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Aaron Cowley
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Aaron Cowley is the Chief Scientific Officer at Arranta Bio, having been a co-founder and the Chief Technical Officer of Captozyme, which served the microbiome CDMO market for 10 years since 2009 and merged with Arranta Bio in October 2019.
Dr. Cowley is a renowned member of the biotech community and was the recipient of the prestigious Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for his post-doctoral work at the University of Georgia. His further work has resulted in 15 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Prior to establishing Captozyme in 2009, Dr. Cowley was a Scientist II/Preclinical Manager at OxThera, Inc. in Alachua, Florida.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Benedictine College, a PhD in inorganic chemistry from the University of Kansas, and an MBA from the University of Florida.
Lana Gladstein
Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel
Lana Gladstein is the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel for Arranta Bio, overseeing all legal matters relating to the company, including operations, strategic transactions, intellectual property, and compliance, among others.
Ms. Gladstein was previously Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Brammer Bio. Subsequently, through acquisition of that entity, she served as Head of Legal for Viral Vector Services at Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Prior to joining Brammer Bio, Ms. Gladstein was a partner at the law firms of Troutman Pepper LLP and Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP, where she represented biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies in IP litigation, contested matters at the USPTO, IP strategy, and licensing transactions.
Ms. Gladstein received her BA degree in biology from Brandeis University and her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.
David Stevens
Chief Executive Officer
David Stevens is the CEO of Arranta Bio.
Mr. Stevens brings more than 20 years of broad international operations and commercial experience in the CRO and CDMO sectors. He was formerly the Senior Vice President and Head of AMRI’s Drug Product business unit where he had P&L responsibility for sales and operations. During his tenure, he led the division through a period of significant growth and capacity expansion. Before leading the division, Mr. Stevens held senior leadership roles at AMRI including Vice President, Sales & Marketing and General Manager of a sterile dosage form development and GMP manufacturing facility.
Prior to AMRI, Mr. Stevens held roles of increasing responsibility at Aptuit, including a long-term international assignment in Italy where he led Operational Excellence and Capacity Planning for a >400-employee R&D and clinical GMP facility. He started his career with Inveresk and Charles River Laboratories.
Mr. Stevens holds an MBA in strategy, finance and marketing from the University of Edinburgh and an undergraduate degree in business from Edinburgh.
Melanie Cerullo
Chief Quality and Regulatory Officer
Melanie Cerullo is the Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory for Arranta Bio, responsible for Arranta’s Quality and Regulatory functions, including Quality Assurance and Quality Control.
Ms. Cerullo has more than 25 years of experience in QA and QC in GMP manufacturing operations. She was formerly the Vice President of CMC and Quality at Wave Life Sciences where she built the Quality organization to support early phase internal manufacturing and quality oversight of CDMOs for multiple early and late phase clinical programs.
During her time at Wave, she also took on oversight of CMC development, including responsibility for Analytical and Drug Product development. In this role, she established and managed the CMC strategy for all of Wave’s clinical portfolio. Prior to joining Wave, Ms. Cerullo held various roles of increasing responsibility in both QA and QC for CDMO and commercial manufacturing operations.
Ms. Cerullo holds a BS in chemistry from Rhode Island College and a MS in quality assurance and regulatory affairs from Temple University.
Michael Wourms
Chief Operating Officer
Michael Wourms is a trusted industry leader with substantial experience in complex biologics drug substance, and sterile parenteral drug product manufacturing, and building high-performing teams. Mr. Wourms joined Arranta from Elevate Bio, where he was Senior Director of Manufacturing, spearheading the company’s initial operation ramp across a diverse range of cell and gene therapy products. Prior to Elevate, Mr. Wourms was Director of GMP Manufacturing at Brammer Bio with leadership responsibility for upstream, downstream, drug product and manufacturing support operations for a multiproduct viral vector CDMO.
Mr. Wourms holds a BS in microbiology and immunology and a MS in pharmacology and toxicology from Wight State University
Tom Boggiano
Vice President, Information Technology
Tom Boggiano is the Vice President of Information Technology for Arranta Bio, overseeing the company’s digital platforms and information and collaboration systems.
Mr. Boggiano was formerly the Vice President of Information Services at Brammer Bio. Through acquisition, he was the Head of Information Technology for Viral Vector Services at Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Prior to joining Brammer, Mr. Boggiano held various information technology roles at Charles River Laboratories, including global operations and head of IT for the Safety Services division. In addition to Charles River, Mr. Boggiano held positions at Geltex Pharmaceuticals, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Raytheon Co.
Mr. Boggiano holds a BS in electrical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and multiple industry-specific certifications.
Jenna Heyman
Vice President, Human Resources
Jenna Heyman joined Arranta Bio in June 2020, and since has been instrumental in helping execute the Arranta Bio growth strategy by supporting the development of our leaders and both sites. Ms. Heyman is responsible for all operational and strategic activity in Human Resources, including the areas of talent acquisition and retention, benefits and compensation, and corporate culture.
Ms. Heyman brings more than a decade of Human Resources experience, as well as exceptional knowledge of building a strong CDMO in the biotechnology industry. She has a BA in psychology and an MA in education, both from Quinnipiac University, and an SHRM-SCP (Society of HR Management – Senior Certified Professional) certification.
Traci Kyes
Vice President, Commercial Operations
Traci Kyes is Vice President of Commercial Operations for Arranta Bio, responsible for technical program design, business development, and marketing. She spent her early career as a program manager for Brammer Bio, managing client viral vector manufacturing programs for cell and gene products. Later she took on the role as director of business development responsible for global BD. After Brammer’s acquisition, she subsequently served as senior business development executive for Thermo Fisher Scientific. Ms. Kyes holds a B.S. in biology from Duke University.
