Neurotech Team 2009

Neurotech is led by an experienced team of ophthalmology and biotech executives.

• Edward Danse
  President and Chief Executive Officer
• Weng Tao, MD, PhD
  Vice President, Research & Development and Chief Scientific Officer
• Richard Small
  Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
• William Jacobsen
  Vice President of Operations

Edward Danse
President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Danse was named President and CEO of Neurotech in 2005. He has 30 years of life science industry experience, with over 20 years in the ophthalmic industry. Previously he was President and CEO of the US ophthalmic pharmaceutical company ISTA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ISTA) and was responsible for taking the Company public in 2000. Mr. Danse also held various senior positions in Allergan where he was responsible for establishing a high-growth, profitable business operation in Japan and Asia, including several successful corporate acquisitions. His early career was spent in business development roles at Coopervision, Bausch & Lomb and Schering-Plough. He has also served as a director on the boards of several development-stage ophthalmic companies. Mr. Danse holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona.

Weng Tao, MD, PhD
Vice President Research & Development and Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Tao is one of the key founders of Neurotech and has led the Company's effort in preclinical and clinical development of Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT). She has over 18 years of experience in research and development, including 16 years with pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Previously, Dr. Tao was the Director of Cell Research and the Team Leader responsible for the development of ECT using genetically modified cells at CytoTherapeutics, Inc. Neurotech purchased the ECT Technology from CytoTherapeutics in 2000. Dr. Tao has also held various managerial and research positions in the area of immunological diseases, including inflammation, infectious diseases (vaccine) and cancer at American Cyanamid, M6 Pharmaceuticals and Regeneron. Dr. Tao received her MD degree from the Capital Institute of Medicine in Beijing, was awarded her PhD degree in cell physiology and biophysics from the University of Connecticut Health Center at Farmington, and received her post-doctoral training at Yale Medical School.

Richard Small
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Small joined Neurotech as Vice President and CFO in July, 2007. He brings to Neurotech almost 20 years of both private and public life sciences experience and more than 30 years of overall financial and operational management. Previously Mr. Small served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Point Therapeutics, a publicly-traded biotechnology company, where he was involved in taking the company public through a reverse merger and in raising in excess of $100 million. Prior to that he served as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer at Immulogic Pharmaceutical, Inc., a publicly-traded biotechnology company, where he was involved in multiple licensing deals and several public offerings. His early career was spent in senior management positions at Dennison Manufacturing Company and he began his career at the public accounting firm of Coopers and Lybrand, LLC. Mr. Small is a certified public accountant and has a BS in accounting from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

William Jacobsen
Vice President of Operations

Mr. Jacobsen joined Neurotech as Vice President of Operations in May, 2009 and directs all operations relating to quality, supply chain, facilities, validation and production of clinical candidates in Neurotech’s product pipeline. He brings to Neurotech more than 27 years of process development and operations experience. For the past 19 years, Mr. Jacobsen has played key roles in manufacturing and operations-related capacities. Prior to joining Neurotech, he was instrumental in the start-up, validation and operation of cell culture facilities at Genzyme, TKT and EMD Serono ranging from pilot to full-scale manufacturing. As a member of the EMD Serono executive team, Mr. Jacobsen led the effort that established biologics manufacturing capabilities to support the EMD Serono New Biological Entities product pipeline. Mr. Jacobsen received his BS in in-vitro cell biology from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. Mr. Jacobsen is also an inductee of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honor society.