Corporate Governance

Novalar is committed to corporate governance and the highest ethical standards of business practice. We’re guided by our values and devoted to ethical, credible, and honest relationships with our customers, partners, and each other.

The Novalar Board of Directors oversees our practices and management, to make sure that we continue to comply with the highest ethical standards and comply with all laws applicable to our business.

Robert J. More, Chairman
John Savarese, M.D.
Mike Raab
Lowell Sears
Steven J. Semmelmayer
Donna Janson

The operating committees of the Board of Directors are listed below.


Our Investors include, among others:

  • Domain Associates
  • New Enterprise Associates
  • S.R. One
  • Montreux Equity Partners
  • Boston Millennia Partners
  • Genevest
  • Sears Capital Management


Board of Directors

Robert J. More, Chairman

Mr. More joined Frazier Healthcare Ventures in 2008 as a General Partner and is a member of the firm’s biopharma and medical device investment teams. Prior to Frazier Healthcare, Mr. More was a Partner with Domain Associates, having joined the firm in 1996 as a Kauffman Fellow and becoming a Partner in 2000. From 1997-1998, Mr. More served as the Chief Operating Officer of Small Molecule Therapeutics, a Domain portfolio company subsequently purchased by Morphochem AG. And from 1992 to 1995, Mr. More was with Pharmacia Biotech in sales. Prior to joining Pharmacia, Mr. More held a research position at Somatogen, a company developing a recombinant blood substitute that was subsequently bought by Baxter. While attending business school, Mr. More worked with MedVest, an early-stage venture group in Washington, D.C.

Mr. More managed successful investments in and served on the boards of ESP Pharma (acquired by Protein Design Labs, Inc.), Proxima Therapeutics (acquired by Cytyc Corporation), Onux Medical (acquired by C.R. Bard), NovaCardia (acquired by Merck), Esprit Pharma (acquired by Allergan) and IntraLase (acquired by Advanced Medical Optics, Inc.).

Mr. More serves as an advisory board member for Montagu Newhall Associates, Okapi Ventures, The Medical Industry Group of the NVCA and The Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center. He is also a past founding board member of the Kauffman Fellows Program.

Mr. More received his MBA from the Darden School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia and a BA from Middlebury College.

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John Savarese, M.D.

Dr. Savarese is a Managing Director at Montreux Equity Partners. Dr. Savarese's clinical experience in General and Orthopedic Surgery was gained at the Cornell University Medical College/Hospital for Special Surgery. Dr. Savarese is a board director or observer for Montreux portfolio companies, KFx, Verus, Avantis Medical, Bayhill and Novalar. In addition, he was actively involved in Montreux's investment decisions in Somaxon (NASDAQ: SOMX), Aryx (NASDAQ: ARYX), Orexigen (NASDAQ: OREX), Cerexa (Forest labs), Renal CarePartners, NovoStent and Asthmatx. Prior to joining Montreux, Dr. Savarese served as Director of Business Development and Marketing with the entrepreneurial team at NeurogesX (NASDAQ: NGSX), a Montreux portfolio company focused on the treatment of pain. Dr. Savarese worked in the Life Sciences Investment Banking division at Credit Suisse First Boston and started his career in the venture industry as a consultant to private equity firms and early stage companies.

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Mike Raab

Mr. Raab became a member of the Novalar board in 2007 as a representative of NEA. Mr. Raab joined NEA in 2002 as a Partner. He specializes in healthcare investments focusing on biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors. In addition to Novalar, current board memberships include Amicus Therapeutics, Fenway Pharmaceuticals, Hyperion Pharmaceuticals, Ardelyx Pharmaceuticals, Intarcia, Novacea and Zosano Pharma. Mr. Raab is also actively involved with 23andMe, Braincells Inc., Liquidia and Vitae Pharmaceuticals. As well, Mr. Raab is a member of the Life Sciences Advisory Board for Silicon Valley Bank. Prior to joining NEA, Mr. Raab was most recently Senior Vice President, Therapeutics and General Manager, of the Renal Division at Genzyme Corporation. Prior to that, Mr. Raab was Vice President of Business Development for the Therapeutics Division, responsible for the identification and in-licensing of new therapeutic product opportunities. He gained extensive international experience while building a commercial operation in Latin America for the Therapeutics and Surgical Products groups for the company. Mr. Raab was also Product Manager for Ceredase and was instrumental in the worldwide launch of Cerezyme, Genzyme's $1 billion therapy for Gaucher Disease. Mr. Raab also spent two years with Genzyme's Diagnostic products and services division. Previous to Genzyme, Mr. Raab held sales and marketing positions at Repligen and Bristol-Myers. Mr. Raab received his BA from DePaul University.

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Lowell Sears

Mr. Sears is Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Sears Capital Management, Inc. He has been a venture investor and portfolio manager through Sears Capital Management since 1994. From 1988 until 1994, Mr. Sears was Chief Financial Officer of Amgen, Inc. In addition to his role as CFO with Amgen, he also held the position of Senior Vice President responsible for the Asia Pacific Region, establishing marketing, sales and development operations in Japan, China, and other countries from 1992 through 1994. From 1986 until 1988, Mr. Sears served as Treasurer and Director of Planning for Amgen. Before joining Amgen, he held senior planning and financial positions with Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) from 1976 until 1986, including a period as Chief Financial Officer for its Ventures Division. Mr. Sears has been an active participant in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries since 1979 and serves on the boards of the following companies: Coapt Systems, InteKrin Therapeutics, Corthera, SymBio Pharmaceuticals KK. He holds a BA in Economics from Claremont McKenna College and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

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Steven J. Semmelmayer

Mr. Semmelmayer began his career at Ormco Orthodontics, a leader in the orthodontic products market, where he held numerous sales and marketing positions. In 1993, he became General Manager and then President of Kerr Corporation, one of the industry's largest manufacturers of professional dental consumable products. He presided over Kerr for twelve years, growing the company from $120 million to almost $400 million in revenue through both internal initiatives and acquisitions. In 2005, Mr. Semmelmayer was named the President of the Professional Dental Group of Kerr's parent, Sybron Dental Specialties, a position he maintained until Sybron was sold to Danaher Corporation for $2.2 billion. Currently Mr. Semmelmayer serves as President, CEO and Chairman of LED Medical Diagnostics Inc., and its subsidiary, LED Dental Inc., an innovative company dedicated to the early detection of oral cancer. He joined LED in early 2007. Mr. Semmelmayer also serves on the Boards of American Dental Partners (NASDQ: ADPI) and Building Materials Distributors Inc.

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Donna Janson

Ms. Janson joined Novalar™ as CEO in June of 2004, and brings more than 20 years experience in leading dental companies and launching novel products to the dental market. Between 2002 and 2004, Ms. Janson served as President and CEO of Biora AB, a public dental biotech company specializing in periodontal regeneration. As CEO, she successfully reorganized and refocused the organization and achieved continued profitability. Ms. Janson managed the acquisition of Biora by Straumann at a 50% premium to the share price.

Prior to being appointed CEO, Ms. Janson served as president of Biora Inc., the North American subsidiary of Biora AB. In this role, she was responsible for establishing Biora, Inc., played an active role in Biora's Independent Public Offering and was able to achieve profitability in less than 5 years. She currently serves as a board member of Medivir AB a pharmaceutical company which develops protease inhibitors and Axenic Dental, Inc., a dental device company focused on developing a disposable dental handpiece.

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