Board of Directors

Martin Carroll was appointed as our Chairman of the Board in June 2022. Mr. Carroll served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation and of Boehringer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2003 until 2011 and as a director of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation from 2003 until December 2012. Mr. Carroll worked at Merck & Co., Inc. from 1976 to 2001. From 1972 to 1976, Mr. Carroll served in the United States Air Force where he attained the rank of Captain. He has served as a director of Catalent Pharma Solutions since July 2015 and was Lead Director from October 2021 to June 2023. Mr. Carroll has served on a number of board of directors including Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corporation (acquired by Rocket Pharmaceutical), Durata Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Actavis), Vivus, Inc., Therapeutics MD, Mallinckrodt plc and Accredo Heath. Mr. Carroll received a B.A. in accounting and economics from the College of the Holy Cross and an M.B.A. from Babson College. We believe that Mr. Carroll's significant leadership and strategic experience qualifies him to serve as a member of our Board.

Sheldon L. Koenig has served as our Chief Executive Officer since May 2021 and was appointed to our Board in May 2021. Prior to holding those positions, Mr. Koenig served as our Chief Operating Officer since December 2020. Prior to joining Esperion, Mr. Koenig served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from January 2019 to August 2020 until it was acquired by Alexion. From January 2016 to July 2018, Mr. Koenig was Senior Vice President and Head of the cardiovascular franchise for Sanofi S.A. (NASDAQ: SNY), a pharmaceutical and healthcare company, where he led U.S. business operations and product launches internationally. Prior to that, Mr. Koenig served as Vice President and Global Brand Leader for the cardiovascular division of Merck & Co, Inc. where, for more than 25 years, he took on roles of increasing responsibility within the company’s cardiovascular and thrombosis franchises and led marketing for the launch of ezetimibe.

Mr. Koenig holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Monmouth University and a Bachelor of Applied Science from Drexel University. We believe that Mr. Koenig’s extensive industry leadership experience qualifies him to serve as a member of our Board.

Seth H.Z. Fischer was appointed to our Board in October 2021. Mr. Fischer brings over 35 years of experience and a distinguished record of results in key leadership positions within the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Agile Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGRX), where he is also a lead independent director and a member of its audit committee, compensation committee and science and technology committee, Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNS), and Milestone Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: MIST). Previously, Mr. Fischer served as the Chief Executive Officer and as a director of Vivus, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS), a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company commercializing and

Alan Fuhrman was appointed to our Board in March 2020. Mr. Fuhrman currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Tyra Biosciences (NASDAQ: TYRA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company. Mr. Fuhrman is the former Chief Financial Officer of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company focused on developing novel products for life-threatening infections from December 2017 to June 2020. Mr. Fuhrman previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Mirna Therapeutics, a clinical-stage microRNA company, from 2015 until it merged with Synlogic in August 2017 and at Ambit Biosciences, from 2010 to 2015, where he helped lead the company through its initial public offering and oversaw financial, investor and administrative operations until its sale to Daiichi Sankyo in 2014. Mr. Fuhrman is a member of the board of directors for SpringWorks Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SWTX), where he also serves as a member of the nominating and corporate governance committee and chair of the audit committee, and was a member of the board of directors of Checkmate Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CMPI) until the sale of the company to Regeneron in May 2022. From October 2021 to February 2022, Mr. Fuhrman served as the interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Checkmate Pharmaceuticals. Previously, Mr. Fuhrman also served on the board of directors and as chair of the audit committee for Loxo Oncology until its sale to Eli Lilly in the first quarter of 2019. Earlier in his career, Mr. Fuhrman practiced as a certified public accountant with Coopers & Lybrand.

Mr. Fuhrman earned a B.S. in business administration and agricultural economics from Montana State University. 

Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., has been a member of Esperion’s Board of Directors since 2014. Dr. Gotto is Dean Emeritus at Weill Cornell Medicine, and Provost for Medical Affairs Emeritus for Cornell University.

Antonio currently serves as a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also the current president of the National Lipid Association. From 1997 to 2011, he served as the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Provost for Medical Affairs of Cornell University. Previously, Antonio served as J.S. Abercrombie Chair of Atherosclerosis and Lipoprotein Research and Chairman and Professor of the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Methodist Hospital. He is also a past president of the International Atherosclerosis Society and a past president of the American Heart Association. Antonio was a member of the board of directors of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until 2016, when it merged to form Novelion Therapeutics, Inc.

Antonio holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University, a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biochemistry from Oxford University in England, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and an Doctor of Medicine from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Antonio completed his residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the Chair of Medicine for 20 years at Baylor University Medical Center and Houston Methodist Hospital.

Stephen Rocamboli, was appointed to our Board in April 2022. Mr. Rocamboli currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Innovatrx, Inc. (formerly known as Perla Therapeutics, Inc.), a company developing therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Previously, Mr. Rocamboli served as Chief Business Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Candel Therapeutics, an immuno-oncology company, between April 2015 and May 2020. Between 2010 and April 2015, Mr. Rocamboli served as General Partner of Integrin Partners, LLC, a consulting firm providing corporate development, strategic transaction advisory and general counsel services to life science companies, investors and entrepreneurs. Between 2010 and 2012, Mr. Rocamboli also served as Partner of Beijing International Group, an international affiliate of Integrin Partners. Between 2014 and 2015, Mr. Rocamboli also served as Special Counsel to Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton, LLP, focusing on life sciences transactions. Between 2008 and 2018, Mr. Rocamboli was a co-founder and served as President of Pear Tree Pharmaceuticals, until its sale to Daré Bioscience, Inc. Prior to joining Pear Tree, Mr. Rocamboli spent nearly a decade as a senior executive of a New York, NY based private FINRA/SEC member investment bank, venture capital firm, and affiliated hedge funds, focused exclusively on biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals. Mr. Rocamboli held positions of increasing responsibility, with the last five years as Senior Managing Director and General Counsel of all business units. Mr. Rocamboli has served as a member of the board of directors of several public and private life sciences companies, including Foresight Biotherapeutics (sold to Shire Pharmaceuticals in 2015) and currently serves as a member of the board of directors of TFF Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TFFP), where he also serves as a chair of its compensation committee and a member of its audit committee.

Mr. Rocamboli received his B.A. degree from The State University of New York at Albany and his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. We believe that Mr. Rocamboli’s extensive experience as a senior business and legal executive for multiple public life science organizations qualifies him to serve as a member of our Board.

Jay P. Shepard was appointed to our Board in May 2018. Mr. Shepard currently serves as Venture Partner with Catalys Pacific, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments in life sciences, where he is a co-founder and board member of two of their companies, Pathalys and Aculys. Mr. Shepard served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Aravive/Versartis (NASDAQ: ARAV) from May 2015 to January 2020 and previously served as Executive Chairman of the Versartis, Inc. board of directors from December 2013 to 2015. Versartis merged with Aravive Biologics in 2018. From 2008 to 2015, Mr. Shepard was the Executive Partner at Sofinnova Ventures. Previously, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of NextWave Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), President and Chief Executive Officer of Ilypsa (acquired by Amgen), interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Relypsa (Ilypsa’s spin-out company, acquired by Galencia), and Vice President of Commercial Operations at Telik and Oncology Business Unit Head of Alza Pharmaceuticals (Alza was acquired by Johnson & Johnson). He has over 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and drug delivery arenas. He has participated in or led over 16 product launches by preparing markets and establishing sales and marketing operations. Mr. Shepard also serves on the board of directors of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and is a member of the board of directors of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: INO), where he is the vice-chairman, and a member of its finance, nomination and corporate governance, and audit committees, and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IRWD), where he is also a member of its audit committee.

Mr. Shepard holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Arizona. 

Nicole Vitullo has served as a member of our Board since April 2008 and as our Lead Independent Director from December 2015 to June 2022. Ms. Vitullo joined Domain Associates, LLC, a venture capital firm with an exclusive focus on life sciences in 1999 and became a Partner in 2004. From 1992 to 1999, Ms. Vitullo was Senior Vice President at Rothschild Asset Management, Inc. Ms. Vitullo is a director of Hinge Bio, Inc. and Allay Therapeutics, Inc. She previously served on the boards of Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals), Antios Therapeutics, Celator Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals), Durata Therapeutics (acquired by Actavis PLC), Marinus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MRNS), VentiRx Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Celgene, Inc.), Calixa Therapeutics (acquired by Cubist Pharmaceuticals), Cerexa (acquired by Forest Laboratories), Onyx Pharmaceuticals and Cotera, Inc.

Ms. Vitullo received a B.A. and an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester.

Tracy M. Woody, has served as a member of our Board since May 2019. Ms. Woody served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cessation Therapeutics, LLC, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, from 2022 until March 2024. Previously she was the Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PTGX) from April 2020 to July 2022. Ms. Woody previously served as Chief Commercial Officer of Versartis, Inc. from 2017 to 2018 and KemPharm, Inc. from 2015 to 2016. Prior to KemPharm, Ms. Woody was Vice President of Sales and Marketing of NextWave Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), and Vice President of Business Development and Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Greer Laboratories. Ms. Woody also served as a board member of Shorla Pharma. Ms. Woody has over 25 years of commercial experience in pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices, across a wide range of therapeutic areas in diverse markets. Ms. Woody also has experience with multi-billion dollar revenue brands as well as products in the rare disease space. Ms. Woody holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health Promotion and Applied Physiology from East Carolina University. We believe that Ms. Woody is qualified to serve as a director based on her substantial experience in all aspects of commercial operations across a wide range of therapeutic areas for both emerging and established companies.