DERMAVANT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Medical Affairs
Anna Tallman combines 20 years of medical affairs leadership with in-depth clinical experience in therapeutic areas, including dermatology, infectious disease, central nervous system, and pain. Dr. Tallman previously served as Global Therapeutic Area Team Leader, Dermatology, and Senior Medical Director, Dermatology, at Pfizer, and was instrumental in successfully launching products at Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Strativa Pharmaceuticals, and Elan Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Tallman earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Michigan.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Vice President, Human Resources
Bryan Gillespie has over 20 years of experience across a variety of industries. He's been instrumental in helping Dermavant successfully grow and develop talent in alignment with business needs. Prior to joining Dermavant, Mr. Gillespie served as Head of Talent Acquisition for organizations across the technology, distribution, and pharmaceutical industries. Most notably leading the talent acquisition function at Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation prior to the acquisition by Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Mr Gillespie graduated from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, with a bachelor's degree in marketing.
With more than 20 years of experience, Carey Herbert brings prominent industry experience to her role. Her series of accomplishments includes Assistant General Counsel across several companies and Chair of Corporate Transactions at Rose Law Group pc before joining Dermavant in 2018. Her academic accolades include a Master of Business Administration from the University of Alberta, a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Arizona, and a JD from the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College of Law.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Vice President, Information Technology
Chad Berryhill brings more than 20 years of experience to his position as Dermavant's Vice President of Information Technology. He held the position of Director of IT across multiple companies - including Medicis, Dogeared, and Traffic Management, Inc. - before joining Dermavant in 2018. Mr. Berryhill graduated with a bachelor's in business management from Western Governors University.
Chris Chapman - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Chief Commercial Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
A member of the Dermavant team since early 2020, Chris Chapman brings 20 years of industry experience to his role. After receiving his BS from Towson University, Mr. Chapman spent 20 years in commercial roles, including: leading Pfizer's U.S. Pharmaceutical Contracting and Pricing Organization division, as well as serving as the Vice President and General Manager of U.S. Prescription Business for Galderma, Senior Principal of the Core Access Group, and Executive Director for Managed Markets and Contracting for Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation.
Job Titles:
- Chief Legal Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
Chris Van Tuyl joined Dermavant in March 2018 and has over 20 years of legal experience. Prior to joining Dermavant, he was a corporate partner at the firm Sacks Tierney P.A., where his practices focused on the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and technology industries. He previously served in various in-house legal positions at publicly traded companies, including as Legal Executive at FIS Global; Corporate Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer at Rayonier Inc; and Associate General Counsel at Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation. Mr. Van Tuyl began his legal career in private practice as a corporate attorney at the international law firms of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP in Phoenix and Clifford Chance LLP in New York. He received his BS in finance summa cum laude from Arizona State University and his JD from Duke University School of Law.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Business Operations & Intelligence
Joining Dermavant in 2020, Darren Lenczycki's 15+ years of business expertise ranges from startups to commercial execution. His prior roles include Senior Product Manager at Taro Pharmaceuticals and Director of Strategic Channels at Galderma, where he exercised and grew his ability to lead high-performing teams and spearhead cross-functional and customer-focused initiatives. Mr. Lenczycki graduated with a BA in economics from Tulane University and an MBA in finance and accounting from Saint Joseph's University.
Job Titles:
- Chief Scientific Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
Following a distinguished career in academia as University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's Louis C. Skinner Jr. Distinguished Professor of Dermatology, and years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, David Rubenstein joined Dermavant in 2018 from GlaxoSmithKline Dermatology. During his time at GSK, he built an industry-leading dermatology drug development organization as Vice President, Discovery and Preclinical Development. Dr. Rubenstein received his BA in molecular biology from Princeton University and his MD and PhD from Duke University School of Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Clinical Operations
After 20 years of holding key roles across drug development - including international experiences, leading and managing clinical teams, and serving as Vice President of Clinical Operations at Veristat - Diana Villalobos was well prepared to join Dermavant. Ms. Villalobos' depth of experience in leading global teams and managing large-scale phase 3 programs is invaluable to Dermavant's clinical team.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs Strategy
With over 20 years of medical affairs experience in multiple therapeutic areas - including dermatology, immunology, ophthalmology, and rare disease - Doral Fredericks was well equipped for her transition to Dermavant. She previously served as Vice President of Medical Consulting at Scientific Commercialization and Vice President of Medical Affairs at both Acadia Pharmaceuticals and Bausch & Lomb, and she has held many individual contributor and leadership roles in medical affairs at Novartis and AstraZeneca. In 2023, Dr. Fredricks added the coveted Women in STEM award to her extensive list of accomplishments. Dr. Fredericks received her PharmD and MBA degrees in a joint program at the University of Southern California.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Member of the Management Team
- Chairman, Executive Chairman, or CEO
Frank Torti is the Vant Chair at Roivant Sciences, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Telavant, and Executive Chairman of Immunovant.
In his role at Roivant, Dr. Torti serves as Chairman, Executive Chairman, or CEO of the public and private biopharmaceutical companies (Vants) at Roivant and is responsible for those businesses. This group of companies has advanced over forty medicines into clinical development, produced positive phase three results in ten consecutive clinical trials, and generated over twelve billion dollars in value. In addition, companies created at Roivant have delivered six FDA approvals and have brought novel medicines in dermatology, oncology, immunology, men's and women's health, and rare disease to millions of patients.
During the course of his career, Dr. Torti has been Chairman of the Board of fifteen companies and served on more than thirty corporate boards. He has been involved in more than $22 billion in capital formation through fundraising, partnerships, and corporate acquisitions, and companies with which he has been involved have completed approximately twenty initial public offerings and M&A transactions.
Prior to joining Roivant, Dr. Torti was a partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the largest venture capital firms in the world.
Dr. Torti received his BA with highest honors as a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina, his MD from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and his MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
Elaine Clark is an accomplished development professional with over 20 years of industry experience, ranging from startup biotech to CRO and global commercial organizations. As the Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs at PRA Health, Ms. Clark was responsible for regulatory CMC, labeling and emerging market regulatory activities for a portfolio of Takeda marketed products, and oversaw all regulatory activities within the prescription business unit as the Head of Global Regulatory Affairs at Galderma. During her time as the Head of Regulatory Affairs for Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, she oversaw successful IND/CTA filings for seven first-in-class new molecular entities to enable first-in-human trials.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
Eric Venker, MD, PharmD, has served as a member of our board of directors since January 2020 and serves as Chief Operating Officer of Roivant Sciences. He previously served as Chief of Staff to Roivant's Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining RSI in 2017, Dr. Venker was a physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center, where he trained in internal medicine. While there, Dr. Venker served as the Chair of the Housestaff Quality Council and led operational initiatives to improve efficiencies across a large hospital system with $5 billion in annual revenue. Earlier in his career, he was a Clinical Pharmacist at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Dr. Venker received his Pharm.D. from St. Louis College of Pharmacy and his M.D. from Yale School of Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Vice President, Sales
Fred Hockenjos brings more than 20 years of experience to his role as the Vice President of Sales at Dermavant. After working his way up from multiple specialty sales positions at Pfizer to director roles at Medicis and Valeant Pharmaceuticals, he became Vice President of Sales and Commercial Strategy at Galderma before leading our team. Mr. Hockenjos graduated with a BS in finance from Brigham Young University.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Access & Pricing
John Cheslock has spent over 25 years in the industry and brings a plethora of expertise to his role as Dermavant's Vice President of Access and Pricing. Before joining the team in 2021, he was the Director of Contracts and Pricing across several companies - including Archimedes Pharma, Orexo US Inc., and Galderma - where he demonstrated his versatility and industry knowledge. He graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor's in health planning administration and an MBA.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Marketing
John Darden has over 15 years experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Dermavant, Mr. Darden served various roles at Amgen, most recently as the Executive Director, Marketing and U.S. brand lead for Otezla. He led several successful launches in the dermatology and immunology space and has deep experience in market access where he led payer coverage strategy. Mr. Darden received a BS from Duke University and a Masters in Business from University of Virginia.
Job Titles:
- Member of Our Board of Directors
Kenneth E. Ludlum has served as a member of our board of directors since May 2019. Mr. Ludlum has served on the board of over a dozen companies and currently serves on the board of directors and as Chairman of the audit committee of NATUS Medical, Inc., a medical device and equipment company. Mr. Ludlum also currently serves on the boards of other biotechnology and medical technology companies, including biotechnology company, Personalis, Inc., since 2015 and laser ophthalmic company, IRIDEX Corp., since April 2019. He has served as Chief Financial Officer for other private and publicly traded companies, including CareDx, Inc., a biotechnology company, from 2014 to 2016, and medical technology company, EndoGastric Solutions, Inc., from 2014 to 2015. Mr. Ludlum holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Intellectual Property
Kenneth Peist specializes in IP due diligence, maximizing patent and regulatory exclusivity for pharmaceutical products, patent portfolio management and licensing, and M&A support and has served as Dermavant's Vice President of Intellectual Property (IP) since October 2018. His prior ventures include Senior Partner, Legal, at Roivant Sciences and a variety of legal positions at Amicus Therapeutics, Bristol Myers Squibb, Vitae Pharmaceuticals, and ExxonMobil, culminating in more than 20 years of experience. Dr. Peist received his JD from Seton Hall University School of Law and a BS from Old Dominion University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Senior Director of Corporate Communications
With over two decades of expertise in brand and corporate communications, Krista Skidmore has been the driving force in elevating Dermavant's corporate identity. Prior to joining Dermavant she worked at Galderma where she led digital marketing initiatives for the prescription portfolio and assisted in the development of an award-winning app during her time as a product manager. Ms. Skidmore graduated from Sam Houston State University with a bachelor's degree in communications.
Job Titles:
- Corporate Controller
- Vice President
Kristopher Garcia brings over 20 years of combined experience in finance leadership, audit, and advisory roles. He previously served as Vice President of Finance at Evolus, Inc. and as Head of Finance and Vice President, Controller, at ALPHAEON, and he has over a decade of audit and advisory experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mr. Garcia graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Concordia University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Global Head of Quality
Skilled at guiding clinical and commercial efforts, Leisha Martin brings over 25 years of experience in quality management to the Dermavant team. Ms. Martin has held quality management positions of increasing responsibility at Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation, Gilead Sciences, and Heron Therapeutics. Ms. Martin holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Pharmaceutical Quality & Good Manufacturing Practice from the University of Strathclyde and a BA in Chemistry from Arizona State University.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
Michael Swartzburg has over 20 years of leadership experience and finance expertise within the biotechnology and healthcare space. Prior to joining Dermavant, Mr. Swartzburg most recently served as Vice President of Finance and in Principal Financial and Accounting Officer roles at Iovance Biotherapeutics, where he participated in over $1 billion in equity raises. Before Iovance, Mr. Swartzburg provided CFO and board advisory services at various biotech companies and served as Vice President of Finance, Controller and Principal Accounting Officer at Adverum Biotechnologies, where he was part of the team that steered Adverum through their successful IPO. He began his career as a Certified Public Accountant and auditor at Ernst & Young in Los Angeles.
- Over 20 Years of Combined Experience in Global Finance Leadership, Audit, and Advisory Roles in the Biopharmaceutical Industry LONG BEACH, Calif., and BASEL, Switzerland, May 6, 2021-Dermavant Sciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics in immuno-dermatology, today announced the appointment of Michael Swartzburg as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Swartzburg
Job Titles:
- Member of Our Board of Directors
- President of HCB Health
Nancy Beesley has served as a member of our board of directors since March 2022. Ms. Beesley currently serves as President of HCB Health, a full-service healthcare marketing agency. At HCB, Ms. Beesley has helped launch more than 70 products within disease spaces such as ophthalmology, wound care, rare disease, neurology, aesthetics and dermatology. Formerly, with Girgenti Hughes Butler & McDowell (Ogilvy Healthworld), she worked on pharmaceutical and drug-in-device therapies within the respiratory and cardiovascular spheres. Ms. Beesley holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Loyola University and has been named one of Pharma Voice's Top 100 Most Inspiring People in Healthcare. She is an active member of The University of Texas Center for Health Communication Advisory Council as well as a member of HBA and OWL.
Job Titles:
- Chief Technical Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
Paul Seaback brings 30 years of technical operations and CMC global leadership in biopharmaceuticals from clinical and commercial companies to his role as Chief Technical Officer. Prior to joining Dermavant in May 2018, Mr. Seaback held leadership roles as VP of Operations and Supply at IGNYTA, Head of Global Supply at Gilead Sciences, and VP of Manufacturing and Global Supply Chain at Medicis Pharmaceutical, as well as additional leadership roles at Hospira, Mayne Pharma, Cardinal Health, and Novartis.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Senior Vice President, Global Business Development
Peter Nicholson has over 20 years of experience in strategy and business development roles in the dermatology industry. He previously ran the Global Strategy and Business Development functions at Nestle Skin Health, Galderma, and led the groups responsible for strategic partnerships, licensing agreements, acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures, and out-licensing at Mentor (Johnson & Johnson) and Inamed (Allergan). Mr. Nicholson has a bachelor's degree in biochemistry with an emphasis on immunology from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Business Administration from UCLA's Anderson School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Chief Medical Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
Philip Brown brings over 25 years of clinical development experience to the Dermavant team. Prior to joining Dermavant in January 2019, Dr. Brown served as Head of Global Pharmaceutical Development at Galderma, as well as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Brown received his MD from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine, his JD from the University of Texas School of Law, and his BA from Hendrix College.
Dr. Brown previously served as Head of Global Pharmaceutical Development at Galderma and has over 25 years of experience leading clinical development programs Dermavant plans to initiate Phase 3 clinical program for tapinarof in first half of 2019 BASEL, Switzerland-Jan. 2, 2019-Dermavant Sciences, a dermatology-focused subsidiary of Roivant Sciences, today announced the appointment of Philip M.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Head of Clinical Development
Steve Piscitelli has over 25 years of drug development experience and clinical pharmacology expertise across government, biotech, and large pharma areas. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Piscitelli served as the coordinator of the Clinical Pharmacokinetics Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health and completed a secondment at the Food and Drug Administration as a clinical pharmacology reviewer. He has published over 125 papers in the medical literature, co-edited a drug interactions textbook, and is a co-inventor on a number of patents. He was responsible for clinical pharmacology strategy across several therapeutic areas as Vice President of Clinical Pharmacology at Roivant Sciences and contributed to worldwide approval of multiple drugs during his time at GlaxoSmithKline and Tibotec-Virco. He received his PharmD degree from SUNY Buffalo and completed a residency and fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Job Titles:
- Member of Our Board of Directors
Timothy S. Nelson has served as a member of our board of directors since April 2019. Mr. Nelson currently serves on the board of directors of Impel NeuroPharma, Inc. and is Chairman of the Board of XOC Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which are both private biopharmaceutical companies. From 2005 to 2013, Mr. Nelson served as the President and Chief Executive Officer, and member of the board of directors, of MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company acquired by Allergan in March 2013. He also has served on other boards, including Surmodics, Inc., a public medical technology company, from February 2014 to March 2015. Mr. Nelson received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and a Master's degree in Management with Distinction from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Member of the Management Team
Todd Zavodnick has over 20 years of leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Dermavant in November 2018, Mr. Zavodnick served as Chief Commercial Officer and President of Aesthetics and Therapeutics at Revance. He served in global leadership roles at ZELTIQ Aesthetics prior to the company's acquisition by Allergan; at Galderma Laboratories, where he was President and General Manager of North America; and at Alcon Laboratories. He is a member of the board of directors of the Children's Skin Disease Foundation.
Former Chief Commercial Officer at Anacor and Medicis joins leadership team Mr. Ippolito has launched over 20 branded medicines in dermatology Dermavant has licensed its fourth investigational drug for the treatment of acne BASEL, Switzerland, September 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Dermavant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies for dermatologic conditions, today announced