John D. Harkey

Biography

John D. Harkey Jr., has been Director of the Company since April 2006. Mr. Harkey is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Restaurant Operations, Inc. He currently serves on the Board of Directors, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee of Loral Space & Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:LORL), and on the Board of Directors of Emisphere Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:EMIS).  Mr. Harkey is formerly the Chairman of the Board of Regency Gas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:RGP) has served on the Board of Directors of Energy Transfer Equity, LP (NYSE:ETE) and Energy Transfer Partners, LP (NYSE:ETP).  He formerly served on Board of Directors of Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ:LEAP) which was acquired by AT&T.  He is also co-founder and formerly Executive Chairman of the Board of AveXis, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVXS).  He serves on the Board of Directors of the Baylor Health Care System Foundation, The University of Texas System Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee and is a member of the McCombs School of Business Advisory Board at the University of Texas at Austin.  He serves on the President’s Development Council of Howard Payne University, the CEO Advisory Board of Dallas Arboretum and the Executive Board of Circle Ten Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. Mr. Harkey obtained a B.B.A. in Honors Finance and, a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and a M.B.A. from Stanford University School of Business. Mr. Harkey’s entrepreneurial background, his qualification as a financial expert, and his business and leadership experiences in a range of different industries make him an asset to our Board of Directors.

Research Interest

Pharmaceutical sciences