Ran Nussbaum is a managing partner and co-founder of Pontifax. The fund runs more than 50 portfolio companies around the Globe. Ran’s work revolves around constant and active involvement in companies, providing them with strategic and business development oversight. In the past Ran served on Kite pharma BOD (sold to Gilead), cCAM Therapeutics (sold to Merck), and ArQule (sold to Merck), and Prevail Therapeutics (sold to Lilly).  He also chaired Ocon Medical, Nasvax, Spearhead, and Biomedix. Currently, Ran sits on many of Pontifax’s portfolio companies including Eloxx Therapeutics (ELOX), and UroGen (URGN). Ran also serves as Keros Therapeutics (KROS) chairman of the board.

David  Aviezer has over 20 years of experience in senior biotechnology executive management, advancing products from early-stage research up to their approval by FDA and into commercialization. From 2002 through 2014 he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Protalix BioTherapeutics, leading it to public listing on the New York Stock Exchange and to receiving  FDA approval of its drug for Gauchers disease, a rare genetic disorder. Prof. Aviezer has hands on experience in creating strategic partnerships and research agreements as well as raising capital in the private and public markets. Before joining Protalix, Prof. Aviezer served as General Manager of ProChon Biotech/CTI, a biotechnology company focused on rare growth disorders. Prior to that, he was a visiting scientist at the Medical Research Division of Cyanamid -Wyeth, now Pfizer,  in Pearl River, New York. David serves an adjunct associate Professor in the Biotechnology department of Bar-Ilan University, Israel. He is the recipient of several awards including the Clore Foundation Award and the J.F. Kennedy Scientific Award. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science and an MBA from the Bar-Ilan University Business School.

Dr. Pini Orbach joined Arkin Holdings in 2010 as head of its pharma division. He sits on the board of several of Arkin’s pharmaceutical companies, including UroGen Pharma and Quiet Therapeutics, with which he shares his extensive hands-on experience in drug development and business.

Dr. Orbach’s gained his professional record in US-based companies such as Arisaph Pharmaceuticals and Epix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: EPIX), as well as Israel-based companies such as cCAM BioTherapeutics, a cancer immunotherapy company sold to Merck in 2015 for $605M

He holds a Ph.D from the Department of Physiology and Functional Genomics at the University of Florida, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Cardiovascular Research Center, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital.