AVALYN PHARMA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Principal at Xontogeny
- Principal, Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Funds
Gianna is a Principal at Xontogeny and Perceptive Advisors, where she assists in the management of Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Funds' investments in life sciences companies, including investments in companies seeded and incubated at Xontogeny. Previously, Gianna built the competitive intelligence capabilities for gene therapy company Solid Biosciences and began her industry career as a patent agent with Choate, Hall & Stewart, LLP., servicing pharma and academic clients. Gianna earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan Medical School and completed her M.S. and B.S. degrees at the University of California, Santa Cruz in Chemistry.
Howard M. Lazarus, MD, FCCP joined Avalyn Pharma as chief medical officer in 2023, prior to which he was chief medical officer of Altavant Sciences (acquired by Enzyvant). In this role, he was responsible for developing and implementing the clinical development plans for candidates addressing pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome. Earlier, he was a key member of the clinical development and medical affairs team at Boehringer Ingelheim where he worked on the nintedanib idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) program and at Gilead Sciences where he worked on their IPF and PAH portfolios. Prior to his work at Gilead, Dr. Lazarus practiced as a pulmonary and critical care physician at several health facilities, including Oregon Pulmonary Associates in Portland, OR. In that role, he diagnosed and treated patients with complex pulmonary vascular and interstitial diseases such as IPF and PAH.
Dr. Lazarus earned both a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and a Doctor of Medicine from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. His residency in internal medicine was at Boston University Medical Center, and he completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of California, San Diego. He is a fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and a member of the American Thoracic and European Respiratory Societies.
Jill is a Partner with SR One based on the East Coast. Jill's educational background is in biochemistry and her career has spanned 20 years in various facets of the biotechnology industry. Initially, she spent time in strategy consulting focusing on commercial projects with pharma, then migrated to operating roles in corporate development, particularly at Dynavax Technologies (DVAX), where she completed multiple pharma partnerships and private and public financings. Jill started her investing career at SR One in 2011 and has been involved in marquee investments including Alios Biopharma, Progyny (PGNY) and Principia Biopharma (PRNB), among others. Jill received a BS in chemistry from Duke University and a MS in Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University.
Job Titles:
- Independent Director
- Physician - Scientist
Jonathan Leff is a physician-scientist with a long history of drug development experience in the biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry. He currently serves as Executive Partner of Sofinnova Investments, a life science investment firm. Previously he was the Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Ascendis Pharma, a biotechnology company developing medicines for rare endocrine disorders. Prior to Ascendis, Dr. Leff served as Executive Vice President, Research and Development at InterMune (acquired by Roche/Genentech in 2014). At InterMune, Dr. Leff oversaw the development and US approval of Esbriet® (oral pirfenidone) for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Prior to InterMune, Dr. Leff served as Chief Medical Officer at KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, and Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Halozyme Therapeutics. Prior to Halozyme, Dr. Leff was Vice President and Global Head of Inflammation Clinical Development at Roche, where he managed the worldwide clinical development programs for MabThera®/Rituxan®, ocrelizumab, and Actemra®. Dr. Leff also held various positions at Amgen, including Vice President, North American Medical Affairs. Prior to Amgen, Dr. Leff served at Merck developing and commercializing Singulair®. Dr. Leff trained in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Colorado in Denver and served in various positions, including director of the Outpatient Pulmonary Clinic. Dr. Leff holds a B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, and received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner, F - Prime Capital
Ketan Patel is a Partner with F-Prime Capital and has worked in the healthcare sector as an investor, consultant, and physician. Prior to joining F-Prime Capital in 2007, Dr. Patel advised biopharmaceutical and medical device companies on brand strategy, clinical development plans, and business development activities in the corporate consulting division of Leerink Swann & Company. Dr. Patel served as a physician at the VA Boston Healthcare System and at Weill Cornell Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital and Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he completed his internal medicine training.
Dr. Patel focuses on investing in therapeutics and medical device companies and has served as a director or board observer of Aclaris Therapeutics, Acorn Cardiovascular, Amphora Medical, Bioconnect Systems, Eywa Pharma, Avalyn Pharma, Ivenix, Laurus Labs, Medwell Ventures, Menlo Therapeutics, NextWave Pharmaceuticals, NFlection Therapeutics, Vicept Therapeutics, and Xcyton Diagnostics.
