Craig A. Collard has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Veloxis Pharmaceutics, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, since December 2015.
Prior to that, he served as the Chief Executive Officer and the chairman of the Board of Directors Cornerstone Therapeutics, Inc. (“Cornerstone”), a specialty pharmaceutical company, until February 2014, when Cornerstone was purchased by Chiesi Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. Collard also served as Cornerstone’s Interim Chief Financial Officer from July 2010 through January 2011 and its President from October 2008 to September 2011. In March 2004, Mr. Collard founded Cornerstone BioPharma Holdings, Ltd. (the assets and operations of which were restructured as Cornerstone BioPharma in May 2005), and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer and a director from March 2004 to October 2008.
Before founding Cornerstone BioPharma, Mr. Collard’s principal occupation was serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Carolina Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company he founded in May 2003. From August 2002 to February 2003, Mr. Collard served as Vice President of Sales for Verum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. From 1998 to 2002, Mr. Collard worked as Director of National Accounts at DJ Pharma, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company which was eventually purchased by Biovail Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Mr. Collard is a member of the board of directors of Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a subsidiary of Asahi Kasei, Opiant Pharmaceutics, Inc., TerrAscend Corporation and Sierra Oncology.
Ms. Duarte serves as Veloxis's Chief Financial Officer since October 2018.
Ms. Duarte has over 25 years' experience in a variety of finance and accounting positions, including 10 years in the pharma industry. Ms. Duarte joined Veloxis in February 2016 as Controller and Vice President of Finance. Prior to joining Veloxis, she served as the Senior Director, Corporate Finance for Chiesi USA. She was the Director of Accounting and Financial Planning at Cornerstone Therapeutics and was a core member of the team guiding the sale of Cornerstone Therapeutics to Chiesi Farmaceutici.
Before transitioning to an in-house role, Ms. Duarte held various roles from Staff to Senior Manager at EY, managing financial statement audits, SEC filings and IPOs for clients.
Ms. Duarte is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Florida Atlantic University.
Mr. Hensley joined Veloxis in April 2016 as National Sales Director and was promoted to Vice President, Head of Sales in May 2017. Mr. Hensley has more than 10 years’ experience in a variety of pharmaceutical sales positions, including National Accounts with a focus on GPO and large IDN contracts as well as various senior sales leadership roles at Cornerstone Therapeutics and Chiesi USA.
Mr. Hensley holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from the University of North Texas.
Dr. Tunde Otulana joined Veloxis Pharmaceutical as Chief Medical Officer in August 2020.
Before joining Veloxis, Dr. Otulana was the SVP, CMO at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals from January 2016 to July 2020 where he had responsibility for Global Medical Affairs, Health Economics and Outcome Research (HEOR), Global Pharmacovigilance (GPV) and Medical Communications.
Prior to Mallinckrodt Dr. Otulana was Senior Vice President for Clinical Development and Medical Affairs (CDMA) at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical from May 2013 to January 2016, and Vice President for Respiratory Therapeutic Area from Dec 2011 to May 2013. From 1998 to 2011 he held positions of increasing responsibility from Vice President to Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer in the biotech industry in California overseeing Clinical Development and Operations, Regulatory Affairs, R&D and Toxicology. And from 1991 to1997, he served as Medical Officer and Clinical Team leader in the Pulmonary & Allergy Drug Products Division at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Dr. Otulana received his medical degree from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. He completed residency training in Internal Medicine at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, and fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine at Addenbrookes and Papworth Hospitals, University of Cambridge, UK and at Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC.
Dr. Otulana is a Clinical Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of California, Davis Medical School as a Volunteer Clinical Faculty. He also serves as a Non-Executive Director on the Research, Education and Innovation Board of Children’s National Hospital, Washington DC.
Dr. Meier-Kriesche joined Veloxis in September 2017 as Chief Scientific Officer.
Dr. Meier-Kriesche is a board certified Nephrologist with over 20 years of practical clinical experience in transplantation. He is the author of over 170 scientific publications that have appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine. Additionally, Dr. Meier-Kriesche served on the faculty of the University of Florida Medical School from 2001 until 2011.
Prior to joining Veloxis, Dr. Meier-Kriesche was the Clinical Trials Lead Immunology at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Meier-Kriesche has also worked for Astellas Pharma. His industry experience covers Medical Affairs, Drug Development and Outcomes Research in Nephrology, Gastroenterology, Oncology, Lupus and Dermatology.
Dr. Meier-Kriesche earned his medical degree at the University of Perugia in Italy and completed his specialty board in nephrology at the University of Cagliari. He has practiced medicine in the United States, Germany, and Italy.
Mrs. Wheeler joined Veloxis in March 2016 as Vice President of Operations.
Mrs. Wheeler has more than 18 years' experience managing global pharmaceutical supply chains at Biovail, Cornerstone Therapeutics, and Chiesi USA. At Chiesi USA, she was responsible for a wide variety of products with complex, international supply chains spanning a variety of licensing, purchase and manufacturing arrangements.
Mrs. Wheeler holds a Bachelor of Science from North Carolina State University.
Mr. Barnard joined Veloxis in March 2016 as Senior Director, Legal Affairs and was promoted to Vice President, Legal and General Counsel in December 2018. Mr. Barnard is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Veloxis's legal affairs around the world.
Previously, Mr. Barnard was assistant general counsel at Chiesi USA, Inc. In that capacity, Mr. Barnard held broad responsibilities that included overseeing of the company's intellectual property portfolio and commercial contracting function. Mr. Barnard also served as assistant general counsel at Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc. prior to its acquisition by Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.
Mr. Barnard, a native of Cookeville, TN, holds a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Tennessee in 2008 and a Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina School of Law.