Gloria Matthews, DVM, PhD, DACVS

Gloria was appointed Chief Medical Officer of Ankasa in July of 2019. She is an executive level surgeon-scientist with two decades of experience in biomedical innovation and product pipeline development and support, including programs from discovery through commercialization for biologics, devices, orthobiologics, combination products, and small molecule new chemical entities for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.

Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President of Research and Development at MiMedx Corporation (MDXG), an Atlanta based regenerative medicine company at which she held the key role of transforming the 361HCT/P regulated manufacturer and distributor of birth tissue-based therapies to a biopharma company. Before this, Dr. Matthews served as Chief Medical Officer at Histogenics (HSGX), a Boston-based regenerative medicine company at which she had strategic oversight of both North American and global development programs. She further provided cell therapy and biologics regulatory consultation in this role, directly supported all business/corporate development efforts, and actively participated in successful corporate fundraising in the US and Asia Pacific for this publicly traded pre-revenue stage company.

Prior to Histogenics, Gloria spent 12+ years in the biopharmaceutical industry at Genzyme Corporation (GENZ) and Sanofi-Genzyme (SAN/SNY), providing Research and Development support to the Biosurgery Division. During her tenure at Genzyme, she oversaw Research & Development and post-market support of cell, gene, growth factor, small molecule and biomaterial-based products. She last served with Sanofi-Genzyme in the role of Senior Director and Global Head of Bone and Joint Disease Research and Development.

Gloria is Board Certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and has nearly 15 years of experience in both academic and private equine surgical practice. She received both her DVM and PhD degrees from Cornell University, and completed her residency training in surgery at Tufts University, followed by fellowship training at Cornell.

Gloria is also the Immediate Past President of the Orthopaedic Research Society, a member of the Cornell University Biomedical Engineering Advisory Board, and serves as an independent director on the Board of Directors of Belgium-based Bone Therapeutics Corporation.

Philipp Leucht, MD

Associate Professor, Department Of Orthopaedic Surgery
Associate Professor, Department Of Cell Biology
New York University Langone Health, Langone Orthopedic Hospital

 

Dr. Leucht is an orthopedic surgeon-scientist at NYU Langone Health. He is the Director of Orthopedic Trauma Research and leads an NIH-funded lab focusing on investigating skeletal stem cell biology as it relates to aging. His clinical practice is centered around fracture care.

He received his MD at the Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany. In 2004, he joined the lab of Dr. Jill Helms, DDS, PhD as a postdoctoral fellow studying the role of Wnt signaling in bone regeneration. After completing his residency and fellowship at Stanford University in 2014, he started his lab at NYU Langone Health in New York City.

Sanford J. Madigan, Ph.D.
CEO, Ankasa Regenerative Therapeutics

Sandy is the founding CEO of Ankasa, for which he raised a $19M financing to support the Company’s efforts to bring a recombinant WNT-based therapeutic into clinical development for various orthopedic applications. He brings over 25 years of industry experience to this role and is experienced in venture financings, licensing founding and value-added technologies, and negotiating strategic partnerships and corporate acquisitions.

Sandy was the transacting CEO of Calporta Therapeutics which was acquired by Merck in November, 2019 for up to $576M including an upfront payment and contingent milestone payments. In addition to Calporta, Sandy has been a founder and senior manager in various venture-backed organizations including Anexigen, Inc. (partnered with major pharma), Sova Pharmaceuticals, Strategic Enzyme Applications (partnered with Monsanto), Ambit Biosciences (IPO, acquired by Daiichi Sankyo), Xenopharm (acquired by Deltagen), X-Ceptor Therapeutics (acquired by Exelixis), and SIBIA Neurosciences (acquired by Merck).

Sandy performed his post-doctoral training at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He received his Ph.D. in Genetics and his B.S. in Biochemistry from The State University of New York at Stony Brook where, as a graduate student, he was awarded the Abrahams Memorial Award for outstanding potential for basic research.