Kenneth Widder

Ken is an M.D. with over 30 years of experience working with biomedical companies. He has founded six companies and was Chairman/CEO of six of these. He was a General Partner at Latterell Venture Partners (LVP Life Science Ventures) and before that, was a General Partner at Windamere Venture Partners.

His last company, which he co-founded and was CEO and Chairman, Sytera Inc., merged with Sirion Therapeutics, an ophthalmology specialty pharmaceutical company. Prior to Sytera, Ken was a founder and CEO of NovaCardia, a company acquired by Merck. Prior to NovaCardia, Ken was a founder, Chairman, and CEO of Santarus (NASDAQ: SNTS), which was acquired by Salix. Additionally, he was Chairman and CEO of Converge Medical, a medical device company developing a sutureless anastamosis system for vein grafts in coronary artery bypass surgery.

Ken started his career as a founder, Chairman, and CEO of Molecular Biosystems (NYSEMB), where he was responsible for the development and approval of Albunex and Optison, the first two ultrasound contrast agents to be approved in the U.S. He currently sits on the boards of Evoke Pharma, Quidel, and OrphoMed.

Ken holds an M.D. from Northwestern University and is trained in pathology at Duke University. He is an inventor on over 30 patents and patent applications and has authored or co-authored over 25 publications.