MEET THE EXPERTS

Kollol Pal

Dr. Kollol Pal is an established, serial entrepreneur with more than two decades of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Kollol has spent much of his career within successful, early-stage companies where he held roles of increasing responsibility. Most recently, Kollol was the Founder and CEO of Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals (now known as Cadent Therapeutics), a neuroscience drug discovery company which partnered with Novartis in 2014. Prior to his work with Mnemosyne, he was Co-Founder and SVP of Research and Development at Corbus Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CRBP), a clinical-stage company developing novel drugs for scleroderma and cystic fibrosis. Earlier in his career, Kollol served as Vice President of Chemistry at Neogenesis, a novel screening and chemistry technologies company acquired by Schering Plough-Merck, and as Director of Chemistry at the oncology startup Mitotix which was later acquired by GPC Biotech. He has also previously served as a Principal at PureTech Ventures (now PureTech Health). Kollol began his scientific career at Boehringer Ingelheim, where he was a member of the research team that developed Viramune, the first non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Kollol Pal holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Cornell University.

Jordan Leef

Jordan Leef is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist specializing in the healthcare industry. Jordan brings more than a decade of experience in life science venture creation and has served on the boards of over 20 companies as a director or observer.

Jordan most recently served as an executive at two oncology companies, Metamark Genetics, which focused on urological cancers, and Interpace Diagnostics Group (Nasdaq: IDXG), which develops molecular diagnostic tests. He was also a Principal Venture Capitalist and member of the healthcare investment team at the publicly-traded venture capital firm, Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE: SFE).

Prior to Safeguard, Jordan served as a Senior Associate with MentorTech Ventures, a Philadelphia-based venture capital firm that invests in seed and early-stage companies. During his time at MentorTech, Jordan was also a Senior Associate for SVM Israel, investing in Israeli private equity and venture capital funds as well as selectively co-investing alongside those funds. Earlier in his investment career, Jordan was a Financial Analyst at the private equity firm Pharos Capital Group, where he worked as a member of the investment team to provide growth and later-stage capital for businesses in the healthcare, business services and technology industries. Before his career in venture capital, Jordan worked in the biotechnology equity research group at C.E. Unterberg, Towbin (presently known as Collin Stewart) and for Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE: PFE) in its US clinical operations and business development divisions.

Jordan Leef is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he concentrated in healthcare management and policy.

Jay Birnbaum

Dr. Jay Birnbaum is the senior scientific advisor to Pyramid Biosciences for its dermatology portfolio. Jay brings more than three decades of experience spanning the areas of discovery research, formulations, clinical research and development (R&D), regulatory and marketing of dermatological therapies. His consultancy work specializes in ethical and OTC drugs, medical devices and cosmetics.

Jay has been involved in the development and commercialization of numerous drug and consumer products and brands, including Lamisil antifungal products, Cyclosporine Neoral and Elidel (systemic and topical treatments for inflammatory skin diseases), Kybella (treatment for submental fullness), Apligraf (the first bio-engineered, living skin equivalent), and Skin Caviar (the centerpiece of the LaPrairie Skin Care brand for over 25 years). He has extensive international relationships in industry and academia and is a member of board of directors and scientific advisory boards of several companies.

Jay’s career includes senior roles at pharmaceutical leaders Novartis, Sandoz and Wyeth. He has co-founded two companies in his career, Kythera Biotherapeutics (later acquired by Allergan) and Hallux, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of targeted subungual drug delivery to treat onychomycosis serving as Chief Scientific Officer and a member of its board of directors.

  Dr. Jay Birnbaum holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Bachelor of Science degree from Trinity College.

Arthur DeCillis

Dr. Arthur DeCillis is the senior medical advisor to Pyramid Biosciences for its oncology portfolio. Arthur brings more than two decades of experience in the registrational strategy and development of oncology therapies.

Prior to forming his own consulting practice, Arthur was the chief medical officer for Eleven Biotherapeutics (now known as Sesen Bio Inc.) a late-stage clinical company developing next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapies. Previously, Arthur was the vice president clinical research and then vice president of medical affairs at Exelixis, Inc., an oncology-focused biotechnology company. Prior to this, Arthur served as executive director of Phase 2 and Phase 3 oncology development at Novartis. Earlier in his career, Arthur held positions of increasing responsibility in oncology global clinical research at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., attaining the position of group director.  Arthur has been involved in the development of several commercial drug including Sprycel (dasatinib), Afinitor (everolimus), Farydak (panobinostat), and Cabometyx (cabozantinib).

  Prior to his career in the biopharmaceutical industry, Arthur was a member of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), a National Cancer Institute clinical cooperative group at the University of Pittsburgh. He has served as a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology working group on economic analysis in Phase 3 clinical trials and the National Cancer Institute common toxicity criteria review committee.

Dr. Arthur DeCillis holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, a Master of Science degree from the University of Pittsburg and a Bachelor of Science degree from Lehigh University. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the National Board of Medical Examiners.

Brian Lestini

Brian joins 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).

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.

Jeffrey Wasserman

Jeff Wasserman comes to Pyramid Bio with 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.