About Belhaven Biopharma

Scott Lyman is the CEO and a Co-Founder of Belhaven Biopharma and serves as Chairman of the Board. Prior to founding Belhaven, he was the Chief Business Officer of Grid Therapeutics, a spinout from Duke University. Scott has previously held leadership roles at GSK, BioCryst, and Salix. His prior experience includes developing spray dried powders, leading drug development teams, participating in FDA filings, and the licensing of multiple products. In these roles, Scott contributed to the approvals of new Enbrel dosage forms, epilepsy medicine Ezogabine, antibiotic Xifaxan, and HIV medicine Tivicay.

Mr. Lyman holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University, a MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dave Neal is the CFO and a Co-Founder of Belhaven Biopharma and serves as a Board Member.  Mr. Neal is a leading expert on the intersection of startups, law, and finance.  As a result of his more than two decades as a founder, C-level team member and financier of early-stage companies, he has amassed broad experience in all sectors of the startup landscape. He has managed over $300 million in financing during his career.  In addition to his corporate roles, Dave has been a Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC for more than twenty years and served for five years as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the UNC School of Law.

Mr. Neal holds a BS and a JD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MBA from Stanford University.

Brian Taubenheim joined Belhaven in 2022 as the Chief Operating Officer to support progressing the lead program into the clinic and expand the company’s portfolio. Prior to joining Belhaven, Brian founded a consulting company focused on providing operational solutions by integrating experimental science, data science, and project management. He has extensive experience in pharmaceutical product development and operations from previous leadership roles at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals and contract manufacturing at Sigma-Aldrich. Brian has worked with many international companies, Healthcare Authorities, and US Agencies including the National Institute of Infectious Disease (NIAID), the Biomedical Advanced Development and Research Agency (BARDA), and multiple groups in the Department of Defense. This work led to the deployment of a therapeutic countermeasure during the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic and approval of Rapivab in the US, Japan, and South Korea.

Mr. Taubenheim is a veteran of the US Marine Corps, holds a BS in Chemistry from Lakeland University, an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and a MS in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University.

Deirdre Kraimer is the Head of Clinical Operations at Belhaven and oversees the clinical development of the portfolio.  She has diverse background with experience ranging from Phase 1 and small, rare disease studies to medium sized, complex oncology studies, to large global Phase 3 studies.  Past roles include the Head of Global Clinical Operations at Smith and Nephew and Global Head, Clinical Study Management at Astellas Pharma. Deirdre started her career at Pfizer where she held a variety of positions over 28 years with increasing responsibility in Clinical Research and Operations.

Ms. Kraimer holds BS in Chemistry from the University of Connecticut and a MS in Biology from Brown University.

David Zuchero is the Head of Regulatory at Belhaven and is responsible for communication and compliance with the FDA. Mr. Zuchero began his career as a microbiologist at Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals before transitioning to clinical research and then ultimately moving to Regulatory Affairs at Ayerst Laboratories. Dave created Chesapeake Regulatory Group, Inc. in 1990 to provide specialized regulatory support to the biotech industry.  During his 40 years in the industry, including over 30 years in regulatory affairs, Mr. Zuchero has worked on many successful regulatory submissions including Investigational New Drug Applications, New Drug Applications, Biologic License Applications, as well as Orphan Drug, Fast Track and Breakthrough Therapy Designation requests.

Mr. Zuchero holds a B.S. in Microbiology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a MS in Scientific and Medical Writing from Polytechnic University in New York, and a JD from the University of Maryland School of Law.

Dr. Hickey is Distinguished Fellow, at RTI International, Professor Emeritus of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics of the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Engineering of the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, the Royal Society of Biology, and the Royal Society of Medicine. He was previously the founder, President, and CEO of Cirrus Pharmaceuticals, and the founder, CSO of Oriel Therapeutics.  Currently, Tony is the CEO of Astartein and CSO of TFF Pharmaceuticals. Other affiliations include the Chair of the USP Joint Sub-Committee on Nanotechnology, Member of the USP Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms Expert Committee (DFEC) and Aerosols Sub-Committee of the DFEC of the United States Pharmacopeia.

Dr. Kim is an associate professor and chief of the division of pediatric allergy and immunology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He is the director of the UNC Food Allergy Initiative and has over 10 years of experience studying novel therapeutics for food allergy with a particular focus on food immunotherapy. He has clinical expertise in food allergy diagnostics, oral food challenges, as well as the evaluation and treatment of anaphylaxis.

Mr. Hammond is a 20-year industry veteran in the combination drug device development and CDMO services space. Badre has a strong record in implementing global commercial expansion, product launch, strategy, licensing, and M&A. He has a strong global regulatory record with successful submissions of drug products and medical devices to the FDA, EMA, China FDA (CFD).  Currently, Mr. Hammond leads global commercial operations of Aptar Pharma delivering growth and global expansion in the device and service businesses. He was a key device contributor to the commercialization of the Narcan (Naloxone), first of its kind combination drug product rescue medication for opioid overdose reversal and Valtoco diazepam nasal spray rescue medication for cluster seizures patients.

Dr. Bleske is Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacy at the University of New Mexico.  Prior to becoming faculty at the UNM in 2015, Dr. Bleske was a tenured professor at the University of Michigan-College of Pharmacy.  He was a faculty member for 27 years and is now professor emeritus.  Dr. Bleske has authored and co-authored over 150 published abstracts, articles, and book chapters.  Dr. Bleske’s research has been in the cardiovascular field, with a focus on CPR and novel drug delivery approaches, atrial fibrillation, heart failure and environmental toxicology, and has included both basic and clinical research.

Dr. Fitzhugh established Allergy Partners of Chapel Hill in 2012 and maintains a special interest in food allergy and food desensitization.  He completed his undergraduate education at Cornell University, graduating cum laude in biochemistry and attended medical school at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, VA and fulfilled residency training in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  His subspecialty fellowship training in allergy/immunology was completed at the University of South Florida.