Committed to the advancement of outpatient care.
Executive Leadership
John H. Tucker
President and Chief Executive Officer
John H. Tucker is the chief executive officer of scPharmaceuticals. Prior to scPharmaceuticals, Mr. Tucker served as chief executive officer of Algal Scientific, a developer of auto-immune products. There he repositioned the company and successfully negotiated its sale. Prior to Algal, he served as chief executive officer at Alcresta, a developer of enzyme-based products for patients with acute and chronic diseases. While at Alcresta he led regulatory and financing strategies leading to its first product approval and increased valuation. Prior to Alcresta, he served as senior vice president and chief commercial officer of Incline Therapeutics, a hospital-focused specialty pharmaceutical company. There, he developed and drove the overall commercial strategy in support of the company’s lead product, IONSYS™, resulting in a $390 million purchase of Incline by The Medicines Company. He joined Incline from AMAG Pharmaceuticals, where he was senior vice president, commercial operations, responsible for all sales and marketing activities for the company. Previously, as president, U.S. operations at Basilea Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Tucker developed the strategy and organization for the planned launch of a hospital-focused product and led the company’s commercial development team. Prior to Basilea, Mr. Tucker was executive vice president, sales and marketing at Indevus Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in his career, he held a variety of both hospital and retail-based sales and marketing positions with increasing levels of responsibility at Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals, ALZA Corporation, VIVUS and UCB Pharma. Mr. Tucker holds a B.A. from Plymouth State College and an MBA from New Hampshire College.
Rachael Nokes
Chief Financial Officer
Rachael serves as scPharmaceuticals’ Chief Financial Officer, responsible for all financial operations including external reporting, corporate accounting and internal controls. She is a senior financial executive with more than 20 years of experience, primarily in the life science industry. Rachael joined scPharmaceuticals in 2014 from BG Medicine, Inc., a publicly traded medical device company, where she was Director of Accounting. At BG Medicine, Ms. Nokes had significant responsibilities related to securing and managing several rounds of financing from various venture capital and other funding sources, culminating in the company’s initial public offering in early 2011. She was also instrumental in transitioning the finance organization from a privately held model to one capable of meeting the requirements for publicly traded entities, including SEC reporting and the implementation of Sarbanes Oxley. Prior to BG Medicine, Rachael held positions within Oak Industries, Inc., a publicly traded supplier of components to the communications industry, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where she began her career as an auditor. She received a B.S. in Accounting from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and an M.S. in Finance from Bentley University.
Mike Hassman
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Mike serves as scPharmaceuticals’ Senior Vice President of Technical Operations where he is responsible for overall product development, supply chain and quality. Mike entered the medical device field after serving in the U.S. Army, and for the past 25 years he has held various positions of increasing responsibility in manufacturing and product development with both contract manufacturing and OEM medical device companies. Mike has significant experience leading manufacturing and product development teams in multiple settings, including large publicly traded multinational organizations like Stryker and Smith & Nephew, and startup operations, from early product development through manufacturing scale and eventual acquisition. Most recently, Mike led operations as Chief Operating Officer for CeQur Corporation, an early stage medical device company developing a wearable insulin infusion device. Mike holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
John Mohr, Pharm.D., FIDP
Senior Vice President, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs
Dr. Mohr is a pharmacist with 20 years of experience as a clinician, researcher, teacher, scientist and medical affairs leader. He began his career in clinical practice at Memorial Hermann Hospital and held the role of Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston from 2003-2007. In addition to his clinical responsibilities in the hospital, he served as an investigator for multiple phase 3 and 4 clinical trials and conducted research focused on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antibiotics. Dr. Mohr began his career in the pharmaceutical industry at Cubist Pharmaceuticals where he had multiple roles to support the commercialization of Cubicin within the Medical Affairs function, serving as a field medical affairs liaison and ultimately leading the medical affairs strategy group. In addition, he supported the medical affairs integration of two companies (Adalor and Optimer) upon acquisition and led the medical affairs launch of Zerbaxa and Sivextro until Cubist was acquired by Merck for $9.5 billion. Following his tenure at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, John served as Vice President of Medical Affairs at the Medicines Company where he led the medical affairs strategy for Orbactiv and Minocin IV, and as Vice President of Medical Affairs at Tetraphase, where he managed building out the medical affairs function to support the launch of Xerava. Dr. Mohr received his B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Texas A&M University and his Pharm.D. from the University of Houston College of Pharmacy.
