Leadership

Phil Frost

CEO and Chairman

Dr. Frost has been the CEO and Chairman of OPKO since March 2007.  Previously, Dr. Frost served at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Limited ("Teva") as both Chairman of the Board and Vice Chairman.  Dr. Frost served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of IVAX Corporation from 1987 until its acquisition by Teva in January 2006.  He also served as chairman for Key Pharmaceuticals, Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services and was a director of Continucare Corporation and Castle Brands, Inc.  He was also a Governor and Co-Vice-Chairman of the American Stock Exchange. 

Dr. Frost is a past chairman and currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami, the Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies in China, and as a Trustee of the Miami Jewish Home for the Aged and the Mount Sinai Medical Center.  He also serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science.  He is a past member of the Board of Trustees of the Scripps Research Institute, the Board of Regents of The Smithsonian Institution, and the Skolkovo Foundation Scientific Advisory Council in Russia. 

Dr. Frost is a director of Cocrystal Pharma, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company developing new treatments for viral diseases.

Jane Hsiao

CTO and Vice Chairman

Dr. Hsiao has served as Vice-Chairman and Chief Technical Officer at OPKO since May 2007 and as a director since February 2007. Previously, Dr. Hsiao served as the Vice Chairman-Technical Affairs of IVAX, and as Chairman, CEO and President of IVAX Animal Health, IVAX's veterinary products subsidiary. She also served on the boards of Sorrento Therapeutics, PROLOR Biotech, SafeStitch Medical, and Neovasc, Inc.

Dr. Hsiao has served since 2008 as Chairman of the Board of Non-Invasive Monitoring Systems, Inc., a medical device company and was named Interim CEO of the company in 2012. Dr. Hsiao is also a director of TransEnterix, Inc., a medical device company, and Cocrystal Pharma, Inc.

Dr. Giovanni Abbadessa, M.D., Ph.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Abbadessa is an entrepreneurial oncology developer with advanced technical and leadership experience. He has brought a passionate, creative and hands-on approach to both biotech and nonprofit sectors for over two decades. In his previous post at Sanofi, he rose to become Global Project Head and VP, Oncology Early Development, and ushered in numerous oncology therapies at all phases of development including preclinical. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in medical and scientific journals and continues to be active in the oncology community.

In addition, Dr. Abbadessa continues to serve on multiple panels and committees, including those of European Society for Medical Oncology – Targeted Anticancer Therapies. He completed his oncology clinical fellowship in Milan, Italy, and his genetic oncology training at the University of Siena, Italy and the Temple-Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

Elias A. Zerhouni M.D.

President of OPKO Health and Vice Chairman

Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni M.D. has been the chairman and co-founder of ModeX Therapeutics Inc., OPKO’s wholly-owned subsidiary focused on delivering multispecific therapies for cancer and viral diseases. A physician-scientist in Imaging and Biomedical Engineering, he served as President of Global R&D and Executive Vice President of Sanofi form 2010-2018; as Senior Fellow for global health research at the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation 2009-2010; and as Presidential U.S. envoy for science and technology 2009-2010. He was director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health 2002-2008;  Executive Vice Dean and Dean for Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine 1996-2002; Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering and Chair of the Department of Radiological Sciences. Dr Zerhouni was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and to the National Academy of Engineering. He serves on the Board of the Lasker Foundation, the Foundation for N.I.H and the board of Research!America. He received the 2017 Scripps Executive of the Year Award for the pharmaceutical industry and the French Legion of Honor in 2008. He has been a director of the publicly traded Danaher Corporation since 2009.

Gary J. Nabel

Chief Innovation Officer and Director

Dr. Gary J. Nabel M.D., Ph.D. has been the President and CEO of ModeX Therapeutics Inc., OPKO’s wholly-owned subsidiary focused on delivering multispecific therapies for cancer and viral diseases. He previously worked as Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President of Sanofi from 2012-2020. A virologist and immunologist, Dr. Nabel served as founding director of NIH’s Vaccine Research Center (VRC) and its leader for 14 years (1999-2012) working on vaccines and broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV, influenza, SARS, Ebola, Chikungunya and Epstein-Barr virus. He was previously an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Michigan (1987-1999). In recognition of his expertise at the forefront of virology, immunology, gene therapy, and molecular biology, Dr. Nabel was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and is a fellow of the American Association of Physicians, the American Academy of Arts Sciences, and the Geoffrey Beene Builders of Science Award from Research America. He worked previously as the board chair for the non-profit Keystone Symposia and currently serves on the board of Siga Technologies Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company.

John Mascola

CSO of ModeX Therapeutics

Dr. John Mascola joined OPKO’s ModeX Therapeutics as Chief Scientific Officer in 2022. He is an accomplished physician-scientist, virologist and immunologist, and was most recently the Director of the Vaccine Research Center, NIAID, NIH where he oversaw research programs on vaccines and antibody therapeutics as well as the development of investigational products for major diseases such as HIV, Ebola, respiratory syncytial virus, chikungunya and malaria. Under his leadership, the VRC established collaborative partnerships leading to the licensure of therapeutic antibodies and vaccines for Ebola and COVID-19.

Dr. Mascola earned a medical degree from Georgetown University and completed a residency in internal medicine and fellowship in infectious diseases. From 1993 to 2000, he was a research physician at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research where he began his studies on HIV immunology and vaccine development. He joined the Vaccine Research Center at NIAID, NIH as a founding investigator in 2000 and served as its director from 2013 to 2022. Dr. Mascola has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the outstanding service medal from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He has been elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians and the National Academy of Medicine.

Steve Rubin

Executive Vice President, Administration

Mr. Rubin has served as Executive Vice President, Administration at OPKO since May 2007 and as a director since February 2007. Previously, Mr. Rubin served as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of IVAX from August 2001 until September 2006.

Mr. Rubin currently serves on the board of directors of Eloxx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel RNA-modulating drug candidates; Non-Invasive Monitoring Systems, Inc., a medical device company; Cocrystal Pharma, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering and developing novel antiviral therapeutics that target the replication machinery of hepatitis viruses, influenza viruses, and noroviruses; ChromaDex Corp., a science-based integrated nutraceutical company devoted to improving the way people age; Neovasc, Inc. a company developing and marketing medical specialty vascular devices, and Red Violet, Inc., leading analytics and information solutions provider.

Mr. Rubin previously served as a director of Castle Brands, Inc., Dreams, Inc., Safestitch Medical, Inc., Cogent, Inc., PROLOR Biotech, Inc., BioCardia, Inc., and VBI Vaccines, Inc.

Adam Logal

Senior Vice President and CFO

Mr. Logal has served as OPKO's Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since March 2014, Vice President of Finance; Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer from July 2012 until March 2014; and Director of Finance, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer from March 2007 until July 2012.

Previously, Mr. Logal served in senior management of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, a publicly traded, biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development and commercialization of proprietary products. Mr. Logal held various positions of increasing responsibility at Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, last serving as Senior Director of Accounting and Reporting. Mr. Logal currently serves as chairman of the board of directors of Xenetics Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovery, research and development of next-generation biologic drugs and novel orphan oncology therapeutics. He previously served on the board of directors of VBI Vaccines, Inc.

Charles Bishop

CEO of OPKO Renal

Dr. Bishop has served as CEO of the OPKO Renal Division since it was formed from OPKO's acquisition of Cytochroma Inc. on March 4, 2013. Dr. Bishop had served as President & CEO of Cytochroma since June 2006, bringing a wealth of management experience in the pharmaceutical industry across multiple disciplines including Research & Development, Regulatory Affairs, Operations, and Business Development. Dr. Bishop co-founded Proventiv Therapeutics, LLC in September 2005 where he served as President. Proventiv Therapeutics, LLC, and its lead drug, CTAP101 Capsules (approved by FDA in 2016 as "Rayaldee® (calcifediol)", were acquired by Cytochroma in June 2006. From September 1987 to June 2005, Dr. Bishop held various senior management positions at Bone Care International, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCII), a public specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing vitamin D hormone therapies. Dr. Bishop's positions with Bone Care included President, CEO, Director, Executive Vice President of Research and Development, and Chief Scientific Officer. He was the first full-time employee in Bone Care, and he ran the Company from its inception until after the commercial launches of its first two products. Under Dr. Bishop's direction, Bone Care advanced a portfolio of proprietary vitamin D hormones and analogs to varying stages of development for secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT), metabolic bone disease, psoriasis and cancers of the prostate, breast, and colon. Dr. Bishop was responsible for the successful preparation and prosecution of three new drug applications that ultimately led to U.S. marketing approvals for a novel vitamin D drug, named doxercalciferol, for SHPT in dialysis patients (Hectorol® 2.5 mcg Capsules and Hectorol® Injection) and pre-dialysis patients (Hectorol® 0.5 mcg Capsules). Bone Care was acquired for $720 million by Genzyme Corporation in July 2005. Before joining Bone Care, Dr. Bishop held various management positions in the Health Care Division of the Procter & Gamble Company. Dr. Bishop completed a four-year National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship in vitamin D Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received his Ph.D. degree in Nutritional Biochemistry from Virginia Tech, after earning an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Virginia.

