About

John co-founded Satsuma Pharmaceuticals in 2016 and since then has served as our President, Chief Executive Officer and member of our Board of Directors. John’s biopharmaceutical industry experience spans more than 30 years and includes CEO, board of directors, executive leadership, operations, strategy, business / corporate development, and product development and commercialization roles in discovery-, clinical and commercial-stage public and private companies. John’s experience includes serving as Chief Business Officer and Senior Vice President at Transcept Pharmaceuticals, a publicly-traded, neuroscience-focused, specialty pharmaceuticals company, from early 2012 until its merger in October 2014 with Paratek Pharmaceuticals; serving successively from March 2007 to October 2009 as Chief Business Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors at OXiGENE, Inc., a publicly-traded oncology and ophthalmology company; and serving in business / corporate development and product management roles of increasing responsibility at CovX, Renovis, Elan Pharmaceuticals / Athena Neurosciences and Immunex Corporation. John currently serves on the board of Cyrano Therapeutics, Inc.  John has also served as a consultant and advisor to biopharmaceutical companies and a healthcare-focused investment fund, providing strategy consulting, business / corporate development and other services. John received a B.S.E. degree from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

Dr. Lukatch has served as the chairperson of our Board since December 2016. Dr. Lukatch is Founder and Managing Partner of Red Tree Venture Capital, a life sciences venture capital firm.  From 2015 to 2020, Dr. Lukatch worked at TPG where he was Partner, Managing Director and Life Sciences Investment Team Leader in TPG’s Biotech, Growth and RISE platforms.  In 2006, Dr. Lukatch co-founded Novo Ventures’ San Francisco office, where he was a Partner through 2015.  Prior to joining Novo Ventures, Dr. Lukatch was a Managing Director responsible for biotechnology venture investments at Piper Jaffray Ventures and SightLine Partners.  Dr. Lukatch currently serves as Chairman Satsuma Pharmaceuticals (STSA) and is a board member at Acrigen Biosciences, Excellergy, Magnus Medical, Vaxcyte (PCVX) and Virsti. Previously Dr. Lukatch was Chairman of Cianna Medical (acquired by Merit Medical), Engage Therapeutics (acquired by UCB), Inogen (INGN) and Spinifex (acquired by Novartis), and served on multiple life sciences company boards, including: Amira (acquired by BMS), AnaptysBio (ANAB), Elevation Pharma (acquired by Sunovion), FoldRx (acquired by Pfizer), InSound Medical (acquired by Sonova) and Synosia Therapeutics (acquired by BioTie).  Dr. Lukatch is currently a board observer at Ceribell and Syncopation and he previously was a board observer at Alios BioPharma (acquired by J&J), Dynavax (DVAX), Fluidigm (FLDM) and SI-Bone (SIBN). Prior to becoming an investor, Dr. Lukatch worked as a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company and was co‐founder and CEO of AutoMate Scientific, a biotechnology instrumentation company. In addition, he was a bench scientist at Chiron, Roche Bioscience and Cetus, doing molecular biology, electrophysiology and protein chemistry, respectively. Dr. Lukatch received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Stanford University where he was a DOD USAF Fellow, and his B.A. with high honors in Biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. 

Dr. Riebe has served as a member of our Board since October 2017. Dr. Riebe currently serves as a Sr. Director, Scientific Project Management at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, a position held since January 2022.  Prior to this position, Dr. Riebe was Vice President, Inhalation Product Development at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals since May 2016. Prior to joining AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Riebe was employed by Pearl Therapeutics from January 2013 to June 2016, most recently as Senior Vice President. He also previously served as Vice President of Research and Development for iCeutica, Inc. from January 2012 to December 2012. Dr. Riebe received a B.A. in Chemistry from Kalamazoo College, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Ms. Sandoval has served as a member of our Board since May 2019. Ms. Sandoval currently serves as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry. From September 2016 to April 2019, Ms. Sandoval served as the Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy of Alder Biopharmaceuticals, a public biopharmaceutical company. Before joining Alder, Ms. Sandoval was Chief Commercial Officer for Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, acquired by Allergan in 2015, from March 2012 to October 2015. Before Kythera, Ms. Sandoval was Vice President of Marketing for Bausch and Lomb Surgical from November 2010 to November 2012. From October 1987 to October 2010, Ms. Sandoval held various senior commercial roles at Allergan, a publicly traded company, including Vice President of Global Marketing at Allergan. Ms. Sandoval also currently serves on the board of directors of VYNE Therapeutics, Intersect ENT, and Procept BioRobotics Corporation. Ms. Sandoval began her career in research and development at Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon division. She holds an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University and a B.S. in Biology from the University of California, Irvine.

