Working to build a world without Fentanyl deaths
Team
We are a team of researchers, clinicians and biotech executives with a strong track record in substance abuse and CNS with multiple commercial exits
We are a team of researchers, clinicians and biotech executives with a strong track record in substance abuse and CNS with multiple commercial exits
Research and Development Director
As a passionate scientist, Dr. Bremer is committed to the discovery and advancement of innovative drug candidates that have the potential to effectively treat patients suffering from diseases.
In 2018, Dr. Bremer joined Cessation Therapeutics to pursue the research and development of anti-drug addiction immunotherapies and has established Cessation as a resident company at the JLabs San Diego biotech incubator. Such a role is a continuation of the scientific projects that he worked on as a graduate student in Dr. Kim Janda’s laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). Here under a research fellowship from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Dr. Bremer helped pioneer vaccines and antibodies that combat the effects of some of the deadliest opioids such as fentanyl and heroin. This work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Bremer continues a collaborative position at TSRI and also held a scientist position at Vertex Pharma. In addition to his PhD from TSRI, Dr. Bremer has a BA in chemistry from Colgate University. Paul’s publications can be found here.
Controller
John Katsilometes is a finance/accounting professional with strong public, private, non-profit, biotech, and international experience. John has worked in different capacities including reporting management, audits, system implementations, acquisitions, and developing and implementing stronger internal control processes. Today, he provides support to clients through improved financial reporting, planning, and financial analysis.
John has led quarterly and yearly audits while working collaboratively with multiple auditing firms. He has also developed and presented financial budgets to company board members and worked with grant leaders to develop multimillion-dollar budgets for proposal. John excels at change management, specifically developing procedures for compliance for a fast-growing, dynamic company.
Operations
Mr. Sills joined Cessation Therapeutics in 2020 to help oversee company operations. He has a demonstrated history of success in the biotechnology, technology and telecommunications sectors.
Mr. Sills has extensive knowledge gained from holding key operational and managerial roles for over 15 years. Strong skills in operational efficiencies, project management, budgeting, analysis, strategy and executive decision support. Led teams and managed projects in over 70 countries.
Co-Founder & Board Member
Mark is the Founder and CEO of Altamont Pharma Holdings, a life sciences investment firm based in Dallas, Texas with offices in Silicon Valley and Newport Beach, CA. Mark has been investing in startup Life Science and Technology companies for over 20 years.
Mark is the Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of the Board of Drawbridge Realty, a San Francisco based real estate development and investment company, which owns over 6 million square feet of commercial real estate leased to Technology and Life Science companies predominantly in the western United States. Drawbridge Realty’s portfolio exceeds $2.6 billion in asset value. In December 2014, Drawbridge Realty formed a partnership with international asset management firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, LP (“KKR”) which made a significant investment in the company to substantially grow the platform.
Mark serves on the Board of Directors of The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, a world-renowned biomedical research institute employing over 2,400 scientists and support staff. Scripps Research Institute has created 80+ spin-off biotech companies, 15 FDA approved drugs, and currently has 30 drugs in its pipeline.
Mark was the founding donor with a multi-million dollar gift establishing The Pearson Center for Addiction Research which was founded in 2003 on The Scripps Research Institute campus in La Jolla, California by Mark Pearson, Dr. George Koob, Ph.D., and Dr. Barbara Mason, Ph.D.
Mark was the Co-Founder, Managing Partner and Board member of CRESA Partners, a corporate real estate services firm, and was instrumental in building CRESA into a 57-office national company. In 2015, he sold his interest in CRESA to Savills plc, a $2.4 billion international real estate firm with over 700 offices and 35,000 employees worldwide.
Mark earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of San Francisco and a Masters degree in Management from Stanford University Graduate School of Business where he was a Sloan Fellow.
Co-Founder & Board Member
Mr. Harkey was Co-Founder and formerly Executive Chairman of the Board of AveXis, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVXS), (acquired by Novartis in 2018 for $8.7 billion), which develops proprietary gene therapies for rare neurological genetic diseases.
John has over 25 years of experience as a private investor, chief executive and director in both public and private companies. He has merged, acquired, operated and/or served on the board of directors of ten public companies in biotech, energy, technology, aerospace, telecom, restaurants, software and entertainment, and private companies in healthcare, real estate, farm and ranch products and software.