Tony Cruz

President of Transition Therapeutics

Dr. Cruz joined OPKO Health, Inc. in June 2017 as CEO, Transition Therapeutics Corp., ULC. Dr. Cruz was one of the founders and served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Transition Therapeutics, a NASDAQ and TSX publicly traded company. Transition's lead development programs are an oral compound for the treatment of Alzheimer' s disease for agitation and aggression and a GLP1 dual agonist for the treatment of type 2 diabetes partnered with Eli Lilly. Dr. Cruz was co-founder of Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. which developed the Taxol-coated stent for cardiovascular restenosis marketed by Boston Scientific. He served as Vice-President of Research and as a member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Cruz was a founding member and served as the Scientific Director and CEO of the Canadian Arthritis Network (CAN), a Network Centers of Excellence. Under his leadership, CAN raised approximately $30 million to support funding of research in the Network. Dr. Cruz has established numerous partnerships with big pharma, biotech companies and the investment community in the biotech sector over the last 25 years. Dr. Cruz had a successful academic career from 1987 to 2008 with over 150 publications. He was a senior scientist at Mount Sinai Hospital and a Professor at the University of Toronto until 2008.

Hans Berner

President, OPKO Health Iberoamerica

Hans Berner has been with OPKO since 2009. Since April of 2018, Hans has served as the President of OPKO Health Iberoamerica, which encompasses six business units located in five countries: Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain, and Uruguay. Hans has extensive experience in the Latin American pharmaceutical industry previously overseeing operations in Argentina, Mexico, and Uruguay as Corporative General Manager of Laboratorios ELEA S.A. Additionally, Hans worked as both the Latin American Regional Director for the IVAX Corporation and the General Manager of IVAX Argentina and IVAX Uruguay. Hans also has a background in business development and finance serving as Business Development Manager at Laboratorio Chile S.A. and Finance Manager at ING Bank Chile.

With over 15 years of teaching experience at various universities, Hans now holds a Professorship at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile instructing MBA students in the subjects of Competitive Strategy and M&A.

Hans earned his Commercial Engineering degree from the Universidad de Santiago de Chile before earning his MBA from the Business School of Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina. Subsequently, Hans entered post-graduate studies at Babson College in Entrepreneurship (Educators Santander Fellows). He also owns a Master in Clinical and Health Psychology from TECH Technological University, Spain. 

Damien Burke

CEO, Eirgen Pharma

Damien Burke is the CEO of EirGen Pharma, a Waterford based pharmaceutical company specializing in the development and commercial supply of high potency pharmaceutical products including a number of oncology products. Damien has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has held a number of senior leadership positions in supply chain, operations and business development. He has a MSc. in Supply Chain and Operational management from the University of Liverpool. Established in 2006, EirGen has grown rapidly and now exports products to over 40 countries worldwide including all of EU, U.S., Canada, Japan from its state of the art high containment facility. The facility is licensed by the Irish HPRA, FDA, and Japanese PMDA regulatory authorities.

Arie Gutman

President of API

Before joining OPKO, L. Arie Gutman founded FineTech Pharmaceuticals in 1990 which engaged in the development, manufacture, and marketing of specialty active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Before its acquisition by OPKO in 2011, Finetech was previously acquired by Par Pharmaceuticals in 2002. Arie was then chosen to sit on the executive board. Arie also served as a Professor of Organic Chemistry at Technion - Israel Institute of Technology from 1992-2003, where he was recognized for his excellence in teaching and has been a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge since 1987. Arie has authored numerous publications and filed dozens of patents for his work. Arie earned his bachelors from Hebrew University, his M.Sc. from Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. from Cambridge University.

Phil Frost

CEO and Chairman

Dr. Frost has been the CEO and Chairman of OPKO since March 2007.  Previously, Dr. Frost served at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Limited ("Teva") as both Chairman of the Board and Vice Chairman.  Dr. Frost served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of IVAX Corporation from 1987 until its acquisition by Teva in January 2006.  He also served as chairman for Key Pharmaceuticals, Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services and was a director of Continucare Corporation and Castle Brands, Inc.  He was also a Governor and Co-Vice-Chairman of the American Stock Exchange. 

Dr. Frost is a past chairman and currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami, the Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies in China, and as a Trustee of the Miami Jewish Home for the Aged and the Mount Sinai Medical Center.  He also serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science.  He is a past member of the Board of Trustees of the Scripps Research Institute, the Board of Regents of The Smithsonian Institution, and the Skolkovo Foundation Scientific Advisory Council in Russia. 

Dr. Frost is a director of Cocrystal Pharma, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company developing new treatments for viral diseases.

Jane Hsiao

CTO and Vice Chairman

Dr. Hsiao has served as Vice-Chairman and Chief Technical Officer at OPKO since May 2007 and as a director since February 2007. Previously, Dr. Hsiao served as the Vice Chairman-Technical Affairs of IVAX, and as Chairman, CEO and President of IVAX Animal Health, IVAX's veterinary products subsidiary. She also served on the boards of Sorrento Therapeutics, PROLOR Biotech, SafeStitch Medical, and Neovasc, Inc.

Dr. Hsiao has served since 2008 as Chairman of the Board of Non-Invasive Monitoring Systems, Inc., a medical device company and was named Interim CEO of the company in 2012. Dr. Hsiao is also a director of TransEnterix, Inc., a medical device company, and Cocrystal Pharma, Inc.

Richard M. Krasno, Ph.D.

Director

Dr. Krasno was appointed to the OPKO Board in 2017. Previously, Dr. Krasno served as executive director of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust and as President of the four affiliated William R. Kenan, Jr. Funds.

Prior to joining the Trust, Dr. Krasno was the President of the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. Dr. Krasno also served as a director of the University of North Carolina Health Care System and as chairman of the board of directors until 2012. He has also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of International Education in New York, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Krasno currently serves as a director of Ladenburg Thalmann and BioCardia, Inc. and previously served as a director of Castle Brands, Inc. Dr. Krasno holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Prem A. Lachman, M.D

Director

Dr. Lachman is a healthcare investment manager with more than 35 years of experience in portfolio management, biopharmaceutical investment research and healthcare investment banking. Additionally, Dr. Lachman is supported by a foundation in medicine and gastroenterology research. Dr. Lachman founded Maximus Capital, LLC in 2001 and currently serves as its general partner. Dr. Lachman previously served as the general partner of The Galleon Group from 1998 to 2001 and as Managing Director, Investment Research at Goldman Sachs & Co. from 1989 to 1998. Dr. Lachman is a Directors Council board member of the Museum of Modern Art, a patron of the Metropolitan Opera, and a board member of the Department of Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

Roger J. Medel, M.D.

Director

Dr. Medel is the co-founder of MEDNAX, Inc., a national health solutions partner comprised of the nation’s leading providers of physician services, and has served as a director of MEDNAX since 1979. Dr. Medel served as MEDNAX’s President until May 2000 and again from March 2003 until May 2004. He served as Chief Executive Officer of MEDNAX from 1979 until December 2002, and again from March 2003 until July 2020 when he retired. Dr. Medel has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Inc. since January 2016. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami from January 2004 to February 2012. Dr. Medel actively participates as a member of several medical and professional organizations and from June 2006 to April 2009, served on the Board of Directors of MBF Healthcare Acquisition Corp.

Gary J. Nabel

Chief Innovation Officer and Director

Dr. Gary J. Nabel M.D., Ph.D. has been the President and CEO of ModeX Therapeutics Inc., OPKO’s wholly-owned subsidiary focused on delivering multispecific therapies for cancer and viral diseases. He previously worked as Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President of Sanofi from 2012-2020. A virologist and immunologist, Dr. Nabel served as founding director of NIH’s Vaccine Research Center (VRC) and its leader for 14 years (1999-2012) working on vaccines and broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV, influenza, SARS, Ebola, Chikungunya and Epstein-Barr virus. He was previously an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Michigan (1987-1999). In recognition of his expertise at the forefront of virology, immunology, gene therapy, and molecular biology, Dr. Nabel was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and is a fellow of the American Association of Physicians, the American Academy of Arts Sciences, and the Geoffrey Beene Builders of Science Award from Research America. He worked previously as the board chair for the non-profit Keystone Symposia and currently serves on the board of Siga Technologies Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company.

