Leadership Team
Ramy A. Mahmoud, MD, MPH
Chief Executive Officer, Board of Directors
Dr. Mahmoud has served as our Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our Board of Directors since January, 2023. Dr. Mahmoud joined his partner, Peter Miller, in the start-up of Optinose Inc. and its US subsidiary in 2010. From 2010 until he assumed the role of CEO, he was the President and Chief Operating Officer of Optinose and shared the responsibility for leading all aspects of the Company. This included overall corporate strategy; finance; scientific activities inclusive of product R&D, manufacturing and supply chain; commercial development; and business development.
Prior to Optinose, Dr. Mahmoud spent 14 years at Johnson & Johnson where he was Chief Medical Officer and a member of the Global Management Board of the Ethicon group of companies. During his Johnson & Johnson tenure, he also held senior roles in the Pharmaceutical sector, and in addition to management board responsibilities at several operating companies, led a range of functions in both R&D and commercial organizations. Dr. Mahmoud participated in the development, launch and/or commercialization of dozens of pharmaceutical and medical device products spanning multiple therapeutic categories.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Mahmoud served 10 years on active duty and an additional 10 reserve years in the United States Army, earning the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and acting at times as a battalion surgeon or flight surgeon. He received numerous commendations and decorations for his service. During this time, he held various patient care, research and academic positions, culminating as head of the Department of Epidemiology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and as inaugural leader of a policy research and analysis activity in support of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs).
Over the span of his time in public service and in business leadership, Dr. Mahmoud has become an accomplished international scientist, making hundreds of scientific presentations, publishing many peer-reviewed papers and textbook chapters and serving as a scientific reviewer for a number of journals and textbooks.
Dr. Mahmoud earned a Master’s degree with a focus in healthcare management and policy from Harvard, an MD from the first Honors Program in Medical Education at the University of Miami and board certifications in both Public Health/Preventive Medicine and in Internal Medicine. He holds certificates from the Program in Clinical Effectiveness (Harvard Medical School) and in Advanced Tropical Medicine (Walter Reed). Dr. Mahmoud has been and remains involved with a number of professional societies.
Paul Spence
Chief Commercial Officer
Paul Spence joined Optinose in December 2022 as Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Spence was most recently the Senior Vice President of the U.S. Commercial Organization at Nestlé Health Sciences where he built the commercial capabilities of the Aimmune Gastrointestinal and Food Allergy businesses and developed a high performing patient-centric culture. Prior to that he was the Vice President of U.S. Commercial at Nestlé Health Sciences. Mr. Spence has 30 years of experience in the life science and pharmaceuticals industry as a leader responsible for marketing, sales, market access, operations, and supply chain. Prior to joining Nestlé Health Sciences, he was the Executive Director of U.S. Go-to-Market Models at Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that Mr. Spence had roles of increasing responsibility at Sanofi-Aventis, and Bristol-Myers Squibb with experience launching and commercializing innovative therapies to treat multiple chronic and rare disease conditions. Mr. Spence earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from Penn State University and an MBA from Villanova University.
Terry Kohler
Chief Financial Officer
Terry Kohler joined Optinose in October 2024 as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Kohler was most recently the Chief Financial Officer for Verrica Pharmaceuticals, a dermatology therapeutics company, where he supported commercial preparations for the launch of a topical treatment for molluscum contagiosum and research and development pipeline investments. Mr. Kohler is an experienced biotech finance leader with over 20 years of business experience including capital markets activity, mergers and acquisitions, and financial planning and analysis. Prior to joining Verrica Pharmaceuticals, he served as Vice President, Corporate Development and Treasurer and Vice President, U.S. Branded and Specialty Pharmaceuticals at Endo International PLC. Before joining Endo, he completed the Johnson & Johnson MBA Leadership Development program and worked at several investment banking firms. Mr. Kohler holds a B.A. in International Business and Management from Dickinson College and an M.B.A. in Finance & Entrepreneurship from the University of North Carolina. He is a Certified Management Accountant.
Mike Marino
Chief Legal Officer
Michael Marino joined Optinose in January 2017 as Chief Legal Officer. In this role, Mr. Marino serves as Corporate Secretary to the Board of Directors and has overall responsibility for leading the legal function including legal and intellectual property strategy, risk management, compliance, contracting and advising the Company on strategic transactions, financings and corporate governance matters.
Mr. Marino is a seasoned executive and legal advisor with more than 15 years of experience advising public and privately held companies in a diverse range of industries – most notably life sciences. Prior to joining Optinose, Mr. Marino served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Fibrocell, a publicly held cell and gene therapy company. Prior to Fibrocell, Mr. Marino served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of NuPathe, a publicly held specialty healthcare company, from 2010 until its acquisition by Teva Pharmaceuticals in 2014. During his tenures at Fibrocell and NuPathe, Mr. Marino secured the issuance of numerous US and foreign patents, successfully managed litigation matters, implemented and enhanced compliance programs and led the legal negotiations for public and private financing transactions, licensing and collaboration arrangements and the sale of NuPathe.
