Elizabeth Posillico, PhD

President and CEO

Elizabeth has 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and has held senior positions in general management, business development, marketing and operations. She joined Elusys in 2002 as Vice President of Business Development and since then was promoted to Sr. Vice President of Operations and then President and CEO in January, 2005. Prior to joining Elusys, she was Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at Physiome Sciences, Sr. Vice President of Business Development at Apoptogen, Inc., a Canadian biotech company developing novel therapies for the treatment of apoptosis-related diseases. She also served on the management committee of the Canadian Medical Discovery Fund, an early-stage venture capital fund. Elizabeth spent eight years at Genzyme Corporation in several positions including Director of Sales and Marketing for ImmunoBiological Products and ultimately as General Manager and Sr. Vice President in the Diagnostics Division.

She currently serves on the New Jersey Governor’s Economic Growth Council and is a member of the Board of Directors of BioNJ, the Biotechnology Council of New Jersey, and the Girl Scouts of  Northern New Jersey. Elizabeth received a BA degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam and a PhD from Duke University.

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Robert Love

Chief Financial Officer

Bob has over 30 years of domestic and international experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has held senior-level positions in Finance, Corporate Development and Marketing with P&L responsibility at large, privately-held companies as well as major, publicly traded global pharmaceutical corporations. Bob most recently served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Alfacell Corporation where he managed corporate finance, all aspects of investor relations, information systems and served as Chairperson, Operating Committee responsible for managing to all key milestone activities within Clinical, Regulatory, Commercial, Finance and Human Resources. 

Prior to that, Bob served as Senior Vice President, Business Partnering and Senior Vice President, Finance and Acquisitions at Quintiles Transnational Corporation / Innovex. He led the executive team and successfully negotiated a landmark partnering agreement between Quintiles and CV Therapeutics. At SmithKline Beecham, Bob held several senior management positions, including Vice President and Director, Strategic Product Development and Vice President, CFO in the UK – one of the Company’s largest ex-US operations. Bob began his career as an accountant at Coopers and Lybrand in 1972. Bob is a graduate of Rutgers University with a BA in Accounting. Bob also holds an MBA from Villanova University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

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Jeremy Middleton

Vice President, Corporate Development

Jerry joined Elusys in 2007 as Vice President, Corporate Development. Previously, Jerry was Vice President of Business Development at  Valera Pharmaceuticals. While at Valera,  he led all business development, strategic planning and project planning activities. Prior to Valera, he was with Neose Technologies initially as Director, Commercial Development, then Senior Director, Commercial Development, followed by Vice President, Commercial Development, Manufacturing and Facilities. While there, he was responsible for leading the commercial development, manufacturing and facilities functions, including the development of overall corporate business strategy. Jerry also held various positions with Abbott Labs/BASF Pharma, The Boots Company and Doverstrand Ltd. Jerry holds a BS from DeMontfort University in England.

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James Porter

Vice President, Development and Manufacturing

Jim has over 25 years of experience in commercial biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing. Prior to joining Elusys in 1999, he served as Director, Product Materials Development for Heska Corporation, a veterinary pharmaceutical company specializing in companion animal health. Prior  to Heska, he served ten years with Genentech, Inc., in the Hybridoma Development Group as a Research Associate. He gained extensive experience in the production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies. He developed assays and screening protocols that enabled the evaluation of molecules for AIDS therapeutics and the selection of monoclonal antibodies for allergy and cancer applications. Prior to Genentech, Jim worked at Syngene Products and Research, Inc., where he developed USDA licensed veterinary immunodiagnostics for feline and equine retroviral diseases. Jim received his BS in chemistry from the University of Florida and his MS in biochemistry from the University of South Carolina.

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Robert Gundel, MBA, PhD

Vice President, Research

Bob brings over 25 years of experience in therapeutic product development, and has worked with biologics and small molecules in both the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors. As Vice President of Research, he will play a key role in helping to further develop and advance our corporate and scientific strategies. Most recently, Bob served as Chief Scientific Officer at Arius Research, Inc. where he headed up the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Previously, Bob was Vice President, Preclinical Research and Scientific Corporate Development at XOMA where he directed preclinical research and coordinated discovery and development activities in a number of therapeutic areas, including infectious diseases, inflammatory disorders, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Bob also served as Vice President, Pharmacology and Preclinical Research at Chiron Corporation, where he supervised efforts to identify and characterize novel therapeutics for inflammatory diseases. Earlier in his career, he held various positions at Bayer within the Biotechnology Unit including Director of Pharmacology. Bob earned his MBA from Saint Mary’s College, and his MS and PhD in physiology from New York Medical College. He also holds a BA in Biology from the State University of New York. 

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Leslie Casey, PhD

Executive Director, Preclinical Development & Immunobiology

Leslie is currently responsible for the management and operation of Elusys' research and development laboratories, participates on several product development teams and serves a key role in collaboration management. Leslie was formerly a Research Manager at Cistron Biotechnology, where she managed research projects, directed the in-house research team, and maintained the laboratory according to environmental regulations. Prior to that, she was a Senior Scientist at Cistron. Leslie received a BS in Biology from Cornell University and a PhD in Immunology from the University of California at Berkeley and was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at the Harvard School of Public Health from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

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Victor Paulus, PhD

Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs & Quality Assurance

Victor is Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance at Elusys. Immediately prior to joining Elusys, he served as Director of Regulatory Affairs for fertility products at Organon USA. Victor began his career as a cell culture technician at The Salk Institute then as a cell culture lab manager at Centocor. He spent 10 years with Aventis companies and was responsible for viral vaccine manufacture and  the regulatory aspects of combination vaccines and therapeutic proteins. He was Director of Regulatory Affairs for pediatric vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline and Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs for specialty and biotechnology products at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories. He received his PhD in Public Health from the University Andhra Pradesh. He has a Master’s degree in Biology (parasitology) and Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Biochemistry from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania.

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Debra Duffy

Director of Administration

Debra brings nearly 20 years of experience in healthcare administration to the company. Debra currently manages Human Resources, IT and facilities. Previous work experiences have given her expertise in all aspects of the administrative management of a healthcare company. Prior to joining Elusys, Debra worked in international marketing at Boston Scientific Vascular, a medical device manufacturer. Her experience in the healthcare and medical fields also includes working in the customer service training area for Merck-Medco Managed Care, Inc., as well as administration for a pharmaceutical marketing firm and a hospice company in California. Debra also has earned her Professional Human Resource (PHR) certification.

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