John A. Paganelli

Director

Mr. Paganelli has served as a director of OPKO since December 2003. Previously, Mr. Paganelli served as OPKO's Interim CEO and secretary, and Chairman of OPKO's Board of Directors until 2007. Mr. Paganelli also served as President and CEO of Transamerica Life Insurance Company of New York.

Since 1987, Mr. Paganelli has been a partner in RFG Associates, a financial planning organization. Mr. Paganelli is also the Managing Partner of Pharos Systems Partners, LLC, an investment company, and served as Chairman of the Board of Pharos Systems International, a software company, from 2001 until March 2021. He was Vice President and Executive Vice President of PEG Capital Management, an investment advisory organization. Mr. Paganelli was also an officer and director-stockholder of Mike Barnard Chevrolet, Inc., an automobile dealership. Mr. Paganelli also serves as a director of Western New York Energy, LLC. Mr. Paganelli previously served on the Board of Trustees of Paul Smith's College and the Board of Managers of Bridge Financial Services, LLC.

Richard C. Pfenniger, Jr.

Director

Mr. Pfenniger has served as a director of OPKO since January 2008. Mr. Pfenniger served as CEO and President for Continucare Corporation, a provider of primary care physician and practice management services, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Continucare Corporation until 2011. Mr. Pfenniger has also served as the CEO and Vice Chairman of Whitman Education Group, Inc.

Prior to joining Whitman, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of IVAX and as the Senior Vice President-Legal Affairs and General Counsel of IVAX. Mr. Pfenniger currently serves as a director of GP Strategies Corporation, a corporate education and training company, TransEnterix Inc., a medical device company pioneering the use of robotics, IntegraMed America, and BioCardia, Inc., a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company. He also serves as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science.

Steve Rubin

Executive Vice President, Administration

Mr. Rubin has served as Executive Vice President, Administration at OPKO since May 2007 and as a director since February 2007. Previously, Mr. Rubin served as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of IVAX from August 2001 until September 2006.

Mr. Rubin currently serves on the board of directors of Eloxx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel RNA-modulating drug candidates; Non-Invasive Monitoring Systems, Inc., a medical device company; Cocrystal Pharma, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering and developing novel antiviral therapeutics that target the replication machinery of hepatitis viruses, influenza viruses, and noroviruses; ChromaDex Corp., a science-based integrated nutraceutical company devoted to improving the way people age; Neovasc, Inc. a company developing and marketing medical specialty vascular devices, and Red Violet, Inc., leading analytics and information solutions provider.

Mr. Rubin previously served as a director of Castle Brands, Inc., Dreams, Inc., Safestitch Medical, Inc., Cogent, Inc., PROLOR Biotech, Inc., BioCardia, Inc., and VBI Vaccines, Inc.

Alice Lin-Tsing Yu, M.D., Ph.D.

Director

Dr. Yu has been a Director since 2009. Previously, she served as Distinguished Research Fellow and Associate Director at the Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, in Taiwan. Since 2013, she has been a Distinguished Chair Professor at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, and Chang Gung University in Taiwan.

Dr. Yu has also served as a Professor of Pediatrics for both the National Taiwan University and the University of California in San Diego, where she was the Chief of Pediatric Hematology Oncology. Dr. Yu has also served in several government-appointed positions and is a member of numerous scientific committees and associations.

Elias A. Zerhouni M.D.

President of OPKO Health and Vice Chairman

Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni M.D. has been the chairman and co-founder of ModeX Therapeutics Inc., OPKO’s wholly-owned subsidiary focused on delivering multispecific therapies for cancer and viral diseases. A physician-scientist in Imaging and Biomedical Engineering, he served as President of Global R&D and Executive Vice President of Sanofi form 2010-2018; as Senior Fellow for global health research at the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation 2009-2010; and as Presidential U.S. envoy for science and technology 2009-2010. He was director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health 2002-2008;  Executive Vice Dean and Dean for Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine 1996-2002; Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering and Chair of the Department of Radiological Sciences. Dr Zerhouni was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and to the National Academy of Engineering. He serves on the Board of the Lasker Foundation, the Foundation for N.I.H and the board of Research!America. He received the 2017 Scripps Executive of the Year Award for the pharmaceutical industry and the French Legion of Honor in 2008. He has been a director of the publicly traded Danaher Corporation since 2009.