Board of Directors
John H. Tucker
President and Chief Executive Officer
John H. Tucker is the chief executive officer of scPharmaceuticals. Prior to scPharmaceuticals, Mr. Tucker served as chief executive officer of Algal Scientific, a developer of auto-immune products. There he repositioned the company and successfully negotiated its sale. Prior to Algal, he served as chief executive officer at Alcresta, a developer of enzyme-based products for patients with acute and chronic diseases. While at Alcresta he led regulatory and financing strategies leading to its first product approval and increased valuation. Prior to Alcresta, he served as senior vice president and chief commercial officer of Incline Therapeutics, a hospital-focused specialty pharmaceutical company. There, he developed and drove the overall commercial strategy in support of the company’s lead product, IONSYS™, resulting in a $390 million purchase of Incline by The Medicines Company. He joined Incline from AMAG Pharmaceuticals, where he was senior vice president, commercial operations, responsible for all sales and marketing activities for the company. Previously, as president, U.S. operations at Basilea Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Tucker developed the strategy and organization for the planned launch of a hospital-focused product and led the company’s commercial development team. Prior to Basilea, Mr. Tucker was executive vice president, sales and marketing at Indevus Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in his career, he held a variety of both hospital and retail-based sales and marketing positions with increasing levels of responsibility at Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals, ALZA Corporation, VIVUS and UCB Pharma. Mr. Tucker holds a B.A. from Plymouth State College and an MBA from New Hampshire College.
William T. Abraham, MD
William T. Abraham, MD, FACP, FACC, FAHA, FESC, FRCPE, is a College of Medicine Distinguished Professor at The Ohio State University. Dr. Abraham previously held faculty appointments at the University of Colorado, the University of Cincinnati and the University of Kentucky. Dr. Abraham’s research interests include the role of the kidney in heart failure, neurohormonal mechanisms in heart failure, sleep-disordered breathing in heart failure and clinical drug and device trials in heart failure and cardiac transplantation. He has received grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American College of Cardiology and the Aetna Quality Care Foundation and has served as principal investigator in more than 100 clinical drug and device trials. In addition to authoring more than 1,000 original papers, abstracts, book chapters and review articles, Dr. Abraham has co-edited a leading textbook on heart failure entitled Heart Failure: A Practical Approach to Treatment. He serves on the editorial boards of several major journals and as a scientific reviewer for such publications as Circulation, the European Heart Journal, and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Abraham has been recognized as one of the ‘Best Doctors in America’ for 18 consecutive years. He was named as one of The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds and named to the Highly Cited Researchers list by Clarivate Analytics (formerly Thomson Reuters). In 2017, he received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Abraham received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School before completing a residency in internal medicine and fellowships in cardiology and heart failure/cardiac transplantation at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He is board-certified in internal medicine and advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology.
Mette Kirstine Agger
Co-Founder & CEO, 7TM Pharma A/S
Ms. Agger serves on numerous boards of both private and public companies, including KLIFO, a pharmaceutical consulting company, Lexeo, a gene therapy company targeting orphan diseases, Dysis Medical, a womens health medtech company, and Psioxus, a tumor re-engineering company. Additionally, she serves on the boards of scPharmaceuticals, focused on novel solutions for out-patient care, and C.V Obel A/S, an investment company
Ms. Agger has served 12 years from Sept 2009 to April 2022 as a managing partner of Lundbeckfonden Ventures, a life science venture fund, and as part of the management at Lundbeckfonden. Prior to that, Ms. Agger co-founded 7TM Pharma A/S, a biotech company engaged in therapeutic drug discovery and development, in 2000, and served as its chief executive officer from founding to 2009. Prior to founding 7TM Pharma, Ms. Agger was part of the management team of NeuroSearch A/S, a former drug research and development company.
