Craig Collard
Chief Executive Officer
Ira Duarte
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
William Forbes
Executive Vice President, Chief Development Officer
Thomas Ottoboni, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical and Translational Sciences
Chris Storgard, M.D
Chief Medical Officer
Jason Grillot
Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Acute Care
John Arthur, Ph.D.
Vice President, Manufacturing & Supply
Sean Ristine
Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Lisa Peraza
Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer
Laura Singer
Vice President of Quality Assurance
Robert Sullivan
Senior Vice President, Oncology Care Franchise and Commercial Operations
Craig Collard
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Collard most recently served as the Chief Executive Officer of Veloxis Pharmaceutics A/S (now Veloxis Pharmaceuticals Inc., “Veloxis”) before it was acquired by Asahi Kasei Corp, a transplant-focused pharmaceutical company with its principal office in Cary, North Carolina, from 2015 to December 2021, and remains on the Veloxis board of advisors. Prior to joining Veloxis, Mr. Collard served as the Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cornerstone Therapeutics, Inc., a pharmaceutical company (“Cornerstone”), from 2011 until it was acquired by Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. in 2014. Mr. Collard also served as Cornerstone’s Interim Chief Financial Officer, from 2010 to 2011, and as its President, from 2008 to 2011. Mr. Collard served as the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone BioPharma Inc. (formerly Cornerstone BioPharma Holdings, Ltd.), a pharmaceutical company, and as a member of its board of directors, from 2004 to 2008. Prior to that, Mr. Collard served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Carolina Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company that he founded in 2003. Mr. Collard currently serves on the board of directors of TerrAscend Corp., a North American cannabis operator based in Mississauga, Canada, since December 2018. Mr. Collard previously served as a member of the board of directors of Sierra Oncology, Inc., a San Mateo, California-based late-stage biopharmaceutical company acquired by GlaxoSmithKline plc, from May 2020 to July 2022. He also served as Chairman of Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company developing therapies to treat substance and use disorders and drug overdose since October 2018 until being acquired by Indivior on March 1, 2023. Mr. Collard holds a B.S. in Engineering from the Southern College of Technology (now Southern Polytechnic State University).
Ira Duarte
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Ira Duarte joined Heron as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer in June 2023. Ms. Duarte brings significant experience and expertise in financial leadership to Heron. Prior to joining Heron, Ms. Duarte served in financial leadership roles from 2016 to 2023, most recently as Chief Financial Officer, at Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company. Prior to that, Ms. Duarte served as the Corporate Controller at BioDelivery Sciences, Inc. from 2014 to 2016, and from 2009 to 2014 she was Senior Director of Corporate Finance for Chiesi USA, Inc. and Director of Accounting and Financial Planning for Cornerstone Therapeutics, Inc., where she was a core member of the team that guided the sale of Cornerstone Therapeutics, Inc. to Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. Ms. Duarte previously held various roles from Staff to Senior Manager at Ernst & Young Global Limited. Ms. Duarte currently serves on the board of directors of TerrAscend Corporation and has since December 2022. Ms. Duarte is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a B.S. in Accounting from Florida Atlantic University.
William Forbes
Executive Vice President, Chief Development Officer
William Forbes has served as our Executive Vice President, Chief Development Officer since June 2023. Dr. Forbes brings more than thirty years of pharmaceutical product development experience to Heron and has contributed to 14 marketing approvals spanning a diverse range of therapeutic areas in the U.S. and European markets. Prior to joining Heron, Dr. Forbes served as the Chief Development Officer at Trevi Therapeutics, Inc. from 2021 to 2022. From 2016 to 2020, Dr. Forbes served as the President and CEO of Vivelix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., where he was the founder and responsible for all strategic and operational aspects of the organization. Prior to that, Dr. Forbes served as the Chief Development Officer at Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as the Head of Medical and R&D from 2005 to 2015. Earlier in his career, Dr. Forbes held various positions in clinical research and development at Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc., Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Glaxo, Inc. Dr. Forbes received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Creighton University, and he completed fellowships in cardiovascular research at Creighton Cardiac Center and in clinical research at Glaxo, Inc.
Thomas Ottoboni, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical and Translational Sciences
Thomas Ottoboni, Ph.D. joined Heron as Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development in 2012. Dr. Ottoboni was promoted to Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical and Preclinical Research and Development in 2014 and promoted to Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical and Translational Sciences in 2019. He has more than 20 years of drug development experience. From 2010 until 2011, Dr. Ottoboni was Vice President of Research and Development at Talima Therapeutics, Inc., where he worked on the development of a drug delivery implant to treat onychomycosis. From 1996 to 2008, he served as Executive Vice President of Strategy and Operations at POINT Biomedical Corp., where he developed several imaging and drug delivery systems. From 1994 through 1996, Dr. Ottoboni served as Manager of Systems Development and Drug Delivery Research for InSite Vision Inc., where he developed ophthalmic pharmaceutical delivery systems. He previously served as Director of Drug Delivery at Vitaphore Corp. Dr. Ottoboni is an inventor on more than 20 U.S. patents in organic and macromolecular chemistry. He received a B.S. degree in chemistry and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.
Chris Storgard, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Chris Storgard, M.D. joined Heron as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development in 2018 and was promoted to Chief Medical Officer in 2019. Dr. Storgard has more than 25 years of experience in clinical research. From 2016 to 2018, he served as Chief Medical Officer at Fate Therapeutics. From 2013 to 2016, Dr. Storgard served as Vice President of Clinical Research and Development at Ardea Biosciences, Inc., leading the ZURAMPIC® global clinical program to successful U.S. and European regulatory approvals. He also held various senior leadership positions at Biogen-Idec Ltd. and Amgen Inc., leading biologic and small molecule development programs within inflammation and oncology. From 2001 to 2004, Dr. Storgard served as Senior Associate Consultant, Division of Rheumatology, and Assistant Professor and Member of the Molecular Medicine Program at the Mayo School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He received his B.S. degree in biology and his M.D. from the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Storgard completed a fellowship in rheumatology at Scripps Clinic and Research Center, San Diego.
Jason Grillot
Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Acute Care
Jason Grillot has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Heron, Mr. Grillot served on the leadership team at CHIESI USA, Inc. (“Chiesi”) as Sr. Director of Business Operations. From 2017 to 2022, he served as National Sales Director at Chiesi and secured over 90% market share for Chiesi’s flagship product, CUROSURF®. From 2013 to 2017, Mr. Grillot served as Director of National Accounts for Chiesi, leading contracting strategies for all of Chiesi’s products and launched drugs in neonatology, respiratory, allergy and asthma, cystic fibrosis, emergency medicine and psychiatry. From 2009 to 2013, he served as Area Sales Manager, Institutional for Chiesi. Prior to joining Chiesi, Mr. Grillot held management roles of increasing responsibility at Dey, L.P. Mr. Grillot received a B.S. degree in Clinical Nutrition from the University of Kentucky.
John Arthur, Ph.D
Vice President, Manufacturing & Supply
John Arthur, Ph.D. joined Heron as Vice President of Manufacturing and Supply in 2017. Dr. Arthur has more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing. From 2013 to 2016, he was Vice President of Manufacturing and CMC at Mast Therapeutics, Inc., where he led all CMC activities for multiple Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical programs. From 2012 to 2013, Dr. Arthur was Senior Director of Manufacturing at Auspex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to his role at Auspex, he held several positions of increasing responsibility at various biopharmaceutical companies, including Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Kanisa Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Salmedix, Inc., Prometheus Laboratories Inc., Maxim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Arthur received a B.S. in Biochemistry from Western Washington University, a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of South Carolina, Columbia and conducted his postdoctoral research at Michigan State University.
Sean Ristine
Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Sean Ristine joined Heron as Senior Director of Human Resources in 2014 and was promoted to Vice President of Human Resources in 2015 and to Senior Vice President in 2021. Mr. Ristine has more than 20 years of experience in human resources and business leadership. From 2009 to 2014, he held key Human Resources positions at Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc., most recently serving as Senior Director of Human Resources where he was instrumental in growing Cadence to a commercial-stage company with more than 200 employees located throughout the U.S. From 2004 to 2009, Mr. Ristine held Human Resources management roles of increasing responsibility at Kyocera Wireless Corp., including Director of Human Resources and Facilities. From 1995 to 2004, he held positions at Kyocera America, Inc., including Manager of Human Resources. Mr. Ristine received a B.S. degree in Business and Organization Behavior from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A. degree with an emphasis in Human Resource Management from San Diego State University.
Lisa Peraza
Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer
Lisa Peraza joined Heron as Senior Director, Controller in 2014. Ms. Peraza was promoted to Vice President, Controller in 2019 and promoted to Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer in October 2020. She has more than 20 years of finance and accounting experience, primarily in the biotechnology industry. From June 2008 to March 2014, Ms. Peraza held key finance and accounting positions at Ardea Biosciences, Inc., most recently serving as Executive Director, Controller. From June 2001 to May 2008, she held key accounting positions at La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company. Ms. Peraza began her career with KPMG LLP. She received a B.A. degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and is licensed as a C.P.A. in the State of California.
Laura Singer
Vice President of Quality Assurance
Laura Singer joined Heron as Vice President of Quality Assurance in 2019 and has responsibility for global Quality & Compliance. She has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries including rare disease and orphan drugs, specialty pharmaceuticals, medical devices and combination products. Ms. Singer was previously Vice President, Global Quality at Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. where she was responsible for Quality Assurance/Quality Control operations and systems and Global Quality strategy for small molecule and biologics programs. Previously, Ms. Singer held key Quality positions at both NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (prior to its acquisition by Shire plc) and Meda Pharmaceuticals Inc., and contract manufacturing and operations roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and DuPont Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Singer received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from St. Johns University, Flushing, New York.
Robert Sullivan
Senior Vice President, Oncology Care Franchise and Commercial Operations
Robert Sullivan joined Heron as Senior Director, Oncology Commercial Operations in 2017. He was promoted to Vice President, Contracting and Commercial Operations in 2020, then to Senior Vice President, Oncology Care Franchise and Commercial Operations in 2023. Mr. Sullivan has more than 20 years of experience serving in various leadership positions in Sales, Operations and Market Access with biotechnology companies and group purchasing organizations. From 2007 to 2017, Mr. Sullivan held various positions of increasing responsibility with the International Oncology Network (ION), a division of AmerisourceBergen. He received a B.S. degree in business administration, management from Towson University.
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