• About ENDECE
• Management
• Advisors and Consultants
• Corporate Governance

Management

Dr. James Yarger, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer

Dr. James Yarger is an accomplished scientist and executive with extensive scientific, management, and operational experience. His expertise is in molecular biology, regulatory affairs, API manufacturing and business. He has more than 30 years of metabolic engineering and success in the pharmaceutical drug discovery and development business.

In 2006 Dr. Yarger founded ENDECE. Dr. Yarger is responsible for ENDECE’s scientific and business strategies and corporate development including fund raising and building the respected ENDECE network.

Prior to ENDECE, Dr. Yarger co-founded Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals.  As President and CEO he was responsible for the scientific strategy, business development, FDA and DEA compliance and audits (including FDA inspections) that led to the company’s growth. He raised equity capital (over $15 million) and designed and built the Cedarburg Pharmaceutical research and manufacturing facility.

Dr. Yarger’s previous experience also includes the team effort to develop and commercialize the genetically engineered drug, Aprotinin for Miles Laboratories, Inc. (Bayer, AG).

In addition, while with Amoco BioProducts Corporation, Dr. Yarger was part of the team responsible for the synthesis of vitamin D analogs and carotenoids through metabolic engineering. This work led to the patenting and commercialization of a vitamin D analog, 25-hydoxy vitamin D3 (Hy-D.). While at Amoco, he was also responsible for regulatory affairs and wrote and filed a GRAS petition with the FDA approval.

Dr. Yarger holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from Brandeis University and was a Post-doctoral Fellow at Harvard. He is author of 12 scientific publications, 17 published scientific abstracts, and holds eight awarded or filed patents.

Steven H. Nye, Ph.D.,Director of Scientific Programs

As Director of Scientific Programs, Dr. Nye leads the discovery efforts at Endece with specialties in preclinical and genomic research.  During the past 15 years, Dr. Nye has helped to build several biotechnology companies, where he has conceived new technologies and carried products through to commercialization. Dr. Nye has been awarded numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health to develop technology platforms for studying complex diseases like diabetes and alcoholism, along with creating model systems for drug toxicity and cognitive disorders.  While at PhysioGenix, Dr. Nye devised the behavioral research programs and managed the key academic collaborations that led to forming a new drug development company, called Neuro Amp.  Prior to joining PhysioGenix, Dr. Nye was an Assistant Professor in the Max McGee Diabetes Research Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin.  Dr. Nye was also a lead scientist for recombinant antibody expression at Alexion Pharmaceuticals after completing his postdoctoral training studying signal transduction in the discovery group at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.  Dr. Nye routinely presents his research at national conferences and also participates as a reviewer on NIH study sections. His work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and he is an inventor on several patents.  Dr. Nye holds a Ph.D. in Cell, Molecular and Structural Biology from Northwestern University, along with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin.

Steven D. Weitman, MD, PhD: Oncologist, Pharmacologist & Toxicologist

Steve obtained his MD and PhD at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He is an oncologist that has focused on the development of new therapies for patients with cancer. Steve was most recently Chief Medical Officer and Member of the Executive Committee at ILEX Oncology where he led ILEX’s successful development of clofarabine (Clolar™) and guided that product through a successful ODAC and FDA approval. Steve is inventor on numerous patents and author of over 200 papers, abstracts and chapters in the medical literature with a focus on oncology drug development. Steve is a consultant to various biotech and pharmaceutical companies, Associate Editor of Investigational New Drugs and reviewer for multiple journals including the American Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, Cancer Research and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. In addition to his industry experience, Steve has held the positions of Assistant and Associate Professor at Southwestern Medical Center, Medical College of Wisconsin, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (with tenure) and Director of Adult and Pediatric Translational Research and holder of the Zachary Chair for Translational Research at the Institute for Drug Development in San Antonio.

Jean Yarger, Chief Administrative Officer

As Chief Administrative Officer, Jean Yarger is responsible for all business administration, strategic development, financial administration, and corporate policy and procedures for ENDECE.

Ms. Yarger brings with her an outstanding professional track record in business. She has over 15 years experience in business administration, finance, risk management and human resources.  Her accomplishments include owner and operator of a decorating franchise and co-founder of Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals.

Jean Yarger was the sole proprietor of a decorating franchise.  Her responsibilities included providing decorating services for private and corporate clients and managing the finances and public relations.

While with Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals she was responsible for the implementation of a computerized accounting system and establishing the finance department. In response to growth of human capital, she established the Human Resources department and implemented formal procedures for payroll administration and benefits, departmental strategic planning and development, succession planning, and employee training and development.

In addition to running ENDECE business operations she is the successful author of Mornings with Jenkins, Four Steps to Meaningful Assessment.

Mrs. Yarger holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Iowa.

Matt Leithold, CPA, Executive Director of Finance

Matt Leithold is responsible for ENDECE accounting systems.  He coordinates and prepares all financial information for tracking, measurement, and reporting including the projections that are used to raise investment capital, the analysis & recording of actual expenses, and the interaction with external auditors to support Endece’s financial position.

Currently, Mr. Leithold is the founder and owner of M.J. Leithold, LLC, a business consulting firm that provides financial guidance and support for start-up and ongoing business operations.  His other clients include a $7.5MM printing manufacturer, $5MM service and distributor business, and a $2MM metal fabrication company.  Along with positions from Financial Analyst, Accounting Manager, to Controller at companies like Allen-Bradley, Sundstrand, Falk, and Siemens, Matt has also taught Accounting courses at the University of Wisconsin.  Matt is a Wisconsin CPA and earned a BBA in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater.