Our Investors
These investors make On Target Laboratories’ ongoing work possible.
On Target Laboratories develops technologies which enable surgeons to remove more cancer during surgery. Since On Target’s founding in 2010, our team of researchers and scientists has been devoted to empowering surgeons with the tools they need to detect more cancer that otherwise may have been left behind with the current standard of care.
On Target Laboratories’ technology is based on the pioneering work of Dr. Philip Low. Dr. Low is a Ralph Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Purdue University and the Director of the Purdue University Center for Drug Discovery. After discovering an innovative intraoperative fluorescent imaging agent, Dr. Low and his team at Purdue University researched the use of this imaging agent to make cancer more visible in the operating room.
Ben Lundgren is the President and Chief Executive Officer at ON TARGET LABORATORIES. He brings over 20 years of leadership experience in the life sciences industry. Most recently he served as Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations at On Target. During his tenure, he played an essential leadership role in the organization, driving critical business development relationships, building a commercial organization, and developing the Company’s strategic roadmap. Ben has extensive experience in both the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Most recently he held various leadership roles over 14 years across sales, marketing, and commercial analytics within Johnson & Johnson, across both Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Ethicon in both the US and Asia. Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Ben worked at Bain & Company, where he served clients in a diverse set of industries in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. Ben received a BS in Accounting from Brigham Young University and holds an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Wharton School of Business.
Tim Biro, RPh is the Chief Operating Officer of ON TARGET LABORATORIES. Tim has entrepreneurial experience in the medical device and pharmaceutical industry having served as the Co-Founder and CEO of several companies including SpineMatrix and Therox Pharmaceuticals, and the CEO of OncoImmune. He also has extensive experience in venture capital, as the Founder and Managing Partner of Ohio Innovation Fund, and a Partner in Reservoir Venture Partners and Brantley Venture Partners. Prior to his career in venture capital, Tim held various management positions with Merck. Tim holds a BS in Microbiology from Pennsylvania State University, a BS in Pharmacy from Temple University, an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Wharton School of Business, and is a Fellow of Temple University.
Philip Low, PhD is the Chief Science Officer and a Founder of ON TARGET LABORATORIES. Phil has served on the faculty at Purdue University since August 1976, where he is currently the Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Presidential Scholar for Drug Discovery. He has published more than 425 scientific articles with a collective H-index >100 and has received numerous national and international awards including an NIH MERIT Award, the AACR’s Award for Chemistry in Cancer Research, and the American Chemical Society’s Award for Cancer Research. Phil has more than 75 active/pending US patents and was elected to the National Academy of Inventors. To commercialize his discoveries, he has founded 6 successful biotech companies. Phil holds a BS in Chemistry from Brigham Young University and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of California San Diego.
Patrick Spangler is the Chief Financial Officer of ON TARGET LABORATORIES. Pat has over 32 years of experience in IPO’s, mergers and acquisitions, operations and financial management in the medical device and health care IT industries. As a transformational leader he has been responsible for driving high-performance results at emerging growth firms as well as large publicly traded companies. Further he has also served in the private equity sector successfully improving operational results and exit strategies with a broad array of portfolio companies. Pat most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of MHC Software, a supplier of document automation software to a variety of industries. He has also served as Chief Financial Officer of Vigilanz, Healthland, Epocrates, ev3, EMPI, and for over eleven years in various senior positions at Medtronic. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Minnesota, a Master of Business Taxation from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago. Pat serves on the Board of Directors of Lifespace Communities, OptimizeRx and previously served on the board of Urologix.
Sumith Kularante, PhD is the Executive Vice President of Research and Development at ON TARGET LABORATORIES. His scientific efforts have resulted in 3 FDA approved drugs, 8 drug candidates in human clinical trials, over 250 US and foreign issued/pending patents, and over 100 scientific publications. Sumith has received numerous national and international awards including Outstanding Young Scientist Award in Drug Discovery Sciences, Global PHT Expo & Summit (2023), SBIR Grant Awards for Lung Cancer Research (2014, 2016, 2018), AAPS Postdoctoral Fellow Award sponsored by Merck for CXCR4-targeted ADC for metastatic cancers (2012), the Skaggs Postdoctoral Fellow Award (2010), AAPS Graduate Student Award in Biotechnology, sponsored by Pfizer (2009) for PSMA-targeted drugs for prostate cancer, AAPS Graduate Student Symposium sponsored by Eli Lilly (2009) for PSMA-targeted drugs for prostate cancer, “Delano Maggard, Jr. graduate research award (2005), etc. After graduating with a PhD in chemistry from Purdue University conducting research with Prof. Philip Low, Sumith pursued his postdoctoral studies in molecular biology with Prof. Peter G. Schultz at The Scripps Research Institute, San Diego. Sumith is a serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, and influencer. He is the founder of AFT Kids & Elders (a non-profit organization) and serves on the advisory/board of directors in multiple companies including TCG GreenChem, En’Urga, and Krouzon. He is an invited member of multiple honorary societies including Phi Kappa Phi (NSF), National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and Beta Phi Upsilon as well as an invited peer reviewer for multiple scientific journals.
