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Management

Richard Daly
President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Daly has been a member of the Catalyst Pharmaceutical board of directors since 2015 and continues to serve in his current capacity. Mr. Daly most recently served as President of CARsgen Therapeutics Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative CAR T-cell therapies for the treatment of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Prior to this, he served as Chief Operating Officer of BeyondSpring, Inc. from 2018 until early 2022. From 2016 until mid-2018, Mr. Daly served as Chairman and CEO of Neuralstem, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of central nervous system therapies. Until October 2014, Mr. Daly served as President of AstraZeneca US Diabetes, where he led all commercial and medical plans and objectives for a $1.2 billion, 3,000-employee division, including the successful launch of an orphan/rare disorder drug, Myalept, for Lipodystrophy. Mr. Daly previously served on the board of directors of Opiant Pharmaceuticals, the innovator of Narcan and Opvee (for opioid overdose) and Synergy Pharmaceuticals, a GI-focused, emerging commercial company. Mr. Daly received his Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Notre Dame in 1983 and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University in 1998.

Steven R. Miller
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Scientific Officer

Steven R. Miller, PhD, is responsible for Catalyst’s product development program, which includes all aspects of chemistry and manufacturing controls, quality systems, contract operations, and development planning. Dr. Miller has 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, joining Catalyst in 2007. Most recently he has managed Catalyst’s in-licensing of CPP-115 and Catalyst’s newest drug, Firdapse®, and taken these products through various preclinical and clinical development studies. Dr. Miller previously served as Executive Director for Research and Development Operations at Watson Pharmaceuticals and as Vice President of Research and Product Development at Royce Laboratories; he has also managed medical device development groups at Baxter Diagnostics and worked as an analytical chemist for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Miller received his doctorate in physical organic chemistry at the University of Miami; his work has been published in numerous technical and professional journals including Journal of Analytical Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, and Chemical Communications.

Michael W. Kalb
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Michael W. Kalb, CPA joined Catalyst in January 2024. Mr. Kalb brings more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and financial service industries. From May 2023 through December 2023, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Impel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company. Prior to that Mr. Kalb served as the Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of CinCor Pharma, Inc. from November 2022 through March 2023, where he played an integral role in the company’s acquisition by AstraZeneca for up to $1.8 billion. Previously, Mr. Kalb served as Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Office of Amarin Corporation plc from June 2016 through June 2022 where he contributed to significant revenue growth and led multiple financing rounds. Prior to joining Amarin, he was Group Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Taro Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd.

Before beginning his tenure in the pharmaceutical sector, Mr. Kalb held roles of increasing seniority and responsibility at accounting and consulting firms including Huron Consulting Group, Inc. and Ernst & Young LLP, where he began his career. He received a B.S. in Business Administration from the State University of New York, University at Albany, School of Business. Mr. Kalb is a Certified Public Accountant.

Gary Ingenito
Chief Medical and Regulatory Officer

Gary Ingenito, MD, PhD, joined Catalyst in July 2015 as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Ingenito brings more than 25 years of knowledge and experience in the field of pharmaceutical development: including drugs, biologics, and combination products. During this time, Dr. Ingenito held executive responsibilities for clinical research, regulatory, drug safety, and medical affairs at pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations. Dr. Ingenito initially joined Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in the neuroendocrine group and progressed to become head of medical affairs. He spent 8 years at Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, overseeing the approval of anti-infective, cardiovascular, and central nervous system products. Dr. Ingenito has held positions at Corning-Besselaar, Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Biotest Pharmaceuticals, and Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. After obtaining his bachelor of arts degree from Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Ingenito earned his medical degree at Jefferson Medical College, and a doctor of philosophy degree from Thomas Jefferson University. He completed a post-graduate residency in neurology at the University of Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Brian Elsbernd
Chief Legal and Compliance Officer

Brian Elsbernd joined Catalyst in February 2016 as the Senior Vice President of Legal and Compliance and was promoted to Chief Legal and Compliance Officer in December 2018. Prior to joining Catalyst, Mr. Elsbernd was Senior Director of US Healthcare Compliance at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, a growing US specialty pharmaceutical business. From its inception, he led their healthcare compliance and business ethics program while also managing multiple other legal and business functions. Previously, Mr. Elsbernd was an associate at Proskauer Rose LLP, within its Health Care practice group, representing healthcare providers nationwide in matters pertaining to regulatory and administrative law, transactional matters, litigation, and reimbursement issues. Mr. Elsbernd earned his law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law and his undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois.

