Dr. Celniker brings more than 20 years of proven expertise in building late-stage protein therapeutic discovery and development programs and biologics-focused businesses to Eleven Biotherapeutics. Prior to leading Taligen, Dr. Celniker was global head of biologics at Novartis, where she oversaw the biologics division, forged strategic alliances and led internal discovery and development to build the pipeline. Prior to Novartis, Dr. Celniker spent more than six years at Millennium Pharmaceuticals as senior vice president, R&D strategy and operations and head of biotherapeutics and pharmaceutical sciences. Previously, she held senior research and development leadership roles with Wyeth BioPharma (Genetics Institute) and Genentech. Dr. Celniker holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Arizona and a B.A. in biology from the University of California, San Diego.
Mr. Schor joins Eleven Biotherapeutics with extensive financial and business development experience that has generated more than $2 billion in deal value. He has led multiple licensing and M&A transactions with companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen, Bayer, OncoGeneX, Merck KGaA and Pfizer and helped raise significant venture capital funding. Most recently, Mr. Schor served as vice president, business development, global branded products at Teva Pharmaceuticals where he led the expansion of the company’s branded pipeline in multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to joining Teva, Mr. Schor was chief business officer at EPIX Pharmaceuticals (previously Predix Pharmaceuticals) and served as a partner at Yozma Venture Capital. He received a B.A. in economics from Haifa University and a B.A. in biology and M.B.A. from Tel Aviv University. Mr. Schor is also a certified public accountant.
With more than 20 years of experience in drug research and development, Eric Furfine has been involved in advancing numerous products into clinical development across multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to joining Eleven Biotherapeutics, Dr. Furfine was Senior Vice President of Research and Preclinical Development at Adnexus, a Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D Company. In this role, he directed and led all activities in the discovery, preclinical development and much of clinical pharmacology of Adnectins, which are novel targeted protein therapeutic agents. Previously, he was Vice President of Preclinical Development at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, responsible for all aspects of preclinical development and a significant portion of clinical pharmacology. Dr. Furfine also spent more than a decade in senior level research positions at GlaxoSmithKline, where he was program leader and co-inventor of LEXIVA® (fosamprenavir calcium). Dr. Furfine conducted his postdoctoral research at University of California, San Francisco and holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Brandeis University.
With expertise in genomics, classical and molecular genetics, Dr. Barnes has more than 25 years experience in biotechnology and academia. Prior to joining Eleven Biotherapeutics, Dr. Barnes was the Senior Vice President of Discovery at Ore Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (previously Gene Logic, Inc.), responsible for its proprietary drug repositioning platform, an industry-leading array of technologies designed to identify new therapeutic uses for discontinued small molecule drug candidates. Previously Dr. Barnes held several scientific positions within Millennium Pharmaceuticals, where he led the development and application of genomic technologies for downstream drug development and the company’s biotherapeutics discovery effort. Dr. Barnes has held post-doctoral positions at Harvard Medical School and McGill University, using classical and molecular genetics to study nervous system development and function and genome organization. He obtained his Ph.D. in Genetics from Cambridge University.
With expertise in mechanotransduction and osteoarthritis, Cameron Wheeler is responsible for the business development and operating functions at Eleven Biotherapeutics. He helped found Eleven Biotherapeutics while working as a Senior Associate at Third Rock Ventures, a Boston-based venture capital firm focused on launching exceptional life sciences companies. While at Third Rock, Dr. Wheeler gained business development and operating experience from Constellation Pharmaceuticals. He holds a Ph.D. and S.M. in Biological Engineering and an S.B. in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.