The Mineralys Team

Mr. Congleton has over thirty years of pharmaceutical experience including roles as CEO of both private and public companies. He has worked in cardiovascular, GI, respiratory and CNS companies with a focus on providing solutions for patients and their caregivers. He has raised over $175M in capital for the companies he has led as well launched and led the team behind market leading Copaxone in multiple sclerosis.

Dr. Rodman is an experienced industry and academic leader with 15+ years of leadership experience in Pharma and Biotechnology preceded by 15+ years of academic medical experience. Dr. Rodman received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and was subsequently Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and named an Established Investigator and Fellow of the American Heart Association. Dr. Rodman’s pharmaceutical experience includes roles at: Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, miRagen, Nivalis and ProQR.

Mr. Levy has over twenty years of operational and transactional experience in biotech and investment banking. Prior to joining Mineralys, he was the Chief Financial Officer at Sanifit Therapeutics until the Company was acquired by Vifor Pharma in 2022. Previously, Adam served as the Chief Business Officer at Brickell Biotech and led the organization’s financial operations transition as it became a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq. Before joining Brickell, he also served as the Chief Business officer at miRagen therapeutics where he was responsible for a variety of functions including financial strategy, investor relations, business development, legal affairs, intellectual property, project and program management, and human resources. Adam successfully guided miRagen through multiple capital raises and a listing on the Nasdaq. Between 2000 and 2016, Mr. Levy held multiple Investment Banking Positions at Merrill Lynch, Jefferies Group and Wedbush Securities. During his time as an investment banker, he completed over $30 Billion in financings and M&A transactions for his clients. Adam received a B.S. in Applied Economics from Cornell University.

Jessica Ibbitson is VP, Clinical Operations at Mineralys and is responsible for the delivery of our clinical trial strategy and execution. Prior to joining Mineralys, Jessica led the Clinical & General Operations department at ProQR Therapeutics which included Clinical Operations, Project Management and Digital Health Technologies and was the head of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Clinical Site Services department responsible for start-up of cystic fibrosis clinical development programs which led to the expedited approvals of Kalydeco®, Orkambi® and Symdeko®. Jessica has spent her career focusing on diseases with a high unmet medical need and developing new methods for accelerating clinical trials in order to get potential treatments to patients as quickly as possible.

Robert McKean has over 30 years’ experience in branded drug pharmaceutical development including preformulation studies through technology transfer to commercial manufacturing organizations. Rob is Senior Vice President, Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control (CMC) at Mineralys Therapeutics, Inc. He manages drug substance and drug product production for lead drug candidates. Prior to Mineralys, Dr. McKean held the position of VP, CMC at Oncopia Therapeutics where he developed protein degraders for oncology and VP, CMC at Teva Branded Pharmaceuticals where he spent 18 years responsible for chemical and drug product development. Dr. McKean has extensive drug development experience for new chemical entities and GMP manufacturing of clinical dosage forms. His experience covers traditional solid and liquid dosage forms plus nanoparticle drug delivery, poorly soluble drug delivery and transdermal drug delivery. Dr. McKean contributed to 9+ new drug application (NDA) approvals and numerous IND/CTA submissions in the US and Europe. Prior to Teva/Cephalon, Dr. McKean held similar positions at Aventis, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer and Searle. He received a BS in Chemistry from the University of Hartford and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Dr. McKean has several patents and publications in the areas of drug crystallization, new drug physical and chemical characterization and new drug formulations.

Cindy Berejikian has 30 years of strategic and operational experience in biopharmaceutical drug development with executive roles in several start-ups including VP Program Management at Otonomy Inc. Ms. Berejikian has been a program operations executive consultant over the past 13 years for multiple start-up biopharmaceutical companies in which she has played an integral role in moving lead candidates from pre-IND to phase 2. This included acting as a key interface between each start-up and its vendors. Ms. Berejikian has also worked with notable academic Founders to launch successful newco’s such as Forty Seven Inc. Other accomplishments include partnering with CEOs and VCs to evaluate and optimize the portfolio of their existing small companies such as Adheron Therapeutics, resulting in pharma acquisition. Previously, Ms. Berejikian spent 16 years at Amgen Inc. which included Director, global program manager for various oncology products including the global BLA filing, approval and launch of Aranesp in Oncology. Ms. Berejikian received her BA in Pharmacology from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and her MBA from the University of California at Los Angeles.

