Management Team
Robert Lippert
Robert Lippert has been our President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2006 and a director since July 2006. Previously, Mr. Lippert was our Chief Operating Officer since joining ZARS in January 2004. Prior to joining ZARS, Mr. Lippert was President and Chief Executive Officer at ProCertus BioPharm, Inc., an oncology pharmaceutical company, from June 2001 to December 2003, and has been a member of its board of directors from June 1998 to present. Prior to joining ProCertus, Mr. Lippert was Senior Vice President of Exponential Biotherapies, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, from February 2000 to February 2003. Additionally, Mr. Lippert also held Senior Vice President and Vice President positions at Celltech Medeva plc, a pharmaceutical company in marketing, sales, and business development. Mr. Lippert also held several middle management positions at Ohmeda Pharmaceutical Products, a pharmaceutical company acquired by Baxter Pharmaceuticals, where he worked in the finance, marketing, and business development departments. Mr. Lippert received a B.A. in animal biology and a B.B.A. in finance from the University of Wisconsin and an M.B.A. from Marquette University.
Thomas B. Marriott, Ph.D
Thomas B. Marriott, Ph.D. joined the Company in March 2007 as our Senior Vice President, Clinical Development and Regulatory Affairs. Prior to joining ZARS, Dr. Marriott served as Vice President, Development Research for NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from August 1993 to September 2005. From 1990 to 1993, Dr. Marriott served McNeil Pharmaceutical as Director, Clinical Investigations. Dr. Marriott received a B.A. in chemistry from Carleton College and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Oregon.
Jie Zhang, Ph.D
Jie Zhang, Ph.D. co-founded ZARS in 1996 and has been our Chief Scientific Officer since January 2004, and was our Chief Technical Officer from October 1998 through December 2003. He held a number of positions, including Research Associate Professor, in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Utah from October 1988 to December 2003. Prior to this appointment to the Department of Anesthesiology, he was a postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Pharmaceutics at the University of Utah from June 1987 to October 1988, working on transdermal delivery of contraceptive steroids. Dr. Zhang is listed as the inventor of 20 issued U.S. patents, 23 pending U.S. patent applications, seven issued foreign patents and 51 pending foreign patent applications. Dr. Zhang received a B.S. in Physics from Shanghai University of Science and Technology, China and a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from University of Utah.
Greg Fischer
Greg Fischer has been our Vice President of Manufacturing Operations since April 2005. Prior to joining us, Mr. Fischer served as Vice President of Manufacturing Operations and Product Development for Iomed Inc., a transdermal medical device company, from October 2000 to April 2005. Prior to joining Iomed, Mr. Fischer was Vice President of Operations at Cornerstone Nutritional Labs, from May 1999 to October 2000. From December 1993 to May 1999, Mr. Fischer was an Executive Director of Technical Operations at TheraTech, Inc., a transdermal drug delivery company, which was later acquired by Watson Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Fischer also held several middle management positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb from November 1981 to December of 1993 where he managed departments within the areas of quality control, manufacturing and engineering. Mr. Fischer received both a B.S. and M.S. in microbiology from the Ohio State University.
Wade Hull
Wade Hull joined us in August 1998, and has been our Vice President of Engineering since January 2005. Prior to joining us, he worked in the Engineering and Marketing departments at Utah Medical Products, Inc., from May 1995 to December 1996. Mr. Hull received both a B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Utah.
Patricia Richards
Patricia Richards has been our Vice President of Regulatory Affairs since March 2005 and joined us in June 2004 as Director of Regulatory Affairs. Ms. Richards was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from July 2002 to June 2004. Previously, she was Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality at Iomed, Inc., a transdermal medical device company, Ms. Richards received a B.A. in biology from the Kansas State Teachers College.
T. Andrew Crockett
T. Andrew Crockett joined us in August 1999 and has been our Vice President of Business Development since June 2005. Prior to joining us, he worked in the engineering department and managed the manufacturing activities at Microject, a drug delivery technology company, from June 1997 to June 1999. Mr. Crockett received a B.A. from the University of Utah and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Cole Tims
Cole Tims joined us in November 2004 as Director of Quality Assurance and has been our Vice President of Quality Assurance since February 2008. Prior to joining us, Mr. Tims held the position of Quality Assurance Manager from October 2000 through June 2004 for Hospira, Inc.'s (formerly Abbott Laboratories) Salt Lake City medical device facility. During his tenure at the Salt Lake City facility, Mr. Tims also held several middle management positions from June 1994 through October 2000 where he managed departments within the areas of laboratory services, quality control and engineering. Prior to transferring to Abbott's Salt Lake City facility, Mr. Tims held leadership positions at Abbott's North Carolina parenteral solutions facility from September 1981 through May 1994, where he led departments within the areas of sterilization technology, diagnostic microbiology, aseptic manufacturing environmental control, manufacturing quality control and quality assurance. Mr. Tims received his B.S. in microbiology from Clemson University.
Shan Edwards
Shan G. Edwards joined us in March 2006 as the Corporate Controller and has been our Vice President of Finance since February 2008. Prior to joining ZARS, Mr. Edwards served as an Assistant Corporate Controller for Flying J, Inc. from June 2005 to March 2006. Prior to joining Flying J, Mr. Edwards held various audit and accounting positions, most recently as a Manager with the public accounting firm KPMG, LLP from August 1999 to June 2005. While at KPMG, Mr. Edwards serviced both large and small companies in a number of industries and helped many public companies complete their filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Edwards received a B.S. in accounting and an M.B.A. from Utah State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.