Oral Delivery of Large Molecules

About Us

Management Team

Management Team

Adam Gridley-CEO

Adam Gridley was President and CEO, and a Director of Histogenics Corporation, a public regenerative medicine company developing novel cell therapies and biologics for cartilage defects.  He led Histogenics’ $70 million IPO in December 2014, subsequently raised over $50 million of additional capital, and completed multiple strategic transactions including a $30 million collaboration with Intrexon to develop allogeneic cell therapies, and an $87 million Japanese license agreement with MEDINET for its Phase 3 biologic product. Before joining Histogenics, Mr. Gridley served in several senior roles at Merz, a privately-held specialty healthcare company.  As Senior Vice President, Technical Operations at Merz, he led a variety of functions, including R&D, Manufacturing, Quality Operations, Finance and IT for a portfolio of aesthetics, dermatology, neurology and OTC products that generated annual revenues of over $300 million. Previously, Mr. Gridley was Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for BioForm Medical, which was acquired by Merz in 2010. His responsibilities included all business development, investor relations, strategic planning, and R&D functions, and he was part of the executive leadership team who led the Company’s $90 million IPO and subsequent acquisition by Merz for approximately $250 million in 2010. Mr. Gridley is currently a Director and Executive Chairman at LifeSprout, a Director of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), and a member of the board of advisors for Life Science Cares in Boston.  Mr. Gridley holds a B.S. and a M.B.A. from the University of Denver.

Dr. Phillip Schwartz President of R&D and Executive Vice President

Dr. Schwartz has more than twenty years of biotech and pharmaceutical industry experience. He has served as CEO and director of the board of director of Entera since its inception in 2010. Previously he held multiple positions in medical affairs, business development and clinical trial development at Serono and served as manager of clinical affairs at Endo Pharmaceuticals. He served as consultant to more than 20 large biotech and pharmaceutical companies and a number of venture capital firms. Dr Schwartz has multiple publications in tier one peer reviewed journals and has presented papers at numerous international conferences. Dr. Schwartz completed his BA in psychology and architecture at Columbia University. He then studied and worked in neurobiology with Nobel Laureate Professor Torsten Wiesel of the Rockefeller University. After completing his project, Dr. Schwartz studied immunology with Professor Irun Cohen at the Weizmann Institute, receiving his MSc. in 1991. In 1997 Dr. Schwartz received his Ph.D. in neurobiology/development/oncology from Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Hillel Galitzer – COO

Dr. Galitzer has more than ten years of experience in medical research and molecular biology and was mentored by two world renowned researchers in the field of PTH and calcium regulation. He has served as COO since February 2014, and on partial time as Director of Scientific Development since July 2010. Between August 2010 and February 2014 Dr. Galitzer was an analyst and COO for Hadasit Bio Holdings Ltd., a publicly traded company on the TASE and OTC markets. Dr. Galitzer is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Optivasive Inc. He has written numerous publications in tier one peer reviewed articles and has lectured and presented in international conferences and universities. Dr. Galitzer received his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University Medical School in Jerusalem, and his M.B.A. from Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

Dr. Roger Garceau - Chief Development Advisor

Dr. Garceau has more than 30 years of broad pharmaceutical industry experience and has served as a director since March 2016 and as our Chief Development Advisor since December 2016. Prior to joining Entera, Dr. Garceau served as Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since December 2008 and January 2013 respectively, until February 2015, when NPS Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Shire plc. Previously, Dr. Garceau has also served in several managerial positions with NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Sanofi-aventis and Pharmacia Corporation. Dr Garceau has been a non-executive director of Enterome SA since December 2016. He is a board-certified pediatrician and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Garceau holds B.S. in Biology from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut and an M.D. from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Dr. Arthur Santora - CMO

Dr. Santora has more than 30 years of experience in the biotech industry. He has spent the majority of his career in the clinical research team at Merck, where he was the lead clinical research physician responsible for much of the clinical development of Fosamax® (alendronate sodium), one of the world's most prescribed osteoporosis treatments. Dr. Santora was closely involved in the clinical development of Merck’s once-weekly Fosamax Plus D (alendronate sodium/ vitamin D3 combination tablets), the first drug/vitamin combination tablet in the US. His position when he retired from Merck in 2017 was as Scientific Associate Vice President of Clinical Research, where he was directly responsible for the technical and scientific support for all clinical research of Fosamax/Fosamax plus D and contributed to the development of many other osteoporosis and endocrine marketed and investigational drugs. Dr. Santora started his career at the FDA after completing an Endocrinology and Metabolism fellowship at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD. He received an M.D. and Ph.D. in biochemistry from Emory University in Atlanta.

Dana Yaacov-Garbeli, CPA, - Interim Chief Financial Officer.

Mrs. Yaacov-Garbeli brings over 11 years of finance and accounting experience, including more than 9 years of experience at a Big-4 accounting firm, PwC. She has expertise in financial planning, operations, management, and strategy with extensive experience in external and internal audit for public multinational clients under US GAAP, IFRS and PCAOB standards. She is currently a Partner at A2Z-Finance, where she served as an outsourced CFO to both private and publicly traded companies and provided additional consulting and accounting services.  At PwC she served as the Lead Senior Manager on audits of both public and privately held multi-location companies in Israel, US and Europe, mainly in pharmaceuticals, biotech, holdings, industrial products, retail and high-tech sectors.  She received an MBA from The College of Management Academic Studies in Israel, with a concentration in financial management, and is a Certified Public Accountant.