He previously served nine years on the Board of Directors of the Baylor Health Care System Foundation. He serves on the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE:LGR), a world class motion picture and television studio. He is formerly the Chairman of the Board of Regency Gas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:RGP, sold to Energy Transfer for $18 billion) has served on the Board of Directors of Energy Transfer Equity, LP (NYSE: ETE, market cap $20 billion) and Energy Transfer Partners, LP (NYSE: ETP, market cap $21 billion). He previously served on the Board of Directors of Loral Space & Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:LORL) which merged with Telesat Canada in 2021. He formerly served on the Board of Directors of Emisphere Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:EMIS) which was acquired by Novo Nordisk, and formerly served on the Board of Directors of Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ:LEAP), which was acquired by AT&T for $4.1 billion. Mr. Harkey was Co-Founder and investor in CerSci Therapeutics, Inc., which was acquired by Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) in 2020 for up to $940 million. He was formerly on the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of Sumo Logic (NYSE:SUMO) which was acquired by Francisco Partners. Mr. Harkey serves as the Chairman and CEO of Consolidated Restaurant Companies, Inc..
Philanthropically, John endowed the University of Texas at Austin the establishment of the Harkey Institute for Undergraduate Entrepreneurial Studies and additionally established the John D. Harkey, Jr. Endowed Excellence Fund in Business Honors. He serves on the Board of Directors of The University of Texas System Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee, the University of Texas Development Board and is Past Chairman of the McCombs School of Business Advisory Board at the University of Texas, Austin. He was inducted into the University of Texas McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame in 2022. He serves on the MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors Research, and the Innovation and Commercialization Committees. He serves on the President’s Development Council at Howard Payne University and the Executive Board of Circle Ten Council of the Boy Scouts of America, where he is a recipient of the Silver Beaver Award and the Distinguished Eagle. His commitment to Scouting was recognized in 2017 at the Boy Scout National Jamboree, Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia, for his philanthropic gift establishing the John D. Harkey, Jr. X-Zone for High Adventure.
Mr. Harkey grew up in Brownwood, Texas, obtained a B.B.A. in Business Honors and a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.B.A. from Stanford University School of Business. He enjoys hunting, travel, and golf and won the AT&T Pebble Beach Celebrity Pro-Am in 2014.
Board Member
Ms. Tetlow has served as Managing Partner of Potrero Hill Advisors since January 2016. Potrero Hill Advisors provides strategic and operational financial support to life science companies through its team of chief financial officers and controllers.
Ms. Tetlow was previously the Managing Director of Danforth Advisors from April 2013 to January 2016. She served as Chief Financial Officer of Pathwork Diagnostics, Inc, a privately held biotechnology company, from 2011 to 2013. From 2005 to 2009, she served as Chief Financial Officer of Cell Genesys, Inc.(CEGE) a publicly traded biotechnology company.
In connection with her role as managing partner of Potrero Hill Advisors, Ms. Tetlow has led the finance function at several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc, and Ocera Therapeutics, Inc., two privately held companies and Allakos, Inc. and CytomX, Inc., two publicly traded companies.
Ms. Tetlow was previously on the Board of Directors of Armetheon, Inc, a privately held company. Ms. Tetlow currently serves on the Board of Catalyst Biosciences (NASDAQ: CBIO).
Ms. Tetlow holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from the University of Delaware and a Masters degree in Business from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Board Member
Daniel Fine is currently Managing Director of West Summit Investments, in Dallas, Texas. West Summit is a private investment company with an emphasis on biotech and interests in banking and real estate.
Over the previous 10 years, Mr. Fine was a Director and EVP of two-family offices with a focus on Real Estate, Oil and Gas, and Private Equity investing. Prior to the private investment business, he spent six years working for the Hicks Sports Marketing Group as the Vice President of Sales for the Texas Rangers Baseball Club and Senior Vice President of the Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mr. Fine began his career in telecom in 1990 with American Telco, which sold to Dobson Communications in 1998 for $125MM. His next telecom venture came with Fairpoint Communications (FRPT), which included the acquisition of 30+ rural telephone companies across the US and a significant capital partnership with TH Lee Partners. He grew Fairpoint’s Competitive Local Exchange Carrier strategy to $125MM within the first 18 months and expanded into 250+ tier 3 and 4 markets across the US.
Mr. Fine is an investing partner in 50+ LP investments varying in size and scope. He is also an investor in four private equity funds and has sourced three PE buyouts. He has served on the boards of both public and private companies, as well as philanthropic boards.
Mr. Fine lives in Dallas with his wife Stephanie and their three children. He is an avid sportsman spending his free time playing tennis and golf, coaching his sons in their sports or fishing with his kids on their family farm. He also is an active member of the Annual Fund Board at Temple Emanu‐El Dallas where his family has been members for over 100 years. Mr. Fine attended both Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, Texas) and Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, Texas) on baseball scholarships, where he studied business.
Board Member
Dr. Andrew Barrett has over 25 years of experience in academia and industry and is widely regarded as an expert in CNS pharmacology and therapeutics.
Dr. Barrett earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship in Addiction at Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital, where he conducted research on medications development for Substance Use Disorders.
Dr. Barrett received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to complete both his doctoral and postdoctoral training and remains passionate about identifying and developing candidate medications for Substance Use Disorders.
Dr. Barrett is a current board member of Cessation Therapeutics and previously served as the company’s Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to joining Cessation, Dr. Barrett held positions of increasing seniority at Cephalon (acquired by Teva in 2011), Synchrony Healthcare, Salix Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Valeant in 2015), and KemPharm.
Dr. Barret has published over 40 original manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, focusing primarily on the abuse-related effects of opioids, stimulants, and other drugs.
Co-Founder, Former Chief Medical Officer & Board Member
Dr. David Genecov was a dedicated physician in the field of cleft lip and palate, craniofacial and pediatric plastic surgery. David had over 25 years of experience as a practicing surgeon, private investor, chief executive and director in both public and private companies.
Dr. Genecov was Co-Founder and former director of AveXis, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVXS), acquired by Novartis in 2018 for $8.7 billion, which develops proprietary gene therapies for rare neurological genetic diseases. David also founded or co-founded numerous companies in the health care industry, including Skin Within, Inc., Synergy Surgical Services LLC, Biolife Cell Bank LLC and was the owner and director of The Modern Medical Spa. He was a director and investor of CerSci Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company using non opioid approaches to treat pain, which was sold to Acadia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACAD) in 2020 for up to $940 million. David was a director and co-founder of Cessation Therapeutics, Inc., a company based on the treatment of substance use disorders with monoclonal antibodies and vaccines. Formerly, Dr. Genecov served as the President and CEO of Dialectic Therapeutics, Inc., a Dallas-based precision oncology company using innovative new protein degradation technologies to treat cancer.
A 4th generation Texan, Dr. Genecov graduated from the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin (1985). David began his medical education at the University of Texas-Health San Antonio (1990) and then completed residencies in General Surgery at West Virginia University (1995) and in Plastic Surgery at Wake Forest University (1997). Dr. Genecov completed fellowship training in Craniofacial Surgery at the International Craniofacial Institute where he is was the director and owner. He has been published in over 50 peer reviewed journals, books and videos. His research interests were in bone regeneration, stem cell therapies and new treatments for complex craniofacial anomalies.
He was an adjunct associate professor at Baylor College of Dentistry at the Texas A&M Health Science Center and taught residents and graduate students about cleft lip and palate and craniofacial surgery. Dr. Genecov maintained American Board of Medical Specialties board certificates in plastic and reconstructive surgery. David served as a trustee at St. Mark’s School of Texas, where he was also chairman of the Education Committee and on the Executive Committee.
Additionally, he served as a director for the Dallas Jewish Federation, Congregation Shearith Israel, and The DISD PTECH advisory Board. Dr. Genecov served on the Plan II Visiting Committee, College of Liberal Arts Advisory Board, The Development Board and the Chancellor’s Executive Committee, all at The University of Texas at Austin. He was a director at the Dallas Opera where he sat on the Executive Committee. Dr. Genecov was a member of the Executive Advisory Council at the George Bush Presidential Center.
David has been recognized for his medical and philanthropic service by the Dallas Chapter of Hadassah, The Bnai Zion Foundation, D Magazine, Texas Monthly, Consumer Choice Awards, DFW Alliance for Healthcare Excellence, The Dallas Jewish Historical Society, The Torah Day School, Bryan’s House and the Be the Difference Foundation.