Who We Are—Our Management Team
Our management team is made up of experienced industry leaders, all of whom feel passionately about improving the lives of people with hemophilia. Together, we are deeply involved in the hemophilia community and are committed to taking meaningful steps forward with patients, doctors, and others in our community. Our team is dedicated to working collaboratively to be catalysts of change in the research, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of coagulation products. With our unique depth of experience and a clear vision, we hope to accelerate the advancement of hemophilia treatment.
Mr Butler, Chief Executive Officer of Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals, has more than 20 years of experience commercializing innovative therapies, most recently leading businesses that serve rare disease patient populations. From 1997 to 2011, Mr Butler held various positions at Genzyme Corporation, one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies. While at Genzyme, he most recently served as President of the company’s rare genetic diseases business, which has developed and commercialized first-to-market, transformative therapies for small patient populations. Mr Butler also led the company’s renal, endocrinology, and cardiovascular businesses, growing the division to $1 billion in revenue. Earlier in his career, he held sales and marketing positions at Amgen and Hoffmann-La Roche. Mr Butler received his BA degree in Chemistry from Manhattan College and his MBA degree from Baruch College. He currently serves on the board of the American Kidney Fund and the Boys and Girls Club of Metrowest.
Dr Griffith, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals, has over 18 years of experience in the biotechnology industry. Most recently, he was president and CEO of Bluebird Biosciences, Inc., a recombinant protein product development company. From 1985 to 1998, Dr Griffith held various positions at Baxter International including Vice President of Scientific Affairs, where he was head of research, development, and regulatory affairs. During this time, Dr Griffith lead product development teams in the development of highly purified coagulation factor VIII from plasma, recombinant DNA, and mammalian cell cultures. Dr Griffith also served as Vice President, Product Development and Clinical and Regulatory Affairs for Nexell Therapeutics, Inc., where he directed the effort to develop a combination biologic/device for stem cell isolation from peripheral blood and bone marrow. After earning a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, he performed postdoctoral research in the field of blood coagulation and hemostasis at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr Griffith held academic positions at the University of North Carolina, was the principal investigator on several federally funded research grants, and served as the Scientific Director for the Clinical Coagulation Laboratory at North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill. During his academic career, Dr Griffith authored and co-authored over 30 published journal articles.
Dr Grethlein joined Inspiration as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in January 2010, and brings over 18 years of experience in the biotechnology industry. Prior to joining Inspiration, he was Senior Vice President of Biotechnology & Portfolio Management Team Leader, Hematology, at Ipsen, a globally specialty pharmaceutical company. At Ipsen, he also held responsibility for the planning and execution of worldwide strategy for product and portfolio development in the hematologic therapeutic area. Before joining Ipsen, he was Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operations, at Tercica, Inc., where he was a corporate officer and member of the senior executive team that governed corporate strategy, business/organization planning, and company operations, and where he held line responsibility for CMC functions and commercial/general management responsibility for the Canadian & Middle East markets. Prior to joining Tercica in 2003, Dr Grethlein served at élan Corporation, as Senior Director, South San Francisco Operations, with responsibility as site head for commercial manufacturing operations. From 1995 to 1997, Dr Grethlein served as Manager, Biologics Development and Manufacturing, for Athena Neurosciences, Inc. Prior to this he served in various engineering positions for Michigan Biotechnology Institute, a nonprofit technology research and business development corporation. Dr Grethlein received his AA degree in liberal arts from Simon’s Rock Early College, his BS in biotechnology from Bates College, and his MS and PhD in chemical engineering from Michigan State University.
