MEET THE EXPERTS

Brian Lestini

Brian was promoted to CEO of Pyramid Biosciences in January 2022, after previously serving as the Company’s Chief Medical Officer. Brian joined the Company from Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he most recently was Vice President and Development Leader for the relatlimab (anti-LAG3) immunotherapy program. In this capacity, Brian oversaw the development and commercialization strategy for this novel immunotherapy agent across a wide range of tumors. Brian brings over a decade of early-stage and late-stage development leadership experience in Oncology, including the design, execution and submissions leading to the first global approvals of OPDIVO (nivolumab, anti-PD1). Previously, Brian served as the Global Medical Affairs Head and Development Leader for three hematology products, OPDIVO, SPRYCEL (dasatinib), and EMPLICITI (elotuzumab). Prior to joining BMS, he led the early-stage clinical development for the BRAF inhibitor program at Hoffmann-La Roche. Brian is a Board-Certified Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist, and received his MD and PhD degrees from Case Western Reserve University, and completed his fellowship training at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Biren Amin, MBA

Prior to joining Pyramid Biosciences, Mr. Amin served as CFO at Immuneering Corporation, a US-based, biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology, where he successfully led a $120 million initial public offering. Previously, Mr. Amin spent nearly two decades on Wall Street where he built a strong track record covering small-mid cap biotechnology companies, focusing on oncology, CNS disorders, ophthalmology, and rare diseases. Mr. Amin spent a decade at Jefferies Financial Group as Managing Director in their Equity Research group. During this time, Mr. Amin was named Best Stock Picker in Biotechnology in 2013 by Financial Times. Prior to joining Jefferies, Mr. Amin was an equity research analyst covering biotechnology and pharmaceuticals at several firms including Prudential Equity Group. He began his career at Aventis Pharmaceuticals (currently part of Sanofi S.A.) in their Scientific Competitive Intelligence group. Mr. Amin received his Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Pharmacy from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, his Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Pharmacy from Long Island University, and his Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from the Stern School of Business at New York University. He currently sits on the Board of Trustees of Axiom REACH Foundation.

Jeffrey Wasserman, JD

Jeffrey Wasserman has nearly 25 years of corporate legal experience, having previously served as both a general counsel as well as a Partner at multiple law firms. In addition, Jeff has also held senior executive and operational roles in multiple pharmaceutical and consumer health care companies.

Jeff comes to Pyramid Biosciences from Curcio Mirzaian Sirot, a northeast regional law firm where he served as a Partner and Chairman of their Corporate and Securities Practice. Jeff served as the Founder and CEO of an over-the-counter consumer healthcare company, and was also a founding general partner of a private equity fund. In addition, Jeff held senior management positions at a number of specialty pharmaceutical companies that focused on cardiology and dermatology.

Jeff began his career as a securities attorney in New York at the law firms of Mayer Brown and Morgan Lewis. Jeff received his Juris Doctorate from Seton Hall University School of Law and his B.A. from Tulane University.

W. Robert Bishop

Bob Bishop brings more than 25 years of experience in oncology drug discovery and early development, with expertise ranging from target validation through clinical proof of concept. During more than 20 years at Schering-Plough Research Institute, Bob led a team of 75 scientists conducting drug discovery research in both oncology and virology. He has authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications and several comprehensive reviews, primarily in the area of signal transduction in cancer cells. Bob retired from his position as Executive Director, Oncology at Merck in March 2011. Bob received his PhD in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from the University of Connecticut Health Center, followed by post-doctoral research at Duke University Medical Center.

Vijaypal Reddy

Vijay Reddy is an experienced Drug Development professional with over thirty years of experience in global pharmaceutical drug discovery and development at big pharma (Eli Lilly and Company and Sanofi). Vijay led nonclinical safety and regulatory assessment on several cross-functional oncology and endocrine/neuro programs at different stages of development (early and late phase) and provided scientific expertise, including design of clinical development plans, and interpretation of regulatory guidance. Vijay contributed to the nonclinical toxicology packages to support over 20 first in human studies (INDs) for many drug candidates and successfully submitted two NDAs (Evista, Alimta) and two BLAs (Cyramza and Lartruvo).  During Vijay’s tenure at Lilly, he developed a strong regulatory and drug development expertise, interacted with worldwide regulatory agencies, and addressed number of safety issues for drugs during pre-IND, end of Phase II, pre-NDA, pre-BLA, NDA, BLA, FDA, EU and PMDA (Japan) meetings.  Vijay received his PhD., from Utah State University, MS from University of Mississippi Medical Center, DVM (BVSc) from A.P. Agricultural University, India and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Deb Chapman

Deb Chapman joined the Company in 2021 and has nearly three decades of clinical research and operations experience.  Previously, Deb has contributed to the clinical development of several FDA approved oncology drugs, including Doxil and Avastin.  Prior to joining Pyramid Bio, Deb served as a clinical consultant to numerous early-stage pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Zogenix Inc., Prothena Biosciences, and Aduro Biotech. Early in her career, Deb held roles of increasing responsibility at Gilead Sciences, Bristol Myers’ Squibb and Genentech.  Deb holds a B.S. degree in biology from Santa Clara University.