For over 20 years, Danielle Bradbury has been a leader and expert in quality assurance for the pharmaceutical industry. Ms. Bradbury’s in-depth knowledge of drug development was acquired on clinical trials that spanned a diverse range of therapeutics that included small molecules, monoclonal antibodies, and combination drug/device products. Her expertise in global operations and quality assurance spans a broad portfolio of early- and late- stage products developed by companies that include Galera Therapeutics, Inclinica, BTG, Actelion, Johnson and Johnson, and, currently, Mineralys. Prior to joining the industry sector, Ms. Bradbury worked in the field as a clinical trial nurse and served as a member of the Institutional Review Board at the University of Pennsylvania.  Ms. Bradbury received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Wilmington University.

Mr. Breton has over 10 years of financial and accounting experience in biotech. Prior to joining Mineralys, he was the Chief Accounting Officer and Controller of Brickell Biotech, Inc. where he led the organization’s accounting and financial reporting operations. Mr. Breton successfully oversaw Brickell through multiple capital raises totaling over $180 million and a listing on the Nasdaq via reverse merger. Between 2014 and 2015, Mr. Breton was an auditor at Deloitte LLP. Mr. Breton began his career in 2012 as a Client Manager at Global Resource Partners, Inc., an accounting and business advisory firm. In this role, Mr. Breton had overall responsibility for clients’ financial reporting, planning and budgeting, internal controls and equity administration. Mr. Breton holds a B.B.A. degree in accounting and finance and a master’s degree in taxation from the University of Miami.”

Erin is an Executive Assistant to the CEO with over 13 years of experience. She has advanced Microsoft Office skills, experience supporting senior level management and working in busy operational environments. Prior to Mineralys, Erin was at SAP, one of the leading multinational software companies and has traveled the world in her Executive Assistant roles. She graduated with a BA in Communications from Penn State and currently resides in PA with her husband and two kids.

Ebony Clayton is a Clinical Trial Manager with 18 years of industry experience. Ebony is a part of the Clinical Operations team at Mineralys and responsible for the delivery of our clinical trial execution from study set-up to study close out. Prior to joining Mineralys, Ebony held several clinical research positions at large pharmaceutical companies including Merck, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Wyeth. Ms. Clayton received her BS in Business Management from Hampton University.

David Welch is Senior Clinical Trial Associate with 6 years industry experience. David is a part of the clinical operations team at Mineralys and responsible for delivery of our clinical trial execution from study set-up to study close out. Prior to joining Mineralys, David held multiple clinical research positions at Ora inc., an ophthalmic CRO, which included patient recruiting, site operations, as well as Senior Clinical Trial Associate. David received his BS in Criminal Justice at Roger Williams University.

Dr. Slingsby is Founder & Managing Partner at Catalys Pacific. He served as interim CEO during the creation and incubation of Mineralys. Previous to Catalys Pacific, he founded the GHIT Fund – the world’s first public-private fund focused on the development of new medicines for low- and middle-income countries. Dr. Slingsby graduated from Brown University with honors, earned his MPH and PhD from Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo, and received his MD with honors from the George Washington University; he has authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles and currently serves as Invited Professor at the Graduate School of Medicine of Kyoto University and University of Osaka.

Mr. Congleton has over thirty years of pharmaceutical experience including roles as CEO of both private and public companies. He has worked in cardiovascular, GI, respiratory and CNS companies with a focus on providing solutions for patients and their caregivers. He has raised over $175M in capital for the companies he has led as well launched and led the team behind market leading Copaxone in multiple sclerosis.

