Corporate Governance

Jeffrey Wolf is founder and CEO of NightHawk Biosciences. He also founded Seed-One Ventures, a firm focused on the systematic formation and management of new biomedical companies founded on breakthrough ideas and technology.

Throughout his career, Mr. Wolf has specialized in building new life-science companies from the ground up and plays an active role in supporting the growth of his companies. Mr. Wolf's start-ups include Avigen (co-founder and director), a NASDAQ-listed gene therapy company; TyRx Pharma (co-founder and chairman), which was focused on the development of novel biocompatible polymers and acquired by Medtronic; and EluSys Therapeutics (co-founder and founding CEO), a biodefense company focused on the development of Anthim® antibody therapeutic, an approved medical countermeasure to mitigate the effect of anthrax exposure after a natural incident or intentional attack.

Mr. Wolf received his M.B.A. from Stanford Business School, his J.D. from New York University School of Law, and his B.A. from the University of Chicago where he graduated with honors in economics.

John Prendergast is co-founder of Palatin Technologies, a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted, receptor-specific peptide therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with significant unmet medical need and commercial potential. He has been Chairman of the Board at Palatin since June 2000, and Director since August 1996. Dr. Prendergast is also President of Summercloud Bay, an independent consulting firm providing services to the biotechnology industry, and director and executive board chairman of Antyra, a privately-held biopharmaceutical firm. From 1991 through 1997, he was Managing Director of The Castle Group Ltd., a medical venture capital firm. Dr. Prendergast received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of New South Wales, and a C.S.S. in Administration and Management from Harvard University.

Dr. Monahan co-founded Avigen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGN) in 1992, a company that has become a leader in its sector for the development of novel pharmaceutical products for the treatment of serious human diseases. Over a 12-year period as CEO of Avigen, he raised over $235M in several private and public financings including its IPO. From 1989-1992, he was VP of R&D at Somatix Therapy Corp., and from 1985-1989 he was Director of Molecular & Cell Biology at Triton Biosciences, Inc. Prior to that, he served as Research Group Chief, Department of Molecular Genetics, Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc., and from 1975 to 1977, he was an Instructor at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from McMaster University, Canada and his B.Sc. from University College Dublin, Ireland. Dr. Monahan is a Scientific Advisory Board member of Agilis Biotherapeutics. He is also a Board member of Synthetic Biologics, Inc., a clinical stage company developing therapeutics to protect the gut microbiome (NYSE MKT: SYN), the biotech company ITUS Corporation, and several Irish biotech companies including Genable, Cellix, Luxcel, and GK Technologies.

We selected Dr. Monahan to serve on our Board because he brings extensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical and biologics industry. Having served in senior corporate positions in many medical companies, he has a deep knowledge of the industry.

In addition to serving on the NightHawk Biosciences Board, Mr. Smith is also a Managing Member of Aristar Capital Management, LLC, a New York-based investment firm founded in 2015. In 2017, Mr. Smith served as the interim Chief Executive Officer and interim Chief Financial Officer of Agritech Worldwide, Inc. (“Agritech,” formerly Z Trim Holdings, Inc.) (OTCPink: FBER), a manufacturer of environmentally friendly agricultural functional ingredients. Mr. Smith has also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Agritech, and from 2009-2017, he served as a Board member of Agritech. From 2005-2014, Mr. Smith served as the Managing Partner of Brightline Capital Management, LLC (“BCM”), a New York-based investment firm founded in 2005. Prior to founding BCM, Mr. Smith worked at Gracie Capital from 2004-2005, GTCR Golder Rauner from 1999-2001, and Credit Suisse First Boston from 1997-1999. Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies from Harvard College and a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

We selected Mr. Smith to serve on our Board because he brings a strong business background to our company and adds significant strategic, business, and financial experience. Mr. Smith’s business background provides him with a broad understanding of the issues facing us, the financial markets, and the financing opportunities available to us. His service on other public company boards provides him with extensive corporate governance knowledge and insight into issues faced by companies like ours.