Sep. 17, 2009 (PR Newswire) --

STAMFORD, Conn., Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Cowen Healthcare Royalty Partners ("Cowen Royalty") today announced that it has established a Strategic Advisory Board to extend the Firm's functional knowledge and geographic base within the healthcare industry. The Board will be comprised of industry veterans with complementary backgrounds and significant general management experience. Each member is expected to supplement Cowen Royalty's due diligence, opportunity assessment, business development and portfolio management capabilities.

The initial five board appointments include Dr. Frank Armstrong, Louis P. Berneman, Dr. Michael G. Carter, Timothy P. Lynch and Nicholas L. Teti, Jr.

Dr. Frank Armstrong is CEO of Fulcrum Pharma plc, a drug development and regulatory services company based in London, England. Prior to joining Fulcrum Pharma plc, he served as CEO at a number of healthcare and biopharmaceutical companies, including CuraGen Corporation, Bioaccelerate Holdings, Inc., Provensis Ltd. and Phoqus Pharmaceuticals plc. Prior to these positions, Dr. Armstrong was head of worldwide product development at Bayer AG and a senior vice president at Zeneca Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca plc). Dr. Armstrong holds an MBChB from the University of Edinburgh and became a member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1984. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh in 1993 and was elected a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Physicians in 1994.

Louis P. Berneman is President of Texelerate, LLC, a technology transfer consultancy where he is focused on royalty monetization, establishing and investing in start-up companies, and patent licensing. He is also a Partner of Osage University Partners and Founder and President of TMune Therapeutics, Inc. For the past nine years, Mr. Berneman was a member of the Strategic Advisory Board for the Paul Royalty Funds. Previously, he served as Managing Director of the Center for Technology Transfer at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Berneman is a former President of the Association of University Technology Managers and a former Vice President and Trustee of the Licensing Executives Society. He holds a B.A. from the Pennsylvania State University, a teaching credential from University of California at Santa Barbara, and an M.A., M.T. and Ed. D. from Teachers College, Columbia University. Mr. Berneman is a Certified Licensing Professional.

Dr. Michael G. Carter is a Venture Partner at SV Life Sciences Advisers LLP and serves as a Non-Executive Director of Micromet Inc., Fulcrum Pharma plc, Santarus, Inc. and GTx, Inc. Previously, Dr. Carter was a member of the Strategic Advisory Board for the Paul Royalty Funds.