C.V. Harry H.S. Fong

Advisor for Product and Intellectual Property Development
Professor Emeritus of Pharmacognosy Dept. of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy University of Illinois at Chicago
2008 Recipient of the Prestigious Burton Kallman Scientific Award
The major research interests of Dr Fong are in the search for antitumor, cancer chemopreventive, anti-malarial, anti-HIV and anti-TB agents from plants and herbal medicine. He currently serves as project leader or co-project leader in projects on drug discovery from higher plants. In herbal medicine research, he is supported on program project and center grants funded by NIH. Much of his work focuses on quality assurance and quality control, safety and clinical efficacy of natural products and herbal medicine, including his work with the American Botanical Council Ginseng Evaluation Program. He is also involved with issues concerning the standardization of botanical dietary supplements and traditional herbal medicines; of monographing medicinal plants; and of evidence-based traditional herbal medicine. Fong is the author and co-author of more than 255 original research papers, several book chapters and review articles and is co-editor of a book series on Chinese medicine as well as a contributor to World Health Organization monographs and guidelines on medicinal plants. He has served as a consultant to a number of herbal medicine and dietary supplements companies and is founder and president of NatProPharm Services, Ltd, a natural products pharmaceuticals research and development and consulting services company.

Jim Metropoulos, MD
Advisor for Product Development and Marketing
Dr. Metropoulos is a physician with a unique experience and perspective on the role of healthcare communications in clinical medicine. Healthcare communications is a rapidly growing business that represents one of the largest revenue drivers for global communications holding companies such as WPP Group, Omnicom and Publicis. Over the next several years, drug sponsors, regulatory agencies, and human subject protection programs will require increased training and oversight of physicians in an effort to bring foreign based investigators into compliance with Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines.

Dr. Metropoulos has been a senior executive in healthcare communications for the past 15 years. Over this time he has advanced progressively to positions of increasing responsibility. Early in his career he was Chief Strategic Officer, North America, for Lowe McAdams Healthcare where he established a highly successful Strategic Planning practice modeled after Account Planning at consumer agencies. This resulted in his being promoted to Chief Strategic Officer for Lowe McAdams Healthcare Worldwide, a position focused on global network strategic planning and acquisitions. In 2002 Dr. Metropoulos was appointed Chief Strategic Officer at Sudler & Hennessey (a division of Young and Rubicam) where he was charged with managing business development and a strategic planning practice. From 2003 to 2006 Dr. Metropoulos was Co-President of Sudler & Hennessey. In this role he helped increase revenues from $45 million to $97 million per year while increasing the client base from 12 to 35. In addition, he established publication planning and managed care practices, managed a second network agency (Sentrix NJ), established joint ventures with a contract research organization, Tablet PC firm, and managed care specialty firm and participated in the acquisition of a sales training and medical education company. From 2006 to 2007, Dr. Metropoulos was President and CEO of Euro RSCG Life Worldwide, the global healthcare communications network of Euro RSCG Worldwide and Havas, Inc.

In 2007, Dr. Metropoulos became a co-founder of Rearden Health Partners, a full-service marketing communications firm dedicated to the design, development and licensing of proprietary health education, marketing and communications products and services.

Luc Vanhal
Chief Financial Officer
Luc Vanhal brings an outstanding array of experience and talents having served as CFO and COO for NYSE and NASDAQ companies as well as Board of Director experience for many smaller emerging public companies. Mr Vanhal is most recently the CFO and COO of Guthy-Renker, one of the world’s largest direct response television companies with sales of more than $1.5 billion. The company develops, manufactures and markets celebrity endorsed products in areas such as skin care, cosmetics, hair care and fitness products. Mr. Vanhal's responsibilities included Finance, Accounting, IT, Human Resources, Customer Service, Inbound Telemarketing, Vendor management, Procurement, Manufacturing, Fulfillment, Distribution and Warehousing Prior to Guthy- Renker, he was Chief Operating and Financial Officer for Belkin Corporation, a technology leader in connectivity solutions, with overall worldwide responsibility for Finance, Accounting, IT, Procurement, Supply Chain, Human Resources, Strategic Planning, Distribution & Warehousing, and Legal departments.. Belkin has offices in the US, Europe, Singapore, China and Australia. Mr. Vanhal was CFO and then President and COO of Vivendi Universal Games, the gaming unit of the French media and utilities conglomerate, Vivendi. Mr. Vanhal culminated a ten year career at The Walt Disney Company as CFO of Disney's Consumer Products Division – Worldwide, a $3 Billion dollar division of Disney. Mr Vanhal is also on the Board of Interplay Entertainment Corporation as member of the Audit committee and the Compensation committee, and was recently on the Board of Directors of ViewSonic Corporation, where he was the Chairman of the Audit Committee and a Member of the Governance and the Compensation committees.

Bob Adler
Advisor for Product Development and Marketing
With over 25 years in the US and International healthcare industry, Bob is an accomplished business leader who has met the unique challenges of startup, turnaround and high growth companies and brands. With a degree in microbiology and biochemistry, Bob brings broad based scientific knowledge combined with exceptional strategic marketing and outstanding business development accomplishments in pharmaceutical, biomedical, and healthcare fields from both industry and service agency perspectives.

Including HIV, hepatitis, cardiovascular and hospital product experience, Bob has been actively engaged throughout many pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, with mature as well as developing organizations across myriad therapeutic, medical device and diagnostics categories. From market and competitive intelligence research, to clinical assessments, advisory boards and war gaming; and from branding to comprehensive patient, professional and business to business communications and relationship development activities, Bob brings strategic insights as well as managed market experience to help clients at all levels innovate and successfully exceed expectations.

From spearheading product and program development activities, to partnering, executing and leading launch teams, Bob is sought after for his leadership to assist organizations and teams throughout all phases of business, product development and commercialization activities. In addition, Bob has valuable experiences in-licensing valuations, as well as co-promotion and co-marketing activities. Entrepreneurial by nature, Bob has lead cross-functional internal and client teams in integrated business development tasks across a range of product, franchise, and company-wide initiatives.

Fernando Chávarri
General Manager International Division
Law degree from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, practicing lawyer by the Ilustre Colegio de Madrid (Chartered 25,191), Master in Community Law from the Complutense University of Madrid. Real Estate Agent diploma by the Netherlands Association of Managers of Madrid. Since 1986 a member of the National Graphical Association of Press and TV (No.1062). Performed duties of Deputy Director in the Regional Central Bank of Europe (Madrid). 3 years working as Financial Advisor-Sales at Barclays Bank (Madrid). During the year 1998 works in the Commercial Department of the Grand Circle of Madrid commercial (Casino/Club in Madrid).

Since 1998 has had multiple roles as an Attorney Advisor- Personal Assistant in business companies owned by Mr. Benedi’s holding companies (Property Development, Leisure Industry, Finance activities, etc.).

Ricardo Xalma
Technical Director International Division
He holds a degree in Graphic Design and Advertising from the School of Arts and Crafts in San Telmo (Málaga). He has developed his professional experience as a graphic designer and multimedia in various Spanish and foreign companies: Mediafusion (Madrid), Iber Explorer, SA (Barcelona), Iber Explorer - France Telecom SA (France), Virtual Net, Inc. (Malaga), Eworldmedia Entertainment (Los Angeles-USA), etc. .. In 1995 he worked as head of the Graphic Design Department of the shopping center El Corte English (Málaga). He specializes in web-media developments in various programming languages.