Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United States based CEO’ operating in the Pharmaceutical space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Anthony P Mack
Founding Chairman & CEO of Virpax Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Anthony P. Mack has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and finance industries. Prior to founding Virpax in 2016, Mr. Mack founded Scilex Pharmaceuticals and served as President and CEO until February 2018. Scilex was sold to a publicly-traded company. Mr. Mack founded his first pharmaceutical company ProSolus Pharmaceuticals in 2009, where he served as President before selling the company to Mission Pharmacal in 2015. Mr. Mack has held high-level management positions with Purdue Pharma, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, and EKR Therapeutics. He has led training, marketing, and commercial distribution for billion-dollar pain management products and has forged key strategic alliances. Mr. Mack holds an Executive MBA in Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing from Saint Joseph’s University.
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About Virpax Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Our product candidates are being developed to manage global unmet needs in the areas of cancer and non-cancer pain, PTSD, and CNS Disorder.
Chris Gibson
Co-Founder & CEO of Recursion Pharmaceuticals
Chris completed his PhD in Bioengineering at the University of Utah in the fall of 2013 before taking a leave of absence from medical school (he was enrolled in the MD/PhD program) to found and grow Recursion. He developed the core technology underlying this venture while in the lab of Dr. Dean Li. Chris comes from a family of entrepreneurs, is a graduate of Rice University with degrees in bioengineering and managerial studies, and recently completed an intense course in entrepreneurship at Stanford GSB. Chris is also a Board Member of CureHHT, a patient advocacy group for Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia. Chris enjoys cycling on both the road and the trails that cut through Utah’s great wilderness,as well as spending precious time with his family.
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About Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Recursion Pharmaceuticals is a digital biology company, developing a drug discovery platform and pipeline with machine learning.
Eric Marcotulli
Chief Executive Officer of Elysium
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About Elysium: Elysium Health offers health products built with science such as dietary supplements and anti-aging drugs.
Brenton Saunders
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Allergan
Brent Saunders is Chief Executive Officer and President of Allergan plc (formerly Actavis plc). Brenton previously served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Forest Laboratories and had served as a Member of the Board of Directors at Forest since 2011. Brenton has significant healthcare industry expertise and a proven track-record leading business transformations and integrations. Prior to Forest, Brenton was Chief Executive Officer of Bausch + Lomb, a leading global eye health company, serving in this capacity from March 2010 until August 2013. Brenton also held a number of leadership positions at Schering-Plough, including the position of president of Global Consumer Health Care and was named head of integration for the company’s merger with Merck & Co. and for Schering-Plough’s acquisition of Organon BioSciences. Before joining Schering-Plough, Brenton was a Partner and Head of Compliance Business Advisory at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Prior to that, Brenton was Chief Risk Officer at Coventry Health Care and Senior Vice President, Compliance, Legal and Regulatory at Home Care Corporation of America. Brenton began his career as Chief Compliance Officer for the Thomas Jefferson University Health System. Brenton serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Pittsburgh. Brenton is also the former Chairman of the New York chapter of the American Heart Association. Brenton is a Member of the Business Council and PhRMA. Brenton earned his MBA from Temple University School of Business, his J.D. from Temple University School of Law and his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
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About Allergan, Cisco: Allergan is a global pharmaceutical company.
Charlie Bachtell
Founder and CEO of Cresco Labs
Charles Bachtell serves as Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Cresco Labs, LLC. He served as an Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Guaranteed Rate, Inc. Charles Bachtell served as the head of the legal and loss mitigation departments at Guaranteed Rate. He managed matters concerning legal, regulatory/legislative compliance, credit risk, corporate governance, and acquisitions, among others. Additionally, he is a board member of the Guaranteed Rate Foundation, the company’s nonprofit (501 c3) arm. Charles Bachtell worked with Guaranteed Rate. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance from the University of Arizona from 1996 to 2000 and his Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law.
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About Cresco Labs: Cresco Labs is a vertically-integrated multi-state cannabis operator inciting the progressive evolution of the medical cannabis industry.
Robert Boisjoli
CEO & Board Member of AKESOgen
Robert Boisjoli is Founder & Chief Executive Officer at AKESOgen.
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About AKESOgen, Atwater Financial Group: AKESOgen is a biomarker, genomics, and pharmacogenomics contract research organization.
Connie Wan
Founder and CEO of Seattle Gummy Company
Connie Wan Business, technology and IP executive with proven sucess in technology and product development and commercialization; intellectual property creation, portfolio strategies, management and commercialization; IP landscape and whitespace analysis; patentability search; patentability and freedom to operate analysis and opinions; IP due diligence; patent validity and infringement analyses; IP assets evaluation, acquisition, and licensing; technology transfer; IP strategy, patent portfolio development and trademark strategy for startups; inventors training, development, and management; patent preparation and prosecution in the fields of chemistry, pharmaceutics, therapeutic methods, biotechnology, medical devices, polymers, material sciences, and nanotechnology; design patent preparation and prosecution; client counseling and case management; trademark searches and availability opinions; trademark registrations, oppositions, and cancellations; and limited amount of copyright work.
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About Seattle Gummy Company: A specialty pharma company focusing on delivering drug ingredients (APIs) using innovative gummy (chewable gel) formulations.
Agustin Fernandez III
CEO & Co-Founder of Rational Vaccines
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About Duende Media, Rational Vaccines: Rational Vaccines is a pre-clinical stage that develops live-attenuated herpes simplex virus vaccines.
Lanny Sun
Co-Founder & CEO of Silicon Therapeutics
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About Silicon Therapeutics: Silicon Therapeutics is a fully integrated drug design, research, and development company.
Zhen Li
Founder, President & CEO of ADARx Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Li is a co-founder of ADARx and a successful executive with more than two decades of diverse experience in research and development in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Prior to ADARx, Dr. Li served as Senior VP at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals where she led the discovery and non-clinical development of Arrowhead’s delivery platform and multiple product candidates that are now in clinical studies. Previously, Dr. Li was a director at Merck, leading a team dedicated to siRNA development. Dr. Li received her Ph.D. in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Harvard University, and her B.S. from Peking University.
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About ADARx Pharmaceuticals: ADARx Pharmaceuticals is a genetic medicine company focusing on the base editing of mRNA transcripts.
David S. Shapira
Founder , Chairman & CEO of Giant Eagle
David Shapira is executive chairman of the board of directors of Giant Eagle, Inc. and is president of the David S. and Karen A. Shapira Foundation. In his role at the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration, he is responsible for enhancing ethics and leadership at the school. He is also responsible for engaging with Katz and CBA students across a spectrum of business areas including entrepreneurship, supply chain management, and organizational behavior. During his thirty-plus years as chairman, chief executive officer and president, David Shapira positioned Giant Eagle, Inc. as an industry leader, and grew the company from a local chain of 50 grocery stores to an organization now employing more than 34,000 with more than 420 locations and $9.5 billion in revenue. A Pittsburgh native with an undergraduate degree from Oberlin College and a Master’s Degree in Economics from Stanford University, Mr. Shapira joined Giant Eagle in 1970, a company founded by his grandfather with four others. Today, the same five families own Giant Eagle, and remain actively involved. Named president and CEO in 1980 and Chairman of the Giant Eagle Board of Directors in 1992, David led the company during its peak years of growth and transformation, which included his application of a world-class customer loyalty program with the development of the Giant Eagle Advantage Card and fuelperks!. Mr. Shapira has implemented numerous industry-leading technologies and marketing concepts, including: gift card development and sales, in-store pharmacy and banking, multi-format retailing, and a truck fleet that is being converted to run on compressed natural gas. Since stepping away from day-to-day operations of Giant Eagle in 2013, David has applied the entrepreneurial approach developed at Giant Eagle to the world of philanthropy. Through the Foundation he leads with his wife Cindy, David has led the development of a number of projects that demonstrate real and meaningful positive impact on civic challenges of our day. These entrepreneurial philanthropic ventures include Onward Israel, which transforms young adults through professional summer internships with Israeli businesses and organizations, and the Comprehensive Excellence initiative at Hillel International. David’s civic involvement reflects his and Giant Eagle’s commitment to advancing and investing in the many communities the company and Foundation serve. David has served on numerous corporate and civic boards, including EQT, Mellon Bank, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (Past Chairman). David is the Immediate Past Chairman of Carnegie Mellon University’s Board of Trustees, and the current Chairman of Carnegie Mellon’s Investment Committee, as well as a Trustee at Oberlin College, and a Founding Co-Chairman, along with Cindy, of The Pittsburgh Promise Campaign. David’s philanthropic board service has also included the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh (Past Chairman); Jewish Healthcare Foundation (Past Chairman); United Way of Allegheny County (Past Chairman of the Annual Campaign); Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (Past Chairman); Extra Mile Foundation; and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. David is currently a member of the Hillel Foundation International Board of Governors.
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About Giant Eagle: Giant Eagle is a national supermarket chain with some of their own brands of products.
Wei-Wu He
Founder and CEO of Origene Technologies
Wei-Wu He is a biotech executive dedicated to the commercialization of innovative life sciences technologies for the healthcare market.He is currently Chairman and CEO of OriGene Technologies, Inc. He is also the founder and General Partner of Emerging Technology Partners, LLC (ETP), a venture firm dedicated to incubating innovative life sciences companies. He is also a Venture Partner of IDG/Accel Partners, a $4 Billion venture fund designed to fund innovative companies in China.He started his biotech career as a scientist at the inception of Human Genome Sciences, Inc.He has been involved in the funding and founding over 20 biotech companies throughout his career and has served on many biotech company boards. Most recently He was named the Executive Chairman of Casi Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company dedicated to the development of innovative cancer treatments both in China and the US.He has conducted cancer research at Mayo Clinic and at Massachusetts General Hospital as a research fellow. He has been awarded over 30 United States patents and has more than 25 original research publications.He received a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Nanjing University, P. R. China, an M.B.A. from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Baylor College of Medicine.
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About Emerging Technology Partners, Origene Technologies: OriGene Technologies is a research tool company that provides a commercial collection of full-length human cDNAs.
Howard Solomon
Chairman & CEO of Forest Laboratories
Mr. Howard Solomon has been the President of Clinical Data Inc. since April 13, 2011. Mr. Solomon has been the Non Executive Chairman and Senior Advisor of the Board of Forest Laboratories Inc. since October 1, 2013. He serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He began his career as an attorney at leading law firms in New York and joined Forest in 1964 as a director and secretary of the Board while serving as outside counsel for the Company. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of Forest Laboratories Inc. since 1977 until October 1, 2013, and served as its President until October 1, 2013. He serves as also served as the Chairman of Forest Laboratories Inc. He has been a Director of Forest Laboratories Inc. since 1964 and Clinical Data, Inc. since April 13, 2011. Mr. Solomon is a Trustee of the New York Presbyterian Hospital and previously served on the Board of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories. He is a Member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors at the Metropolitan Opera and Chairman of its Finance Committee. He also serves on the Board of the New York City Ballet. Mr. Solomon graduated from the City College of New York and holds a J.D. from Yale University.
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About Forest Laboratories: Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) is a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company with a long track record of building partnerships.
Eric Hunter
CEO of Pneuma Respiratory
Serves as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Hunter is author or co- author on over 130 patents. He has extensive experience in the founding and managing a range of businesses in the high technology, manufacturing and medical device industries. Two of these companies, Cree Inc. and Charles & Colvard LLC, are publicly traded on Nasdaq. Mr. Hunter also co-founded a medical device company, Quill Medical, which was sold to Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for $200 million in 2005 and an eye care company, Corinthian Ophthalmic, Inc., that was sold to Eyenovia, Inc. in 2014.
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About Pneuma Respiratory: Pneuma Respiratory is a pharmaceutical company that creates digital solutions for respiratory drug delivery.
Mark P. Clein
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Precision Medicine Group
Mark Clein is the Co-Founder and CEO of Precision Medicine Group. He has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Prior to Precision, Mr. Clein was Co-Founder, President and CFO of United BioSource Corporation (UBC), which became the leader in real-world research addressing safety, value, and comparative effectiveness for the life science industry. UBC was acquired by Medco Health Solutions in late 2010 and is now part of Express Scripts. Prior to UBC, Clein was Founder and CFO of U.S. Bioservices, a leading provider of distribution services for specialty pharmaceuticals and biologics. Clein also served as Chief Executive Officer of PMR Corporation, a leading provider of outpatient services for psychiatric and central nervous system disorders. In 2002, PMR merged with Psychiatric Solutions, Inc., which grew into the largest US provider of psychiatric inpatient services. Clein served on its board of directors until the company’s acquisition by Universal Health Systems in 2010. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Business and his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina. Clein also serves on the Arts and Sciences Foundation Board at the University of North Carolina.
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About Precision for Medicine, Precision Medicine Group: Precision Medicine Group accelerates values and improve outcomes for innovative pharmaceutical and life science companies.
Alan Collier
Chairman & CEO of Endonovo Therapeutics
Alan Collier Chairman & Chief Executive Officer has more than twenty years of experience in corporate finance, IP development, telecommunications and technology with a concentration in healthcare and technology over the last five years. Prior to his appointment as Endonovo’s CEO and chairman, Mr. Collier served as CEO and director of IP Resources International, Inc. where he was instrumental in developing a platform for for the licensing and acquisition of life science and technology companies. Previously, Mr. Collier served as a Senior Managing Director at Mid-Market Securities, a FINRA-registered Broker-Dealer. Prior to joining Mid-Market Securities, Mr. Collier was a Managing Director at Mosaic capital and co-managed its Capital Markets Group. He was previously a Vice President at Corporate Capital Group and Managing Director and CEO of Greenbridge Capital Group. Over the progression of his career, he has specialized in the development and financing of early stage, high growth, and acquisitive companies (public and private). He has structured, participated in, and completed numerous transactions including mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt placements, capital restructuring, joint venture development, and channel partner procurement. He has held numerous board and executive positions throughout his career in the telecommunications, technology, specialty finance, corporate finance and healthcare industries. Mr. Collier holds FINRA Series 7, 79, 63, and 24 Licenses.
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About Endonovo Therapeutics, IP Resources International: Endonovo Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing off-the-shelf regenerative products.
Flaviu Simihaian
Co-Founder & CEO of Troy Medicare
Flaviu Simihaian is the co-founder and CEO of Troy Medicare, the first pharmacy-powered, AI-driven Medicare Advantage plan. Flaviu also co-founded and is the chairman of Amplicare (previously iMedicare), a web-based SaaS platform that 7,000 pharmacies use to manage and grow their business.
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About TechAngels, Troy Medicare: Troy Medicare is arming independent pharmacies with a health plan and platform tailored to their most vulnerable patients.
Nishan de Silva
Chief Executive Officer of AFYX Therapeutics
Nishan de Silva brings 20 years of experience in biotechnology operations, biopharmaceutical venture capital, and healthcare management consulting. He previously served as president, chief operating officer, and director of Poseida Therapeutics, where he oversaw clinical development, regulatory, manufacturing, finance, and business development activities. Prior to Poseida, he was chief financial officer and vice president of finance and strategy at Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (LGND). Earlier in his career, Nishan de Silva served as a principal at private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC, responsible for late-stage biopharmaceutical investment opportunities, and was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company. He holds a B.A. summa cum laude in biology from Harvard University, an M.D. from The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and an M.B.A. with Distinction in healthcare management from The Wharton School.
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About AFYX Therapeutics: AFYX Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company
Nishan de Silva
Chief Executive Officer of AFYX Therapeutics
Nishan de Silva brings 20 years of experience in biotechnology operations, biopharmaceutical venture capital, and healthcare management consulting. He previously served as president, chief operating officer, and director of Poseida Therapeutics, where he oversaw clinical development, regulatory, manufacturing, finance, and business development activities. Prior to Poseida, he was chief financial officer and vice president of finance and strategy at Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (LGND). Earlier in his career, Nishan de Silva served as a principal at private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC, responsible for late-stage biopharmaceutical investment opportunities, and was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company. He holds a B.A. summa cum laude in biology from Harvard University, an M.D. from The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and an M.B.A. with Distinction in healthcare management from The Wharton School.
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About AFYX Therapeutics: AFYX Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company
Marg Patel
Co-Founder, CEO of Medly Pharmacy
Dr. Marg Patel is the Co-founder and CEO of Medly. Previously, he’s managed multiple independent pharmacies in New York City.
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About Medly Pharmacy: Medly Pharmacy is a digital pharmacy platform that offers free, same-day prescription delivery.
Larry Merlo
CEO of CVSHealth
Larry Merlo is President and Chief Executive Officer of CVS Health, a pharmacy innovation company that is at the forefront of a changing health care environment. The company, with net annual revenues of $139 billion, touches more than 100 million people each year through its unique combination of assets, including 7,900 retail pharmacies, more than 1,000 walk-in medical clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with more than 70 million plan members, a comprehensive provider of pharmacy services to long term care facilities, and expanding specialty pharmacy services. Under Merlo’s leadership, the company is transforming health care by delivering breakthrough products and services that enable people, businesses and communities to manage health in more affordable, effective ways. As part of this deep commitment to public health, in 2014 the company announced the landmark decision to be the first major retail pharmacy to eliminate tobacco sales in all of its stores. To reflect this broader health care commitment, the company subsequently changed its corporate name to CVS Health. Merlo, a pharmacist by education, joined CVS/pharmacy in 1990 through the company’s acquisition of Peoples Drug. Prior to assuming the role of President and CEO in 2011, Merlo held positions of increasing responsibility, most recently President of CVS/pharmacy. Under his leadership, the company completed some of the most successful acquisitions in the history of retail pharmacy and delivered significant organic growth in major markets across the country. Merlo currently serves on the Board of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) and the University of Pittsburgh’s Board of Trustees. He is also a member of the Business Roundtable. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy.
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About CVSHealth: CVS Health provides an integrated healthcare services offering for its members.
Robert Marcovitch
Interim CEO of CannTrust
Robert Marcovitch serves as the interim CEO of CannTrust.
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About CannTrust: CannTrust is a federally regulated licensed producer of medical cannabis.
Michael Goettler
CEO & Executive Director of Viatris
Michael Goettler is the chief executive officer of Viatris and serves on the company’s board of directors. Originally from Germany, Goettler graduated from the Koblenz School of Corporate Management in Germany and then earned an MBA at the University of Texas at Austin. Goettler started his career at Hoechst in Germany, quickly growing to become the executive vice president and CEO of Hoechst Marion Roussel Korea. He joined Pfizer in 2009 as part of the Wyeth acquisition and served in many roles there. Most recently, he was the group president of Pfizer’s Upjohn division and a member of Pfizer’s executive leadership team after previously serving as the global president of Pfizer Inflammation & Immunology; the global president, Rare Disease Business; the senior vice president, global commercial officer, and president of Europe, Specialty Care among other roles. As the CEO of Viatris, Goettler’s responsibilities include executing the company’s strategy and focusing on leveraging the commercial capabilities that Viatris has in China and other key markets. Goettler has extensive experience leading in the global marketplace, having lived and worked in multiple markets in both Asia/Pacific and Europe. He is on the advisory board for Tshingua School of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
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About Viatris: Viatris is a global pharmaceutical company formed in 2020 through the combination of Mylan and Upjohn, a legacy division of Pfizer.
Vlad Coric
Chief Executive Officer of Biohaven Pharmaceutical
Dr. Coric has more than 15 years of drug discovery and clinical development experience at Yale School of Medicine and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Within the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Coric has expertise working across therapeutic areas including neuroscience, virology, oncology and immuno-oncology. Most recently, Dr. Coric was the immuno-oncology indication lead for neuro-oncology and glioblastoma. He has been involved in multiple drug development programs including marketed drugs such as ABILIFY® (aripiprazole; partial dopamine agonist), OPDIVO® (nivolumab; anti-PD1), YERVOY® (Ipilimumab; anti-CTLA-4), DAKLINZA® (daclatasvir; NS5A inhibitor) and SUNVEPRA® (asunaprevir; NS3 inhibitor). He has conducted numerous clinical trials in various illnesses including obsessive compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, and glioblastoma. Dr. Coric was the first to report the therapeutic effects of the glutamate-modulating agent riluzole in neuropsychiatric disorders (Coric et al., 2003; 2005; Sanacora et al., 2004) and led the first clinical trial employing cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers to identity and enrich for patients with Prodromal Alzheimer’s Disease while at Bristol-Myers Squibb (Coric et al 2015). Additionally, Dr. Coric spearheaded the design of and led the first global registrational trial using checkpoint inhibitors in glioblastoma. Dr. Coric is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and has over 50 peer-reviewed publications. He previously served as Chief of the Yale Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, and Director of the Yale Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Research Clinic. He has served as President of the Connecticut Psychiatric Society (an 800 member district branch of the American Psychiatric Association). Dr. Coric completed residency training at the Yale Psychiatry Residency Training Program, where he also served as the Program-Wide Chief Resident for the Yale Department of Psychiatry, and Chief Resident on the PTSD firm at the West-Haven Connecticut Veterans Administration Hospital. Dr. Coric earned his medical degree at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina.
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About Biohaven Pharmaceutical: Biohaven is engaged in the identification and development of clinical stage neuroscience compounds targeting the glutamatergic system.
Krishna Vaddi
Chief Executive Officer of Prelude Therapeutics
Kris Vaddi, Ph.D. founded Prelude and served as the chief executive officer and member of the board of directors since 2016. Previously, Kris had a 12-year career at Incyte starting as a founding scientist and an executive director in 2002 and most recently as a group vice president. Kris initiated and championed JAK research programs at Incyte that led to the discovery, development and approval of Jakafi® (ruxolotinib) for Myelofibrosis and Polycythemia Vera and Olumiant® (Baricitinib) for rheumatoid arthritis. Kris received his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from APAU in India and his Ph.D. from University of Florida.
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About Prelude Therapeutics: Prelude Therapeutics is a developer of novel therapies intended to target key drivers of cancer cell growth, survival and resistance.
Corey McCann
President and Chief Executive Officer of Pear Therapeutics
Corey M McCann M.D., Ph.D. is the President and CEO of Pear Therapeutics, a company developing prescription digital therapeutics and drug/software combinations for treatment of severe medical conditions. Previously, he was an investor with MPM Capital, where he evaluated new healthcare investment opportunities, managed relationships with strategic partners, and oversaw strategy and execution at portfolio companies. Prior to MPM, he was an Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, where he advised pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology companies on the acquisition, development, and commercialization of life science technologies. He led McKinsey’s central nervous system (CNS) expertise group, advising clients across the healthcare value chain. Corey has previous investment experience with RiverVest Venture Partners, where he performed diligence on early stage investments, and at NeuroInsights, where he evaluated brain related technologies. Corey is also a co-founder, advisor, or Board Director at AgNovos Healthcare, Alcyone Lifesciences, Dragonfly Sciences, Edumedics, Resolute Bio, Selexys Pharmaceuticals, and Zillion Health. Dr. McCann trained as a physician-scientist via the Medical Scientist Training Program. For his PhD, he studied the molecular biology of synapses at Harvard University and at Washington University in St Louis. He was also a post-doctoral researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital where he developed imaging techniques for the visualization of the brain. Dr. McCann received his M.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. He graduated summa cum laude from The Pennsylvania State University where he was an Evan Pugh Scholar, receiving a B.S. in Biology with minors in neuroscience, biochemistry, and molecular biology.
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About Pear Therapeutics: Pear Therapeutics is a software-based digital therapeutics platform designed to treat disease and enhance the efficacy of pharmaceuticals.
Alex Gorsky
Chairman & CEO of Johnson & Johnson
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About Johnson & Johnson: Johnson & Johnson engages in the research and development, manufacture and sale of a range of products in the healthcare field.
Suresh Katta
Founder & CEO of Saama
Suresh founded Saama Technologies, Inc. with a vision to turn raw data into actionable insights that enable enterprise leaders to make timely and reliable decisions for critical business discovery. As the CEO of Saama, Suresh is responsible for the strategy, vision and the execution of the company’s long-term plan. Suresh applied his lifelong love of mathematics to solve complex data analysis well before the term “big data” became ubiquitous. Today, Saama is made up of intelligent, helpful people with a passion for math, data, and analytics. Since the company’s launch, Suresh and his team have built an extensive history of providing data scientist led solutions and services in the big data and business analytics market for top enterprise companies, and public sector agencies. Suresh has successfully launched two start ups, including co-founding GVI, which developed groupware applications and was sold to Netscape in 1995. His work has earned industry-wide recognition and he can frequently be seen at IT conferences as a discussion panel member and featured speaker. Suresh earned his M.S. in Computer Engineering at the University of Southwest Louisiana, and his B.S. in Electronics Engineering at the University of Bangalore in India.
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About Saama: Saama is the number one AI-powered clinical analytics cloud platform company delivering actionable business insights for life sciences.
Zhi Hong
Co-founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Brii Biosciences
Zhi Hong, Ph.D., is Co-founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to starting Brii Bio, Dr. Hong was Senior Vice President and Head of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Infectious Diseases Therapy Area Unit. He was widely credited as the key architect of GSK’s comeback and success in HIV & Infectious Diseases medicine discovery and development. Under his leadership, ViiV Healthcare’s (a joint venture between GSK, Pfizer, and Shionogi) HIV business was revitalized with the approval of Tivicay & Triumeq. Dr. Hong was the champion of GSK’s effort in long-acting HIV treatment & prevention therapies. He also built GSK’s efforts to cure HBV and HIV infections. GSK now has one of the most innovative pipelines against infectious diseases. Dr. Hong is a public health advocate who has helped establish multiple public-private partnerships with the U.S./E.U. governments (DTRA, BARDA, NIH & IMI) and philanthropic organizations (Gates Foundation & Wellcome Trust). In the last two years, he helped to create GSK’s Institute for Infectious Diseases and Public Health in Beijing, China. Dr. Hong started Ardea Biosciences (later acquired by AstraZeneca). He also held leadership positions at Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Schering-Plough Research Institute (now Merck). Dr. Hong has more than 25 years of experience in drug discovery and development and has brought more than 30 compounds into development, including many that have been approved and launched. He has served as a board member of Anacor Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer) and ViiV Healthcare, and also chaired the board of Qura Therapeutics.
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About Brii Biosciences: Brii Biosciences is a biotechnology company that commits to bring innovative medicines to China as a way to improve public health.
Nick Leschly
CEO of Bluebird Bio
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About Bluebird Bio: Bluebird Bio offers products based on the transformative potential of gene therapy for patients with genetic and orphan diseases.
Leonide Saad
Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Saad founded Alkeus Pharmaceuticals with the goal of developing sight-saving, transformative medicines for the most serious and untreatable causes of blindness. Prior to Alkeus, he was partner in a boutique life sciences management and consulting firm in New York City, providing business and strategic guidance to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. He was previously at Proteus Venture Partners, an early stage, California based venture fund focused on stem cells and regenerative medicine. Dr. Saad holds a PhD focused on tissue engineering from MIT, a certificate of Financial Technology from MIT Sloan School of Management, a MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, a BS and MS in Applied Mathematics from University of Paris VI, and is a graduate from Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, with a concentration in organic chemistry and physics.
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About Alkeus Pharmaceuticals: Alkeus Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Boston-based startup focused on treatments for serious ophthalmic conditions.
Ari Bousbib
President & CEO of IMS Health
Ari Bousbib was appointed Chief Executive Officer of IMS Health in August 2010 and was appointed to the additional role of Chairman in December 2010. Prior to IMS Health, Ari spent 14 years at United Technologies Corporation (“UTC”), a diversified company, where he most recently served as Executive Vice President of UTC and From 2008 until 2010 President of UTC’s Commercial Companies, responsible for the strategic direction and operational performance of subsidiaries Otis Elevator Company, Carrier Corporation and UTC Fire & Security. From 2002 to 2008, he served as President of Otis Elevator Company, and from 2000 to 2002 he served as its Chief Operating Officer. From 1997 to 2000, Ari was Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Development of UTC. Prior to joining UTC, Ari was a partner at Booz Allen Hamilton, a global management and technology consulting firm. Ari currently serves on the board of directors of The Home Depot, Inc., and is a member of the Harvard Medical School Health Care Policy Advisory Council. He previously served on the board of directors of Best Buy, Inc. Ari holds a Master of Science Degree in Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering from the Ecole Superieure des Travaux Publics, Paris, and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. In serving on our Board, Ari Bousbib draws from his experience with managing large, sophisticated businesses, including oversight of extensive global operations, as well as strategic, finance, supply chain and information technology matters.
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About IMS Health, IQVIA: IMS Health provides information, services and technology for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry.
Ravi Ika
President, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of RxAdvance
A noted entrepreneur and an innovator of disruptive business solutions, Ravi Ika founded RxAdvance in 2013 and serves as president and chief executive officer of the full service pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company. He launched RxAdvance to lower pharmacy, specialty and avoidable drug-impacted medical costs and achieve better outcomes, quality and compliance in the new era of value-based health care. The RxAdvance platform Mr. Ika created from the ground up, the Collaborative PBM Cloud™, provides comprehensive automated services for all PBM administrative, clinical, specialty management, care stakeholder engagement, and compliance management functions. It does so in a way never before imagined in the PBM industry. The Collaborative PBM Cloud™ combines pharmacy, medical, and lab information to deliver actionable intelligence. Prescribers receive this real time actionable intelligence at the point of care, pharmacists at point of sale, patients via mobile cloud and payers clinical and pharmacy staff engagement through their workflows. Among the valuable results: Lower costs, optimal utilization, better outcomes, higher quality, greater transparency and rigorous compliance. Mr. Ika envisions a $750 billion PBM market long in need of transformation. The five largest PBMs, which manage over 80% of $300 billion in pharmacy benefit spend, provide limited, siloed services using antiquated, legacy platforms. Their lack of holistic vision introduces an additional $350 billion of avoidable drug-impacted medical costs into U.S. health care. In addition, $100 billion in poorly managed “buy and bill” specialty drug spend needs to be converted to an “authorize and manage” model. More than 15 years ago, Mr. Ika recognized a similar transformational opportunity in health insurance. Industry insiders, challenged to reduce administrative costs by 30% and avoidable medical costs by 20%, saw the goals as unachievable. Mired in paper-based processes, the industry also struggled with a myriad of fragmented, inflexible, and expensive legacy systems. Mr. Ika responded to this opportunity with ikaSystems, an enterprise payer-platform company. Disrupting obsolete paradigms, he delivered unprecedented change long before passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The ikaSystems platform decreased administrative costs for many health insurers by as much as 50% and significantly reduced avoidable medical costs. With these results, ikaSystems raised more than $140mm capital from Providence Equity and Essex Woodland Ventures. Known for building and inspiring world-class teams, Mr. Ika takes a hands-on approach to ensure his clients’ success. Over the years, healthcare industry leaders have come to rely on his vision and talent for creating enterprise platforms that radically disrupt legacy business paradigms and deliver significant value. Mr. Ika has a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Old Dominion University and worked as a research scientist at Harvard University prior to his entrepreneurial career.
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About RxAdvance: RxAdvance, a national full service PBM, leverages disruptive Collaborative PBM Cloud™ to manage standard & specialty drug benefits.
AJ Loiacono
CEO of Capital Rx
AJ Loiacono is the CEO of Capital Rx.
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About Capital Rx: Capital Rx is a healthtech platform that provides pharmacy benefit management solutions.
Lisa Conte
Chief Executive Officer & Founder of Jaguar Health
Lisa has been a pioneer in the biotech/emerging pharmaceutical industry for 20 years. She is founder and CEO of Napo Pharmaceuticals, which brings proprietary products to the global marketplace through local partnerships. Napo embraces the “triple bottom line” goals of enhancing financial return by addressing global health needs in its development strategy and environmental sustainability in sourcing its lead product, which is harvested from rain forest areas. Prior to founding Napo, she founded Shaman Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a natural product pharmaceutical company, in 1989. As CEO, she has raised >$250 million (including leading two IPOs). 1987 to 1989 Ms. Conte was a Vice President at Technology Funding, Inc., a venture capital firm. From 1985 to 1987 she conducted risk and strategy audits for start-up companies at Strategic Decisions Group. Lisa received her AB in Biochemistry from Dartmouth College, her MS in Physiology/Pharmacology from the University of California at San Diego and her MBA from the Amos Tuck School, Dartmouth College. She is the recipient of several entrepreneurship awards, including the 1994 E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award, has sat on several industry and academic boards, and was a nominee for the 2009 BIO Humanitarian Award.
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About Jaguar Health, Napo Pharmaceuticals: Jaguar Health brings naturally derived important health solutions to all animals of the world, as proprietary.
Talha Sattar
CEO & Founder of NimbleRx
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About NimbleRx: Nimble provides a pharmacy experience centered around the patient’s needs to provide a more streamlined workflow.
Chris Adams
CEO of Andarix Pharmaceuticals
Adams previously founded and served as CEO of several companies including Walleye Technologies, Diopter Corporation, and Mosaic Technologies. At all three organizations, Mr. Adams was instrumental in raising venture capital, forming scientific and business advisory boards, recruiting and hiring key employees, and negotiating key corporate agreements and research collaborations. Diopter invented and developed a biological contact lens to treat corneal scarring. The technology was successfully sold and has been used on over 25,000 patients to help maintain a healthy cornea. He was also responsible for the successful commercialization of several other products including the “see through solid surfaces” Millimeter Wave Camera, a product which won Time Magazines prestigious Top 10 Innovations of 2009 award. Mr. Adams performed graduate work in molecular immunology at the University of Massachusetts and was on the research staff at the Massa chusetts Institute of Technology Human Genome Center. He received a BA from Assumption College and is the inventor on 18 patents.
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About Andarix Pharmaceuticals, Ceeable: Andarix Pharmaceuticals is developing and commercializing novel cancer therapies that are targeted to the patients most likely to respond.
Mark McKenna
Founder, President and CEO of Prometheus Biosciences
Mark McKenna currently works as President and Chief Executive Officer at Prometheus Biosciences. He previously worked at Bausch + Lomb as Senior Vice President and General Manager.
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About Prometheus Biosciences: Prometheus Biosciences develops and commercializes pharmaceutical and diagnostic products to help physicians individualize patient care.
Ian Read
CEO of Pfizer
Ian Read is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer, one of the world’s premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, which brings therapies to patients that significantly improve their lives. These include medicines and vaccines along with many of the world’s best-known consumer healthcare products. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President, Pfizer, and Group President of the Worldwide Biopharmaceutical Businesses, which he led from 2006 through December 2010. In that role, he oversaw five global business units — Primary Care, Specialty Care, Oncology, Established Products and Emerging Markets. Ian began his career with Pfizer in 1978 as an operational auditor. He worked in Latin America through 1995, holding positions in a number of Pfizer’s largest, fastest-growing operations, including Chief Financial Officer, Pfizer Mexico, and Country Manager, Pfizer Brazil. In 1996, Ian was appointed President of Pfizer’s International Pharmaceuticals Group, with responsibility for Latin America and Canada. He became Executive Vice President, Europe, in 2000, was named a Corporate Vice President in 2001, and assumed responsibility for Canada, in addition to Europe, in 2002. Ian later became accountable for operations in both the Africa/Middle East region and Latin America as well. Ian received his B.Sc. in chemical engineering from London University Imperial College in 1974. He earned his Chartered Accountants certification from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales in 1978. Ian serves on the Boards of PhRMA, Kimberly-Clark and the Partnership for New York City.
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About Pfizer, The Carlyle Group: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Jeffrey A. Bailey
Chief Executive Officer of BioDelivery Sciences International
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About BioDelivery Sciences International: BioDelivery Sciences is a pharmaceutical company that focuses on pain management and addiction medicine.
Pieter Muntendam
President and CEO of SQ Innovation
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About G3 Pharmaceuticals, SQ Innovation: SQ Innovation is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes pharmaceutical products.
Brian Stuglik
CEO of Verastem Oncology
Brian Stuglik was appointed to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Verastem Oncology in July, 2019. Mr. Stuglik is a global leader in the oncology pharmaceutical sector with over 3 decades of experience in US and International pharmaceutical development, product strategy, commercialization and business development. He successfully developed, acquired and launched several multi-billion dollar oncology brands across multiple tumor types and therapeutic approaches. Brian founded Proventus Health Solutions, a company specializing in helping oncology biotech companies create greater value by integrating development and commercial considerations into a unified approach. Currently, he serves as a member of the board of directors for Verastem Oncology (VSTM) and Oncopeptides AB (ONCO).
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About Verastem Oncology: Verastem is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on discovering and developing novel drugs that selectively target cancer stem cells.
Chris Varma
Founder, President & CEO of Frontier Medicines
Chris joined Flagship in 2007 as Partner and focuses primarily on Life Science investments. He came to Flagship with significant management experience in clinical development, regulatory strategy, business development, sales, and marketing in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to Flagship, Chris was with Novartis Pharmaceuticals since 2004 where he served most recently as Director of the Tekturna (aliskiren) marketing team responsible for all Medical Marketing, Medical Strategy, and Professional Promotions activities in the U.S. Chris also oversaw Tekturna�s extensive clinical development programs, and played a key role in the FDA approval, CMS reimbursement coverage approval, and successful commercial launch of Tekturna in early 2007. Previously at Novartis, Chris was Director of Business Development & Licensing where he identified several in-licensing opportunities and drove key transactions. Prior to that, Chris focused on corporate strategy working directly with the Novartis Pharma CEO in Basel, Switzerland. Before Novartis, Chris was a consultant for Millennium Pharmaceuticals working on special projects in the Personalized Medicine Group. Before Millennium, Chris worked for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Office of Combination Products coordinating and managing reviews across the major Centers. Early in his career he co-founded Epitrope Corporation, a company that developed server-side solutions for wireless telecom carriers.
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About Frontier Medicines, Harvard Medical School, Vision Medicines: Frontier Medicines is a developer of a chemoproteomics platform intended to further accelerate the path to drug discovery.
Ramy Farid
President & CEO of Schrödinger
Ramy Farid Co-founded Nimbus Discovery, LLC. in 2009 and served as its President and also serves as its Director. Farid has been at Nimbus Therapeutics, Inc. since 2002. Prior to joining Schrödinger, Faird was an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University where his research focused on computational protein design, resulting in a number of high-profile publications. After joining Schrödinger, Farid rapidly rose through a series of leadership positions as well as led many research and development projects. He authored several highly-cited publications applying computational tools to drug discovery, including the innovative Induced-fit docking algorithm, which is the most cited article from the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry in 2006. Farid received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Caltech in 1991, and was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. After joining Schrödinger, Ramy rapidly rose through a series of leadership positions as well as led many research and development projects; he also authored several highly-cited publications applying computational tools to drug discovery.
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About Nimbus Therapeutics, Schrödinger, Schrödinger: Schrödinger develops a chemical simulation software for use in pharmaceutical and biotechnology research.
Chris Hoyt
Chief Executive Officer of KeifeRx
Chris Hoyt, Chairman :: CFO at APXLabs; over 20 years of finance and corporate dev exp; over $400M raised in debt and equity capital for growth companies; co-founding board member at DHF.
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About KeifeRx: KeifeRx is a biotech company focused on the discovery of disease-modifying treatments for neurodegenerative illnesses.
Maneesh Arora
Chief Executive Officer of Farcast
Maneesh most recently served as Chief Operating Officer and Director at Exact Sciences until 2018. Exact Sciences’ focus is the early detection and prevention of cancer. Exact’s lead product, Cologuard®, was developed in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic and is now widely available in the US as a frontline screening method for colorectal cancer, reimbursed by both Medicare and all major insurers. Previously, Maneesh worked for Third Wave Technologies, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company, from 2003 until its acquisition by Hologic, Inc. in July 2008. Third Wave Technologies developed an HPV product for cervical cancer screening. During his time at Third Wave, Maneesh was responsible for business strategy and commercial operations before being promoted to chief financial officer in January 2006. Maneesh earned a BA in economics from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
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About Farcast: Farcast develops a diagnostic platform that delivers powerful predictions for personalized cancer treatment selection and drug development.
Jeff Bedard
President and CEO of Crown Laboratories
Jeff Bedard is the President/CEO of Crown Laboratories, Inc. Before founding Crown Laboratories, Inc. in 2000, Jeff Bedard held positions in sales and market development with Stiefel Laboratories, Inc. and Herald Pharmacal, Inc. Jeff Bedard owned a consulting firm, providing marketing and business development management advice for small to medium pharmaceutical companies. Jeff Bedard has been a Director of Crown Laboratories, Inc. since 2000 and served previously as Chairman of the Board and President. Jeff Bedard currently serves on the Boards of Northeast Tennessee State Community College Foundation, ETSU Foundation and Mountain States Foundation. He recently was inducted in the Science Hill Sports Hall of Fame. Jeff Bedard graduated with honors from University of Iowa with a degree in Chemistry.
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About Crown Laboratories: Crown Laboratories is a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company offering Consumer Healthcare Products.
Bruce Cozadd
Chief Executive Officer of Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Bruce Cozadd is a co-founder and has served as our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since April 2009.From 2003 until 2009, he served as our Executive Chairman. From 1991 until 2001, he held various positions with ALZA Corporation, a pharmaceutical company now owned by Johnson & Johnson, most recently as its Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, with responsibility for research and development, manufacturing and sales and marketing. Previously at ALZA Corporation he held the roles of Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Corporate Planning and Analysis. He serves on the boards of directors of Cerus Corporation, a biomedical products company, Threshold Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, and The Nueva School and Stanford Hospital and Clinics, both non-profit organizations. He received a B.S. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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About Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Jazz Pharmaceuticals is a specialty pharmaceutical company that identifies, develops and commercializes innovative treatments.
Liang Schweizer
Co-founder, President and CEO of HiFiBiO
Liang Schweizer is the Co-founder, President and CEO of HiFiBiO Therapeutics. Previously, she co-founded Harbour Biomed and served as its CSO, successfully transforming a technology platform company to an antibody drug discovery enterprise. Before launching her entrepreneurial career, Liang served as Head of Asian Cancer Research at Sanofi, advancing Sanofi’s Asia-Pacific oncology pipeline as well as contributing to global oncology programs from preclinical to clinical efforts. Before joining Sanofi, Liang Schweizer was a director at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, heading a group of scientists at Leads Discovery and Optimization (LDO), overseeing 60+ in vitro pharmacology projects across different therapeutic areas. Under her leadership, the team made significant contributions to 4 marketed drugs and impacted over 20 clinical candidates. She is also a co-inventor of multiple BMS Immunoncology (IO) clinical candidates. Liang Schweizer graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) majoring in Biology. She received her Master’s degree in Microbial Engineering at the University of Minnesota with minor in Chemical Engineering. Liang earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University in Zurich, Switzerland. Her postdoctoral training was with Dr. Harold Varmus, a Nobel Laureate, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), New York.
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About HiFiBiO: HiFiBiO provides proprietary single cell technologies for applications in drug and biomarker discovery and development.
Laurent Christian Asker Melchior Tellier
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technological Officer of Genomic Prediction
Laurent Christian Asker Melchior Tellier is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technological Officer, a co-Director of the Cognitive Genomics Lab at BGI, a visiting scholar from the University of Copenhagen Bioinformatics Centre, and entrepreneur founder of a previous 16-employee informatics startup in Denmark. Laurent’s previous work during his 7 years in China is upon next-generation sequencing and cloud computation in a diagnostic context, leading the CGL’s projects in collaboration with Kings College London and Harvard Vision Lab.
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About Genomic Prediction: Genomic Prediction provides advanced genetic testing for IVF.
Christopher Anzalone
President & CEO of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals
President & CEO at Arrowhead Research.Dr. Christopher Anzalone has been President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company since December 1, 2007. In 2005, Dr. Anzalone formed and served as CEO of the Benet Group LLC, a private equity firm focused on creating and building new nano-biotechnology companies from university-generated science. Prior to his tenure at the Benet Group, he was a partner at the Washington, DC-based private equity firm Galway Partners, LLC, where he was responsible for sourcing, structuring, and building new business ventures. Prior to Galway, Dr. Anzalone was an NIH-supported post doctoral fellow in Reproductive Endocrinology at the Smithsonian Institution’s Conservation and Research Center. Dr. Anzalone holds a Ph.D. in Biology from UCLA and a B.A. in Government from Lawrence University.
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About Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Galway Partners: Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that focuses on the development of medicine to treat diseases with a genetic origin.
Gerrit Klaerner
Chief Executive Officer & President of Tricida
Gerrit joined Relypsa in October 2007 after negotiating the Relypsa spin out transaction from Amgen as an advisor to the lead investor 5AM Ventures. He co-founded Ilypsa in 2003 while at Symyx Technologies. Between 2003 and 2007, Gerrit held varying positions at Ilypsa and was in charge of the series A and B financings on the company side and licensing deals with Astellas and Cubist. As Ilypsa’s Chief Business Officer, Gerrit co-led the M&A negotiations and diligence efforts. Prior to Ilypsa, he joined Symyx in 1998 as a Staff Scientist, and was later promoted to Director of Business Development. Gerrit received his Ph.D. in polymer chemistry from the Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany. He conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University and the IBM Almaden Research Center.
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About Tricida: Tricida operates in the healthcare industry focusing on pharmaceutical business.
Leonard S. Schleifer
Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Regeneron
Leonard S. Schleifer, M.D., Ph.D., founded the Company in 1988, has been a Director and its President and Chief Executive Officer since its inception, and served as Chairman of the Board from 1990 through 1994. From 1984 to 1988 he was Assistant Professor at the Cornell University Medical College in the Departments of Neurology and Neurobiology. Leonard Schleifer received his M.D. and Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Virginia. Leonard Schleifer is a licensed physician and is certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
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About Regeneron: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases.
Raymond Shirvanyan
Chief Executive Officer of SortPak Rx, Inc.
Raymond Shirvanyan is a proven leader and innovator in the healthcare industry. A strong and passionate advocate in the creation of personalized medicine, he is devoted to helping improve the quality of life and survival among cancer patients. Prior to founding Sortpak, Mr. Sirvanyan was a founding member of TNH Advanced Specialty Pharmacy. At TNH, Mr. Shirvanyan strived to provide excellence in specialty pharmacy services and personalized care in oncology and other specialties. Mr. Shirvanyan spear-headed the growth and acquisition of sales and specialty contracts by training his first employee to expanding across the United States with regional managers and national directors. Mr. Shirvanyan also strategized financial assistance, adherence programs, and dedicated support services to strengthen the effectiveness and quality of patient care. His efforts were a driving force as TNH grew to be known for their fast-turn around time, real-life status updates, and patient satisfaction. TNH surpassed its competitors with its unparalleled vision and impact, eventually reporting 500 million dollars in annual sales. This spectacular growth eventually attracted the attention of Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy which acquired TNH in 2016. With Mr. Shirvanyan’s skills and dedication to personalized care, Mr. Shirvanyan was able to help foster the necessary changes in the field of Speciality Pharmacy. Now, with his expertise and passion, Sortpak Rx, Inc is at the forefront of precision medicine. Along with the rest of his unique team, Sortpak Rx, Inc. hopes to make positive impact in the health care industry to individually pack each daily medication one at a time.
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About SortPak Rx, Inc.: Building Simplified Pharmacy Solution ‘ Better Days for Patients” Your Community Retail Pharmacy
Chris K. Achar
Founder & CEO of GenZum Life Sciences
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About GenZum Life Sciences: Genzum Life Sciences is a globally integrated Generic Pharmaceutical Product Development and Out-licensing company, based in Los Angeles
Stephane Bancel
President and Founding CEO of Moderna Therapeutics
Stephane joined Flagship Ventures in 2013 and focuses on providing strategic counsel and support to portfolio companies. He is President and Founding Chief Executive Officer of Moderna Therapeutics, a Flagship VentureLabs – founded company. He is also executive chairman of the board for portfolio company BG Medicine, Inc. Stephane was previously CEO of bioMerieux, a world leader in the diagnostics industry. During his five years leading the company, he accelerated the company’s sales growth rate, enhanced its position as a global leader in clinical microbiology and re-accelerated its immunoassay franchise by focusing on high medical value biomarkers. During that time, the company’s market capitalization nearly doubled despite the financial crisis. Prior to his time at bioMerieux, Stephane was Managing Director of Eli Lilly in Belgium and Executive Director of Global Manufacturing Strategy and Supply Chain at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis. He holds a Master of Engineering from Ecole Central Paris, a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Stéphane was elected a 2009 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He was elected best CEO for Investor Relations in France in 2009 and was ranked #1 CEO in the Biotechnology sector according to the 2011 Thomson Reuters Pan European EXTEL Study.
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About Flagship Pioneering, Moderna Therapeutics, Qiagen: Moderna Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that specializes in drug discovery and drug development based on messenger RNA.
Pablo Legoretta
CEO & Founder of Royalty Pharma
Pablo Legorreta is the CEO and Founder of Royalty Pharma. Formed in 1996, Royalty Pharma is a pioneer in pharmaceutical business and is the world’s largest acquirer of royalty interests in marketed and late stage biopharmaceutical products. Prior to founding Royalty Pharma, Pablo spent 10 years at Lazard Frères where he provided cross-border merger and acquisition and corporate finance advisory services to US and European corporations. Pablo currently serves as a Director of Giuliani, Médica Sur, as well as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Allen-Stevenson School, the Park Avenue Armory and of the American-Austrian Foundation/Open Medical Institute. He founded and is currently Chairman the Board of Trustees of the Alianza Médica para la Salud. Mr. Legorreta received a degree in industrial engineering from Universidad Iberoamericana.
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About Royalty Pharma: Industry leader in investing in marketed and late stage biopharmaceutical products
Evan Ehrenberg
Co-founder, CEO of Clara Health
Evan Ehrenberg is MIT’s youngest ever Ph.D. candidate in the brain and cognitive sciences department, he began the Ph.D. program at the age of 16 after graduating from UC Berkeley in 2010, and is now defending his thesis at the age of 22. Evan has past experience working at Palantir Technologies and other startups, and is an expert in cognitive and computational neuroscience research, with domain experience in human research management and recruitment. Previous: UC Berkeley, Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Palantir Technologies
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About Clara Health: Clara Health empowers patients to find the right clinical trial for them.
Stuart Hinchen
Co-Founder & CEO of QuVa Pharma
Stuart Hinchen is Founder &CEO @ QuVa Pharma. Stuart Hinchen is currently Chief Executive Officer of JHP Pharmaceuticals, LLC (“JHP”), having acted as President and Chief Operating Officer of JHP from 2007 to 2011. He has been instrumental in the establishment of JHP as a leading injectable pharmaceutical business in the USA. Previously, Stuart was President of Mayne Pharma Americas (“Americas”), a unit of Mayne with $180 million in revenue that was focused on the manufacture, development and sale of generic injectable pharmaceuticals, primarily into the hospital market. Stuart led the Americas activity through a period of significant growth through acquisition, product line extension, and product in-licensing. Having first established Mayne Pharma USA as a stand-alone business, he helped build the division into the fourth largest US generic oncology provider. Prior to his experience with Mayne Americas, Stuart was a General Manager in Mayne’s Mergers and Acquisitions Group, heading transactional and operational teams involved in the purchase, sale and integration of businesses. After joining Mayne in 1995, Stuart worked on a variety of different projects, including the restructuring and sale of the company’s Benelux logistics business to Hays PLC.
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About QuVa Pharma: QuVa Pharma is a pharmaceutical company engaged in the innovation and production of pharmaceutical products.
Jay McHarg
President & CEO of AeroSafe Global
Jay has been an executive at American Aerogel since 2007. Jay is a co-founder of Mount Royal Ventures, a family office venture fund that is one of the key investors in American Aerogel. Prior to American Aerogel, Jay was VP of Corporate Development at Boston Private Financial Holdings, responsible for mergers, acquisitions, capital planning and corporate strategy. Prior to his work at Boston Private, Jay interned at Fidelity Investments as part of the Finance Leadership Program. Jay started his career as a structural engineer, designing and building precast concrete structures as well as concrete and steel buildings across the US and Canada. Jay has a BS and MS in Engineering from McGill University and a Masters of Business Administration from Babson College.
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About AeroSafe Global: AeroSafe Global develops aerogels used in various transport, biomedical, pharmaceutical, and other temperature-sensitive products.
James Sapirstein
Chairman, CEO and President of First Wave BioPharma
Mr. Sapirstein is a start-up and turnaround specialist with 30 years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry experience. Most recently, he served in key leadership positions at Gilead Sciences, Serono Laboratories, and Tobira Therapeutics. Beginning in 2000, Mr. Sapirstein led and developed the global marketing strategy for Gilead’s flagship HIV drug Viread. He played an instrumental role in the development of the drug combination strategy that resulted in Gilead’s acquisition of Triangle’s nucleoside portfolio. In 2002, he accepted the position of Executive Vice President for Serono Laboratories where he led a team of over 100 professionals to rebuild a struggling HIV and pediatric growth hormone business. In this role, he increased sales of Serono’s products several fold, while forging the U.S. commercialization of Serostim and Saizen. As CEO of privately held Tobira Therapeutics, a New Jersey-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel HIV and infectious disease compounds, he was instrumental in helping to raise over $60 million in venture capital and research funding. Mr. Sapirstein is a graduate of the Rutgers University Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and recieved an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
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About First Wave BioPharma, Hepion Pharmaceuticals: First Wave BioPharma aims to become a leader in developing non-systemic, recombinant protein therapies.
Athena Countouriotis
President and Chief Executive Officer of Turning Point Therapeutics
Athena Countouriotis became president and chief executive officer and was named to the Turning Point Therapeutics board of directors in September 2018. She has broad oncology biotech leadership experience, guiding multiple development programs to approval. Her experience includes large and small molecule therapeutics in hematologic and solid tumor indications, with multiple regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Europe. She joined Turning Point Therapeutics in May 2018 as executive vice president and chief medical officer to advance the clinical development of repotrectinib. She previously served as senior vice president and chief medical officer for Adverum Biotechnologies, and before that as senior vice president and chief medical officer of Halozyme Therapeutics. Athena Countouriotis also served as chief medical officer of Ambit Biosciences, where she helped lead the company’s initial public offering and was responsible for the clinical development of quizartinib until the company’s acquisition by Daiichi Sankyo in November 2014. Earlier in her career, Athena Countouriotis led various clinical development organizations within Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb for oncology therapeutics including Sutent®, Mylotarg™, Bosulif® and Sprycel®. Athena Countouriotis also serves on the board of directors of Trovagene and NuMedii. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine. She received her initial medical training in pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and additional training at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Program.
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About Turning Point Therapeutics: Turning Point Therapeutics is a structure-based drug design pharmaceutical company.
Gregory A. Demopulos
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Omeros
Gregory A. Demopulos, M.D. is one of our founders and has served as our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors since June 1994. Prior to founding Omeros, Dr. Demopulos completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Stanford University and his fellowship training at Duke University. Dr. Demopulos received his M.D. from the Stanford University School of Medicine and his B.S. from Stanford University.
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About Omeros: Omeros is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing products focused on inflammation and central nervous system disorders.
Steve James
President and Chief Executive Officer of Pionyr Immunotherapeutics
Steven James has 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry, including the creation and leadership of multiple companies. He is currently President and CEO of Pionyr Immunotherapeutics and was the President and CEO of Labrys Biologics from 2012 until it was acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals in 2014. Prior to joining Labrys, Steven James was President and CEO of KAI Pharmaceuticals from 2004 until the company was acquired by Amgen in 2012. His previous positions have included Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at Exelixis, Chief Business Officer at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals and VP of Business Development at Isis Pharmaceuticals (now Ionis). He began his career in new product planning at Eli Lilly. Steven James is Chairman of Antiva Biosciences, and a director of Chrono Therapeutics. He was formerly on the board of Cascadian Therapeutics (acquired by Seattle Genetics) and a past director of Ocera Therapeutics (acquired by Mallinckrodt). Steve holds a Masters in Management from the Kellogg School of Northwestern University and an undergraduate degree from Brown University.
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About Pionyr Immunotherapeutics: Pionyr Immunotherapeutics is a developer of cancer immunotherapies designed to target the tumor microenvironment.
Angelo Stracquatanio
CEO & Co-founder of Apprentice.io
Angelo is Co-Founder and CEO of Apprentice.io, providing the only intelligent, spatial augmented reality system for Life Sciences teams. As a pioneer of AR and AI for human empowerment, Angelo has positioned Apprentice as the frontrunner of innovative technology. He imagines a world in which in which a synergistic relationship generated between man and technology exists so that meaningful research, lifesaving product development and manufacturing are all executed with greater reliability.
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About Apprentice.io: Our disruptive tech helps pharma manufacturers get medicine to patients faster by providing one platform to turn molecules into medicine.
Kevin Nazemi
Co-Founder & CEO of Renew Health
CEO & Co-Founder at Done.
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About Renew Health: Renew Health’s mission is to fundamentally transform how medications are managed in the health care system.
Sven M. Jacobson
CEO, Co-Founder of Remedy Pharmaceuticals
Sven is a co-founder of Remedy Pharmaceuticals. He has been the CEO of Remedy since 2007 and serves on the company’s board of directors. He is the inventor of CIRARA’s formulation and the company’s MPD technology. Sven has over 20 years of senior management experience. Sven is a Partner at Carrot Capital Healthcare Ventures and co-founder and board member of Critical Diagnostics, a diagnostics company focused on cardiac disease. Sven was also a co-founder of Access Scientific, which was acquired by Endeavour Capital, as well as Cure Therapeutics, and St. Camillus Medical. He has experience in the neurocritical care, neurology, cardiovascular, orthopedic, and vascular access fields. Sven’s international experience includes prior executive management positions at Leisureplanet (Belgium) and Rennies Travel and Financial Services Group (South Africa), and current board membership of Critical Diagnostics Ltd. (Ireland). Sven received his Bachelor of Science Engineering (BSc Eng) and MBA degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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About Carrot Capital, Carrot Capital Healthcare Ventures, Martin Pharmaceuticals, Remedy Pharmaceuticals, Woolsey Pharmaceuticals: Remedy Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company that develops molecule drugs for acute central nervous system disorders.
Dieter Weinand
President and CEO of Bayer Pharmaceuticals
Weinand currently serves as President of Bayer Pharmaceuticals and is a member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG. Previously, he was President, Global Commercialization & Portfolio Management at Otsuka. During his 30 year career, he has held various responsibilities in commercial, operations and strategy in various therapeutic areas including cardiovascular diseases, oncology, dermatology, immunology, and respiratory and inflammatory diseases . These positions included heading business operations in markets in the United States, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America for companies including Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He earned an M.S. in pharmacology and toxicology from Long Island University, New York, and a B.A. in biology from Concordia College, New York.
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About Bayer Pharmaceuticals: Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture.
Anish Bhatnagar
Chief Executive Officer, President & Chief Operating Officer of Soleno Therapeutics
Dr. Bhatnagar was appointed as our Chief Executive Officer in February 2014. Prior to that, he served as our President and Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Bhatnagar joined us in 2006, and has held positions of increasing responsibility since then. Dr. Bhatnagar is a physician with over 15 years of experience in the medical device and biopharmaceutical industries. His experience spans development of biologics, drugs, drug-device combinations and diagnostic as well as therapeutic medical devices. His prior experience includes working at Coulter Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 1998 to 2000 and Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2000 to 2006. He is the author of several peer-reviewed publications, abstracts and book chapters. He obtained his medical degree at SMS Medical College in Jaipur, India and completed his Residency and Fellowship training in the U.S. at various institutions, including Georgetown University Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania.
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About Soleno Therapeutics: Soleno Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
Jay Shukla
President and CEO of Nivagen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
As a registered pharmacist with an MBA in pharmaceutical management, and over 20 years of diverse experience both in Asia and the USA, Jay brings expertise from both sides of the world. He specializes in business development, corporate strategy, sourcing and international business. Jay acquired more than 4 years of Indian pharmaceutical industry experience where he worked at different levels of supply chains: starting as a sales representative, and going up to product manager, and everything in between. Jay has worked in the US pharmaceutical industry for more than 16 years, again starting as pharmacist behind the counter, and then moving on to sourcing manager, and policy advisor to the largest state run Medicaid program in the US. Jay holds a B.S. in pharmacy from K.L.E.’s College of Pharmacy, Banglore, India, and an MBA in Pharmaceutical Studies from Silberman College of Business, Madison, New Jersey.
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About Nivagen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Nivagen engages in the development, acquisition, and sales of generic prescription drugs and over the counter products.
Ronald Berenson
Co-founder & CEO of Viracta Therapeutics
Ronald Berenson is president and CEO at KitoTech Medical Inc .
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About Aequus, KitoTech Medical, Viracta Therapeutics: Viracta Therapeutics is a precision oncology company focused on new treatment of virus-associated malignancies.
Ivor Royston
CEO & President of Viracta Therapeutics
Ivor Royston is president & CEO, Viracta Therapeutics.
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About Viracta Therapeutics: Viracta Therapeutics is a precision oncology company focused on new treatment of virus-associated malignancies.
Angie Tebbe
CEO & Co-Founder of Rae Wellness
Angie Tebbe is the co-founder and CEO of Rae Wellness. She previously worked as a Senior Director and Chief of Staff, Merchandising at Target.
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About Rae Wellness: Rae Wellness is a wellness startup that offers a variety of vegan, non-GMO, and gluten-free supplements.
Andrew Lim
CEO of Circumvent Pharmaceuticals
Andrew Lim is CEO at Circumvent Pharmaceuticals.
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About Circumvent Pharmaceuticals: Circumvent is a biotech company
Alexander Kates
Cofounder & CEO of Vetcove
Cofounder and CEO of Vetcove.
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About Vetcove: Vetcove is the largest B2B veterinary marketplace, enabling veterinary hospitals to compare and buy supplies from all of their vendors.
Fred Burke
CEO, Co-Founder & President of Guardian Pharmacy
President, CEO and Co-founder, Central Pharmacy Services, Inc. (“CPSI”), Atlanta, Georgia, owned and operated nuclear pharmacies (specialized medical laboratories that centrally prepare radio-pharmaceuticals), serving over 1,000 hospitals and clinics in 22 states. Founded in 1992, CPSI grew from start-up to 45 business units, with Operating Profit of $25MM in CY02. CPSI was named to the 1997 and 1999 Inc. 500 lists of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., and was acquired in 2001 by Cardinal Health, the nation’s largest drug wholesaler and healthcare services firm. President and Co-founder of Sales Technologies, Inc. (“ST”) pioneered the Sales Force Automation market by providing networked applications software for large field sales forces on the then-emerging technology of portable computers. ST grew from start-up in 1983 to over 600 employees world-wide in 1991, including multiple offices in North America and Europe serving a blue-chip roster of Fortune 100 clients. Prior to its acquisition by The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, ST was listed as number 30 on the 1988 Inc. 500 list.
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About Guardian Pharmacy: Guardian Pharmacy is a pharmacy company provide outstanding client service to long-term care facilities.
Paul F. Truex
President & CEO, Director of Anthera Pharmaceuticals
Mr. Truex has served as Director, President and Chief Executive Officer since the inception of Anthera in 2004.He was responsible for negotiating Anthera’s product license for A-623, our anti-BAFF peptibody program from Amgen.Prior to founding Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Truex served as a Founder, Director, President and CEO of Peninsula Pharmaceuticals.During that time Mr. Truex raised over $81 million of institutional capital (including $21 million from a strategic partner) and negotiated both of Peninsula’s product agreements with Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Doribax®, doripenem) and Takeda Chemical Industries (Teflaro®, ceftaroline). Peninsula was acquired by Johnson and Johnson in April of 2005 for $245 million in an all cash transaction.The remaining entity, Cerexa was subsequently acquired in 2006 for $480 million in cash.During his career, Mr. Truex has successfully raised over $150 million in venture investments and more than $500 million in various public and private equity and debt offerings including Anthera’s Initial Public Offering in 2010 and Versicor’s IPO in 2000.Mr. Truex has extensive experience in sales’ marketing and business development in several industries including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, consumer electronics, and telecommunications.Prior to Peninsula, Mr. Truex was Vice President of Commercial Development for Versicor Incorporated (acquired by Pfizer) where he directed early commercial efforts for their infectious disease portfolio and participated in the company’s successful $55 million initial public offering.Prior to joining Versicor, Mr. Truex worked at Eli Lilly and Company where he served in various marketing and sales roles during the launch of three different products for the primary care physician market (Actos®’ Evista®’ and Humalog 75/25®). His business development experience includes the Lilly ICOS LLC joint venture’ two majorproduct divestitures and numerous small research collaborations. While there Mr. Truex also worked with several product teams on various divestiture strategies.Mr. Truex obtained his Masters of Business Administration in Marketing and Finance from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Waterloo.Mr. Truex is a member of the Board of Directors of Trius Therapeutics, Milestone Pharmaceuticals and Waterloo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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About Anthera Pharmaceuticals: Anthera Pharmaceuticals is focused on developing products to treat diseases associated with inflammation and autoimmune diseases.
Zack Gray
Co-Founder & CEO of Ophelia
Zack Gray is the Founder and CEO at Ophelia .
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About Ophelia: Ophelia offers medication and support for quitting opioids.
David Benshoof Klein
Founder & CEO of Click Therapeutics
David Benshoof Klein is a healthcare investor and entrepreneur with over 13 years life science industry experience; he has played key roles in founding, financing and developing more than 10 life science companies. In 2012, Mr. Klein co-founded Click Therapeutics, Inc. which focuses on engineering, validating and commercializing Digital Therapeutics™ applications to benefit people with brain disorders and neuropsychiatric dysfunction. He formerly served as Managing Director at a life science asset management firm & senior consultant to Pfizer.
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About Click Therapeutics: Click Therapeutics delivers safe and effective digital treatments to patients in need.
Randy Parker
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GeniusRx
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About GeniusRx, MDLIVE: GeniusRx is a full-service internet pharmacy designed to make it easy to get medicines, over-the-counter products, & wellness supplements.
Daphne Koller
Founder & CEO of Insitro
Daphne Koller is CEO and Founder of insitro, a company using machine learning and high-throughput biology to transform drug discovery. Daphne was the Rajeev Motwani Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, where she served on the faculty for 18 years. She was the co-founder, co-CEO and President of Coursera for 5 years, and Chief Computing Officer of Calico, an Alphabet company in the healthcare space. She is the author of over 200 refereed publications appearing in venues such as Science, Cell, and Nature Genetics. Daphne was recognized as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2012. She received the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2004 and the ACM Prize in Computing in 2008. She was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2011 and elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014 and of the International Society of Computational Biology in 2017.
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About Engageli, Insitro: Insitro is a drug discovery and development startup that utilizes machine learning and biology to transform drug discovery.
J. Joseph Kim
Co-Founder/President/CEO/Director of Inovio Pharmaceuticals
J. Joseph Kim is the Co-Founder/President/CEO/Director at Inovio Pharmaceuticals.
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About Inovio Pharmaceuticals, The Aspen Institute: Inovio is a biotech company focusing on bringing to market DNA medicines for diseases associated with HPV, cancer, and infectious diseases.
Andrew A. Radin
CEO & Co-Founder of Aria Pharmaceuticals
Andrew A. Radin is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of twoXAR, a company dedicated to transforming how large biological datasets are harnessed to accelerate the identification and validation of new medicines. Andrew developed the company’s proprietary algorithm and leads product development. Prior to co-founding twoXAR, Andrew held Chief Technology Officer roles at several early stage companies where he managed teams as large as a hundred technologists distributed around the world. Andrew studied biomedical informatics in Stanford University’s SCPD graduate program and holds Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in computer science from Rochester Institute of Technology.
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About Aria Pharmaceuticals: Aria Pharmaceuticals is a artificial intelligence-driven biopharmaceutical company.
Drew Titmarsh
CEO and Co-founder of Dynomics
Drew is a bioengineer and entrepreneur focused on building multi-disciplinary teams that bring powerful new solutions to large problems. He is currently working on Dynomics, a cardiovascular drug discovery company using miniature, engineered heart organoids to discover molecules to restore heart function.
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About Dynomics: Molecules to restore heart function.
Chintu Patel
Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chairman & Co-Founder of Amneal Pharmaceuticals
Chintu’s vision of building an innovative pharmaceutical company based upon quality and integrity has guided every chapter of the Amneal story. Formerly a pharmacist, he has over 20 years of distinguished experience within the industry and has been recognized by his peers on numerous occasions including the 2011 Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year Life Sciences Award®. He is an ardent philanthropist dedicated to supporting both business and non-profit organizations including a variety of charitable foundations and holds a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers College of Pharmacy.
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About Amneal Pharmaceuticals: Amneal Pharmaceuticals manufactures, markets and/or distributes more than 88 drugs in the United States.
Idicula Mathew
Founder and CEO of Hera Health Solutions
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About Hera Health Solutions: Hera Health Solutions is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the development and commercialization of long term treatments.
Nigel Webb
President and Chief Executive Officer of RiboNova Inc.
Nigel Webb, PhD – President and Chief Executive Officer (Board Member) During his career in the pharmaceutical industry, Nigel Webb has pioneered a wide range of breakthrough therapies and clinical diagnostics using small molecules, nucleic acids and monoclonal antibodies. Dr. Webb co-invented a new cancer drug and directed its development from discovery through FDA-compliant Phase III clinical studies in four countries, while leading research collaborations with the Johns Hopkins Medical School and the National Cancer Institute. He is an inventor on eleven issued US drug patents. Before founding RiboNova in 2013, Dr. Webb started three biotechnology firms, two of which became publicly-traded companies. He held senior management positions with the pharmaceutical companies Searle and Johnson & Johnson, and he served on the boards of five other biomedical companies. Dr. Webb has negotiated multinational licensing agreements, conducted public offerings and arranged many private financings. He has served on the boards of the Massachusetts state biotechnology center and the United States biotechnology trade association. Since Dr. Webb founded RiboNova, the National Institutes of Health has awarded Dr. Webb three peer-reviewed grants for his medical research into potential therapeutic applications of nucleic acid modifications. Dr. Webb was trained as a molecular biologist at the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council in the UK, where he studied transfer RNA in the laboratory of DNA Nobel laureate Maurice Wilkins. He received his MA in biochemistry with first class honours from the University of Cambridge, his PhD in biophysics from the University of London, his CDipAF in finance from the UK Association of Certified Accountants, and he completed the Executive Program at the Harvard Business School.
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About RiboNova Inc.: RiboNova is a biopharmaceutical company in the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research. near Philadelphia
Frederic Dijols
Co-Founder & CEO of Mixlab
Frederic Dijols is a Co-Founder and the CEO at Mixlab.
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About Mixlab: Mixlab is the best-in-class pet pharmacy that partners with veterinarians.
