About Us: Board of Directors

Code Bio

Brian McVeigh is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-Founder of Code Bio. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Genisphere, LLC, a Board Observer of Araris Biotech AG, and is a Venture Partner with 4BIO Capital. He has held leadership roles in both private and public biotechs, including a 25-year career with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pharmaceuticals where he most recently served as the Vice President of Worldwide Business Development Transactions and Investment Management. Brian holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting and Finance from LaSalle University, an MBA with a Concentration in Finance from Villanova University, a Post MBA Certificate in Pharmaceutical Marketing from Saint Joseph's University, and a Certificate of Professional Development from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, and Certified Licensing Professional.

Lead Independent Director

Joseph Truitt currently serves as the CEO and Board member of Iecure Inc. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Larimar Therapeutics. Joseph previously served as CEO of Biospecifics Technologies Corporation and Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he successfully executed strategic transactions for both organizations. Before joining Achillion, he served as Vice President, Product Strategy and Business Development for Lev Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he led the build out of the commercial operation before orchestrating the sale of the company. He also served as Vice President, Sales and Operations at Orapharma Inc. responsible for the build of the company’s infrastructure and the launch of the first product prior to the sale of the company. Joseph served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. He holds an MBA from Saint Joseph’s University and a B.S. from LaSalle University.

Takeda Ventures, Inc.

Jason Baranski is Senior Vice President, Regional General Counsel U.S. & Legal Lead for the Global Portfolio Division, serving as a member of Takeda’s U.S. Business Unit and Global Portfolio Division leadership teams. Jason has responsibility for overseeing and coordinating legal support for significant aspects of Takeda’s business, including franchise and product support, business development, market access, patient services, litigation and investigations, employment matters and contracting and legal operations. Prior to joining Takeda, Jason was an attorney in the litigation practice group of the international law firm Morgan Lewis where he represented pharmaceutical companies in a variety of matters including product liability, government investigations and congressional inquiries. Jason has a J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University and a B.S. in Political Science and Environmental Science from Allegheny College.

UPMC Enterprises

James is Vice President of Translational Sciences at UPMC Enterprises where he has responsibility for identifying, analyzing, and structuring investment opportunities. James is a healthcare executive with over 20 years of experience across a variety of healthcare segments. Prior to joining UPMC James was the Chief Strategic Officer and General Counsel of ByHeart, Inc., where he led the company’s FDA strategy, managed all legal affairs, and led the acquisition and set-up of the company’s manufacturing facility. Prior to that, James held a variety of leadership positions at Fresenius Kabi and Amneal Pharmaceuticals, and he spent 10 years practicing law as an attorney with Haug Partners and as in-house counsel at Teva Pharmaceuticals. He earned a B.S. from the University of Notre Dame, a J.D. from the Pennsylvania State University School of Law, and an M.S. of Bioscience and Biotechnology from Drexel University. He is a registered U.S. Patent Attorney and maintains an active Pennsylvania law license.

Northpond Ventures

Diana Bernstein is a Vice President at Northpond Ventures on the firm’s biotechnologies team. Previously, Diana was a Senior Associate at MRL Ventures Fund, the corporate venture fund of Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), investing in early-stage human therapeutics companies. Prior to that, she was an Associate at Flagship Pioneering, leading projects to conceive and build platform-based therapeutics companies. Diana also spent time at Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals (now Leadiant Biosciences) and PricewaterhouseCoopers. She received her Ph.D. in pharmacology from University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in finance and B.S. in cell biology and molecular genetics from University of Maryland, College Park.

Corporate Fuel Partners

Russ Fein manages the private equity activities of Corporate Fuel Partners, a NYC-based merchant banking business, where he often has a hands-on role in the portfolio investments, leveraging his 25+ years in senior management roles and transactional activities. He is also an active board member of Genisphere, AllerGenis, and EnergyWatch. Prior to Corporate Fuel Partners, he was the Vice President, Worldwide Business Operations for Westcon Group, a $4 billion distributor of communications and technology equipment, where he also held the role of General Manager for a $300 million U.S. division. Russ began his career in the M&A department of Jefferies & Company, Inc. where he worked on numerous complex transactions. Russ received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA from Union College with honors in Managerial Economics.

4BIO Capital

Dr. Dmitry ‘Dima’ Kuzmin is the founding and managing partner of 4BIO Capital, a London-based investment firm focused exclusively on advanced therapies. At 4BIO, he leads the technical team responsible for the sourcing, substantial evaluation, and post-investment management of both private and public investments. Prior to founding 4BIO, Dima spent many years in academia, focusing successively on structural biology, neurochemistry, systems neuroscience, brain-computer interfaces, and gene therapy. His passion is to deliver outright cures for chronic diseases. He has served as an early-stage investor and advisor to several companies in the gene therapy space, and currently represents 4BIO Capital on the boards of Code Bio, SparingVision, Hornet Therapeutics, Redpin Therapeutics and Araris Biotechnology. Dima holds an MSc in Biochemistry from the Lomonosov Moscow State University, a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from MSU and MPIH Frankfurt, and an MSc (First) in Experimental Therapeutics from the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.

New Enterprise Associates

Ed Mathers is a General Partner at NEA where he is focused on biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals investments. He is a director of more than a dozen life science companies, including Ra Pharmaceuticals (Chairman), Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, and Envisia Therapeutics. Previously he was a board member of Lumena, Ziarco, Motus Therapeutics, Plexxikon, Intarcia, Satori Pharmaceuticals, Liquidia Technologies, Southeast Bio, MedImmune, LLC, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Prior to joining NEA, Ed served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Venture at MedImmune, where he helped execute the company’s sale to AstraZeneca for $15.6B. While at MedImmune, Ed was responsible for the company’s corporate and business development activities and led its venture capital subsidiary. Before joining MedImmune, he was Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Licensing and Acquisitions at Inhale Therapeutic Systems. Ed spent 15 years at Glaxo Wellcome, Inc. (GlaxoSmithKline), where he held sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from North Carolina State University.

Independent Director

Dr. Kathy Rouan is currently serving as a Non-executive Board member at Viking Therapeutics and Navidea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. She is an experienced drug developer and leader with nearly 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience. Her most recent role was at GSK as Senior Vice President and head of Global Clinical Operations, Statistics and Programming, Clinical Pharmacology, GCP Quality, Third Party Resourcing and Project Management functions, which encompassed approximately 1800 staff in 20 countries. In this role, Kathy was a member of the R&D Executive Management Team and Scientific Review Boards. She previously was the Head of R&D for Stiefel, a dermatology focused subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Head of Biopharmaceutical Development, which developed GSK’s biopharmaceutical portfolio. She has experience across a wide range of therapeutic areas and led the regulatory approval process for a novel therapy to treat lymphoma. Kathy earned a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Rhode Island, while conducting her research at Pfizer’s Immunoinflammation Research group in Groton, Connecticut. She holds a B. Pharm., First Class Honours, from the University of London.