Jeff Del Carmen
Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer

Jeff Del Carmen joined Catalyst in August 2018 as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing and was promoted to Chief Commercial Officer in June 2020. Mr. Del Carmen brings over 22 years of pharmaceutical experience to Catalyst, including numerous commercial leadership positions in the neurology orphan disease space. Most recently, Mr. Del Carmen served as VP of Business Development at Paragon Biosciences where he focused on business development for orphan neurology diseases. Prior to joining Paragon, he was Senior Director-Rare Disease Marketing at Marathon Pharmaceuticals. Previously, Mr. Del Carmen served as VP of Sales at Insys Therapeutics from January 2016 to July 2016, as well as National Sales Director of Movement Disorders and Regional Business Director of Neurology at Lundbeck. He also held numerous sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility at Abbott Laboratories.  Mr. Del Carmen holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Dayton and an Executive MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Preethi Sundaram
Chief Strategy Officer

Preethi Sundaram, PhD, who joined Catalyst in July 2021, has more than 20 years’ experience leading, managing, and mentoring teams delivering lifesaving medicines to patients. Since 2005, Dr. Sundaram was employed in various positions at Sanofi spanning R&D and Medical Affairs, including as Global Clinical Research Director, International Development, Global Project Head, Multiple Therapeutic Area Programs, and more recently as Global Head Medical Operations, General Medicines Business Unit. In this most recent role, she led critical global medical operational functions, including the oversight of portfolio financials, delivery of key strategic and operational milestones, as well as being responsible for the leadership of portfolio management functions across all therapeutic areas (Diabetes, Cardiovascular, & Established products). Prior to joining Sanofi, Dr. Sundaram held leadership positions at Abbott Labs and Covance. Prior to her industry tenure, Dr. Sundaram held clinical and faculty positions within academia and start-up environments in India, Australia, and the UK. Dr. Sundaram is an Optometrist by training with an Optometry degree from the Elite School of Optometry & Birla Institute of Technology & Science (India), and a Doctor of Philosophy in Optometry from Anglia Ruskin University (UK). In addition, Dr. Sundaram holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Madras (India) and an Executive Business Masters from the London Business School.

Stanley Iyadurai
Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs and Drug Discovery

Stanley Iyadurai, M.D., Ph.D., currently serves as Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs and Drug Discovery since March 2023. Dr. Iyadurai joined Catalyst in August 2018 as Vice President of Clinical Development, bringing to Catalyst an extensive background in basic sciences and clinical research, and deep expertise with neurology and neuromuscular disorders. Prior to joining Catalyst, Dr. Iyadurai served as Global Clinical Program Director, Clinical Research and Development at CSL Behring, where he was responsible for managing/directing global neurology/immunology late-phase, POC, pre-clinical studies and evaluating companies/novel compounds for acquisition/drug discovery. Previously, Dr. Iyadurai was a full-time faculty member at the Ohio State University Division of Neuromuscular Medicine, Departments of Neurology and Pediatric Neurology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and at Saint Louis University in the Departments of Neurology, Pediatrics and Pathology, where he focused on neuromuscular disorders. Dr. Iyadurai also served as the Director of the Neuromuscular Genetics Clinic at the Ohio State University. As a licensed and practicing physician, Dr. Iyadurai holds a per diem Neuromuscular Specialist position at the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, St Petersburg, FL, where he co-directs the Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinic. Dr. Iyadurai has experience in basic science and clinical research, significant rare disease experience, and clinical trial experience as either the Principal Investigator or one of the sub-Investigators in more than 40 clinical trials and has published multiple research articles in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Iyadurai received M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Minnesota.