Board of Directors
Mike Raab
Mr. Raab has served as Ardelyx’s president and chief executive officer since March 2009. Before Ardelyx, he was a partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the world’s largest and most successful venture capital firms, where he specialized in healthcare investments focusing on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.
Prior to joining NEA in 2002, Mr. Raab spent 15 years in commercial and operating leadership roles in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. He was senior vice president, therapeutics and general manager of the renal division at Genzyme Corporation, a Sanofi company. In this position, he launched and oversaw the sales growth of sevelamer, the leading phosphate binder for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia, with over $1.0 billion in worldwide sales in 2013. Mr. Raab was also instrumental in the worldwide launch of Genzyme’s therapies for Gaucher disease, Ceredase and Cerezyme. Mike also spent two years with Genzyme’s diagnostic products and services division. Previous to Genzyme, he held business development and sales and marketing positions at Repligen and Bristol-Myers.
Mr. Raab received his B.A. from DePauw University.
Stephen Brady
Mr. Brady joined Tempest in September 2019 and has been the company’s chief executive officer since June 2021, and president and chief executive officer since September 2023. Most recently, he served as executive vice president, strategy and finance at Immune Design, a biopharmaceutical company sold to Merck in 2019. At Immune Design, Mr. Brady led strategy, corporate development, finance and investor and public relations, as well as other general and administrative functions, and was instrumental in the company’s successful IPO, financings and eventual sale. Prior to Immune Design, he held roles of increasing responsibility in multiple biopharmaceutical companies, including as vice president of corporate development at Proteolix, where he had primary responsibility for the company’s business development activities and sale to Onyx Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Brady also serves on the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).
Geoff Nichol
Geoff Nichol has served as a member of our Board since June 2021, and served as a member of the board of our legacy company December 2019 until June 2021. Dr. Nichol has nearly 30 years’ experience in drug development. Dr. Nichol has served as SVP, Development at AbCellera Biologics, a monoclonal antibody discovery and development company since May 2023. From November 2016 to October 2021, Mr. Nichol served as Chief Medical Officer at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., where he managed an active portfolio of clinical development programs. In October 2021, Dr. Nichol transitioned into a Senior Advisor role until his retirement from Biomarin in April 2022. Prior to Biomarin, Dr. Nichol was Executive Vice President, Research and Development at Sangamo BioSciences, where he managed the preclinical development of several IND candidates and Senior Vice President of Development at Medarex, where he was responsible for a portfolio of clinical development programs. Prior to joining Medarex, Dr. Nichol was Vice President at Novartis, where he managed a clinical development therapeutic area, United States Medical Affairs, and Global Project and Portfolio Management. Before Novartis, Dr. Nichol held various positions up to Group Medical Director, Clinical Development at SmithKline Beecham, where he was responsible for anti-infective development and medical affairs. Dr. Nichol received a B.Med.Sc., M.B., Ch.B., or the equivalent of an M.D. in the United States, from Otago University Medical School in New Zealand and an M.B.A. from Warwick University in the United Kingdom.
Christine Pellizzari
Ms. Pellizzari served as Science 37’s Chief Legal Officer from 2021 to 2024, previously serving at Insmed since 2013, most recently as Chief Legal Officer. She brings over 20 years of leadership in the global biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to Insmed, Ms. Pellizzari served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where she oversaw all legal aspects of the company’s successful IPO and secondary public offering and served as a member of the Executive Management Committee. Prior to Aegerion, Ms. Pellizzari served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Dendrite International, Inc., a publicly traded company that provided sales effectiveness, promotional and compliance solutions to the pharmaceutical industry. As a member of the company’s management team, she led many critical initiatives including the sale of the company to Cegedim S.A. in 2007. Ms. Pellizzari joined Dendrite from the law firm of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer where she specialized in health care transactions and related regulatory matters. She previously served as law clerk to the Honorable Reginald Stanton, Assignment Judge for the Superior Court of New Jersey. Ms. Pellizzari received her Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Ronit Simantov
Dr. Simantov currently serves as chief medical officer at Gamida Cell, an advanced cell therapy company. Prior to joining Gamida Cell, Dr. Simantov served as head of oncology global medical affairs at Pfizer, where she was responsible for multiple programs including Sutent® (sunitinib), Inlyta® (axitinib), Ibrance® (palbociclib), Bosulif® (bosutinib) and Xalkori® (crizotinib). Dr. Simantov previously led Phase 1-3 studies as vice president of clinical research at OSI Pharmaceuticals, and served as chief medical officer at CuraGen Corporation (acquired by Celldex), where she led development of small molecules and antibody-drug conjugates. At Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Simantov led the Phase 3 study of Nexavar® (sorafenib) resulting in the first approval of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor in renal cell carcinoma. Prior to joining industry, Dr. Simantov was on the academic faculty at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, where she directed the fellowship program and conducted angiogenesis and vascular biology research. She has authored over 40 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Dr. Simantov serves on the board of Clovis Oncology. Dr. Simantov holds an M.D. from New York University School of Medicine and a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University. She completed a residency in internal medicine at New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center, and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine.