John M. Porter

Mr. Porter joined the company in October 2008 and was appointed to the position of senior vice president. He is responsible for overall strategic planning and corporate development. His primary areas of focus are to advance the company’s biotechnology initiatives in microgravity processing and commercialize advance technologies that have been developed in and around the space industry.

With over 10 years experience in the life science and investment banking industries, Mr. Porter provides valuable insights into the company’s biotechnology, vaccine development and pharmaceutical discovery programs. He also has a unique background in business development, strategic planning and corporate finance to augment the company’s plans to commercialize various technologies that have been discovered via the space program.

Prior to joining the company, Mr. Porter co-founded Arabella Securities, an investment banking firm that specialized in providing trading services and equity research on small-cap companies to institutional investors. He headed the equity research department and published research on small companies in the healthcare technology sector. Arabella Securities subsequently merged with another broker-dealer in 2006, where Mr. Porter continued to lead the firm’s healthcare investment banking practice.

Mr. Porter previously served as director of business development for Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ: LMNX), a leading developer of biological testing technologies for the diagnostic and life sciences industries. While at Luminex, Mr. Porter was responsible for the development, negotiation and management of Luminex’s strategic partnership program. During his tenure at Luminex, over 40 new strategic licensing partnerships were formed with companies around the globe, including Hitachi Software (Japan), Qiagen (Germany), Tepnel (UK), Invitrogen (formerly Biosource, U.S.), Inverness Medical (U.S.), Millipore Corporation (formerly Upstate Biotech, U.S.) and many other world class companies. Mr. Porter performed additional duties including strategic planning, product development, marketing management, and investor relations. Mr. Porter also served in multiple capacities during the preparation and execution of Luminex’s initial public offering in March 2000, where the company successfully raised approximately $100M.

Mr. Porter began his career as a senior associate in the global equity research division for Citigroup (formerly Salomon Smith Barney) in New York. At Citigroup, he was responsible for the day-to-day equity research of multiple corporations in the U.S. His research group consistently received awards and high marks for quality and thorough analysis from multiple trade publications and clients such as Institutional Investor (First Team 1998 and 1999) and the Wall Street Journal (Best on the Street Analysts Survey). During his graduate studies, Mr. Porter was also an analyst in the equity research division of BankOne (formerly Hibernia Southcoast Capital) based in New Orleans.
Mr. Porter has a bachelor of science in chemistry from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. In addition, Mr. Porter earned a master of business administration from the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University and holds a master of science in physical chemistry and material science from Tulane University in New Orleans. Mr. Porter has co-authored several peer-review journal articles related to his specific areas of research. He has also passed the examinations for the Series 7, 24, 66, 86 and 87 designations by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).