Dr. Srinivas Akkaraju is the Founder and Managing General Partner at Samsara BioCapital. Previously, from April 2013 to February 2016, he served as a General Partner of Sofinnova Ventures. From January 2009 until April 2013, he served as Managing Director of New Leaf Venture Partners. Previously, he served as a Managing Director at Panorama Capital, LLC, a private equity firm. Prior to co-founding Panorama Capital, Dr. Akkaraju was with J.P. Morgan Partners, which he joined in 2001 and of which he became a Partner in 2005. From October 1998 to April 2001, he was in Business and Corporate Development at Genentech, Inc. (now a wholly owned member of The Roche Group), a biotechnology company, most recently as Senior Manager.

Prior to joining Genentech, Dr. Akkaraju was a graduate student at Stanford University, where he received his M.D. and a Ph.D. in Immunology. He received his undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry and Computer Science from Rice University. Dr. Akkaraju also serves as a director of Intercept Pharmaceuticals and Syros Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he served as a director on the boards of Seattle Genetics, Principia Biopharma, Aravive, Inc., Barrier Therapeutics, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, ZS Pharma, Synageva Biopharma Corp. and Amarin Corporation.

Dr. Asam has been an Investment Advisor of HBM Partners, and brings more than 20 years of experience in the life sciences and private equity businesses. He was a former managing director and partner of Deutsche Venture Capital (DVC) / Deutsche Bank from 2001 to 2007 and held various positions at Hoechst AG, Aventis S.A. (now: Sanofi) and LION Bioscience AG, among others, as well as a member of the IPO Core Team (dual listing Germany and USA). Dr. Asam holds an MBA degree from Aston Business School, Birmingham and a MSc and PhD in chemistry from University of Heidelberg. He is a board member of APR Applied Pharma Research and Sublimity Therapeutics, as well as a board observer at Swixx Biopharma and Longboard. We believe that Dr. Asam is qualified to serve on our board of directors because of his extensive experience in the life sciences industry, including as an investor and board member.

Mr. Takahashi is Managing Partner at Catalys Pacific. Prior to Catalys Pacific, he was an investment banker with Morgan Stanley for 12 years and played a significant role in over 30 distinguished transactions with an enterprise value of over US$15.0 billion. Prior to working for Morgan Stanley, Takeshi worked at Merrill Lynch’s asset management division.Takeshi graduated from Waseda University with a degree in Political Science and Economics, and holds an M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Proficiently bilingual and bicultural.

Olivier Litzka is a partner at Andera Partners.

Olivier is a German and French citizen, and has a Ph.D. in molecular microbiology from the LMU in Munich. After his research period, he started his business career in 1998 with Mercer Management Consulting. In 2000, Olivier joined 3i Group plc with a focus on biopharma and medtech investments, first based in Munich, later in 3i’s Paris office. In 2006, Olivier joined as a partner Andera Partners’ Life Sciences team in Paris and contributed to grow the company to one of the leading Life Sciences Venture Capital investors in Europe. Since 2021, he is back in Munich where he opened an office for Andera Partners.

Olivier was on the board of multiple companies which got acquired or went public, most recently Corvidia Therapeutics and Arvelle Therapeutics. Currently, he is involved in several biotech and medtech startups in Europe and the U.S.

Derek DiRocco is a Partner at RA Capital Management. Derek works on both public and private investments and serves as a Board Director for 89Bio, Achilles Therapeutics, iTeos Therapeutics, Connect Bio, CANbridge, and Werewolf Therapeutics. Previously, Derek covered solid tumor oncology landscapes. Derek holds a BA in Biology from Holy Cross College and a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Washington. He conducted his postdoctoral research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, where he researched the role of the Wnt signaling pathway in mouse models of kidney disease, and was part of a team that discovered a stem cell subtype responsible for solid organ fibrosis.