Our Leadership – VISUMPharma

William Gedale, JD, MBA

President & CEO

William “Bill” Gedale holds an AB from Syracuse University, a JD from Fordham Law School, and an MBA from NYU. He has been in the investment business since 1965 and has an history as a consultant and advisor. After serving as Chief Executive Officer of General American Investors and as Managing Director of John W. Bristol & Co., Bill founded Mount Everest Advisors in 1996 where he provided consulting services to Warburg-Pincus Capital Management from which came the $140 million financing of ZymoGenetics. He also facilitated the $350 million funding of Scripps Research Institute by Sandoz (later Novartis) and the $40 millon funding of the Neuroscience Institute of La Jolla. Bill has extensive experience as a board director having served on the boards of Gamco (Gabelli Holding), Allied Clinical Laboratories (acquired by LabCorp), BioReliance Corporation (acquired by Sigma-Aldrich), US Home Health Care, Unilab (acquired by Kelso), KIKA Medical Inc (acquired by Merge Healthcare), and BioArray Solutions (acquired by Immucor). He presently is the chairman of Promosome and executive chairman of Acuamark Diagnostics.

Colin Bier, PhD

Chief Science Officer

Managing and Scientific Director of ABA BioResearch, an independent bioregulatory and preclinical toxicology consulting company. Dr. Bier received his doctorate in experimental pathology from Colorado State University as an NCI Fellow and then received additional training as a Medical Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow and Dr. Douglas James Fellow in the Department of Pathology, McGill University. Dr. Bier successfully completed an AFIP tissue pathology program and has held several senior scientific and executive management positions in the contract research industry. Having an extensive bioregulatory experience with Health Protection Canada, US FDA, EMEA and MHW in preclinical pharmacology, toxicology and clinical drug development as well as diagnostics and medical devices, Dr. Bier has acted as a consultant to more than 60 biotechnology, emerging pharmaceutical, and medical device companies while providing due diligence investigations on more than 140 companies. Additionally, Dr. Bier has been instrumental in securing capital for start-ups and follow-on funding for companies. Dr. Bier is on the scientific advisory board of three companies and serves as a director of two private companies including Mount Sinai Hospital in Montreal.

Alex Cuomo

Chief Financial Officer

Alexander “Alex” Cuomo is the Chief Financial Officer of NGN Capital. Prior to joining NGN in 2008, he practiced accounting and tax matters primarily for high-net worth individuals, family offices, partnerships and corporations. Mr. Cuomo is responsible for financial reporting, tax compliance, and audit compliance for NGN funds both in the U.S. and in Germany. His other responsibilities include portfolio company valuation, internal strategy and analytics, budgeting, and investor relations. Alexander completed his undergraduate degree at Ithaca College and his Master of Science in Finance from the Lubin School of Business at Pace University in New York City.

Mark Smith

Chief Operations Officer

Mark Smith is the founder of Global Pharma Solutions, LLC, providing business development services to US and Japanese venture capital and start-up companies. He started pharmaceutical business development in Tokyo, Japan at Asahi Kasei Pharma in 1998 where he spent years as a project manager. In 2005, he was an integral part of a venture capital spinout where he served as a board observer, alliance manager, and later a managing director for Artisan Pharma. During that time, he also worked in the New York corporate office of Asahi Kasei Corporation as Vice President of Business Development. Mark then Took the role in Asahi Kasei Pharma America as the Vice President of General Affairs, Corporate Secretary, and Vice President of Business Development. After leaving Asahi, he served as Corporate Secretary, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Business Officer for PIN Pharma where he later became a director. Prior to his time in pharmaceuticals, Mark served in the US Army, first as a combat medic and then as a signal officer. Upon leaving the military, Mark worked for Elbicon, NV researching, designing, and maintaining, laser and CCD camera vision sorting equipment for the food processing industry. He holds a BS from Clarkson University and is author of Doing Business in Japan: A Peek into Cultural Forces Defining Corporate Japan.