Scott Huennekens is a successful Medtech CEO, Chairperson, board member, entrepreneur, and investor, having been involved in one of those roles in 20+ startup, growth and public companies with market valuations that have totaled over $30B and more importantly over 20 million patients that have benefited from the therapies and diagnostics of these companies, including 8 IPOs. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Business Administration from the University of Southern California in 1986 and earned his MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1991. Past affiliations include 14 other public and or VC funded MedTech and biotech company boards of which 10 have had significant exits. Scott was awarded Earnst & Young’s entrepreneur of the year award in 2010 & was recognized by Goldman Sachs in 2016, 2017, & 2018 as one of the 100 most intriguing entrepreneurs at its annual Builders & Innovators conference.
Fritz French was a co-founder and CEO of Calibrium, a start-up biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapeutics for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. Calibrium was sold to Novo Nordisk at the end of 2015. Previously, he was CEO of Marcadia Biotech, another startup biopharmaceutical company in the diabetes and obesity area, from company inception until just after sale to Roche in 2010. Prior to Marcadia, Fritz was Vice President, Global Marketing for the Vascular Intervention division (now part of Abbott) of Guidant Corporation (acquired by Boston Scientific) and immediately prior to this, he held the role of Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Communications. Fritz also served as President and CEO of two life science start-up companies, Corvascular, Inc. and Zephyr Medical. He had previously worked at Guidant and the Medical Devices and Diagnostic Division of Lilly, serving in numerous marketing, sales, and general management positions for Lilly and Guidant, both in the U.S. and Europe. Fritz currently serves on the board of directors of FAST BioMedical, On Target Laboratories, and Anagin. Fritz earned a B.S. from the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, Harvard University.
V. Kadir Kadhiresan, PhD, Vice President, Venture Investments, with Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC). Kadir has more than a decade of operational experience in various functional roles including research, product development, and business development. Prior to entering business development, he led the research and development of multiple early-stage technologies and products in cardiac rhythm management and heart failure. He is an inventor on more than 40 patents and has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals. Kadir received a PhD and Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from National Institute of Technology (REC), Trichy, India.
David Stone is the Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for the Pension Fund of the Christian Church Indianapolis. He is a Board Member for On Target Laboratories since 2014. David has an MBA from Michigan State University.
Gwen is a Managing Director of H.I.G. BioHealth Partners, focusing on investment opportunities in the life sciences sector, including biopharmaceuticals, health care IT, medical devices, and diagnostics. Gwen has been active in the life sciences sector for more than 29 years. Previously, she served as the General Manager and Vice President of US Robotics for Smith and Nephew and as the Corporate Vice President of Global Corporate Development, Strategy and Strategic Relationships at Teleflex where for eight years she presided over all global acquisitions. Gwen joined Teleflex as a result of Teleflex’s acquisition of Hotspur Technologies, a company Gwen co-founded and served as President and Chief Executive Officer. Gwen was also a co-founder of Nellix Endovascular, Bacchus Vascular and AneuRx, all three of which were medical device companies later acquired by larger strategic players. In addition, Gwen has been general partner of several private equity entities. Gwen currently also serves on the board of Compute Health, the board of CardioFocus and is an observer on the board of Augmedics. Gwen holds an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School. She also holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she simultaneously completed her pre-med requirements.
Bernie Haffey is President of Haffey&Co., a management consulting firm that helps organizations achieve world-class customer, employee and shareholder results. Previously he served as President and CEO of two successful venture-backed start-ups: Nexis Vision, Inc., and NDO Surgical, Inc. Mr. Haffey also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Summit Technology, Inc., and Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at IntraLase Corp, start-ups that achieved $>100M in revenue and ~ $1B exits under his management. Earlier in his career he held executive management positions at Mentor Corp and in Hewlett Packard Company’s Medical Products Group. Mr. Haffey also previously served as a founding Board Member at WaveTec Vision, Inc. (acquired by Alcon Labs) and at Ocular Therapuetix, Inc. (NASDAQ: OCUL). Mr. Haffey earned a BA from Colgate University and an MBA from Cornell University.
These investors make On Target Laboratories’ ongoing work possible.