Leadership
We are led by an experienced leadership team with a proven track record in the biopharmaceutical industry. Collectively, our leadership team has contributed to drug discovery and development as well as approval, launch and commercialization of multiple specialty medicines.
Lynne Powell
Chief Executive Officer
Lynne Powell
Chief Executive Officer
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.
Dr. Kevin P. Malobisky
Chief Regulatory and Strategic Operations Officer
Dr. Kevin P. Malobisky
Chief Regulatory and Strategic Operations Officer
Dr. Malobisky brings over 30 years of executive leadership and global drug development to Tavanta Therapeutics. Most recently, Dr. Malobisky was the Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs, Quality, and Compliance at Achillion Pharmaceuticals where he led the successful regulatory and quality development of danicopan, for the treatment of the rare diseases paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and C3 Glomerulopathy (C3G). Under his leadership, danicopan was granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the Food and Drug Administration and PRIME designation by the European Medicines Agency. Previously, Dr. Malobisky was the Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs, Quality, and Pharmacovigilance at Karyopharm Therapeutics where he led their first successful New Drug Application submission for XPOVIO ® (selinexor) tablets for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. In addition to his experience in rare disease and biotechnology, Dr. Malobisky has also held positions of increasing responsibility at Sanofi, Roche Molecular Systems, and Hoffmann-LaRoche. After earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Penn State University, Dr. Malobisky earned his Masters degree in Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance from Temple University School of Pharmacy and his Ph.D. with distinction in Organization and Management from Capella University School of Business and Technology. Dr. Malobisky is also Regulatory Affairs Certified (RAC) and serves as an independent advisor to Allyx Therapeutics and ReNetX Bio, Inc.
Katalin Ferenczi
General Manager, Europe
Katalin Ferenczi
General Manager, Europe
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.
Nikki Whitfield
Vice President and Head of CMC
Nikki Whitfield
Vice President and Head of CMC
Ms. Whitfield brings over 25 years’ experience in the drug development arena to Tavanta Therapeutics with a track record of delivering programs from pre-clinical to late stage intended for large patient populations as well as for orphan/rare indications across a broad range of drug product formats intended for oral, inhaled, topical and parenteral administration routes. Most recently she held the position of Vice President, CDMO Services for Quotient Sciences working across the global sites supporting the integrated CMC and clinical platform. Ms. Whitfield has previously held leadership positions within Vectura, Elan, Quadrant Healthcare and Andaris, overseeing CMC activities which alongside formulation and analytical development included regulatory filings across the development phases.
Dr. Elizabeth Manning Duus
Executive Director, Clinical Development
Dr. Elizabeth Manning Duus
Executive Director, Clinical Development
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.
Dr. Tamás Solymosi
Principal Scientist
Dr. Tamás Solymosi
Principal Scientist
Dr Solymosi has been with Tavanta Therapeutics since 2009. He started working at Tavanta as an Associate Scientist and was later promoted to Scientist and subsequently Head of Laboratory. Currently he is a Principal Scientist leading the preclinical development programs at Tavanta. Dr Solymosi graduated from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and holds a PhD degree in chemical engineering. He is the co-author of a number of peer reviewed papers, conference posters, pending and issued patents.
Ian Kauffman
Head of Finance
Ian Kauffman
Head of Finance
Mr. Kauffman brings over 18 years of accounting and finance experience to Tavanta Therapeutics. Most recently he served as a Controller for Acreage Holdings in which he led the development of business processes across segments which supported their initial public offering on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Prior to Acreage, Mr. Kauffman’s experience consists of positions in public and corporate accounting ranging from work with early stage companies to large international firms. His public accounting experience includes working with Grant Thornton in which he worked within a variety of industries for public and private companies. Ian’s corporate experience includes work within a variety of companies, including start-up, private equity, and IPO environments. After earning his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Mount St. Mary’s University, Mr. Kauffman earned his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license. Mr. Kauffman is also a member of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).
Andrew Midler
Chairman, Investor
Andrew Midler
Chairman, Investor
Mr. Midler is the Founder and Managing Member of Savitr Capital, LLC. Previously, he was the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Standard Pacific Capital, LLC.
Lynne Powell
Chief Executive Officer, Tavanta Therapeutics
Lynne Powell
Chief Executive Officer, Tavanta Therapeutics
Ms. Powell joined Tavanta Therapeutics in September 2019 and has 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical/ biotechnology industry. Prior to DRGT 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.
Alex Driver
Board Member
Alex Driver
Board Member
Mr. Drijver is the CEO of ComInnex, an early stage discovery company and formerly CEO of ChemAxon, a leader cheminformatics company and ThalesNano, a laboratory instrumentation innovator. He is a business builder and strategic thinker who sits on the board of several drug discovery and diagnostics start-ups including Omixon, Ambrichor and CellSorter. His earlier career background in executive roles at ABN AMRO Bank and at NatWest Bank gives him international finance and M&A experience. He is the holder of the R&D 100's Award and the Hungarian Venture Capital Association’s SME of the Year Award.