Leadership

Ms. Powell joined Tavanta Therapeutics in September 2019 and has 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical/ biotechnology industry. Prior to Tavanta she served as Chief Commercial Office at BioCryst, an emerging biotechnology company focused on commercializing innovative small molecules for rare diseases. Before this, she was Senior Vice President, North America, at CSL Behring. Throughout her 17-year career at CSL Behring, she assumed increasing responsibilities within the R&D, Business Development and Commercial functions of the organization. Ms. Powell has significant global experience serving as Vice President, Global Commercial Development and Head of Business Development & European Marketing, Head of Project and Portfolio Management and Head of Clinical Research. Ms. Powell also held positions within Glaxo Wellcome’s UK based commercial strategy and clinical research organizations. Ms. Powell serves on the Board of Directors for Progenity.

Ms. Ferenczi has been with Tavanta Therapeutics since 2010. She began with Tavanta (then NanGenex) by leading the business development operations and was later promoted to Managing Director. Ms. Ferenczi now serves as General Manager, Europe. Prior to Tavanta, she worked at Genpact, a formerly GE owned company, that had established itself as one of Europe’s business services and technology solutions providers. Ms. Ferenczi has also served in a senior business development position at SOLVO Biotechnology and was responsible for the European sales operations of the company. Ms. Ferenczi graduated as a biomedical engineer from the University of Miami.

Dr. Maetzel’s career spans more than two decades of experience with biotechnology products and rare disease interventions across all stages of development and commercialization. He joins Tavanta as CMO from KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he served as senior vice president, medical and contributed to the successful transition of KalVista’s lead asset into late-stage clinical development. Prior, Dr. Maetzel held senior global medical affairs positions with BioCryst Pharmaceuticals and Cornerstone Biopharma, overseeing manufacturing, regulatory, drug safety, clinical development, and pricing and market access. In 2009, he co-founded Stratas Partners, a strategic market-access consultancy that was later sold to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Dr. Maetzel currently holds an academic appointment as adjunct professor at the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto where he earned his PhD and MSc after completing his medical training in Paris, France.

Dr. Wijetunge brings over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry from early development to approval. He joined Tavanta from Oyster Point Pharma where he was the Senior Director of CMC. With his extensive experience in nasal spray and inhalation drug delivery, Dr. Wijetunge was responsible for the development and approval of Tyrvaya® nasal spray for the treatment of dry eye disease.  Prior to that he was the Senior Director of CMC and Analytical Development at Eagle Pharmaceuticals where he contributed to the approval of Pemfexy® (Pemetrexed Injection), an oncology treatment drug while solving many analytical and manufacturing CMC issues. He started his career at Battle Memorial Institute where he contributed to the successful submission of a new Anthrax vaccine. He also held positions with increasing responsibility at Mannkind Corporation, MicroDose Therapeutx and Novel Laboratories. Dr. Wijetunge received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry with honors from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.

Dr. Duus brings 15 years of clinical research experience in the biopharmaceutical industry to Tavanta Therapeutics, spanning early and late development across multiple therapeutic areas. Most recently, she served as Senior Director, Clinical Research & Strategy at Helsinn Therapeutics (U.S.), Inc. Over the 8 years at Helsinn, Dr. Duus led the clinical strategy for oncology-related compounds in development, contributed to global regulatory engagements, supported clinical operations and biostatistics, managed medical writing activities, and oversaw investigator-initiated and collaborative studies in the US. She also held positions of increasing responsibility at Akros Pharma Inc and Avantix Laboratories. After receiving an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Delaware, Dr. Duus earned her PhD in pharmacology and molecular sciences from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Ms. McGlynn has over 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug development and program management (PM), ranging from early stage research to approved products. Prior to Tavanta she headed up the PM function at Akebia Therapeutics, and previously she set up the PM department at the Gene Therapy Program in the University of Pennsylvania. For 7 years before that Ms. McGlynn led the PM department at Elusys Therapeutics, contributing to the approval of Anthim®, a medical countermeasure for anthrax. Earlier in her career Ms. McGlynn held positions of increasing seniority in project / portfolio management and strategic planning, at Sanofi for over 12 years, playing a key role in the development of Aubagio® for multiple sclerosis.    Ms. McGlynn is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP). She serves on the Board of the NJ Chapter of the Project Management Institute, and volunteers as the director for the monthly speaker program.  Ms. McGlynn holds an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University, an MS in Biology from New York University and a BSc in Analytical Science from Dublin City University.