Management Team

VIA Pharmaceuticals is led by individuals with seasoned experience in all aspects of biotechnology management and drug development.

Lawrence K. Cohen, PhD, has served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of VIA since VIA’s formation in 2004. Previously, he was Chief Executive Officer of Zyomyx, Inc., a proteomics technology company. Dr. Cohen joined Zyomyx in 1999 as Chief Operating Officer, where he was responsible for all internal activities, including research and development, business development, financing and operations. From 1997 to 1998 Dr. Cohen was Chief Operating Officer of Progenitor, Inc., a publicly traded genomics company, and from 1988 to 1997, he was Vice President of Research and Development at Somatix Therapy Corporation, a publicly traded gene therapy company. Dr. Cohen received a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Illinois and completed his postdoctoral work in Molecular Biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Department of Biological Chemistry at Harvard Medical School.

Rebecca A. Taub, MD has served as Senior Vice President, Research and Development of VIA since January 2008. From 2004 to 2007, she was Vice President, Research, Metabolic Diseases at Hoffmann-La Roche. While at Roche she oversaw drug discovery programs in diabetes, dyslipidemia and obesity, including target identification, lead optimization and advancement of preclinical candidates into clinical development. From 2000 through 2003, Dr. Taub worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and DuPont Pharmaceutical Company, which was acquired by Bristol-Myers in 2001, in a variety of positions, including executive director of CNS and obesity research. Before becoming a pharmaceutical executive, Dr. Taub served in a number of academic medicine and biomedical research positions. She was tenured professor of genetics and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania from 1997 – 2001, and she remains an adjunct professor. Earlier she was a an assistant professor at the Joslin Diabetes Center of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University and an associate investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She is the author of more than 120 research articles. Dr. Taub received her MD from Yale University School of Medicine and BA from Yale College.

Tilmann Brotz, PhD, joined VIA May 2007 as Senior Director, Preclinical Development, and was promoted to Vice President, Preclinical Research & Development in August 2008. Prior to joining VIA, Dr. Brotz was with Renovis, Inc. for approximately six years in various roles including Director, Preclinical Development. Prior to Renovis, Dr. Brotz worked from June 1999 to February 2001 as a staff scientist at the National Institues of Health, National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Brotz received a Diploma (MSc equivalent) in Biology from the University of Tübingen, Germany and earned his Dr. rer. nat. (PhD) from University of Tübingen.

Karen S. Wright has served as Vice President Finance, Corporate Controller since December 2006 and as a consultant to the Company from December 2005 through November 2006. Prior to her position at VIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Ms. Wright was Vice President Finance, Corporate Controller at Intermune, Inc. from December 2004 through November 2006. Ms. Wright was Senior Director Finance at Cytokinetics, Inc. from November 2001 through December 2004 where she participated in taking the Company public. From 1997 through 2001 Ms. Wright served as the Senior Director of Finance at Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly Athena Neurosciences) until the Company merged with Dura Pharmaceuticals and relocated to San Diego. Ms. Wright served in various positions at Genentech, Inc. from 1984 through 1997, most recently as Senior Controller for the Research and Development Group. Previous to her biotech experience, Ms. Wright was employed at Syva Pharmaceuticals (now part of Roche Biosciences) and practiced in public accounting from 1977 through 1984. Ms. Wright holds a B.S. in Business from the University of California at Berkeley Business School, with an emphasis in accounting and marketing.