Secretary, Member of the Company’s Board of Directors

Thomas Byrne has directed Diffusion’s intellectual property strategy since the Company was founded in 2001. He is an experienced pharmaceutical development executive with special expertise in related intellectual property law. His experience includes in-house counsel positions within both Genentech and Amgen. While at Amgen, he coinvented the erythropoiesis stimulating agent darbepoietin alpha (Aranesp®). From 1992-2000 he was a partner in the intellectual property law firm of Nixon and Vanderhye P.C. (Arlington, VA). Mr. Byrne is currently a consultant for start-up biotechnology companies on intellectual property, contract and business issues. He holds BS degrees from the University of Virginia in Chemical Engineering and Nuclear Engineering, an MS degree from Yale University in Biochemical Engineering, and a law degree from the University of Virginia.