Tom McDowell, the Chief Operating Officer for Kurve Therapeutics, is a financial and operations expert with 40 years of experience. His finely tuned moral compass helps guide Kurve through its mission to provide advanced neurodegenerative disease treatments to millions of people.
He has spent decades consulting, stabilizing, and growing over 25 startups and early-stage companies in the software, telecommunications, financial management, retail, manufacturing, consulting, and distribution industries. This positions him as an expert in the role of operations and a driving force in Kurve’s future.
Tom certainly exceeds the professional qualifications for COO, but it’s who he is as a person that makes him a guiding hand at Kurve. His passion for mentorship, generosity, and integrity aligns perfectly with Kurve’s mission.
The Launch of Kurve’s Regulation A Offering
I met with Tom McDowell, Kurve Therapeutics’ COO, right after Kurve’s Regulation A offering was launched. After months of planning, it was a time of profound joy for the whole Kurve team and an honor to watch the moment the team’s hard work came to fruition.
As Kurve’s Chief Operating Officer and an accomplished financial advisor, Tom played a key role in preparing Kurve for its Regulation A offering. This next step is a momentous leap forward for the company, as it will allow them to reach their goals of bringing disease-modifying treatments to millions of people suffering from neurodegenerative diseases.
Christina: First of all, congratulations on your Regulation A offering launch! What does a Reg A offering mean for Kurve?
Tom: Thank you. Frankly, we’re thrilled. The Reg A offering means we get to launch, in earnest, a Phase III clinical study and have the financial backing to continue to refine and develop the product. We want to get our Phase III study across the finish line because that will allow us to get into the marketplace and ultimately get devices in people’s hands that can provide treatment for these very, very sad ailments. We’re not going to fix everything that’s wrong in this world, but there are some things that are simply part of life that we can make less anguishing.
A Chief Operating Officer Wears Many Hats
Christina: Tell me a bit about your role as Kurve’s COO.
Tom: Well, it’s really two roles. As Chief Operating Officer, I oversee the overall office operation as well as our production capabilities. We are planning on manufacturing the devices ourselves rather than contracting a manufacturer, but this requires financial responsibility and careful planning. The reason this is such a focus for us is that we want to be ready to hit the market with no manufacturing delays so we can meet the needs of our customers.
The second role is Chief Financial Officer, which really entails the day-to-day financial operations. This involves ensuring we are protecting our assets, patents, and data security; planning three years out financially; and that we are sufficiently capitalized to be able to march in a very straight path.
Tom wears many hats at Kurve, but it is par for the course for him. He describes himself as a “recovering CPA,” expressing gratitude for his public accounting experience but relief that he built a career he loves in operations. Tom credits his shift to operations to having the opportunity to move into an Entrepreneurial Services division when he was in the public accounting field. By doing so, he was able to discover his passion — working with startups. Helping young companies grow ignited his passion more than working for big companies.
Christina: Is your work with Kurve similar to your previous roles?
Tom: It’s not really a big shift, but it’s a much more fun shift. Not every company I’ve worked with has, what I would say, a global benefit — but Kurve does. It’s about more than just being successful, it’s about being able to provide a benefit to the global population. That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.
It’s important to stay challenged and stimulated in life, but it’s also important to do things you love. Tom is the embodiment of this notion. Kurve’s COO and CFO holds a third impressive title — one with a bit of torque.
Christina: Something that might surprise people, that definitely surprised me, is your role as President of Concorso Italiano. Can you tell me about your work with this company?
Tom: I’ve been a part of Concorso Italiano for about fifteen years now. It’s a very large show in the Monterey peninsula in California that’s spread out over nine days. It becomes the center of the automotive universe, drawing in people from all over the world. I’ve surrounded myself with people who are friends first and business colleagues second. We work 364 days a year for this one event — it’s definitely grueling, but when you get there, you see all the friends you’ve made over the years all bonding over beautiful Italian cars, and it’s worth it. It’s a lot of fun to talk to people about cars and while they may not have a passion for cars, they know people who do and they can understand it. They may think you’re a little screwy for having a passion for cars. But just as everybody is touched by somebody who has suffered from Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, everybody is touched by knowing some nut job who loves cars. And I confess, I’m one of those nut jobs.
Kurve’s Vision and Values
Kurve Therapeutics is leading the charge in developing treatments for debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Through next-gen medtech and specialty drug formulations, Kurve is reshaping the currently ineffective treatment landscape into a more hopeful one.
Their mission is to deliver disease-modifying treatments for complex diseases that affect millions of people around the world. It’s a tall order, but one that Kurve has proven they can fill through their successful clinical trials.
These treatments are designed to positively impact countless lives and bring forth meaningful change in the treatment of neurological diseases. It’s not just a scientific and medical contribution and responsibility, however — it’s a moral one, too.
“We do this because we can and because we have to.” — Kurve’s Mission
Christina: What do you value most in Kurve?
Tom: The potential of the product, certainly, but the product itself wouldn’t matter to me if I was working with someone who had compromised integrity. When you find somebody who is well-grounded and has solid values — which in my opinion are respect for people, respect for family, and respect for those you do business with — you gravitate toward them. When I first started working with Marc [Kurve’s CEO], I sensed that in him and quickly found that to be true. I thought, “Okay, there’s a great product, but most importantly, there’s a really good person behind this product, driving the process forward.” That’s what got me on board. We’ve set out an ethical path and business path for Kurve and they’re closely related.
Kurve’s Regulation A+ Offering
Kurve has recently launched its Regulation A+ offering, open to the general public for investments. This means anyone can become an investor in Kurve’s next-gen medtech and drug formulations and become part of Kurve’s journey to more efficient treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
Kurve’s patented technology is one Phase III clinical trial away from being ready for market launch. The millions of people suffering from central nervous system disorders without sufficient treatment options need Kurve’s help — and yours.
Visit kurvetx.com to learn how you can be a part of reshaping the future for millions of patients.