Perry Karsen
President and Chief Executive Officer

Sarvajna Dwivedi, PhD
Executive Vice President, R&D and Co-Founder

Colin Reisner, MD, FCCP, FAAAAI
Chief Medical Officer, and Executive Vice President of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs

Michael Golden
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality

William Picht, Jr.
Vice President, Finance and Administration

R. Harris Cummings, Ph.D.
Vice President, MDI Development and Manufacturing

Chadwick J. Orevillo, MPH
Senior Director and Head of Clinical Operations

Perry Karsen

President and Chief Executive Officer

Perry Karsen brings over 25 years of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry experience to Pearl. He joined from Celgene Corporation where he was most recently Regional President, Asia/Pacific and Head of Worldwide Business Development. At Celgene, he was directly responsible for emerging businesses in the Asia/Pacific Region as well as all licensing and strategic collaboration initiatives. In addition, he was a member of the Management, Operating and Product Development Committees. Previously, he was Senior Vice President, Business Development at Human Genome Sciences.

Earlier in his career, he held positions including Vice President, Strategic Business Analysis and Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb; Senior Vice President Marketing and Sales, Zimmer, Inc.; Director, Business Development and Representative Director, Japan, at Genentech and various domestic and international roles with Abbott. Additionally, he was a General Partner at Pequot Ventures responsible for early and late stage investments in biotechnology and medical devices.

Perry has a Masters of Management degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, a Masters in Teaching of Biology from Duke University, and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Sarvajna Dwivedi, PhD

Executive Vice President, R&D and Co-Founder

Dr. Dwivedi has extensive experience in drug development at Glaxo, Dura, Alkermes, and Nektar. He was involved in the development of over 40 molecules in various therapeutic classes and dosage forms from discovery to commercialization. At Nektar, he was the Director of Product Development, responsible for new product identification, design, planning, and development efforts. At Alkermes, he was the Director of Delivery Systems, responsible for the engineering and development of inhalers for multiple products. At Dura, Dr. Dwivedi led and managed formulation design and development efforts for various Spiros programs. Earlier, at Glaxo, Dr. Dwivedi was involved in the development, manufacturing, and approval of Flovent® Diskhaler, Serevent® Diskus, Advair® Diskus, Relenza® Diskhaler, and Ventolin® Evohaler.

In addition to his product development experience, Dr. Dwivedi has led and conducted technical due diligence efforts for in-licensing, out-licensing and acquisition opportunities. Dr. Dwivedi holds MSc and PhD degrees in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of British Columbia, and M.Pharm. & B.Pharm.(Hons) from Banaras Hindu University in India.

Colin Reisner, MD, FCCP, FAAAAI

Chief Medical Officer, and Executive Vice President of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs

Dr. Reisner has significant experience in the development and commercialization of inhaled respiratory products. Prior to Pearl, he was Executive Director for Global Respiratory Development at Novartis responsible for both clinical development and shaping Novartis’ global strategy for respiratory products. Earlier at Novartis he was the Global Brand Medical Director for Xolair®, the first biologic agent approved for asthma. Prior to Novartis, Dr. Reisner served as Senior Director in the Respiratory Division at GlaxoSmithKline. There he played a key role in the development of market-leading inhaled respiratory products, focusing on Advair in COPD, and on pediatric drug development. Dr. Reisner began his career in the pharmaceutical industry at Boehringer Ingelheim and worked on Combivent® approval in Europe, and on the Respimat® device.

He graduated from the University of Witwatersrand Medical School in South Africa. He completed his training in Internal Medicine followed by fellowship training in Allergy and Immunology at National Jewish, Denver, Colorado. Dr. Reisner is a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Allergy and Immunology.

Michael Golden

Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality

Mr. Golden’s experience in the development of respiratory and pharmaceutical products spans over 25 years. Prior to joining Pearl he was at GlaxoSmithKline, where from 1988 he played significant roles in product development, regulatory submission and approval for 8 marketed orally inhaled and nasally delivered drugs including Flovent®, Advair®, Ventolin®, and Veramyst® Nasal Spray. Most recently he was the Director, External Advocacy, Global CMC Submissions, Regulatory Affairs at GSK. In this position he was the principal liaison between GSK and the FDA with regard to Quality by Design initiatives. Additionally, Mr. Golden was a board member of the International Pharmaceutical Aerosol Consortium on Regulation and Science (IPAC-RS), a member of the Drug Product Technical Committee of the Product Quality Research Institute (PQRI), and a member of the FDA Advisory Committee for Pharmaceutical Sciences sub-team on Delivered Dose Uniformity for orally inhaled and nasal drug products.

He began his career at GSK as a research investigator leading project teams and helping to establish the Inhalation Product Development group. Prior to joining GSK, Mr. Golden was with The Upjohn Company. He received his MS in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Georgia, Athens.

William Picht, Jr.

Vice President, Finance and Administration

Mr. Picht has over 15 years of experience in finance, marketing analytics and strategy in the life sciences industry. Prior to joining Pearl in May 2008 as Senior Director, Finance, he held senior roles in strategic analysis, financial planning, and R&D finance at Nektar Therapeutics, most recently as Director, Finance. Prior to Nektar, he was a consultant with Objective Insights, Inc, where he assisted life sciences companies with new product assessment and developed forecasting and portfolio planning software. Mr. Picht began his career at Syntex Corporation in finance and marketing research. He has an M.B.A from San Jose State University, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Notre Dame.

R. Harris Cummings, Ph.D.

Vice President, MDI Development and Manufacturing

Dr. Cummings started working in the pharmaceutical industry in 1988 and has been directly involved in the development of all inhalation dosage forms since 1992. Prior to joining Pearl he provided consulting services to start-ups and small pharmaceutical companies developing inhaled therapeutic products. For 12 years Harris was the head of the inhalation product development group at Magellan Laboratories (later Cardinal Health) which provided method development, analytical testing, formulation development and technical support for DPI’s, MDI’s, nasal sprays and inhalation devices. He also established the clinical and commercial manufacturing program at Cardinal Health including the design and construction of the existing manufacturing facility. Harris has served as a member of the Executive Committee and as Chair of the Inhalation Technology Focus Group of the AAPS, was involved with the ITFG/IPAC collaborations to respond to FDA draft guidances and is currently a member of the <601> Expert Aerosol Committee of the USP.

Before joining Magellan Laboratories, Harris was a senior scientist in the analytical department of Marion Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. Harris received bachelors’ degrees in chemistry and German from Bradley University and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Purdue University.

Chadwick J. Orevillo, MPH

Senior Director and Head of Clinical Operations

Chad Orevillo has over 16 years of global pharmaceutical research and development experience in all phases of pre-clinical and clinical drug development. Prior to joining Pearl Therapeutics, he was a Director of Clinical Development and Respiratory Program Section Leader at Novartis. In this role, he was responsible for MFF (mometasone furoate/formoterol fumarate MDI, a joint collaboration with Schering-Plough) and Foradil® where he managed a team of clinical professionals located in the US and abroad. Preceding this role at Novartis he was a Global Clinical Program Leader responsible for the integration of the inhaled tobramycin development programs from Chiron after Novartis’ acquisition of the company, and also worked on a number of other inhaled product development programs for the treatment of asthma and COPD during his tenure. Earlier in his career he worked on various clinical and pre-clinical development programs at Pharmacia, Kendle International, Merck, and Pharmaco-LSR. Chad received his Master of Public Health degree from Tulane University and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from William Paterson University.