Management

Walter V. Klemp

Walter V. Klemp

Founder, President, CEO and Chairman

Mr. Klemp is a co-founder of our company and has served as our Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer since July 2015 and as president since August 2017. Since 2006, Mr. Klemp has served as the Chairman, Co-founder and part-time Chief Executive Officer of Moleculin, LLC. From November 2011 to December 2020, Mr. Klemp has served as CEO and then Executive Chairman on the Board of Directors of Soliton, Inc., a medical device company he co-founded, took public on Nasdaq in 2018 and which was sold to AbbVie in December 2021. Mr. Klemp served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Zeno Corporation from 2004 to April 2011, where he developed and marketed dermatology devices and drugs from concept through FDA approval and market launch. From 1987 to 2000, Mr. Klemp served as Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Drypers Corporation, a publicly traded multinational consumer products company that was ranked #1 on the INC 500 List of America’s Fastest Growing Companies.

Donald Picker, PhD

Donald Picker, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Picker has served as our Chief Scientific Officer since August 2017 after serving as our Chief Operating Officer from July 2015 until August 2017 and as our President from January 2016 to August 2017. His employment is on a part-time basis. In 2007, Dr. Picker became the Chief Executive Officer of IntertechBio. From 2006 through 2007, Dr. Picker was the President of Tapestry Pharmaceuticals. From 1998 to 2003, Dr. Picker was CEO of Synergy Pharmaceuticals. Synergy was merged into Callisto Pharmaceuticals where he was Vice Present of Research and Development until 2006. Dr. Picker led the development of carboplatin and cisplatin from concept to FDA approval. From 2018 to 2019, Dr. Picker served on the Board of Directors of CNS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Dr. Picker currently serves as the Chief Science Officer of CNS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. on a part-time basis. Dr. Picker received his BS degree from Brooklyn Polytechnic University and his PhD from SUNY Albany in 1975. Dr. Picker is currently devoting only part of his work time to us and provides services as needed to us.

Jonathan P. Foster

Jonathan P. Foster

Executive VP & Chief Financial Officer

Jonathan P. Foster joined Moleculin in August 2016.  He brings more than 30 years in financial experience holding a variety of executive and senior financial positions with public, private, start-up to large corporate and international companies. From July 2018 to December 2020, Mr. Foster also served as a member of the board of directors and chairman of the Audit, Nominating & Governance, Compensation, and Strategic Alternative committees for Soliton, Inc., a Nasdaq listed medical device company prior to it being acquired by AbbVie.  Previously, Mr. Foster was Executive Vice President and CFO of InfuSystem Holdings, Inc., an NYSE MKT listed company and a leading national provider of infusion pumps and related services to the healthcare industry. Earlier, he served as President, CFO and majority owner of United Credit, Inc. & Advance Today, Inc., a privately owned consumer finance company with multiple locations and as EVP and CFO of Drypers Corporation, a publicly traded global consumer products company with more than 2,000 employees internationally and $460 million in revenue. Mr. Foster also previously served as CFO of Dickson Weatherproof Nail Company, Controller & Treasurer of divisions of Schlumberger Industries, and as a Manager in the Middle Market Group of Deloitte & Touche. Mr. Foster has a BS in Accounting from Clemson University, is a Certified Public Accountant and AICPA Chartered Global Management Accountant.

Dr. John Paul Waymack

Dr. John Paul Waymack

Senior Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Waymack served as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Chief Medical Officer of Kitov Pharmaceuticals from its founding in 2013 through his retirement in 2019. Dr. Waymack brings over 20 years’ experience in the biopharma field. A former academic transplant surgeon and FDA medical officer, he has over 20+ years’ experience as a drug development consultant for major pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Roche, Pharmacia, Warner Lambert and Searle. During his 10-year academic career, Dr. Waymack published over 100 scientific essays, mainly in the fields of prostaglandins and immunology. In addition, he was commissioned and served as a Major in the US Army Medical Corps in the position of Chief of Surgical Research at the Institute for Surgical Research. Dr. Waymack was also an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch and at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Sandra Silberman, MD, PhD

Sandra Silberman, MD, PhD

Chief Medical Officer – New Products

Dr. Silberman has served as our Chief Medical Officer, on a part-time basis, for new products since November 2017. Dr. Silberman has served as Chief Medical Officer of CNS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since December 2017 on a part-time basis. In 2018, Dr. Silberman became an advisor to WPD Pharmaceuticals in Poland. Dr. Silberman advanced several original, proprietary compounds into Phases I through III during her work with leading biopharmaceutical companies, including Bristol­Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, Imclone and Roche. Dr. Silberman is a Hematologist/Oncologist who earned her B.A., Sc.M. and PhD from the Johns Hopkins University School of Arts and Sciences, School of Public Health and School of Medicine, respectively, and her MD from Cornell University Medical College, and then completed both a clinical fellowship in Hematology/Oncology as well as a research fellowship in tumor immunology at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA. Dr. Silberman is currently devoting only part of her work time to us and provides services as needed to us.

Wolfram C. M. Dempke, MD, PhD, MBA

Wolfram C. M. Dempke, MD, PhD, MBA

European Chief Medical Officer

A global leader with a distinguished 30-year career in oncology, hematology, and academia with significant contributions in clinical developments in ovarian cancer, lung cancer, and leukemias and lymphomas. Prior to his current role, Dr. Dempke served as the External Expert at Novartis Oncology Global Clinical Development (NSCLC) (Basel, Switzerland), where he was responsible for the development of capmatinib (c- MET inhibitor), nazartinib (EGFRmut inhibitor), and novel compounds in Phase 1. Prior to that, he served as the Executive Medical Director Global Clinical Development (Head of Global Clinical Development in EU) at Incyte Biosciences; Head, Global Medical Affairs for EUSA Pharma; and as Executive Medical Director for Kyowa Kirin Pharmaceutical Development Ltd., where he was responsible for the global clinical development (Phase 1-3) in the therapeutic area of leukaemias and lymphomas (antibodies). This included the development of Phase 1/2 trials for an anti-CD123 antibody in AML, first-in-human studies with novel immune-oncology drugs (immune checkpoint antibodies) and support for the EMA submission of mogamulizumab based on the Phase 3 trial results. Additionally he served as the Executive Medical Director and Global Clinical Lead (Global Medical Oncology) at AstraZeneca. During his tenure there, he was responsible for the global clinical development in the therapeutic area of NSCLC and ovarian cancer (antibodies, TKIs). This included the responsibility for the FDA submission and re-launch of gefitinib in the US (NSCLC), the development of durvalumab for NSCLC (Phase 1/2) and the design and execution of Phase 2/3 trials for a novel wee-1 inhibitor in ovarian carcinomas. Other career appointments include Head of the Department of Haematology, Oncology and Gastroenterology at the Elbland Clinic Holding; Head of Global Medical Affairs Oncology at MerckSerono; Lead Medical Science Manager Oncology at Bristol-Myers Squibb and thereafter promoted as TA Head Oncology; Executive Medical Director of the TTG Bochum; Head of the Medical Oncology Department of the General Hospital Goch; Deputy Head and Acting Representative of the Medical Clinic IV (Haematology and Oncology) at the University of Halle; and Deputy Head of the Haematology Departments at Elisabeth Hospital in Germany. Dr. Dempke is currently devoting only part of his work time to us and provides services as needed to us.

Robert Shepard, MD, FACP

Robert Shepard, MD, FACP

Medical Advisor

Dr. Shepard currently serves as a Medical Advisor to the Company. Prior to that, he served as our Chief Medical Officer, on a part-time basis, since June 2016. From 2013 until 2014, Dr. Shepard served as Vice President of Scientific and Medical Affairs for Accelovance. Dr. Shepard has extensive research credentials in hematology and oncology and is board certified in oncology, hematology and internal medicine. He has a wide array of experience in translational medicine and clinical research and has been actively involved in oncology research since 1970, responsible for the clinical development of several drugs and immune therapies for biopharmaceutical companies, including serving as the consulting Chief Medical Officer for six companies. Dr. Shepard is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Harvard University in biochemical sciences and molecular biophysics and studied in the Harvard-M.I.T. Health Sciences program. He held fellowships in hematology and oncology at the Tufts-New England Medical Center where he conducted laboratory research in leukemias, myeloma and myelodysplasia, as well as fellowship in pharmacology and molecular genetics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Shepard holds academic appointments at Harvard University, Tufts University and the University of Virginia. Dr. Shepard is currently devoting only part of his work time to us and provides services as needed to us.

Board of Directors

Our Pipeline

Sign Up For Alerts