Chief Executive Officer
Pavel Raifeld, CFA, joined Innoviva as Chief Executive Officer in May 2020. Prior to that, Mr. Raifeld served on the investment team at Sarissa Capital Management LP, an investment management firm focused on improving strategies of companies to enhance shareholder value. Earlier, he was a senior member of the healthcare investment banking team at Credit Suisse. Previously, Mr. Raifeld worked as a consultant, primarily specializing in advising biopharmaceutical companies, at McKinsey & Company and The Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Raifeld earned an AB degree from Harvard University and an MBA degree from Columbia University.
Chief Financial Officer Mr. Basso brings more than 30 years of experience of financial leadership, primarily in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Innoviva, Mr. Basso served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Cybrexa Therapeutics and has held a variety of financial leadership positions at Inozyme Pharma, Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer. He received a BS in business from Providence College and an MBA from Boston College.
Chief Accounting Officer
Marianne Zhen joined Innoviva in October 2014. Prior to joining Innoviva, Ms. Zhen served as the Corporate Controller at Steelwedge Software Inc. from 2012 to 2014, Intelmate from 2011 to 2012 and Model N, Inc. from 2007 to 2011. Previously, Ms. Zhen served as a member of the board of directors of CalCPA Peninsula Silicon Valley Chapter. Ms. Zhen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from San Francisco State University. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and a member of California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA).
Chief Medical Officer, IST Dr. Altarac is an infectious diseases physician and pharmaceutical executive with more than 20 years’ experience leading clinical and regulatory functions. He previously served as the Chief Medical Officer of Entasis Therapeutics and held leadership positions at Shire Pharmaceuticals, NeoStem, Inc., and Merck & Co. in therapeutic areas including infectious diseases, oncology, ophthalmology, inflammation, and rare diseases. Dr. Altarac holds an M.D. degree from New York Medical College, a Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) degree from New York University, and a B.A. in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Binghamton, NY.
Chief People Officer Marcie is a seasoned executive who brings more than 25 years of human resources leadership experience, primarily in the life sciences industry. Prior to joining Innoviva, Marcie served as the Chief People Officer for Beta Bionics and has held a variety of HR leadership positions at MorphoSys, Boston Heart Diagnostics, HeartWare and Genzyme. Her most recent roles have been focused on rapidly growing and scaling life science companies while building a people-centric HR platform to support key business strategies. Marcie is passionate about the important and meaningful work we do every day to serve patients, support our employees and live our values. Marcie holds a BS in business and economics from Washington State University.
Chief Commercial Officer, IST Ms. Drake is a highly accomplished life science professional with over thirty years of extensive U.S. and international experience managing commercial portfolios. Her strong leadership background encompasses commercial strategy, marketing, market access, sales and operations. Prior to joining Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics, Ms. Drake served as the SVP and Chief Commercial Officer at Trevena, Inc. During her tenure at Merck & Co. Inc., she successfully led commercial organizations across diverse global markets and product portfolios, which included antiviral, oncology, antifungal, and antibiotic products and multiple global business units spanning North and South America and the Nordics. Ms. Drake holds a Bachelor of Science from Wichita State University and attended the Harvard Business School Emerging Leaders Program and Executive Program in Leadership and Strategy.
Chairperson Mr. DiPaolo has served as a member of our Board of Directors since February 2018 and as Chairman of the Board of Directors since May 2023. Mr. DiPaolo has been a Partner and the General Counsel of Sarissa Capital Management LP, a registered investment advisor, since May 2013. Sarissa Capital Management LP focuses on improving the strategies of companies to enhance shareholder value. From 2005 – 2013, Mr. DiPaolo served as a senior member of Icahn Capital’s investment team, working on all aspects of Carl Icahn’s activist investment strategy. Prior to working with Icahn Capital, Mr. DiPaolo was an attorney with Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. Since August 2017, Mr. DiPaolo has been a member of the board of directors of Novelion Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company. Mr. DiPaolo has substantial experience in operations, transactions, law and corporate governance. Mr. DiPaolo received his B.A. degree from Fordham University and his J.D. degree from Georgetown University.
Odysseas Kostas, M.D., has served as a member of our Board of Directors since December 2017. He is a Partner and Senior Managing Director at Sarissa Capital Management LP, which he joined in 2016. Sarissa Capital focuses on improving the strategies of companies to enhance shareholder value. Prior to joining Sarissa Capital, Dr. Kostas served as a Director at Evercore ISI, covering the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to joining Evercore, Dr. Kostas was a Consultant and Senior Associate Analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein and Co., Inc. Previously, he practiced internal medicine as part of the Yale New Haven Health System and was engaged as a consultant to various biotechnology companies. Dr. Kostas currently serves on the board of directors of Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and previously served on the board of directors of Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Kostas has a B.S. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.
Derek Small has served as a member of our Board of Directors since April 2024. Mr. Small is the founding Managing Director of Luson Bioventures, a mental health and neuroscience focused biopharmaceutical venture creation firm founded in 2007, and has been CEO or Chairman of 7 of Luson’s new ventures. He is also currently Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Monument Biosciences, and Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Gate Neurosciences; both are portfolio new venture creations of Luson Bioventures.
Mr. Small is an accomplished biotechnology entrepreneur who has founded and grown multiple companies focused on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative therapies for challenging health conditions. In 2014, Mr. Small co-founded an infectious disease and GI focused company called Assembly Biosciences (Nasdaq: ASMB), serving as President and CEO through 2019, and continued on the board of directors until 2020. During this time, Mr. Small also served as founder and CEO of Assembly China, based in Shanghai, China, established to develop and commercialize Assembly’s novel Hepatitis B therapies in Asia. From 2008 to 2014, Mr. Small served as a founding director, President and CEO of Naurex, Inc., a privately held company developing novel therapies for central nervous system (CNS) and psychiatry disorders. From 2009 to 2012, Mr. Small served as a founding director, President and CEO of privately held biotechnology company Coferon, Inc. In addition to these ventures, Derek serves on the board of directors for Biocrossroads, a non-profit life sciences organization, and other private companies, and serves as an advisor to multiple academic institutions. Mr. Small received a BS degree in business from Franklin College and studied global business at Harlaxton College in England.
Member of the Audit Committee
Member of the Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee
Mr. Haimovitz has served as a member of our Board of Directors since February 2018. He is currently Chair of the Audit Committee, and a member of our Compensation Committee and Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee.
Mr. Haimovitz is currently President of Haimovitz Consulting, Inc. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board and the Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee at Armata Pharmaceuticals Inc. He previously served as a member of the board of directors of Ariad Pharmaceuticals, where he was also a member of the audit committee; Dial Global, Inc., where he was also member of the audit committee; and Imclone Pharmaceuticals, where he served as chairperson of the audit committee. Mr. Haimovitz has also served as Chief Executive Officer or Chief Operating Officer of the following companies: Spelling Entertainment, Inc., King World Productions and VJN, Inc. Mr. Haimovitz holds a B.S. (1971) and M.A. (1974) degree in Mathematics from Brooklyn College.
Chair of the Audit Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee
Sarah J. Schlesinger, M.D., has served as a member of our Board of Directors since February 2018. She is currently Lead Independent Director, Chair of the Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee and the Audit Committee.
Dr. Schlesinger is an Associate Professor of Clinical Investigation at Rockefeller University and Senior Attending Physician at Rockefeller University Hospital. Dr. Schlesinger led the Dendritic Cell section of the Division of Retrovirology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and was also a member of the Division of Infectious and Parasitic Disease Pathology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology from 1994 to 2002.
In 2002, Dr. Schlesinger rejoined Rockefeller University and began working with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative as a Scientist in Vaccine Research and Design. Dr. Schlesinger has been a member of Rockefeller University Hospital’s Institutional Review Board (“IRB”) (Ethics Committee) since 2003 and previously served as IRB’s vice-chairperson. In 2017 she assumed the position of chairperson of the IRB. She is currently the director of the education and training programs at Rockefeller University Center for Clinical and Translational Science and serves on the Medical Staff Executive Committee of Rockefeller University Hospital. Dr. Schlesinger currently serves on the board of directors at Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the board of three non-profit organizations: the AIDS Vaccines Advocacy Coalition, Global Viral and The Hastings Center, the pre-eminent center for the study of bioethics. Dr. Schlesinger served as an independent corporate director of Ariad Pharmaceuticals from 2013 until its sale to Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited in 2017. Dr. Schlesinger has a B.A. from Wellesley College and a M.D. from Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois.
Lead Independent Director
Chair of the Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Audit Committee
Sapna Srivastava, Ph.D., has served as a member of our Board of Directors since January 2023. She is currently Chair of the Compensation Committee. Dr. Srivastava is an experienced senior executive within the biopharmaceutical industry. She was the chief financial and strategy officer for Abide Therapeutics (acquired by Lundbeck), and prior to that, was chief financial and strategy officer for Intellia Therapeutics. She played an integral role in helping build Intellia’s financial operations and strategic direction.
She also held an advisory role at eGenesis Bio as interim chief financial officer to support the company’s financial and strategic planning. Prior to her industry experience, she spent nearly 15 years as a stock analyst for the biotechnology sector, including as the senior analyst and team leader of the biotechnology group at Goldman Sachs; a senior biotechnology analyst at Morgan Stanley and ThinkEquity Partners; and as a research associate at JP Morgan.
Dr. Srivastava has also served as a board member for several therapeutic focused biotechnology companies and nonprofits. Dr. Srivastava holds a Ph.D. from New York University School of Medicine and a B.Sc. from St. Xavier’s College, University of Bombay.
Chair of the Compensation Committee
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