Ms. Agger graduated with an M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Copenhagen and has an M.B.A. from Henley Business School University of Reading. We believe Ms. Agger is qualified to serve on our board of directors because of her industry experience, intellectual property knowledge and her experience of serving on the boards of directors for numerous biopharmaceutical and medtech companies.
Minnie V. Baylor-Henry
President, B-Henry & Associates
Minnie V. Baylor-Henry is the President of B-Henry & Associates, a consulting firm focused on providing regulatory and compliance strategy services to life sciences companies. Prior to assuming her current role, she was the Worldwide Vice-President for Regulatory Affairs for Johnson & Johnson’s Medical Devices & Diagnostics where she was directly responsible for coordinating the regulatory strategy for the approval of a wide portfolio of products globally, ranging from contact lens to sterilization products. Prior to that Ms. Baylor-Henry was a National Director for Regulatory & Capital Markets Consulting at Deloitte & Touche and before that worked for the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
Ms. Baylor-Henry is recognized as a leader in the area of food & drug laws and regulations and is a frequent speaker on food & drug law topics and has received numerous awards and recognitions in this area.
Ms. Baylor-Henry received her Pharmacy degree from Howard University’s College of Pharmacy and her law degree from Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law.
Sara Bonstein
CFO, Insmed Incorporated
Sara Bonstein is the CFO of Insmed Incorporated, a global biopharmaceutical company on a mission to transform the lives of patients with serious and rare diseases. She has over 15 years of operational and financial leadership in the life sciences industry. Prior to joining Insmed, she served as the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Corporate Secretary at OncoSec Medical and as the Chief Financial Officer, Secretary, Treasurer, and Executive Vice President at Advaxis, Inc. Prior to these roles, Sara held several roles at Eli Lilly, ImClone, and Johnson & Johnson. In 2016, NJBiz named Sara CFO of the Year – Healthcare Organization and Forty under 40. Sara is a graduate of Johnson & Johnson’s Financial Leadership Development Program. She holds a BS in Finance from The College of New Jersey and an M.B.A. from Rider University.
Frederick Hudson
Former Partner in Charge of KPMG’s Largest Healthcare Industry Audit Practice Located in the Mid-Atlantic Region
Mr. Hudson brings to the scPharmaceuticals Board over 37 years of relevant experience in accounting and auditing as a longtime partner at KPMG, LLP. Prior to his retirement, Mr. Hudson was the partner in charge of KPMG’s largest healthcare industry audit practice located in the Mid-Atlantic region. Over his career, Mr. Hudson also held senior positions with KPMG in the area of due-diligence and mergers and acquisitions services where his work was focused on high-growth companies in the healthcare industry. Mr. Hudson is active on the boards of numerous public and private healthcare companies. Fred has a deep accounting and finance background and has served as audit chair for a number of other private and public healthcare companies including Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Inc., Supernus Pharmaceuticals, and Aradigm Corporation. Mr. Hudson will act as an independent director and Chair the Audit Committee. Mr. Hudson is a graduate of Loyola University Maryland.
Jack A. Khattar
Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer, Supernus Pharmaceuticals
Jack A. Khattar is the founder of Supernus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SUPN) and has served as president and chief executive officer and director since 2005. From 1999 to 2005, Mr. Khattar served in various positions, including board member, president and CEO of Shire Laboratories Inc., the drug delivery subsidiary of Shire plc. Prior to that, Mr. Khattar served as an executive officer and the chairman of the management committee at CIMA, a drug delivery company where he was also responsible for business development, corporate alliances and strategic planning. Prior to joining CIMA in 1995, Mr. Khattar held several marketing and business development positions at Merck & Co., Novartis, Playtex, and Kodak in various locations, including the United States, Europe and the Middle East. He served as a director of Rockville Economic Development Inc. from 2003 until 2013. He currently serves on the board of directors of Prevacus, Inc., a privately-held pharmaceutical company. Mr. Khattar earned his degrees in Marketing, with a BBA from American University of Beirut and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Leonard D. Schaeffer
Founding Chairman & CEO, Wellpoint
Leonard D. Schaeffer is the founding chairman & CEO of WellPoint, the nation’s largest health benefits company by membership. WellPoint serves over 36 million medical members and has annualized revenues of $60 billion. He is currently the Judge Robert Maclay Widney chair and professor at the University of Southern California and is a senior advisor to TPG Capital, a private equity firm.
