Fred M. Schwarzer
Charter Life Sciences
Managing Partner

Mr. Schwarzer is a founding partner of CHARTER LIFE SCIENCES (CLS), a clinical stage life sciences venture capital investor.  He has extensive operational and fundraising experience, including the development of corporate partnerships and the structuring of venture capital investments and acquisitions.  He is the Chairman of Inviragen’s Board of Directors.

Prior to founding CLS, Fred was the chief executive officer and then chairman of Heska Corporation. During his tenure at Heska, Fred completed corporate partnerships with Bayer and Novartis, completed seven acquisitions and Heska’s initial public offering and follow-on public offering.

Fred began his professional career as an attorney representing technology companies and venture capitalists. In 1985, he was made a partner with Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro (now Pillsbury, Winthrop) and in 1988 he founded the firm of General Counsel Associates (now GCA Law Partners).  He holds a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law and a BA from the University of Michigan.

John Neis
Venture Investors
Managing Director and Head of the Healthcare Practice

Venture Investors was founded in 1982 and is one of the leading venture capital firms in the Midwest.  Mr. Neis is a Managing Director and heads the Healthcare practice of Venture Investors.  He has over 23 years in the venture capital industry, which have enabled him to experience several industry cycles, and to serve on the Boards of Directors of companies from formation through IPO or sale.

John currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Virent Energy Systems, Deltanoid Pharmaceuticals and Cellectar.  He serves on the Board of the Wisconsin Technology Council, which is the science and technology advisor to the Governor and Legislature.  John also serves on the advisory boards for the Weinert Applied Ventures Program, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Business School and Tandem Press. He is a member of the patent advisory group of the National Venture Capital Association. His achievements were recognized when he was named to the 2008 Midas List, Forbes annual listing of the top 100 tech dealmakers in the world.

John graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. in Finance from the University of Utah, and received a M.S. in Marketing and Finance from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  He is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Heng Tong Choo
Bio*One Capital
Senior Director, Investment

Mr. Choo holds dual appointments as Senior Director (Investments) at Bio*One Capital and EDB Investments.  He has over 12 years of experience in investments and industry development including M&As, strategic planning, business development, and international growth into new markets, involving both multi-nationals and start-up organizations.
Prior to joining Bio*One, he was with the Singapore Economic Development Board.  Currently, Heng Tong serves on the board of several companies including Lonza Biologics Tuas Pte Ltd, Maccine Pte Ltd and S*Bio Pte Ltd. He was previously a board member of Artisan Pharma Inc, CombinatoRx Singapore Pte Ltd and SingVax Pte Ltd and a board observer at Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp and Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc.

He holds a Masters degree in Biotechnology from Columbia University in New York and a Masters degree in Engineering from Imperial College, London.

Dr. Dan Stinchcomb
Inviragen, Inc.
Co-founder and CEO

Dr. Stinchcomb co-founded Inviragen with Dr. Jorge Osorio in 2005.  Dan has over two decades of biotechnology experience including research, product development, approval, and commercialization of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.  His background includes positions as Executive Vice President of Research and Development at Heska Corporation, Director of Biology at Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals (now Sirna acquired by Merck), and Senior Scientist at Synergen (acquired by Amgen).

Prior to his career in biotechnology, Dr. Stinchcomb was Assistant and Associate Professor at Harvard University. He obtained his Ph.D. at Stanford University and his B.A. at Harvard University. Currently, he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Colorado State University.