Board of Directors
Organovo's Board of Directors is comprised of talented leaders with proven oversight gained from running and growing life science businesses.
Keith Murphy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Murphy has 20 years of experience in biotechnology, including serving in Product Strategy and Director of Process Development roles at Amgen. He is a co-founder of Organovo and has been responsible for all company operations since 2007. His ten years at Amgen included four years as Global Operations Leader for the largest development program in Amgen’s history, Phase 3 osteoporosis/bone cancer drug denosumab. At Amgen, he also worked to develop several other novel formulation and device products. Prior to Amgen, he played a central role at Alkermes, Inc. on the development team for their first approved product, Nutropin (hGH) Depot. He holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is an alumnus of the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Mr. Murphy serves as Vice Chairman of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, comprised of over 120 member companies, patient advocacy foundations, venture capital firms, and academic research institutes focused on the advancement of regenerative medicine through engagement with government leaders and cooperative efforts.
Robert Baltera, Jr., M.S., M.B.A.
Mr. Baltera is a seasoned pharmaceutical industry executive, who acquired a wealth of business and product management experience during 17 years with biotech pioneer Amgen. In his recent role as CEO of Amira Pharmaceuticals, he led the company to acquisition by Bristol-Meyers Squibb Company. He was instrumental in focusing Amira's development efforts, strengthening and developing its pipeline and forging key collaborations with partners such as GlaxoSmithKline. Before becoming Amira’s CEO, Bob held a number of senior management positions at Amgen, the last being vice president of corporate and contract manufacturing. He successfully used his collective experience to serve as team leader responsible for the approval of Kineret™ in rheumatoid arthritis, a highlight of his many accomplishments while at Amgen. Bob also serves in senior roles in several organizations, as Executive Chairman of Synovex, on the Board of Directors of Panmira Pharmaceuticals, on the Board of Directors of San Diego Venture Group, and on the Board of Trustees of the Keck Graduate Institute. Bob has an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA and earned his B.S. in microbiology and a M.S. in genetics from The Pennsylvania State University.
Andras Forgacs, M.B.A.
Mr. Forgacs is one of our founders and joined us as a director in April 2007. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Modern Meadow, a private company focused on applying the latest advances in tissue engineering to develop cultured leather and meat products. Mr. Forgacs served as a Managing Director at Richmond Global, an international technology-focused venture fund, from 2008 to 2012. Prior to joining Richmond, he was a consultant in the New York office of McKinsey & Company, advising global financial institutions, healthcare/pharmaceutical companies and private equity/venture capital firms. Mr. Forgacs began his career with Citigroup as an investment banker in the Financial Strategy Group, and helped found the client-facing Ecommerce Group. Mr. Forgacs is a Kauffman Fellow with the Center for Venture Education and a Term Member with the Council on Foreign Relations. He holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts with honors from Harvard University.
James T. Glover, M.B.A., C.P.A.
From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Glover was the Senior Vice President, Operations and Chief Financial Officer of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company acquired by Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. From 1989 to 2006, he was employed by Beckman Coulter, Inc., most recently serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Glover served as a director of Varian, Inc., a publicly-traded company purchased by Agilent Technologies, and was Varian's audit committee chairman. He currently serves as a director for a non-profit corporation. Mr. Glover received his B.S. in accounting from California State Polytechnic University and his M.B.A. from Pepperdine University. Mr. Glover is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Tamar D. Howson, M.S., M.B.A.
Ms. Howson is a seasoned business development executive within the pharmaceutical industry. She currently serves as a corporate business development and strategy consultant to biopharmaceutical companies and she serves as a director at Idenix, Oxigene Pharmaceuticals, and Warner Chilcott. Previously, she was a member of the transaction advisory firm, JSB Partners. Prior to that, she was senior vice president of Corporate and Business Development at Lexicon. She was also senior vice president of Corporate and Business Development at Bristol Myers Squibb. Ms. Howson spent nine years at SmithKline Beecham, where where she was senior vice president and director of Worldwide Business and Corporate Development for SmithKline Beecham, and also managed SmithKline Beecham's $100 million venture capital fund, SR One. Ms. Howson holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University, a M.S. from City University of New York, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Technion, Israel.