Timothy Walbert
Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Pharma
Mr. Walbert has served as chairman of our board of directors since 2010 and our president and chief executive officer since June 2008. Mr. Walbert served as president, chief executive officer and director of IDM Pharma, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company which was acquired by Takeda America Holdings, Inc., or Takeda, in June 2009. Prior to IDM, Mr. Walbert served as executive vice president, commercial operations at NeoPharm, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company. From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Walbert served as divisional vice president and general manager, immunology, where he led the global development and launch of the multi-indication biologic HUMIRA, which is on track to exceed $10.0 billion in 2013 sales, and divisional vice president, global cardiovascular strategy at Abbott, now AbbVie. From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Walbert served as director, CELEBREX North America and arthritis team leader, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Canada at G.D. Searle & Company. From 1991 to 1998, Mr. Walbert also held sales and marketing roles with increasing responsibility at G.D. Searle, Merck & Co., Inc. and Wyeth. Mr. Walbert received his B.A. in business from Muhlenberg College, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Mr. Walbert serves on the board of directors of XOMA Ltd. (NASDAQ: XOMA), Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp. (NASDAQ: RPTP), the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization (iBIO), ChicagoNEXT, a World Business Chicago (WBC) led council of technology leaders and the Greater Chicago Arthritis Foundation. Mr. Walbert was also recently appointed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to the Illinois Innovation Council.
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About Horizon Pharma, Horizon Therapeutics, Viela Bio: Horizon Therapeutics focuses on the development of prescription drugs for mild to moderate pain relief and arthritis.
David-Alexandre Gros
Co-Founder, Director and Chief Executive Officer of Imbria Pharmaceuticals
David-Alexandre is the co-founder, director and chief executive officer at Imbria Pharmaceuticals.
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About Imbria Pharmaceuticals: Imbria Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company with locations in San Diego, CA, and Boston, MA.
Paul Edalat
Chairman of the Board, Interim CEO, CBDO of Vivera Pharamceuticals
With more than 30 years of brand and product development experience in the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and medical device sectors, Mr. Edalat brings a keen eye for business development and growth opportunities to Vivera. His forward-thinking management approach as interim CEO has seen Vivera grow from a single division at its founding to over seven divisions and counting today. Leading Vivera’s business development domestically and internationally, Mr. Edalat works closely with Vivera’s sales and marketing teams to anticipate and meet market demands. With trusted global relationships built over the decades, Mr. Edalat has worked to leverage his connections and expand Vivera’s reach. At home, he has led the Company through innovative research and development, focusing on maintaining Vivera’s core mission – putting patients first. www.pauledalat.com
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About Vivera Pharamceuticals: Vivera Pharmaceuticals is an innovative, science-driven pharmaceutical company located in Southern California.
Michael Mulhern
CEO of Sterigenics
Michael J. Mulhern serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Sterigenics International Inc. Mulhern served as Chief Executive Officer of American Sanitary Inc. and AmSan LLC, subsidiary of American Sanitary Inc.
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About Sterigenics: Sterigenics is a provider of solutions in sterilization and ionization supply chain management; Providing sterilization services.
TJ Parker
CEO of PillPack
TJ Parker is the Co-Founder and CEO of PillPack. He is also a Board Member of RxArt. Mr. Parker is a former Pharmacist at NEPS and Founding Organizer at Hacking Medicine at MIT.
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About PillPack: PillPack is a full-service pharmacy that sorts medication by dose and offers door-to-door delivery.
John M. House
Co-Founder, Chairman, CEO & President of USMD
John M. House, M.D., a board-certified urologic surgeon, is the co-founder, chief executive officer and president of USMD Holdings. He is also the co-founder of Urology Associates of North Texas, one of the largest Urologic Surgery groups in North America. Dr. House received a B.S. in chemistry from the University of South Dakota and he received his Master’s Degree in chemical engineering at Texas Tech University. He then graduated from University of Oklahoma College of Medicine with a degree of Doctor of Medicine and subsequently completed his residency in urologic surgery at the University of Missouri in 1988. Dr. House is a Diplomat of the American Board of Urology and has served as a founding Board Member of the Large Urology Group Practice Association (LUPGA), a consortium of more than 50 large urology group practices.
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About USMD: USMD Holdings develops, operates and manages entities that deliver diagnostic, therapeutic and hospital-based health care to patients.
Jayant Panchal
CEO & Co-Founder of Alpha Cognition
Jay Panchal is the CEO and Co-Founder at Alpha Cognition. Before that, he was the CEO and Co-Founder of Goodybag, Inc (Sold to Bite Squad in 2016).
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About Alpha Cognition: Alpha Cognition utilizes a portfolio approach to identify, validate, and develop bioactives for neuroprotection and the early treatment.
Yoona Kim
Co-Founder and CEO of Arine
Yoona serves as the CEO of Arine. Prior to Arine, she was the Head of Clinical Modeling and Analytics at Proteus Digital Health. She was responsible for health economic and clinical implementation activities for Proteus Digital Health. Her team developed health economic value propositions from strategic conceptualization to business case development to actualization in the real-world. Yoona has also built population and clinical analytic offerings, including predictive analytics and novel algorithms for clinical decision making and population stratification. Prior to Proteus, she led health economic activities and supported multiple blockbuster launches at Novartis and Gilead, and also implemented innovative healthcare design, such as value-based insurance programs, with large self-insured employers while working at Mercer. When she is not working on Arine, she is busy learning a new instrument or playing the violin with other artists. Yoona holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Stanford University, a PharmD with an emphasis in health policy and management from the University of California, San Francisco and a PhD in health economics and outcomes from the University of Texas at Austin.
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About Arine: Arine optimizes medications and improves human health through data-driven clinical services.
Andy Doraiswamy
President/CEO of Koya Medical
Andy is currently focused on advancing health and human life. He brings innovative teams together to ideate and transform healthcare. He is the founder and CEO of Koya Medical, a team dedicated to transforming chronic lymphatic and venous disease. He also serves as Chairman and board director with an eye-care and urology health venture. Previously, he led Oculeve, a first-in-class health venture funded by NEA, Kleiner Perkins, and Versant to treat ocular disorders with a revolutionary neuromodulation platform. The company was acquired by Allergan Plc. Prior to this, Andy invented sight-restoring intraocular implants, that have given sight to more than 6 million humans across the globe. This technology was acquired by Santen Pharmaceuticals and licensed to Bausch & Lomb (marketed as envista IOL). He received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the School of Medicine at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, M.S. in materials science and engineering from University of Arizona, and Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from University of Madras. He has numerous patents and publications in healthcare innovation. Additionally, Andy enjoys the benefits of meditation & the thrills and agonies of high-altitude mountaineering. He is on a quest to climb the tallest mountains in the world, though this has temporarily taken a back-seat to focus on healthcare. He is actively learning to master the mridangam and enjoys restoring and riding vintage motorcycles.
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About : Koya Medical is a transformative healthcare company developing breakthrough treatments for lymphedema and venous diseases.
Joseph Sanginiti
President & Chief Executive Officer of FamilyWize
Joseph Sanginiti has spent more than 25 years with several Fortune 500 organizations. As a senior executive in the pharmacy benefit management industry, Joe was responsible for both the integrations and management of pharmacy operations nationally. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of a number of companies and non-profit organizations.
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About FamilyWize: FamilyWize has been dedicated to helping improve the health and well-being of individuals, families.
Julius Nasso
Chief Executive Officer of Unimed
Julius Nasso has an impressive academic resume that shows his commitment to learning and improving his understanding of any field in which he chooses to participate. Not only has he had the opportunity to participate in the production of multiple different action films, he has shown his commitment to excellence through a variety of fields of study. In 1976, he graduated from St. John’s University with a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy. Following that, he attended the University of Connecticut and acquired his advanced Doctor of Pharmacy degree. While he was acquiring his education, however, Julius was not focused on learning alone. In 1974, while still in college, he founded Universal Marine Medical Supply Co. Three years later, in 1977, he and college professor Dr. Satish Patel formed Tishcon Corporation, located in Westbury, New York. This company would grow to become one of the world’s largest private labeling vitamin and health supplement manufacturing plants. Along with partner Xavier Roberts, in 1978, he branched out further in the business world, opening the Cabbage Patch Babyland General Hospital Store. This store led to further business opportunities for Julius, who had the opportunity to connect with Steve Ross, then the CEO of Time Warner, at the store. Ross went on to help Julius acquire a production deal at Warner Brothers Studios. Thanks to his time in production, Nasso was able to work as personal assistant to director Sergio Leone beginning in 1980, helping him to gain a great deal of experience in film that would later serve him well in his own endeavors. In this position, he was able to work on the New York portion of Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and participate in the development of both In God’s Name and Saint Peter’s Banker. At this time, he shifted the focus of his education, attending courses and seminars in film production at Cinecitta Studios in Rome, Italy. As in his other efforts, Nasso put a great deal of focus and effort into ensuring that he was able to develop a full understanding of production. In 1986, Julius moved on to become the Head of International Promotions for Above the Law. From there, he joined with Warner Brothers Studios in a seventeen-year producing partnership. He worked on a series of action blockbusters, including: • Hard to Kill (1990) • Marked for Death (1990) • Out for Justice (1991) • Under Siege (1992) • On Deadly Ground (1994) • Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) • The Glimmer Man (1996) • Fire Down Below (1997) • The Patriot (1998)
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About Unimed: Universal Marine Medical Supply International is a leading global provider of medical supplies, equipment, and services.
Antonio Briceno
CEO of Innovative Genetics Inc.
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About Innovative Genetics Inc.: Innovative Genetics is a pioneer in its segment of the biotechnology industry.
Lalit Chordia
CEO of Thar Process
Dr. Chordia is the founder and CEO of several separation science companies, including the former Thar Technologies from which Thar Pharmaceuticals was spun out, Thar Instruments and Thar Process, Thar Energy and a co-founder of Suprex Corporation. Thar Instruments was sold to the Waters Corporation in 2009. Dr. Chordia has 13 issued patents and over 20 patents pending. He received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. Dr. Chordia is a Board Member of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation and World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh; serves on the Steering Committee for Sustainable Pittsburgh, Co-founder of US-India Forum and is an Adjunct Research Scientist at the Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. He also serves on the Allegheny County Green Action Team and is an appointee of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, District Export Council.
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About Thar Geothermal, Thar Pharmaceuticals, Thar Process: Thar Process provides CO2 extraction and purification solutions.
