The Team
Ken Greathouse, CEO
Ken Greathouse is the Chief Executive Officer and co-Founder of Newcastle Bioscience. Over the past 18 years, Ken has co-founded four development stage specialty pharmaceutical companies, as well as one commercial-stage rare disease product company, Manchester Pharmaceuticals. Ken is currently President of Argent Development Group, LLC, and CEO of Melbourne Laboratories.
Ken was formerly Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations for Questcor Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Mallinckrodt. Prior to his tenure at Questcor, Ken served as General Manager of Athena Neurosciences, a division of Elan Pharmaceuticals, PLC. Before joining Athena, Ken held various commercial positions with Lederle Laboratories over an 18 year span that included Sales, Marketing, and Business Development.
Ken holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.
In his spare time, Ken likes to road bike, ski, and play golf.
Gene Nakagawa, President
Gene Nakagawa is the President and a founding member of Newcastle Bioscience. Gene brings over 20 years of pharmaceutical manufacturing, marketing, API sourcing, and business development to the Newcastle team. He previously worked for LGM Pharma and Nexgen Pharma as the Executive Vice President for both companies. Prior to that, Gene worked at KPMG and worked in the Business Development group for Gateway.
Gene holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles.
In his spare time, Gene enjoys surfing, boxing, and spending time with family and friends.
Robert Pollock, Regulatory Advisor
Bob Pollock is both a partner and the Regulatory Advisor of Newcastle Bioscience. He is also President and Chief Scientific Officer of Melbourne Laboratories. Bob’s many years working at the FDA culminated in his serving as the Acting Deputy Director of the Office of Generic Drugs, where he developed core competencies in all aspects of FDA regulatory standards and filings. Bob is also well versed in issues related to patent exclusivity and the intricacies of International Harmonization.
For the past 27 years, Bob has been with Lachman Consultant Services, the premier regulatory consulting firm in the pharmaceutical industry. He attained the title of Executive Vice President in 2003, retired from Lachman at the end of 2012, and now serves as Senior Advisor and Outside Director to the Board.
In his spare time, Bob likes to hike, boogie board, and spend time at the beach.
Matt Kurth, Medical Director & Clinical Advisor
Matthias Kurth, MD, Ph.D. is the Medical Director of Newcastle Biosciences. Over the last 27 years, Matt has been involved in all aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, from initial human trials to aftermarket comparison studies, as well as medical support for a broad range of pharmaceutical products. He has served in a medical director capacity for Axys, Questcor, Aton, Allergan, and Elan.
Matt is board certified in Neurology with special expertise in Movement Disorders. He received his MD and Ph.D. from Baylor College of Medicine and is an alumnus of Rice University.
Brian Smith, Board Member
Brian Smith is CEO and co-founder of Argent Development Group. Brian also co-founded Manchester Pharmaceuticals, Melbourne Laboratories, and Valcrest Pharmaceuticals.
Brian serves or has served on the boards of several privately-held pharmaceutical, drug development, and healthcare companies, including Zensights, DermAvance Pharmaceuticals, Optime Care, and Newcastle Bioscience.
Brian graduated from Loras College in 1977 with a B.A. in Business Administration, received an MBA from Dominican University, and is an Alumnus of the Harvard Business School. Brian has served on the Board of Regents for Loras College and was a member of its Executive Committee. He is also on the Board of Directors and a member of the Executive and Capital Campaign Committees of Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School.
Most recently, Brian is a Visiting Professor in the Finance department of The Lutgert College of Business and The Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship At Florida Gulf Coast University.