Discover Veranova

Mike Riley joined Veranova as Chief Executive Officer in May 2023. Mike has over 25 years of professional experience, the majority of which has been spent in the pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) industry. Prior to joining Veranova, he spent 19 years at Catalent, Inc., most recently serving as President of Biotherapeutics. During his tenure at Catalent, Mike led and built Catalent’s biologics business into a leading service provider for advanced biologics modalities, including proteins, monoclonal antibodies and Antibody Drug Conjugates. Mike served in multiple executive positions at Catalent and was part of the core leadership team that transformed Catalent from its inception into an S&P 500 company. He began his career as a management consultant for Marakon Associates, providing strategic advisory to companies across multiple industries. Mike holds a B.A. degree from Duke University, and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Scott Lassonde joined Veranova as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in March 2024. Scott has over 14 years of experience as a Chief Financial Officer in private equity-backed manufacturing-based businesses. Prior to joining Veranova, he served as CFO at Lacerta Group, where he contributed to the company’s focus on sustainability in the packaging manufacturing industry. Scott began his career at General Electric in the Financial Management Program, followed by roles of increasing responsibility over twelve years. Scott holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Dartmouth College, and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Rohtash Kumar joined Veranova as SVP, Development Operations and Chief Technical Officer in May 2023. Rohtash brings deep experience in the CDMO industry, leading technical teams engaged in the discovery and development of new products for use in clinical trials, as well as successfully running programs for commercial supply of APIs in the branded market. Prior to joining Veranova, Rohtash served as Site Head at Bachem Americas Inc. where he worked for 8 years holding different positions including VP of API Manufacturing. Prior to Bachem, Rohtash worked with Sigma-Aldrich as Manager of R&D and Manufacturing. In the early part of his career, Rohtash worked at Toronto Research Chemicals as a Group Leader, and at Apotex as Senior Research Scientist. Rohtash holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Delhi University, and an MBA – Production Management from Chaudhary Charan Singh University. Rohtash completed postdoctoral work at the University of Alberta, and at the National Research Council of Canada.

Cécile Maupas joined Veranova as Senior Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer in July 2024. A seasoned commercial and business executive, Cécile brings a deep understanding of contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMO) and the pharmaceutical industry.

After obtaining a B.A. and a Masters in Biochemistry from the University of Paris, Cécile started her career as a Sales Manager at GE Healthcare Life Sciences, progressing in commercial roles of increasing responsibility with the company over 10 years. She subsequently helped develop and scale the biopharma CDMO business at Novasep, focusing on monoclonal antibodies, ADCs and viral vectors. More recently, Cécile was Head of CDMO Business Development at Pierre Fabre focusing on biotech drug substances including ADC and drug products and then joined Sanofi Active Ingredient Solutions in 2020 as Head of CDMO and Business Scouting to develop the business in complex small molecules, peptides, oligonucleotides, HPAPI and particle engineering. In addition, she has served on the executive committee of EuroAPI as Chief CDMO Officer.

Ken Zrebiec has served as SVP, Manufacturing Operations since December 2020. With over 20 years of experience in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, Ken has proven leadership in site management, supply chain, project management, and environmental, health, and safety. Prior to Veranova, Ken held senior operational roles with Siegfried in the US and Switzerland and was the Director of Supply Chain at Endo Pharmaceuticals.

Ken has been on the SOCMA Board of Governors since 2018 and has been a member of the SOCMA Executive Board since 2020. Ken holds a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and an MBA in Operations Management from the University of Delaware.

Victoria Brown joined Veranova as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer in August 2023. Victoria joins Veranova with over 25 years of professional experience, including nearly 12 years in leadership roles within the pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) industry. This includes various global HR leadership roles at Catalent, where she most recently headed HR for Catalent Biologics and the global Sales & Marketing teams. She previously led Catalent’s Executive and Global Recruiting functions, and her leadership was instrumental in supporting numerous transformations within Catalent’s Global Operations. Prior to joining Catalent, Victoria held various talent acquisition and management roles with GSK Vaccines, Heidrick & Struggles, and Marsh, Inc. Victoria holds a B.A. degree in Psychology/Business from The University of Tulsa.

Jose Ibietatorremendia joined Veranova in December 2023 as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. Jose has over 20 years of in-house legal leadership experience spanning private equity-backed growth companies through established publicly traded companies. Jose most recently served as VP, Deputy General Counsel and Secretary at Catalent. Prior to that, he served in roles of increasing responsibility at GE Capital, Goldman Sachs, APX, NYSE Blue, and Liquid Holdings Group. Jose began his career at the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell after clerking for the Hon. Eduardo Robreno in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He holds a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Dr. Rajni Aneja is a seasoned physician executive and strategic advisor, bringing a wealth of experience from her work across the healthcare, business, and technology sectors. She served in 2023 as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow and has extensive board and advisory experience. Dr. Aneja encompasses the creative characteristics that allow various vantage points as a Clinician, Executive, Advisor, Entrepreneur, Speaker and Technology Advocate from Managed Care (United Health Group, Humana) to WebMD (Consumer, technology, digital) to Joslin (Academic-Harvard Medical School/ MIT) or Pharma (Novartis, Sanofi) spreading the vision for strategy and innovation across different spectrums of the health care ecosystem.

Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University and a recipient of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She is also the Baker Family Director of Stanford’s Sarafan ChEM-H Institute and an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Carolyn is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and a Foreign Fellow of the Royal Society (UK). She is a member of the Board of Directors of Alnylam and of OmniAb, Inc. and a former Director of Eli Lilly.

John Nason has over 30 years of experience in the manufacturing of complex APIs, biologics and finished dose forms. He was previously President of Teva Pharmaceutical Ingredients (TAPI) and Biologics Operations, Senior Vice President of Teva Global Operations, served as Vice President of External Manufacturing and Alliance Management at Bristol Myers Squibb for over ten years, and led bulk API manufacturing for Novartis.

Carlo de Notaristefani is an accomplished executive with over 30 years of experience building and leading some of the most complex supply chains in the pharmaceutical industry. Carlo led manufacturing operations for Operation Warp Speed, the public/private partnership that delivered billions of vaccine doses during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was previously President & CEO of Global Operations for Teva Pharmaceuticals, President of Technical Operations for Bristol Myers Squibb and held multiple senior leadership positions with Bristol Myers Squibb and Aventis.

Dr. Bradley L. Pentelute, a Professor of Chemistry at MIT, is renowned for his groundbreaking research in developing innovative chemistries and technologies to accelerate the manufacturing and delivery of therapeutic biopolymers including peptides and oligonucleotides. Dr. Pentelute is an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, an Extramural Member of the MIT Koch Cancer Institute and a Member of the Center for Environmental Health Sciences at MIT. He has been recognized with numerous accolades from institutions such as the American Chemical Society and the American Peptide Society, underscoring his contributions to the field.

Edward Robinson is an accomplished executive with over 30 years of experience building and growing businesses in the CDMO industry. He served as President of Lonza Biologics where he was instrumental in launching Lonza’s US operations. Ed served as Executive Vice President of Cambrex, President of Solutia Pharmaceutical Services, Vice President of Genencor International, and held multiple leadership positions with Snomax Technologies and Eastman Kodak.