audit Committee of Sono-Tek Corporation (NASDAQ: SOTK), where she has served since November 2018. Prior to that, she served as General Counsel to Boothbay Fund Management LLC, a registered investment adviser, from December 2019 through May 2021. Ms. O’Donnell joined Protégé Partners and MOV37, an industry leading firm investing in and seeding smaller and emerging hedge fund managers in April 2016 and has served as Chief Executive Officer since January 2018.

Prior to joining Protégé Partners and MOV37, Ms. O’Donnell was the Director of Legal and Compliance with DARA Capital US, Inc., a Swiss-owned boutique registered investment advisory and wealth management firm from January 2013 to March 2016. She served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of each of the Permal Group and Framework Investment Group from June 2004 through February 2011 and from January 2002 to May 2004, respectively. She also served as a director of FSI Low Beta from 2012 to 2021. Ms. O’Donnell was named one of the Top 50 Women in Hedge Funds in September 2018 and is currently admitted to practice law in the State of Connecticut.

Ben is the President of inThought Research, Inc, a provider of decision support for life sciences companies and investors. After completing his studies at MIT, Stanford, UCSD, and Australia National University, Dr. Weintraub was a sell side biotech analyst and independent research provider prior to forming inThought in 2009.

Dr. Weintraub has served as a director since October 2023. Dr. Weintraub currently serves as the President of inThought Research (“inThought”), a healthcare business intelligence consulting firm which he founded in 2009. inThought provides business development support, competitive intelligence monitoring, medical conference coverage, and other services both to professional investors and to pharma / biotech companies.

Dr. Weintraub has also served as the Chief Scientific Officer of inPhronesis since 2018. After completing his training in immunology and biochemistry, Dr. Weintraub co-founded Biotech Tracker, an online tool for investors, where he served as a financial analyst from 2000 to 2008. From 2006 to 2008, Dr. Weintraub served as an analyst at Reuters Insight, providing analysis of drug development and trends in medicine to professional investors. Dr. Weintraub served as a licensed security analyst with Variant Research from 2005 to 2006. From 1999 to 2000, Dr. Weintraub was senior scientific editor for the biology research journals Cell and Molecular Cell.

Dr. Weintraub performed biochemistry and immunology research at Stanford University and at the John Curtin School of Medical Research in Canberra, Australia. He earned his doctorate in Biology from the University of California, San Diego, and a Bachelor of Science in Life Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.