Schaeffer was chairman & CEO of WellPoint from 1992 through 2004 and continued to serve as chairman through 2005. Under his leadership, WellPoint was selected by FORTUNE magazine as America’s “Most Admired Health Care Company” for six consecutive years; named by Businessweek as one of the 50 best performing public companies for three consecutive years; and identified by Forbes magazine as America’s best large health insurance company. Schaeffer was selected by Businessweek magazine as one of the “Top 25 Managers of the Year” and by Worth magazine as one of the “5O Best CEOs in America.” In 1986, Schaeffer was recruited as CEO to WellPoint’s predecessor company, Blue Cross of California, when it was near bankruptcy. He managed the turnaround of Blue Cross of California and the IPO creating WellPoint in 1993. During his tenure, WellPoint made 17 acquisitions and endowed four charitable foundations with assets of over $6 billion. Under Schaeffer’s leadership, WellPoint’s value grew from $11 million to over $49 billion.
In 2009, Schaeffer established a new research center at USC. The Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to research and analysis to promote health and value in health care delivery and to support evidence-based health policy. He has also endowed chairs in health care financing and policy at The Brookings Institution, U.C. Berkeley, the Institute of Medicine and Harvard Medical School. Previously, Schaeffer was president and CEO of Group Health, Inc. of Minnesota, a staff model HMO. Schaeffer was also EVP and COO of the Student Loan Marketing Association, the national secondary market for student loans and earlier was a vice president of Citibank and a consultant specializing in design and installation of large scale financial and management information systems.
In the federal government, he served as administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (now CMS) and was responsible for the U.S. Medicare and Medicaid programs. He was also the assistant secretary for management and budget of the Federal Department of Health and Human Services. Previously, Schaeffer was director of the Bureau of the Budget for the State of Illinois and also served as chairman of the Illinois Capital Development Board and as deputy director for management, Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.
Schaeffer is active on the boards of numerous businesses, philanthropic and professional organizations. He received the inaugural USC Sol Price Award for his lifetime achievements as a business leader, policy expert and philanthropist. He was the Regent’s Lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley, a Gilbert Fellow at Princeton, and a Williams Fellow at RAND. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. A native of Evanston, Illinois, he is a graduate of Princeton University.
Schaeffer and his wife, the former Pamela Sidford, have two children.
Klaus Veitinger, MD, PhD
Venture Partner, Orbimed
Klaus Veitinger, MD, PhD has served as a Venture Partner with OrbiMed since 2007. During his prior 16-year pharmaceutical career, Dr. Veitinger held senior management positions in drug development, licensing and business development, strategic planning and M&A, as well as general management. Most recently Dr. Veitinger was a Member of the Executive Board of Schwarz Pharma AG and the Chief Executive Officer of Schwarz Pharma Inc. with responsibility for the U.S. and Asia businesses culminating in the ultimate sale of the Schwarz Group. Dr. Veitinger has served on the boards of public companies and currently serves on the boards of several private companies in the life sciences sector. For seven years he was a Director of PhRMA. Dr. Veitinger received his medical degree and his doctorate (Ph.D.) from the University of Heidelberg. He earned his M.B.A. at INSEAD in France.
Scientific Advisory Board
Dan Bensimhon, MD
Medical Director Advanced Heart Failure & Mechanical Circulatory Support Program, Cone Health, Greensboro, NC
G. Michael Felker, MD
Chief, Heart Failure Service, Division of Cardiology, Duke University School of Medicine
Marv Konstam, MD
Professor of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Chief Physician Executive of the Cardiovascular Center at Tufts Medical Center
W. Frank Peacock, MD, FACEP, FACC, FESC
Professor, Vice Chair of Research, Department of Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Ben Taub General Hospital
Stuart Russell, MD
Regional Director of Heart Failure Program, Duke University School of Medicine
James E. Udelson, MD
Chief, Division of Cardiology, Tufts Medical Center, Professor of Medicine and Radiology Tufts University School of Medicine
William Weintraub, MD
Director of Outcomes Research, MedStar Heart and Vascular Institute