Board & Leadership

World-Class Board & Executive Team

What's new:

Added Dr. Steve Fisher (former Zoetis President), Kevin McCarthy (former Speaker of the U.S. House), and Dr. Paul Hauer (former USDA Director) to our Board and advisory team. Recruited Chip Dorsey as CFO (starts Jan 5, 2026) and Head of Investor Relations from leading animal-health companies.

Why it matters:

Our Board now delivers exactly what we need: regulatory navigation to get across the finish line (McCarthy, Hauer) combined with commercial execution expertise to dominate launch and distribution (Fisher).

Dr. Steve Fisher: Commercial execution

Former President, Zoetis U.S.

Steve Fisher built and scaled Zoetis's U.S. operations — the largest animal health business in the world. His expertise in distribution, regulatory affairs, and commercial strategy is exactly what we need as we transition from development to commercialization.

Immediate impact:

  • Negotiated directly with Zoetis CEO Kristin Peck to secure backup manufacturing facility
  • Secured 16,237 sq ft BSL-2 certified USDA facility with $30M+ replacement cost
  • Deal includes first 6 months rent-free, complete equipment suite, and Congressional FMD permit
  • This demonstrates his ability to operate at the highest industry levels and solve problems money alone can't fix

Kevin McCarthy: Regulatory & political navigation

Former Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives

McCarthy brings unparalleled access to federal agencies and cross-government coordination capabilities. His involvement has accelerated our regulatory timeline and positioned Anivive for biodefense opportunities.

Key contributions:

  • Helped secure FDA guidance release on fungal vaccines through omnibus bill mandate
  • Coordinated cross-aisle support for fungal vaccine development
  • Made introductions to head of APHIS (agency overseeing USDA CVB)
  • Coordinating introduction to Secretary of Agriculture (has veto rights on USDA decisions)
  • Facilitating alignment across FDA, CDC, NIH, and USDA

Dr. Paul Hauer: USDA regulatory expertise

Former Director, USDA Center for Veterinary Biologics

Paul literally wrote the USDA playbook we're following. As former Director of the Center for Veterinary Biologics, he brings insider knowledge of regulatory processes and risk mitigation strategies.

Strategic guidance:

  • Guiding NEPA categorical exclusion positioning
  • Recommending who to invite to USDA review meetings
  • Suggesting additional "nice-to-have" studies that strengthen submission
  • De-risking regulatory pathway through insider expertise

Executive hiring: CFO Secured

Building commercial-stage leadership:

  • Chief Financial Officer: Chip Dorsey

    Starts Jan 5, 2026. Joins from leading animal-health companies to strengthen financial strategy and reporting as we scale.

  • Head of Investor Relations

    Building communication infrastructure for commercial-stage operations and future capital markets activity

Leadership recognition

Ed Robb: Iron Paw Award

Chief Strategy Officer

Honored with the Iron Paw Award for career-long impact on veterinary medicine. Ed spearheads development of our Valley Fever vaccine, serves as Principal Investigator on our NIH biodefense contract, is an Anivive investor, and has been a key leader for eight years.

Norm Christensen: Biodefense expertise

Founder & CEO, Karman Space & Defense

Joined Anivive's Advisory Board. Christensen successfully led his company in securing billions in U.S. government contracts and completed one of the most successful defense IPOs of the past year.

Strategic value: His experience building and scaling advanced technology platforms within the national security sector will guide Anivive as we expand our biodefense portfolio.

The takeaway:

The Board structure now delivers exactly what we need: regulatory navigation to get across the finish line (McCarthy, Hauer) combined with commercial execution expertise to dominate launch and distribution (Fisher).