A talented team of life science experts, industry executives, and experienced advisors, Fervent Pharmaceuticals’ leadership brings deep passion and distinguished expertise to the company’s mission of improving women’s health. Our management team has a diverse background, extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, and a proven track record of success.

The founder and CEO of Fervent Pharmaceuticals, George Royster is responsible for overseeing and guiding the strategic direction of the company. He is currently preparing the company to conduct a Phase 2 trial, identifying strategic partners (subcontract partners, regulatory consultants, etc.) for outsourcing various aspects of the trial, and ensuring that the trial is adequately financed and successfully concluded.

As CEO, Mr. Royster has recruited the best collaborative strategic partners, including Quintiles and University of Iowa Pharmaceuticals. He has championed a successful Pilot Study of FP-101, demonstrating a 90% efficacy rate, and led the company to a successful Pre-IND meeting with the FDA.

Prior to starting Fervent Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Royster has over 25 years experience in healthcare executive management. He has assisted healthcare organizations in the areas of productivity and profitability by way of operations management, business and service line development. He is credited with over a dozen US and international patents, and is currently hard at work ensuring that Fervent is awarded its remaining international patents pending.

Mr. Royster was the Founder and CEO of a company that provided executive management, expertise, and oversight to healthcare systems, multi-specialty medical practices, and physican offices.

He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from NC Wesleyan College.

Steve A. Wordsworth
Partner in Fervent Pharmaceuticals, LLC
Nashville, NC

Ernest Mario, PhD
Partner and Advisor
Dr. Ernest Mario has worked in drugstore pharmacy, research, and management in several pharmaceutical companies. He was named Chief Executive of Glaxo in 1989, when it was the second-largest drug company in the world. Dr. Mario led Glaxo’s growth as it introduced five major products to the market and grew profits by 15%. He served as CEO of ALZA Corporation from 1993 until it was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2001. He then served as CEO of Reliant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until its acquisition by GlaxoSmithKline.

Dr. Mario is Chairman of Soleno Therapeutics and a Venture Partner with Pappas Ventures in Research Triangle Park. He has served as a trustee of Rutgers University, the University of Rhode Island, and Duke University, where he was previously Chairman of the Duke University Health System.

Throughout his life Dr. Mario has been active in numerous charitable organizations that focus on education and healthcare, and continues to sit on the boards of a number of public and private companies. He served as a trustee of Rutgers, where the pharmacy school he attended now bears his name; the University of Rhode Island, where he earned his PhD in physical sciences; and Duke, where his 18 years of service was the longest tenure ever for a non-Duke family member.

David LaVance
Partner and Advisor
Mr. LaVance is the former Chairman of the Board of Hologic, Inc., a medical device and diagnostics company headquartered in Boston (HOLX). He is also the Chairman of Integrated Environmental Technologies, Ltd. (IEVM), a public company specializing in providing disinfectants and biocides to industry, as well as President of LifeSource Health, Inc., a medical data access provider.

Mr. LaVance specializes in developing life science and other emerging technology companies as well as in advising companies about mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic alliances. He has extensive experience in strategic planning for biotechnology and medical device companies, technology licensing, and international distribution.

In 2015, he was one of three finalists for a New York Stock Exchange Leadership award, in the Nonexecutive Chairman of the Year category. NYSE.

Doug Martin
Partner and Advisor
Since 2012, Doug has managed the Wordsworth Family Office thru Brigade Properties LLC, and sits on the board of directors of several companies. Previously, Mr. Martin was the Tax Director and Assistant to the President of MBM Corporation prior to the company being acquired by Berkshire Hathaway.

Mr. Martin has an accounting degree from NC State University and is a CPA.

Lynn Carter, PhD
Advisor
Dr. Lynn Carter provides CMC, pharmaceutical development, and analytical chemistry expertise for a variety of dosage forms in all stages of development. She specializes in CMC project leadership, strategic and technical input on all aspects of CMC development, and authoring of regulatory submissions.

As a consultant, Dr. Carter has worked with a wide range of clients, from large pharma to small virtual companies. She had an eleven-year career at GlaxoSmithKline during which she rose to the position of Manager, PD Operations. Before that she held positions at Procter & Gamble and Pfizer.

Dr. Carter has a Ph.D. Analytical Chemistry, from the University of Cincinnati and a BS in Chemistry from Duke University.

William Humphries
Advisor
Bill has more than 30 years of experience building and leading commercial-stage pharmaceutical organizations. Currently, he is the Chief Executive Officer of Isosceles Pharmaceuticals, a position he has held since May 2021. Prior to his role at Isosceles, Bill served as President of Ortho Dermatologics and President and Chief Executive Officer of the North American business of Merz, an affiliate of Merz Pharma Group. Before joining Merz, he served in a number of leadership positions with Stiefel Laboratories, including as its Chief Commercial Officer and then as President. In addition to the PhaseBio board of directors, Bill currently serves as the chairman of the board for Clearside Biomedical, chairman of the board for STRATA Skin Sciences, and as a director on the board of Aclaris Therapeutics. He received a BA from Bucknell University and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Steve Weisman, PhD
Advisor
Dr. Weisman knows how to bridge the gap between science and marketing. As head of ISS’s Clinical and Regulatory Support practice, he focuses on the development of scientific and regulatory approaches that increase a product’s market potential. He’s an invaluable resource for scientific litigation support for products in crisis and, under his guidance, ISS has encouraged firms to proactively monitor the safety and effectiveness of their products and develop systems that reduce liability claims. Dr. Weisman has over 20 years of experience in pharmacology, toxicology, pharmaceutical product development, clinical and regulatory affairs, and marketing evaluation and communication.

Giovanni Ciavarra, PhD
Advisor
Dr. Ciavarra is Director of Scientific Affairs at Innovative Science Solutions, Inc. For the past decade he has worked closely with many different pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and dietary supplement companies in the scientific and regulatory arenas. He also works with clinical trial technology companies to support their communication and marketing efforts especially as they relate to novel decentralized clinical trial designs. Dr. Ciavarra received his B.Sc. in Molecular Biology from McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada), and PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Toronto. Dr. Ciavarra is excited to be working with Fervent Pharmaceuticals, a company that is at the forefront of embracing innovative clinical trial technologies to advance its research.