Moving medicines forward

Ben Zimmer has been CEO of Priovant since the company's creation in 2021. Prior to joining Priovant he served on the leadership team of Roivant as acting COO (2018-2019) and President, Roivant Health (2018-2021). In this role, Ben led the incubation, launch, and board oversight of Datavant, Sinovant, and VantAI. From 2015-2018, Ben worked at Roivant in a variety of roles across business operations, clinical operations, and public affairs. Before Roivant, Ben founded and ran a public policy-focused non-profit and worked as a consultant at McKinsey. He holds an A.B. in History from Harvard College and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Paul Mudd, PharmD, MBA, RPH is Chief Development Officer at Priovant Therapeutics. Dr. Mudd has been part of the Roivant family for over 10 years, helping to launch and lead companies including Myovant, Urovant and now Priovant. He served as SVP, Clinical Development and Health Outcomes at Urovant, leading GEMTESA (vibegron) development from in-license to approval and launch. Dr. Mudd has over 26 years of experience as a drug developer, including over 16 years at GSK as a Senior Director of Clinical Pharmacology and R&D Project Leader. He received his BS in Chemistry, Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy from the State University of New York at Buffalo and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Clinical PK/PD and an MBA at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Daniel Herz-Roiphe is Chief Operating Officer at Priovant Therapeutics. Before joining Priovant as part of the founding team in 2021, Daniel held various leadership roles across the Roivant family of companies, most recently as Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel of VantAI. Earlier in his career, he worked at Palantir Technologies, Kirkland & Ellis, and McKinsey, and clerked for Chief Judge Merrick Garland on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court. He holds a BA summa cum laude from Harvard College and a JD from Yale Law School.

Austin Gromatzky is Chief Financial Officer at Priovant Therapeutics. Prior to joining Priovant, Austin served in a variety of business development roles at Roivant Sciences, most recently as Head of Business Development for Roivant's China-focused subsidiaries. Austin began his career as a healthcare investments analyst covering therapeutics and medical devices. He received his BS from MIT in Biology and Management Science (Finance).

Katharina Shaw, MD, is SVP, Dermatology Franchise at Priovant Therapeutics. A board-certified dermatologist, Dr. Shaw is internationally recognized for her expertise in autoimmune and inflammatory skin diseases and has published extensively on the epidemiology, clinical presentation and emerging medical treatments for these conditions. Before joining Priovant, she served as an attending dermatologist at the University of Pennsylvania and founding director of the pediatric rheumatology-dermatology clinic at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She received her BA and MD from Columbia University and completed advanced training in rheumatology/dermatology at New York University and Brigham & Women's Hospital at Harvard University.

Lindsey Rios is SVP, Program Management & Clinical Operations at Priovant Therapeutics. She brings over 15 years of experience in clinical research. Before joining Priovant, she was Senior Vice President of Project Operations at Biorasi, a global CRO focused on rare disease. As an early employee of Biorasi, Lindsey helped build the delivery arm of the organization and was responsible for leading high-performing global teams in cross-functional clinical programs. Lindsey holds a BS from University of Miami and completed the General Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Matt Cascino, MD, is SVP, Clinical Development & Medical Governance at Priovant Therapeutics. Before joining Priovant, Matt worked in clinical development roles of increasing responsibility at Ventyx Biosciences, Amgen, and Genentech. Matt trained in rheumatology and internal medicine at UCSF and received his MD from the University of Minnesota. Matt also holds bachelor's degrees in chemistry and music from Northwestern University.

Scott Jones is SVP, Physician Engagement at Priovant Therapeutics. Before joining Priovant, Scott worked at Faeth Therapeutics, where he supported the operation of clinical trials related to cancer therapies and nutrition. Earlier in his career, Scott spent nearly a decade in the culinary industry, serving as a chef and Culinary Director at Barbara Lynch Collective and as Chief of Staff at Chew, a boutique consultancy. Scott holds a BA in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University.

George Kokkines is General Counsel at Priovant Therapeutics. George joined Priovant from Novartis Gene Therapies, where he was Vice President of Legal. George brings more than two decades of life sciences experience as a legal executive, including serving as Deputy General Counsel at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. George began his career as a litigator at Sidley Austin. He received a BA in Economics, with Highest Distinction, from the University of Michigan and his JD magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Frank Torti is the Vant Chair at Roivant Sciences. Dr. Torti serves as Chairman of the Board of the companies in the Roivant Pharma family and is responsible for the management of those businesses. He previously served as Vant Investment Chair, where he oversaw a group of companies responsible for the development of thirty-five investigational drugs in eleven therapeutic areas and over fifty clinical trials, including four successful Phase 3 trials. Dr. Torti joined Roivant in 2018 from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a leading venture capital firm where he served as partner. At NEA, Dr. Torti managed early and growth-stage investments in numerous healthcare companies that were responsible for the development and commercialization of new drugs and medical devices important to clinical medicine today. Prior to joining NEA in 2007, Dr. Torti was a researcher at the Duke University Center for Clinical & Genetic Economics. Dr. Torti received his MD from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and his MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.

Irena Melnikova, Ph.D. is a Partner at Pfizer Ventures. She is an accomplished biopharma and finance executive with over 20 years of experience in equity financings in both public and private markets, corporate strategy, business development, and operations. In addition to serving on the Board of Priovant, she currently serves as a Board Director of Artios Pharma, Crossbow Therapeutics, and Flare Therapeutics, and was a Director of Telavant Holdings (acquired by Roche for $7.1 billion). Prior to Pfizer Ventures, Dr. Melnikova served as the Chief Financial Officer at Umoja Biopharma where she was a senior member of the executive team responsible for all aspects of financial strategy and operations of the company. Prior to Umoja, Dr. Melnikova was a Managing Director, Biopharma Investment Banking at Leerink Partners, where she provided critical advice to biopharma companies and their boards on equity financing strategies, completing over 80 transactions raising over $9 billion for clients. Earlier in her career, she held leadership positions at Sanofi and TVM Capital. Dr. Melnikova holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine/Molecular Biology from the University of Texas.

Eric Venker is President and Chief Operating Officer of Roivant Sciences. He first joined Roivant in 2014 and has since served in various roles of increasing responsibility, including Chief of Staff to the CEO. Prior to joining Roivant, Dr. Venker was a physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center, where he trained in internal medicine. While there, Eric served as the Chair of the Housestaff Quality Council and led operational initiatives to improve efficiencies across a large hospital system with $5 billion in annual revenue. Earlier in his career, Eric was a Clinical Pharmacist at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He received his PharmD from St. Louis College of Pharmacy and his MD from Yale School of Medicine.