Francois Nader, MD
President and Chief Executive Officer

Luke M. Beshar, CPA
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Roger J. Garceau, MD, FAAP
Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

Glenn R. Melrose
Sr. Vice President, Human Resources

Eric Pauwels
Sr. Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer

Joseph J. Rogus, PE
Vice President, Technical Operations and Supply Chain Management

Edward H. Stratemeier, JD, MBA
Sr. Vice President and General Counsel

Francois Nader, MD
President and Chief Executive Officer

Francois Nader, MD, has been president, chief executive officer and a member of the Board of Directors of NPS Pharmaceuticals since 2008. During his tenure, Dr. Nader transformed NPS into a leading global biotechnology company focused on treatments for patients with rare disorders in gastroenterology and endocrinology. NPS’ lead product, Gattex for Short Bowel Syndrome, was approved in Europe and the US in 2012. NPS plans to file its second product, Natpara for Hypoparathyroidism, in the US in 2013.

Dr. Nader is a 30-year veteran of the healthcare industry. He joined NPS in 2006 as chief medical and commercial officer and was promoted to chief operating officer in 2007. Previously, he was a venture partner at Care Capital. Dr. Nader served on the North America Leadership Team of Aventis and its predecessor companies and held a number of executive positions including senior vice-president, integrated healthcare markets and North America medical and regulatory affairs. Prior, Dr. Nader led the global commercial operations at the Pasteur Vaccines division of Rhone-Poulenc.

Dr. Nader currently serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees for BioNJ, New Jersey’s trade organization representing the biotechnology industry, and Board member of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. He formerly served on the Board of the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey and Noven Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Nader earned his French Doctorate in Medicine from St. Joseph University (Lebanon) and his Physician Executive MBA from the University of Tennessee.

Luke M. Beshar, CPA
 Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Luke Beshar has served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of NPS Pharmaceuticals since November 2007. At NPS, Mr. Beshar is responsible for all financial management, investor relations, information technology, technical operations, supply-chain management, facilities, and contracts and outsourcing. Since joining the company in 2007, Mr. Beshar has utilized his 25 years of experience to help transform NPS strategically and financially. During his tenure, NPS has secured over $250 million of new capital. Mr. Beshar has reorganized and built a high-caliber finance team and established a disciplined financial planning and analysis function.

Prior to joining NPS, from December 2002 to November 2007, Mr. Beshar served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Cambrex Corporation, a global life sciences company. At Cambrex, Mr. Beshar’s accomplishments included raising approximately $600 million of new capital, building a high-performance global finance team and designing and implementing $8 million in cost reductions. From January 2002 to December 2002, he was senior vice president and chief financial officer at Dendrite International, a leading provider of services to the life sciences industry.

Mr. Beshar began his career with Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1980 and is a certified public accountant. Mr. Beshar obtained his BS degree in Accounting and Finance from Michigan State University and is a graduate of The Executive Program at the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Roger J. Garceau, MD, FAAP
Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

Roger Garceau, MD, joined NPS in December 2008 and brings over 20 years of broad pharmaceutical industry experience to his position. From 2002 to December 2008, Dr. Garceau served in a number of senior leadership positions at sanofi-aventis and most recently was vice president of the new products group. Previously, Dr. Garceau held various positions, including vice president of clinical operations, interim head of North American medical and regulatory affairs, and head of US medical research, where he led a team of over 200 professionals and oversaw the design and execution of over 50 sponsored clinical trials in 5 different therapeutic areas. Prior to his tenure at sanofi-aventis, Dr. Garceau spent 16 years with Pharmacia Corporation in global development and medical affairs, where he successfully contributed to a number of marketing applications. Dr. Garceau is a board-certified pediatrician. He received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut and his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Glenn R. Melrose
Sr. Vice President, Human Resources

Glenn Melrose joined NPS Pharmaceuticals as senior vice president, human resources in September 2012 and brings over 25 years of experience within the biomedical industry.  He previously was vice president, human resources at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 

Mr. Melrose began his career as a research scientist at the University of Maryland Cancer Center and Becton Dickinson Immunodiagnostics before joining Amersham Diagnostics in 1988. Over the course of 16 years at Amersham he held several positions of increasing responsibility in sales and marketing before moving into human resources, rising to the position of vice president, human resources, North America, and ultimately leading the worldwide human resources function for Amersham Biosciences.

Mr. Melrose received a B.S. in Biology from Washington and Lee University and an M.S. in Experimental Biology from the University of Maryland.

Eric Pauwels
Sr. Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer

Eric Pauwels joined NPS in September 2011 as Senior Vice President and Chief Commerical Officer. Mr. Pauwels has more than 25 years of healthcare experience in biopharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Over the course of his career, he has launched more than 20 biopharmaceutical products in the areas of rare genetic diseases, cardiovascular disease, urology, gynecology, and CNS/neuroscience. Most recently, Mr. Pauwels was Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Accuray Incorporated, a premier radiation oncology company with over 1000 employees worldwide.

From 2005 to 2010, Mr. Pauwels served as chief commercial officer at Shire Human Genetic Therapies (Shire HGT), where he led all commercial functions and launched four orphan drugs. Previously, Mr. Pauwels held the position of vice president of global strategic marketing for both the men's health and cardiovascular disease practices of Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Pauwels also brings more than 15 years of alliance-management experience to NPS, having managed collaborations with companies such as Abbott, Centocor, Dianippon-Sumitomo, Genzyme, GlaxoSmithKline, Organon, and Takeda. Mr. Pauwels earned his Bachelor of Science degree from California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California. 

Joseph J. Rogus, PE
Vice President, Technical Operations and Supply Chain Management

Joseph Rogus joined NPS in April 2007.  With over 35 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, Mr. Rogus has a wealth of knowledge of pharmaceutical and technology development through commercialization and marketed product support in the global environment.  Prior to joining NPS, Mr. Rogus served as vice president of pharmaceutical development at Chugai Pharma USA.  Previously he served as senior vice president of technical operations at Advancis Pharmaceutical Corporation.  Before his tenure at Advancis, Mr. Rogus spent over 30 years with Schering-Plough Research Institute where he served as vice president of pharmaceutical product optimization and clinical supplies management.  Mr. Rogus obtained his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Newark College of Engineering and his Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Edward H. Stratemeier, JD, MBA
Sr. Vice President and General Counsel

Edward Stratemeier joined NPS in October 2009.  He has more than 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology law including relationship management, litigation and alternative dispute resolution.  Prior to joining NPS, Mr. Stratemeier served as general counsel for Aventis Pharmaceuticals North America and global senior vice president and was a member of the North American leadership team.  In private practice, he counseled pharmaceutical and biotech companies on product life cycle management; patent, regulatory and litigation strategies; and product licensing.  Mr. Stratemeier received a JD from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.