On an Urgent Quest to Improve Metabolic Health
Rivus is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing novel oral medicines for MASH, obesity, and associated cardiometabolic diseases. Leveraging validated mechanisms, including mitochondrial uncoupling and GLP-1 agonism, Rivus is developing a portfolio of 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 oral medicines for MASH, obesity, and associated cardiometabolic diseases.
Management Team
Jorge Bartolome
Chief Executive Officer
David Grainger, Ph.D.
Chair of Development and Co-Chair of the Board
Allen Cunningham
Chief Operating Officer
Shaharyar Khan, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Meg Fitzgerald, J.D.
Chief Legal Officer
Stefanie Mason, M.D., M.P.H.
Vice President, Clinical Development
Francisco Portell
Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development
Julie Pribyl
Vice President, Strategic Program Management
Jorge Bartolome
Jorge Bartolome has over 25 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. With a proven track record building high-performing organizations, he brings extensive leadership experience in late-stage clinical development, commercial launch, and sales and marketing. Previously, he served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of AreteiaTx, leading the company through positive Phase 3 trial data for a first-in-class oral therapy for asthma and COPD. Earlier, he served as President of Janssen Canada (Johnson & Johnson) after serving as Vice President, Cardiovascular business in the U.S. Mr. Bartolome began his career at GSK, serving in positions of increasing responsibility for over 20 years across North America, Asia, and Latin America, ultimately serving as Senior Vice President, Business Unit Leader in the U.S. for multiple therapeutic areas generating $8 billion in annual sales. He earned a B.A. in Economics from Duke University.
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 Chair of Development and Co-Chair of the Board 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.
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 Operating 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.
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.
Stefanie Mason, M.D., M.P.H.
Stefanie has 20 years of clinical, research, and development experience and has led multidisciplinary teams and executing global clinical programs. Previously, she worked with Sarepta Therapeutics, most recently serving as Executive Medical Director and Head of Clinical Development, responsible for a diverse portfolio of 15 clinical-stage assets. Dr. Mason has executed multiple late-stage, registration-enabling trials, and was a core author of the BLA for ELEVIDYS, which received accelerated and traditional FDA approval. Earlier, Dr. Mason worked at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School as an Instructor of Medicine and at Children’s Hospital Philadelphia as a Clinical Research Coordinator. Stefanie holds a B.S. in Business Administration and International Relations from Carnegie Mellon University. She earned an M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School and an M.P.H. in Quantitative Methods from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Maryland Medical Center and her fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Mason is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine, and Critical Care Medicine.
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.
Julie Pribyl
Julie has over 20 years of experience leading the strategic management of clinical development and drug discovery programs. At Rivus, she oversees multidisciplinary teams across discovery, clinical development and operations, regulatory, quality, nonclinical, and CMC functions to advance the development of the company’s pipeline. Previously, she served as a Strategic Program Leader at PharmaDirections for more than a decade. In this role, she led the development of Rivus’ lead therapy HU6 from candidate nomination through three Phase 2 clinical trials, all of which met primary endpoints. Her track record includes managing programs leading to global regulatory submissions in the U.S., EU, and Australia. Earlier in her career, she conducted research on human B-cell development and managed laboratory operations at the University of Minnesota Comprehensive Cancer Center. Ms. Pribyl earned a B.A. in Biology and German from St. Olaf College.
Board of Directors
David Grainger, Ph.D.
Chair of Development and Co-Chair of the Board
Ian F. Smith
Co-Chair of the Board
Jorge Bartolome
Chief Executive Officer and Director
Allen Cunningham
COO and Director
Francesco De Rubertis, Ph.D.
Director
Derek DiRocco
Director
Shaharyar Khan, Ph.D.
CSO and Director
Erin Lavelle
Director
Rick E. Winningham
Director
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 Chair of Development and Co-Chair of the Board 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.
Ian F. Smith
Ian F. Smith is the chief executive officer of Stoke Therapeutics and serves as a member of Stoke’s Board of Directors. He is a biotechnology industry leader with over 30 years of finance and operations experience. Previously, he held executive positions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, including executive vice president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer. Prior to Vertex, he was a partner in the Life Science and Technology Practice with Ernst & Young LLP. In addition to serving as the co-chair of the board of Rivus, he is executive chairman and a member of the board of directors of Solid Biosciences. He also serves as a board member to several other private and public biotechnology companies, including Foghorn Therapeutics, Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, Areteia Therapeutics, and Odyssey Therapeutics. He earned a B.A. with honors in accounting and finance from Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom.
Jorge Bartolome
Jorge Bartolome has over 25 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. With a proven track record building high-performing organizations, he brings extensive leadership experience in late-stage clinical development, commercial launch, and sales and marketing. Previously, he served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of AreteiaTx, leading the company through positive Phase 3 trial data for a first-in-class oral therapy for asthma and COPD. Earlier, he served as President of Janssen Canada (Johnson & Johnson) after serving as Vice President, Cardiovascular business in the U.S. Mr. Bartolome began his career at GSK, serving in positions of increasing responsibility for over 20 years across North America, Asia, and Latin America, ultimately serving as Senior Vice President, Business Unit Leader in the U.S. for multiple therapeutic areas generating $8 billion in annual sales. He earned a B.A. in Economics from Duke 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 Operating 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.
Francesco De Rubertis, Ph.D.
Francesco De Rubertis, Ph.D., is a co-founder and partner at Medicxi. Previously, he was a partner at Index Ventures for 19 years, where he launched its life sciences practice. Dr. De Rubertis also serves as a member of the board of directors of Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc, Levicept, Alys Pharmaceuticals, TOAD Oncology, D3 Bio, and Kaerus Biosciences. His prior investments include CellZome (acquired by GSK), GenMab (Copenhagen: GEN.CO), GenSight Biologics (Euronext: SIGHT), Micromet (acquired by Amgen), Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX), Molecular Partners (SIX:MOLN), PanGenetics (acquired by Abbott), Parallele Biosciences (acquired by Affymetrix), Profibrix (acquired by The Medicines Company) and Versartis (NASDAQ:VSAR). Dr. De Rubertis earned a B.A. in genetics and microbiology from the University of Pavia and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Geneva. He conducted postdoctoral research at the Whitehead Institute at MIT. Dr. De Rubertis is a CFA Charterholder.
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 89Bio, Achilles Therapeutics, iTeos Therapeutics, Connect Bio, CANbridge, and Werewolf Therapeutics. 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 conducted preclinical research on the role of the Wnt signaling pathway in kidney disease, and was part of a team that discovered a stem cell subtype responsible for solid organ fibrosis.
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.
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. Previously, she was the chief operating officer/chief financial officer at Eliem Therapeutics, where she was instrumental in orchestrating Eliem’s initial public offering. Earlier, 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 chief executive officer and member of the board of directors of Theravance Biopharma, Inc. He has served in this role since Theravance Bio’s spin-off from Innoviva, and earlier served as chairman. Previously, he served as chief executive officer of Innoviva, where he also served as chairman of the board. 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. Mr. Winningham also had full responsibility for Global Marketing in the Cardiovascular, Infectious Disease, Immunology, Oncology/Metabolics and GU/GI/Neuroscience therapeutic areas. He is a member of the board of directors for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and serves on the Health Section Governing Board Standing Committee on Reimbursement. Previously, he served as a director at the California Healthcare Institute (CHI), serving as chairman until CHI merged with BayBio to become 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 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.
Contact Us
For general inquiries please e-mail us at info@rivuspharma.com.