Mr Busenbark joined Inspiration as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in February 2010 and has more than 27 years of experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical devices industries. Prior to joining Inspiration, Mr Busenbark was Chief Financial Officer at Xytis Pharmaceuticals, a venture capital-backed, development-stage, specialty pharmaceuticals company focused on diseases of the central nervous system. Before joining Xytis, Mr Busenbark was Chief Financial Officer of Encysive Pharmaceuticals (ENCY:NASDAQ), a fully integrated, publicly traded, mid-cap specialty pharmaceuticals company focused on vascular disease preparing to license and launch its second drug in the US and Europe. Mr Busenbark’s accomplishments at Encysive include raising more than $100 million in debt and equity financing and building a European commercial organization “from the ground up.” During a 23-year career at Baxter Healthcare, Mr Busenbark held a number of senior-level financial, operational, and general management positions in both the US and Europe. He spent 12 of those years working in Baxter’s Hyland and BioScience businesses, where he had strategic, financial, and operational responsibility for Baxter’s coagulation products. This included roles as Chief Financial Officer of Immuno AG, based in Vienna, Austria, when the company was acquired by Baxter, and President of Baxter’s $1 billion global Plasma Therapeutics business from 1998 to 2003. Mr Busenbark received both a BS in accounting and an MBA from the University of Utah, and he is currently on the board of directors of Akela Pharmaceuticals (AKL:TSX), based in Austin, Texas.
Mr Regan is the Chief Commercial Officer of Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals. He joins Inspiration from Genzyme Corporation where he held positions of increasing responsibility since 1999, most recently serving as General Manager, Senior Vice President of the U.S. Personalized Genetic Health business unit. At Genzyme, he led multi-functional teams, including sales, marketing and commercialization, across a number of business units, and launched several new products into both large and small markets. In addition to his domestic experience, Mr Regan worked extensively in Europe, Latin America, and Asian/Pacific markets. Prior to Genzyme, he held sales and marketing positions at Janssen Pharmaceutica, a pharmaceutical division of Johnson & Johnson. Mr Regan began his career at Whitehall Laboratories. Mr Regan received his B.A. from University of Massachusetts.
Dr Levy is the Chief Medical Officer at Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals. He brings over 22 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and medical industries, most recently serving as Chief Medical Officer at Sangart, Inc. Prior to Sangart, he was Associate Vice President, Clinical Research, Medical and Regulatory Affairs, at Novo Nordisk and was responsible for a number of clinical research programs, including the hemostasis platform. Earlier, Dr Levy was Clinical Research Physician and Medical Director Acute Care in the U.S. Medical Division of Eli Lilly and Company, and Chief of Critical Care Medicine at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Dr Levy received his Ph.D. and MB BCh from University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of ZZ Biotech.
Ms Hadas is General Counsel of Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals. She comes to Inspiration from Genzyme where she spent 10 years, most recently as Senior Corporate Counsel. Ms Hadas provided corporate legal support for Genzyme’s Personalized Genetic Health, Renal, Endocrine and Cardiovascular business units. Prior to Genzyme, she was an Associate at Foley Hoag LLP. At Foley Hoag, Ms Hadas represented pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies, as well as other healthcare entities. Earlier, she was a law clerk for Chief Justice David Brock of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Ms Hadas received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from Boston College Law School.
Ms Tubridy is Vice President and Factor IX Launch Team Leader at Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals. She has over 20 years’ experience in directing global clinical programs, developing regulatory and clinical strategies, and leading development programs of novel and first in class biologics and monoclonal antibodies, with a particular focus on hematology/oncology. Ms Tubridy most recently served as Executive Director, Clinical Operations and Regulatory Affairs, Translational Medicine at Alexion Pharmaceuticals. She served in this same role at Taligen until its acquisition by Alexion. Before Taligen, Ms Tubridy was Senior Director, Clinical Operations at Biogen Idec Hemophilia and Vice President, Clinical Operations of Syntonix Pharmaceuticals. In these positions, she developed the clinical program strategy and provided operational support for the companies’ hemophilia programs. Ms Tubridy also held positions at AVANT Immunotherapeutics, Wyeth, Genetics Institute where she was responsible for the hemophilia global medical affairs programs and New England Medical Center. Ms Tubridy received her B.Sc. and PharmD from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences.