Leadership

Michael Mesa
CEO & President

Mr. Mesa is a highly experienced drug delivery and pharmaceutical product development executive. Mr. Mesa was a key figure in the development of the EpiPen® Auto-injector and is a named inventor on multiple U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications. He has successfully managed multiple auto-injector development programs for emergency medical situations for both the private and government sectors. This includes treatments delivered by auto-injector for seizures attributed to nerve agent exposure as well as epilepsy. Mr. Mesa developed a benzodiazepine auto-injector used in the NIH-sponsored RAMPART Study and the King Pharmaceuticals’ RESCUE Study to treat epileptic seizures in humans. 

Kenneth Dretchen Ph.D.
Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Dretchen is the highly published former Dean of Research, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology at Georgetown University Medical Center. Previously at Georgetown University, Dr. Dretchen had direct responsibility for the Animal Care and Use Committee, the Institutional Review Board, Radiation Safety and all research involving biohazards. Dr. Dretchen served as a consulting pharmacologist for King Pharmaceuticals on a study involving clinical trials to assess the pharmacokinetics and side effects of a benzodiazepine given intramuscularly via an auto-injector. He has published the results of a study in Epilepsia (31:313-317, 1990) demonstrating the superiority of midazolam compared to diazepam in the control of seizures in a mouse model of Status Epilepticus.

Tim Warneke, MS
Vice President Operations

Mr. Warneke brings over 30 years of pharmaceutical development experience across large to mid-size pharmaceutical companies and the world’s largest contract research organization. He has been responsible for clinical study conduct across all phases of pharmaceutical development and therapeutic areas including the use of a caregiver-administered treatment of cluster seizures in children and adults with epilepsy using an auto-injector. Mr. Warneke has leveraged his expert knowledge of the Code of Federal Regulations, ICH Guidelines, Good Clinical Practice and Good Laboratory Practice to provide operational excellence in support of numerous Investigational New Drug and New Drug Applications.

David Friedman, MBA, Financing and Investor Relations

David has over 30 years experience providing a wide range of corporate advisory services to clients in healthcare and related industries. Clients have included life sciences companies Novartis, Boehringer Ingelheim, Endo, Par Pharmaceutical, Lannett, Lupin, JHP Pharmaceuticals, G&W Laboratories and Ranbaxy, healthcare services providers Cardinal Health, National Prescription Administrators and BLP Group Companies, and healthcare IT start-ups Simstar Internet Solutions, oncology.com and Consumer2Patient. David has also worked with venture capital backed companies and their financial partners to maximize value for investors and assure ongoing viability of the company and its products.

 

Advisory Board

Karen Muñana, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Neurology)

Dr. Muñana is a professor of Neurology at NC State University.  She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine specialty of Neurology, with certification in Neurosurgery.

Karen Munana

Karen Muñana, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Neurology)

Dr. Muñana is a professor of Neurology at NC State University. She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine specialty of Neurology, with certification in Neurosurgery. She is co-editor of the veterinary textbook “A Practical Guide to Seizure Disorders in Dogs and Cats”, and has authored over 30 peer-reviewed research articles focusing on the diagnosis and management of seizures in dogs and cats.

Sherry Scullion

Sherry Scullion, President of the Scullion Strategy Group, LLC, has a long-standing career in innovation strategy, product marketing, product development and product design across a broad scope of industries, with the majority of her career in animal health.

Sherry Scullion

Sherry Scullion

Sherry Scullion, President of the Scullion Strategy Group, LLC, has a long-standing career in innovation strategy, product marketing, product development and product design across a broad scope of industries, with the majority of her career in animal health. She has been involved in the pipeline development, launch and product management of 18 innovative US and global products in the veterinary prescription and OTC markets.

She worked in a variety of marketing, product development and design engineering roles for companies such as Elanco™ Animal Health, Novartis Animal Health, B/E Aerospace (now Rockwell Collins) and Philips Communication & Security Systems (now Bosch Security Systems).

Sherry holds an Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MBA with a Marketing Concentration from Wake Forest University, and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the State University of New York College at Buffalo.

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Michael Podell DVM

Dr. Podell is a Chief Medical Officer at MedVet. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in Neurology with a certification in Neurosurgery.

Michael Podell

Michael Podell DVM

Dr. Podell is currently a Chief Medical Officer at MedVet. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in Neurology with a certification in Neurosurgery. He has published over 200 scientific articles, book chapters and proceedings in comparative veterinary neurology and neuroscience and has lectured worldwide. As an active researcher, he has been recognized by the National Institutes of Health with a Research Scientist Career Development Award and the Pfizer Animal Health Award for Research Excellence.