Home | Contact Us | Site Map

Leadership Team

Jon P. Stonehouse

Jon P. Stonehouse

President, Chief Executive Officer

Jon P. Stonehouse, a pharmaceutical executive for more than 20 years, has strong commercialization, financial transaction, business development and management expertise. He most recently served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Merck KGaA with responsibility for global licensing and business development, corporate mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategic planning and alliance management. Among his accomplishments, he was responsible for leading the effort to develop a strategy for Merck that significantly changed the company. This culminated with the acquisition of Serono, S.A., the largest biotechnology company in Europe at the time of the agreement.

Back to Top

Thomas R. Staab, II

Thomas R. Staab, II

Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Tom Staab joined the BioCryst Leadership Team in July 2011, bringing his skill and experience regarding the financial stewardship of publically-traded companies, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products and raising capital through strategic partnerships, equity and debt financings. Mr. Staab most recently served as Executive Vice President, CFO and Treasurer of Inspire Pharmaceuticals from May 2003 through its $430 million acquisition by Merck & Co., Inc. in May 2011. Prior to joining Inspire, he held the senior financial positions of Acting CFO and Treasurer at Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. through its $480 million acquisition by Gilead Sciences, Inc. Additionally, Mr. Staab spent eight years working for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP providing audit and business advisory services to national and multi-national corporations in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper and communications industries. Tom currently serves on the Board of the NC Biosciences Organization (NCBIO) and is a member of its Audit Committee, and he has received several awards for his contribution and leadership to other organizations.

He is a Certified Public Accountant and received a B.S. in Business Administration and a Masters of Accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Back to Top

William P. Sheridan, MB BS

William P. Sheridan, MB BS

Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer

Dr. William Sheridan joined BioCryst in July 2008. Dr. Sheridan is a seasoned biotechnology professional. During a 15-year tenure at Amgen, Dr. Sheridan organized and led the company's U.S. Medical Affairs function, making significant contributions to the successful launch of many compounds, including Aranesp®, Enbrel®, Kineret®, Neulasta® and Sensipar®, and led several product development teams. At Amgen, Dr. Sheridan held titles at the Vice President level in North American Medical Affairs, International Medical Affairs, Global Health Economics and Outcomes Research, U.S. Medical Affairs, and Product Development. He played an integral role in building Amgen's domestic and international medical affairs functions and in forming the health economics and outcomes unit. Dr. Sheridan earned his MB BS degree (M.D. equivalent) at the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Dr. Sheridan is a board-certified fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP), with a sub-specialty in medical oncology, and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Back to Top

Yarlagadda S. Babu, Ph.D.

Yarlagadda S. Babu, Ph.D.

Vice President, Drug Discovery

Dr. Babu directs a team of structural biologists, medicinal chemists and research biologists and oversees the structure-based drug discovery program at the company. Dr. Babu was BioCryst's first full-time employee having joined the Company in 1988. Prior to joining BioCryst, he served five years on the biochemistry faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He obtained his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and spent three years in the Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics at the University of Oxford, UK before joining UAB. He has over 70 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, and a number of issued and pending patents to his credit.

Back to Top

Alane Barnes

Alane Barnes

Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary

Alane Barnes joined BioCryst in 2006 and is responsible for all legal affairs of the company including but not limited to all contract negotiations, SEC compliance, corporate governance, IP strategy and management, licensing transactions, government contract management and dispute resolution. She graduated magna cum laude from Cumberland School of Law in 1997 and is a member of Curia Honoris, scholar of merit. Currently, she serves on the Board of the Biotechnology Association of Alabama and has served as a mentor for Alabama Launchpad, a competition created to fuel the development of companies in Alabama. Mrs. Barnes has also spoken at national conferences regarding the pharmaceutical business and at other women’s success conferences. She is a 2010 graduate of MOMENTUM, an organization geared toward building leadership in women.

Back to Top

Elliott Berger, Ph.D.

Elliott Berger, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs

Dr. Elliott Berger joined BioCryst in August 2007. Dr. Berger has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including over 25 years devoted to management of regulatory affairs supporting new drug and biologic development. Prior to joining BioCryst, he was Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance, Head of Global Regulatory Strategy at EMD Pharmaceuticals, the North American subsidiary of Merck KGaA. As part of the EMD start-up team, Dr. Berger built and managed the EMD Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Quality Assurance and Drug Safety Groups, as well as the Global Regulatory Strategy Group. At EMD, Dr. Berger submitted and managed over 10 Investigational New Drug Applications (NDA) in areas of oncology, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and neurology. Dr. Berger also prepared and submitted the NDA for Cyanokit ® which was approved within 6 months of submission to the FDA. Prior to EMD, Dr. Berger was a member of the Senior Executive Team at Astra Pharmaceuticals, most recently serving as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs.

Dr. Berger received both his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Biometrics as well as his B.A. degree in Mathematics from Temple University.

Back to Top

Walter G. Gowan, Ph.D.

Walter G. Gowan, Ph.D.

Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development

Dr. Walter Gowan joined BioCryst in September 2006. Dr. Gowan has more than 20 years of experience in managing pharmaceutical product development programs. His experience includes many dosage forms including oral solutions, oral suspensions, tablets, capsules and sterile products (IV, IM and SC). Dr. Gowan has experience in all stages of product development including formulation development, process development, clinical supplies manufacturing, scale up, process validation, technology transfer and the resolution of manufacturing issues. Many of his projects have resulted in U.S. and European regulatory filings as well as several products. Prior to joining BioCryst, Dr. Gowan held the position of Senior Director Pharmaceutical Sciences at Cubist Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for managing the internal and external pharmaceutical product development programs. Prior to joining Cubist, Dr. Gowan held the position of Director Product Development at Solvay Pharmaceuticals where he supervised two product development groups and managed the internal and external development of product candidates. Dr. Gowan received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics, B.S. in Pharmacy and B.S. in Biology from the University of Texas.

Back to Top

David S. McCullough

David S. McCullough

Vice President, Strategic Planning, Commercialization and Corporate Development

David McCullough joined BioCryst in April, 2007. Prior to joining BioCryst, Mr. McCullough served as Director, Global Corporate Development in the Ethical Pharmaceuticals Division at Merck KGaA in Darmstadt, Germany. In that position he was responsible for leading the company's efforts in evaluating the commercial value of specific product opportunities and in the case of the Serono SA acquisition, their entire company portfolio. Mr. McCullough led the commercial assessment of strategic and financial attractiveness of over 40 companies in oncology and other therapeutic areas. Prior to that position, Mr. McCullough was an integral part of the Business Operations and Market Research Team in the Oncology Business Unit of Eli Lilly and Company.

Mr. McCullough received his Bachelor of Science degree from Western Illinois University.

Back to Top

Peter L. McCullough

Peter L. McCullough

Vice President, Operations

Peter McCullough joined BioCryst in 2009 and brings over seventeen years of operations experience, primarily within international biotechnology and pharmaceutical environments. Prior to joining BioCryst, Mr. McCullough served as one of Deloitte Consulting’s Life Sciences practice leaders providing strategic and operational advisory services to a broad portfolio of biopharmaceutical management teams. He has extensive experience in designing and implementing global supply chains solutions, post merger integration and operational continuous improvement. In addition to his strategic and operations consulting experience, Mr. McCullough has held several leadership positions in Biotech including head of U.S. Commercial and Clinical Supply Chain Operations, and North American Information Technology for EMD Serono. His strategic and operational expertise and leadership strengthen the Company’s capabilities in Corporate Operations, Global Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management as BioCryst prepares for its next phase of growth.

Mr. McCullough holds a B.S. in Business Administration from The Citadel and his MBA in Corporate Strategy and Operations from the University of Texas at Austin.

Back to Top

Robert Stoner

Robert Stoner

Vice President, Human Resources

Mr. Robert Stoner joined BioCryst in January 2008. Mr. Stoner brings more than 28 years of progressive Human Resources experience to BioCryst, having worked in a diverse group of industries during his career. Prior to joining BioCryst, Mr. Stoner served as Senior Vice President Human Resources at Smith Breeden Associates, Inc. an institutional financial management company in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Prior to joining Smith Breeden Associates, Mr. Stoner held the position of Vice President Human Resources at EMD Pharmaceuticals, the North American subsidiary of Merck KGaA. At EMD, Mr. Stoner was responsible for human resource functions for multiple locations and was a member of the Global HR Team, coordinating and directing global HR initiatives within North America.

Mr. Stoner participated in and graduated from the Merck University Executive Management Program, attending Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and INSEAD in Paris. Mr. Stoner received his B.S. in Business Administration from Southern Illinois University.

Back to Top