Before joining NuPathe, Mr. Marino was an attorney at the law firms of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in Philadelphia, PA, and WilmerHale LLP in Boston, MA, where his practice focused on mergers and acquisitions, collaborations, financing transactions, corporate governance, securities and other general corporate matters.
Mr. Marino holds a JD from Boston College Law School and a Bachelor of Science in accountancy from Villanova University.
Anthony Krick
Chief Accounting Officer
Mr. Krick was named Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer in June 2022, in this role, he is responsible for leading all finance and accounting activities. He joined Optinose in November 2021 as Vice President, Controller. Prior to joining Optinose, Mr. Krick served as the Corporate Controller of Verrica Pharmaceuticals, a publicly held dermatology company, where he was responsible for all financial planning & analysis, accounting, and financial reporting activities. Prior to joining Verrica, Mr. Krick served as Executive Director, Financial Planning & Analysis at Strongbridge Biopharma, a publicly held commercial stage rare disease company. While at Strongbridge, he was responsible for the company’s short- and long-term financial planning, finance partnering activities, and transaction support for financing and business development activities.
Earlier in is career, Mr. Krick held a number of positions of increasing responsibility at GlaxoSmithKline and Endo Pharmaceuticals, including finance roles supporting commercial and research and development organizations, as well as corporate roles in technical accounting and financial reporting. Mr. Krick began his career at Ernst & Young LLP, where he served clients in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
Mr. Krick holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Albright College and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive status).
Michael C. Berkey
Vice President, Technical Operations
Mr. Berkey is Vice President, Technical Operations. He leads the activities related to the CMC development of the product portfolio, clinical supplies manufacturing/management and the commercial supply chain. He joined Optinose in June of 2017 as Director, External Manufacturing, responsible for the management of XHANCE® manufacturing and packaging. He has over 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing, product launch, technology transfer and global operations.
Prior to joining Optinose, he managed the global supply network for a significant franchise at Iroko Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, he spent nearly 15 years at Endo Pharmaceuticals in a number of positions of increasing responsibility.
He holds an MBA from Adelphi University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Rhode Island.
Karen E. Brophy
Chief Human Resources Officer
Ms. Brophy joined Optinose in February 2018 as Vice President, Human Resources. She is responsible for the strategic implementation of human resources programs and practices at Optinose. She has more than 30 years of diverse experience in human resources across a number of industries including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and information management. Throughout her career, she has built and led HR teams while guiding companies through many types of organizational change.
Ms. Brophy joined Aventis at its formation in New Jersey and was responsible for supporting the North American Medical Affairs and Oncology Business Units. In addition, she played a key role in the integration of the North American Medical Affairs and Integrated Healthcare Markets organizations following the acquisition of Aventis by Sanofi. Ms. Brophy joined Celgene prior to the launch of Revlimid, supporting the commercial organization throughout the pre-launch, launch and first year of sales. Following that, she moved into HR operations roles, leading the staffing and other HR support functions during a significant period of growth for Celgene. Ms. Brophy was VP of Human Resources at Dendreon, leading the HR function and organization through an intense period of change. Most recently, she was VP of Human Resources at Agilex Fragrances.
Ms. Brophy holds a Bachelor of Arts in international relations from Mount Holyoke College.
Ramona Lloyd, PhD, RAC
Senior Vice President, Regulatory & Quality
Ramona Lloyd, PhD, is Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality at Optinose. In this role, Dr. Lloyd is responsible for regulatory strategy and quality in support of development and commercialization activities.
A regulatory professional for more than 20 years, Dr. Lloyd has led or participated in the submission of numerous global investigational applications and successful marketing applications for small molecules, biologics and devices across multiple therapeutic areas.
Prior to joining Optinose, she served as both a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry and as an executive with Sanofi-Aventis, Bristol Myers-Squibb and Johnson & Johnson. She acted as Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Safety for ImClone Systems and has served as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Quality for public and private biotechs, leading global regulatory strategy, regulatory submissions through product approval and key meetings with global regulatory authorities.
Dr. Lloyd earned a doctorate in molecular genetics and microbiology from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University and was a researcher at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine. She also earned a Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC), the professional credential in regulation of healthcare products.
Jonathan Neely
Vice President, Investor Relations, and Business Development
Mr. Neely joined Optinose in December 2017 as Vice President, Investor Relations. He brings 15 years of progressive experience in finance, investor relations and corporate communications in the pharmaceuticals industry. Mr. Neely previously served as Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Axovant Sciences, Prior to that he held roles at Endo International including Director of Investor Relations and Director of Financial, Planning, and Analysis. Prior to starting in the pharmaceuticals industry Mr. Neely held progressive roles in finance at AT&T supporting International and Consumer businesses.
Mr. Neely earned a Master of Arts in Applied Statistics, a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh.