Vascular Biogenics

Professor Dror Harats, M.D. founded VBL Therapeutics based on more than 20 years of research in the field of medicine and a strong background in the management of early- to mid-stage biotechnology companies. Prof. Harats is an experienced consultant specializing in biotechnology and pharmaceutical healthcare companies.

Prof. Harats currently serves on the board of directors of Art Healthcare Ltd, and as a part time chair of the R&D division at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer and as chair of its Institute Review Board. Prof. Harats is also a Professor of Medicine in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Biochemistry at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine of Tel-Aviv University, Israel.

Prof. Harats received a doctor of medicine degree from the Hadassah Medical School, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. Following an internship at Sheba Medical Center and a residency in medicine at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, he conducted a fellowship in pulmonary medicine and research in molecular genetics at The University of California in San Francisco (UCSF). He was then a visiting scientist at Syntex Discovery Research in Palo Alto, Calif. for three years.

Prof. Harats has published more than 200 peer-reviewed research papers and chapters in books, his publications rewarded him with numerous prizes and grants.

Mr. Sam Backenroth joined VBL as chief financial officer in October 2021. Before joining VBL, Mr. Backenroth was the chief financial officer at NeuBase Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NBSE), a novel genetic medicine platform company focused on rare genetic diseases and oncology. While at NeuBase, Mr. Backenroth helped build the finance and operations functions, took the company public, and raised approximately $100 million in equity capital.

Prior to his tenure at NeuBase, Mr. Backenroth was the CFO of Ohr Pharmaceutical, where he was instrumental in the company’s growth from startup to a public market capitalization of several hundred million and helped move its lead program from preclinical into late-stage clinical development. He is also a founder of Orphion Therapeutics, a company focused on one-time gene therapy treatments for ocular and central nervous system manifestations of ultra-rare diseases, and DepYmed, Inc., a pharmaceutical company focused on a novel phosphatase inhibition technology platform for rare diseases and cancer, where he currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Backenroth began his career as an investment banker with The Benchmark Company LLC, where he raised capital and provided advisory services for biotechnology companies. Mr. Backenroth earned a bachelor of science degree in finance from Touro College in New York.

Erez Feige, Ph.D., M.B.A. joined VBL Therapeutics in 2006. He brings over 15 years of experience in business development, strategic planning, intellectual property and investor relations and helped VBL raise over $180 million in equity capital and non-dilutive sources. He has scientific expertise in cancer, immunology, biochemistry and molecular biology and was involved in the development of VBL's technologies and pipeline products. Dr. Feige received a doctor of philosophy degree and a master’s of business administration degree from Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Naamit Sher, Ph.D. joined VBL Therapeutics in 2006. Dr. Sher has more than 30 years of experience in drug development including biopharmaceutical production, quality assurance, quality control and regulatory affairs. Prior to joining VBL Therapeutics, she served as quality director and management member at InterPharm, a subsidiary of Ares-Serono, developing and registering Rebif (a drug for multiple sclerosis), where she gained vast experience in biological drug production, testing and registration. At VBL Dr. Sher serves as the VP for regulatory affairs and product development and is overseeing the QA and QC groups. She provides all aspects of regulatory affairs, planning and managing regulatory activities, assessments of manufacturing changes, preparation and review of regulatory documents and submissions as well as communication with FDA and EMA. Dr. Sher earned a doctor of philosophy degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel and completed post-doctoral fellowships at the Hebrew University and at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.

Eyal Breitbart, Ph.D. joined VBL Therapeutics in 2001. He has extensive experience in cancer and immune-inflammatory research as well as in biochemical, immunological and molecular biology methods. He brings over 20 years of experience in product engineering, process characterization and qualification, large scale manufacturing, product chain supply, data management and computerized system integration. Dr. Breitbart is a professional and experienced manager, in charge of the Company's daily operations, including VBL's manufacturing facility and the full spectrum of aspects related to research and production. Dr. Breitbart earned a doctor of philosophy degree from Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.

Mr. Trudeau joined VBL Therapeutics in January 2022 and brings over 25 years of US and International experience commercializing complex biological solutions for patients in need. He served most recently as head of the US business team at bluebird bio where he led design and implementation of their commercial operating model and was accountable for all aspects of US commercialization for an innovative gene therapy portfolio. Prior to that, Matt served at Biogen where he led Asia-Pacific business operations for a portfolio of biologics targeting neurologic and hematologic diseases. At Biogen, he also led global strategic design and implementation of the company's first companion diagnostic platform. Matt started his career at Genzyme where he advanced through sales and marketing roles of increasing impact in the diagnostics and surgical oncology segments. Matt holds a MS degree from Northeastern University and a BA degree from Colby College.