On an Urgent Quest to Improve Metabolic Health
Rivus is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing novel medicines for obesity and the resulting cardiometabolic diseases. A leader in mitochondrial biology, Rivus is developing a new class of investigational therapies called Controlled Metabolic Accelerators (CMAs), which are oral small molecules designed for sustained, fat-selective, muscle-preserving weight loss.
Our team is deeply committed to our mission to improve the metabolic health, function, and well-being of individuals living with obesity and its co-morbidities. Every innovation we engineer and action we take is anchored in our commitment to patients.
The Rivus team is a group of innovative scientists, experienced clinicians, and proven leaders dedicated to advancing novel medicines for obesity and the resulting cardiometabolic diseases.
Management Team
Allen Cunningham
Chief Executive Officer
David Grainger, Ph.D.
Chairman of Development
Shaharyar Khan, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Robert Schott, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Meg Fitzgerald, J.D.
Chief Legal Officer
Francisco Portell
VP, Pharmaceutical Development
Allen Cunningham
With more than 20 years of experience developing early-stage and venture-backed companies in the biotechnology, information technology, and renewable energy sectors, Allen Cunningham is a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Rivus. Mr. Cunningham has expertise in many aspects of early-stage company development, including operations management, intellectual property, product development, licensing and distribution, mergers and acquisition, and finance. Prior to Rivus, he co-founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer of Gencia Biotech. Mr. Cunningham graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in English.
David Grainger, Ph.D.
David Grainger, Ph.D. is a widely regarded scientist and life sciences entrepreneur who brings more than 30 years of experience in drug discovery and development to his role as Chairman of Development at Rivus. He is a co-founder and partner at the leading European venture capital firm Medicxi, spearheading their investment into Padlock Therapeutics (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb), Z Factor and Morphogen-IX (which became part of Centessa Pharmaceuticals) and Rivus Pharmaceuticals, where he has served as an advisor to the board of directors since 2019. Additionally, Dr. Grainger served as Chief Innovation Officer at Centessa for almost three years.
Dr. Grainger started his career as a Principal Investigator in the Department of Medicine at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, where he led an internationally-recognized research group and published more than 80 first author papers in leading journals including Nature, Science and Nature Medicine. He has founded more than 30 biotech companies, including Functional Therapeutics, (acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim), XO1 (acquired by Janssen Pharmaceuticals) and the out-sourced drug developers Total Scientific and RxCelerate. He has over 150 patents and patent applications in his name, and holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge.
Shaharyar Khan, Ph.D.
Shaharyar Khan, Ph.D., is an expert in the field of mitochondrial biology and has dedicated his career to the pursuit of novel mitochondrial therapeutics. As Rivus’ co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Khan contributes more than two decades of experience managing multidisciplinary teams of talented mitochondrial biologists, computational and medicinal chemists, and clinicians. Prior to his role at Rivus, he co-founded Gencia Biotech, where he also served as Chief Scientific Officer, and pioneered multiple drug discovery programs, including large and small molecules, aimed at harnessing the unique role of mitochondria in the maintenance of cellular health. He earned a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Virginia and holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Virginia.
Robert Schott, M.D.
Robert Schott, M.D., adds deep experience in clinical development to the Rivus executive team in his role as Chief Medical Officer, including expertise in advancing mRNA therapeutics and gene and cell therapies across diverse indications. He joined the company from Nutcracker Therapeutics, where he served as Chief Medical Officer, and before that, was a Senior Vice President and Head of Development at Sangamo Therapeutics. Dr. Schott was also previously at Eli Lilly for nearly seven years, most recently serving as Chief Medical Officer for Chorus, the autonomous early-phase drug development group inside of Lilly. Dr. Schott earned a B.S. in Biomedicine from the University of Michigan, an M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School and an M.P.H. in epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. He completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Michigan Hospitals and a fellowship in cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Meg Fitzgerald, J.D.
Meg brings more than 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry to her role as Chief Legal Officer at Rivus. Most recently, she held the position of Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at Codexis, Inc., following her role as Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel at Allakos, Inc. Prior to her time at Allakos, Meg was Privacy Officer and Associate General Counsel at Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc. Previously, she served as Vice President of Corporate Law at ZS Pharma, Inc., playing a key role in negotiations that resulted in the $2.7 billion sale of ZS Pharma to AstraZeneca. Earlier in her career, Ms. Fitzgerald held increasingly senior leadership roles at Genentech, Inc., ultimately serving as Associate General Counsel and Director of Transactional Law. Ms. Fitzgerald also served as an Associate Attorney at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. She earned a B.A. and an M.A. from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Francisco Portell
With more than 20 years of research experience in mitochondrial biology, Francisco Portell brings significant expertise in advancing multiple drug discovery programs involving both large and small molecules to his role as co-founder and Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development at Rivus. As a co-founder and prior Senior Scientist at Gencia Biotech, he led the biologics development program and partnering efforts with industry experts on bacterial genetics, fermentation, tangential flow filtration, chromatography and formulation. Prior to Gencia, Mr. Portell worked at the University of Virginia Center for Neurodegeneration researching mitochondrial dysfunction in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Board of Directors
Ian F. Smith
Chairman of the Board
Francesco De Rubertis, Ph.D.
Director
Derek DiRocco
Director
Erin Lavelle
Director
Rick E. Winningham
Director
Allen Cunningham
CEO and Director
Shaharyar Khan, Ph.D.
CSO and Director
Ian F. Smith
Ian F. Smith serves as a senior advisor to Bain Capital Life Sciences and previously held executive positions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. In addition to serving as the chairman of the board of Rivus, he is Executive Chairman and a member of the board of directors of Solid Biosciences, as well as board member to several other private and public biotechnology companies, including: Foghorn Therapeutics, Stoke Therapeutics, Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, and iVexSol Inc. Previously, he was Executive Chair and member of the board of directors of ViaCyte, Inc. He received a B.A. with honors in accounting and finance from Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom.
Francesco De Rubertis, Ph.D.
Francesco De Rubertis, Ph.D., is a co-founder and partner at Medicxi. Prior to that, he was a partner at Index Ventures, having joined the firm to launch its life sciences practice. Dr. De Rubertis also serves as a member of the board of directors of Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc, Synox Therapeutics, and Levicept. His prior investments include CellZome, GenMab, GenSight Biologics, Micromet, Minerva Neurosciences, Molecular Partners, PanGenetics, Parallele Biosciences, Profibrix and Versartis. Dr. De Rubertis received a B.A. in genetics and microbiology from the University of Pavia in Italy and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Geneva in Switzerland, after which he became a postdoctoral scientist at the Whitehead Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a chartered financial analyst.
Derek DiRocco
Derek DiRocco is a partner at RA Capital Management, where he works on both public and private investments. He serves as a member of the board of directors for multiple private and public biotech companies, including Mineralys Therapeutics, Inc., Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc., Werewolf Therapeutics Inc. and 89bio, Inc. He earned a B.A. in biology from College of the Holy Cross and a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Washington. He conducted postdoctoral research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, where he researched the role of the Wnt signaling pathway in mouse models of kidney disease and was part of a team that discovered a stem cell subtype responsible for solid organ fibrosis.
Erin Lavelle
Erin Lavelle has more than 25 years of strategic and operational leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. She most recently served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at ProfoundBio, where she led a $112 million Series B financing round and negotiated a $1.8 billion sale to Genmab. Prior to ProfoundBio, she was the Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer at Eliem Therapeutics, where she was instrumental in orchestrating Eliem’s initial public offering. Before Eliem, she was the Chief Operating Officer at Alder Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., where she led the company’s nearly $2 billion acquisition by H. Lundbeck A/S. Her extensive tenure in the biopharmaceutical sector also includes 15 years at Amgen, culminating as General Manager of Amgen’s Taiwan affiliate, and including positions where she spearheaded commercial excellence and digital health initiatives and was involved in global marketing, global commercial finance and strategy & corporate development. Ms. Lavelle began her career as an investment banker in the healthcare group at Merrill Lynch & Co. She served on the boards of Neoleukin and Vitaeris. She earned a B.A. in economics from Yale University.
Rick E. Winningham
Rick E. Winningham serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Theravance Biopharma, Inc. Prior to that, he held leadership positions at Theravance, Inc. (now Innoviva, Inc.). He began his career at Bristol Myers Squibb and its predecessor Bristol Myers, where he held various U.S. and global management positions, culminating in his role as President of the Oncology/Immunology/Oncology Therapeutics Network and President of Global Marketing, overseeing a range of therapeutic areas. Mr. Winningham was previously a director at the California Healthcare Institute (CHI) until its merger with BayBio, creating the California Life Sciences Association (CLSA). He chaired CHI and served on CLSA’s board, including as its Chairman. He is a member of the board of directors for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), where he serves on the Health Section Governing Board Standing Committee on Reimbursement, and a member of the board of directors of Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc. He previously served as a board member of Retrotope Inc. and OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. Winningham earned a B.S. from Southern Illinois University and an M.B.A from Texas Christian University.
Allen Cunningham
With more than 20 years of experience developing early-stage and venture-backed companies in the biotechnology, information technology, and renewable energy sectors, Allen Cunningham is a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Rivus. Mr. Cunningham has expertise in many aspects of early-stage company development, including operations management, intellectual property, product development, licensing and distribution, mergers and acquisition, and finance. Prior to Rivus, he co-founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer of Gencia Biotech. Mr. Cunningham graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in English.
Shaharyar Khan, Ph.D.
Shaharyar Khan, Ph.D., is an expert in the field of mitochondrial biology and has dedicated his career to the pursuit of novel mitochondrial therapeutics. As Rivus’ co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Khan contributes more than two decades of experience managing multidisciplinary teams of talented mitochondrial biologists, computational and medicinal chemists, and clinicians. Prior to his role at Rivus, he co-founded Gencia Biotech, where he also served as Chief Scientific Officer, and pioneered multiple drug discovery programs, including large and small molecules, aimed at harnessing the unique role of mitochondria in the maintenance of cellular health. He earned a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Virginia and holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Virginia.
Contact Us
For general inquiries please e-mail us at info@rivuspharma.com.