Dr. Patel is a graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine, where he received both his MD and MBA as part of that institution's Healthcare Management Program and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He completed his undergraduate studies in biology and economics with highest honors at Rutgers University.
Lyn Baranowski is the chief executive officer of Avalyn Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing targeted medicines for patients with rare lung diseases in need of better therapeutic options. Avalyn currently has two programs in clinical development: inhaled versions of IPF & ILD medicines pirfenidone and nintedanib. With inhaled delivery, Avalyn's platform promises to fundamentally improve the product profile of the molecules in two ways: by increasing lung exposure at smaller doses than the oral forms, potentially improving efficacy, while decreasing systemic exposure, resulting in improved tolerability / AE profiles.
Lyn has more than two decades of experience leading a vast array of functions in biotech, big pharma, and venture capital firms with a focus in the respiratory therapeutic area. Prior to joining Avalyn, Ms. Baranowski served as chief operating officer at Altavant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company that successfully built and developed a portfolio of therapies for rare respiratory diseases prior to its 2019 acquisition by Sumitomo Dainippon. Earlier in her career, she served in senior-level corporate development and commercial roles, including vice president of commercial development at Pearl Therapeutics, which successfully developed a portfolio of asthma & COPD medicines prior to its sale to AstraZeneca for $1.15 Billion in 2013; and vice president in a healthcare-focused venture capital firm based in New York. She had previously held roles in business development, marketing and public affairs with Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland and the U.S.
She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from American University. In addition to her role at Avalyn, Ms. Baranowski serves on the board of directors of Rani Therapeutics, a company developing technology for the oral delivery of biologic drugs, and on the planning committee for the American Thoracic Society's Respiratory Innovation Summit, an annual meeting that unites the innovators, investors, and clinicians who are leading the fight to create powerful new treatments for deadly and crippling diseases of the lungs and airways.
Marc Schneebaum joined Avalyn as CFO in September 2021. Mr. Schneebaum has over 25 years of experience in the biotechnology and healthcare sector.
Prior to Avalyn, Mr. Schneebaum served as SVP and chief financial officer of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company developing drugs for liver and cardiovascular diseases, including NASH. He also was SVP and chief financial officer of Synta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company developing oncology drugs and president, chief executive officer and a director of Predictive BioSciences, Inc., a commercial stage oncology diagnostics company. Mr. Schneebaum has also served as president, chief executive officer, and a director of Sensors for Medicine and Science, Inc., an emerging medical technology company; SVP of finance, business development and administration, and chief financial officer of Genetic Therapy, Inc., a biotechnology company (acquired by Sandoz/Novartis).
Mr. Schneebaum was a VP at Alex. Brown & Sons Incorporated, a leading investment banking firm, where he participated in a variety of finance and strategic assignments, and he began his career in the accounting and auditing group at KPMG LLP, advancing to senior manager in the management consulting group. Mr. Schneebaum served as a director of GenVec, Inc., a publicly held biopharmaceutical company acquired by Intrexon Corporation, from 2007 to 2017, and as a director of several privately held life science companies. Mr. Schneebaum earned his degree in business administration from the University of Maryland.
Job Titles:
- Chief Scientific Officer
- Founder
Mark W. Surber, Ph.D. is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Avalyn Pharma. At Avalyn, Dr. Surber serves as chief scientific officer and is the inventor of AP01 and pipeline patent estates. Dr. Surber has over 25 years of pharmaceutical, device and diagnostic development experience, most of which starting, financing and growing biopharmaceutical companies.
Prior to Avalyn, Dr. Surber served as a consultant providing multi-disciplinary drug development services to pharmaceutical companies, including Elevation Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Sunovion in 2012) developing the now marketed inhaled Lonhala® Magnair® combination product for COPD. Prior to consulting, Dr. Surber was the first employee at Aires Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Mast Therapeutics in 2014) where he was project lead and an inventor of Aironite™, an inhaled medicine for treatment of pulmonary hypertension and heart failure. Dr. Surber was also and first employee at Mpex Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Aptalis Pharma in 2011) where he held multiple positions of responsibility including project lead and inventor of Quinsair®, an inhaled medicine marketed for the treatment of cystic fibrosis.
Dr. Surber is well-published and holds multiple patents in formulation, drug delivery, pharmacology and pulmonary medicine. He has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Illinois, and a M.S. and B.Sc. from California State University, Long Beach.
Melissa Rhodes, Ph.D., D.A.B.T is a business operations leader with extensive operational and clinical development expertise in a variety of indications, including respiratory medicines. Dr. Rhodes most recently led metabolic and neurology product development efforts at Kriya Therapeutics. Earlier in her career, she held the position of chief development officer at Aerami Therapeutics and Altavant Sciences, both of which were focused on the delivery of inhaled medicines. Previously Dr. Rhodes managed nonclinical development programs during tenures at Roivant, GlaxoSmithKline and Erimos Pharmaceuticals, where she became adept at evaluating early stage compounds being considered for clinical development. She holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from Duke University Medical Center and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Program Management
Michelle Patterson, MBA, PMP is the SVP of program management at Avalyn. Ms. Patterson brings over 25 years of industry experience, spanning multiple therapeutic areas, product classes, and markets. Most recently, she served as VP of Program Management and NASH program team leader at Intercept Pharmaceuticals where she led the resubmission of the NASH NDA. Prior to Intercept, Ms. Patterson served in senior project leadership roles at both large and small biotech companies including Novan, Roivant Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, and Eli Lilly.
She has led six new drug applications over the last decade and has contributed to three product approvals: Taltz®, Gemtesa®, and Rapivab®. In parallel with these major milestones, she has developed fit-for-purpose portfolio and program management processes and tools to improve the quality and reliability of delivery of drug development programs. She is widely recognized in the industry for her drug development expertise and team leadership. Ms. Patterson expertly manages the delivery of key product portfolio milestones by integrating work across multiple functions including regulatory, pre-clinical, clinical, manufacturing and product development.
Ms. Patterson earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. She is also a certified Project Management Professional.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Board Member of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals
- Chairman, Managing Director, RiverVest Venture Partners
Niall O'Donnell joined RiverVest Venture Partners in 2006, initially as a Kauffman Fellow. Niall became a managing director in 2014, focusing on biopharmaceutical opportunities.
Dr. O'Donnell is a board member of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Lyric Pharmaceuticals and co-founder of Reneo Pharmaceuticals. Niall was acting interim Chief Medical Officer at Lumena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired by Shire in 2014) where he was central to the development and execution of its clinical strategy. Niall was also co-founder and board member of Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (acquired by Pfizer in 2011) which he helped seed and develop the clinical strategy, and is a co-inventor on several key patents.
Prior to RiverVest, Niall was an immunologist at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in San Diego. Niall co-authored the first paper validating the newly discovered histamine H4 receptor as a key regulator of immune pathologies. Dr. O'Donnell was a member of the scientific advisory board of Ziarco Ltd. (acquired by Novartis in 2016), a developer of H4 Receptor antagonists.
Niall earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Dundee, Scotland, and M.A. in Biochemistry from Pembroke College, Oxford. He also received an M.B.A. from the Rady School of Management of the University of California, San Diego.
Job Titles:
- Partner, Novo Ventures ( US ), Inc
Peter joined Novo Ventures (US) Inc. in San Francisco, California in 2012. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Bolt Therapeutics (chairman), E-Scape Bio., Aligos, Swift Health Systems/Inbrace and Viewpoint.
From 2009-2012, Peter was employed with Novo A/S as a partner in Novo Ventures in Denmark. In 2004, Peter co-founded Curalogic A/S, served as CEO until 2009 and took the company public in 2006. From 2000-2004, he was Chief Operating Officer of 7TM Pharma A/S, which he also co-founded. Previously, he worked for 11 years with NeuroSearch A/S, where he was responsible for all aspects of pre-clinical and clinical drug development.
Peter holds a PhD in medicinal chemistry from the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy. He has also been a post doc with Yale University's department of organic chemistry.
Tiba joined Norwest advisors in 2021 as a biotech investor with 20+ years of research and investment experience.