Mr. Shah has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2016. Since 2004, Mr. Shah has been a managing partner at RA Capital Management, L.P., a multi-stage investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare and life science companies that are developing drugs, medical devices, diagnostics, and research tools. Mr. Shah is currently a member of the board of directors of the public companies Solid Biosciences, Inc. and Black Diamond Therapeutics, Inc. Mr. Shah was previously a member of the board of directors of Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from July 2015 through October 2021, KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from June 2015 through April 2018, Ra Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from July 2015 through April 2020, and Eidos Therapeutics from March 2018 through August 2020. Mr. Shah is a member of the board of directors of a number of private biotechnology companies. Mr. Shah holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Cornell University.

Mr. Takanashi has served as a member of our Board since June 2016. Mr. Takanashi currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories Ltd., where he has been employed since 2004. Prior to joining Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories Ltd., Mr. Takanashi was employed by Suasa Kristal (M) Bhd. from December 1996 to December 2002, most recently as Executive Director and General Manager. He also served as Business Development Manager for Mitsubishi Corporation from April 1987 to November 1996. Mr. Takanashi also currently serves on the board of directors of Wave Life Sciences, Ltd., a public biopharmaceutical company, as well as on the board of directors of several private companies. Mr. Takanashi is a Chartered Public Accountant in Delaware. Mr. Takanashi received a B.A. from The University of Tokyo, and an M.B.A. from The University of Warwick, Coventry U.K.

Mr. King has served as a member of our Board since September 2017. He has served as an independent biotechnology consultant and advisor since August 2016. Mr. King served as a member of the board of directors of VIVUS, Inc., a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, from May 2017 to December 2020, serving as interim Chief Executive Officer from December 2017 to April 2018 and interim President from April 2018 to May 2018. Previously, Mr. King served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, from June 2003 to August 2016. From October 2015 to August 2016, Mr. King also served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer of Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. From September 2002 to April 2003, Mr. King served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Cognetix, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical development stage company. From January 1994 to February 2001, Mr. King held various senior executive positions at Anesta Corporation, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, including President and Chief Operating Officer from January 1995 to January 1997 and President and Chief Executive Officer from January 1997 to October 2000, and was a member of the board of directors from January 1995 until it was acquired by Cephalon, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company. Mr. King currently serves on the board of directors of Concentric Analgesics, Inc. and Kinaset Therapeutics, Inc., both privately held biotechnology companies. Mr. King received a B.A. in chemistry from McPherson College and an M.B.A. from the University of Kansas Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Soloway has served as a member of our Board since July 2020.  He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of T-knife Therapeutics, Inc., a privately-held next-generation adoptive T-cell therapy company leveraging its proprietary humanized T-cell receptor (HuTCR) mouse platform to treat solid tumors, a position he has held since December 2020.  From October 2015 to September 2020, Mr. Soloway served as a senior member of the executive team of Audentes Therapeutics, Inc., where he most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.  Prior to joining Audentes, Mr. Soloway served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ascendis Pharma A/S, from January 2014 until September 2015. Prior to Ascendis, Mr. Soloway held various positions, including Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer at Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from September 2002 to December 2013.  Prior to Transcept, Mr. Soloway was a Principal with Montreux Equity Partners, where he was responsible for sourcing, structuring and leading life-sciences focused venture capital investments.  Mr. Soloway earned a B.S. in Entrepreneurial Studies from the University of Southern California and an M.B.A. from the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business.

Ms. Harsch has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2021. Ms. Harsch currently serves as General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of VYNE Therapeutics, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, a position she has held since March 2020.  Prior to joining VYNE, Ms. Harsch was with Foamix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., from January 2018 to March 2020, serving most recently as General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer. She has over 20 years of legal experience, previously holding positions as Special Counsel, Mergers & Acquisitions, at Cooley LLP from 2015 to 2017, as a corporate lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell from 1999 to 2003 and 2005 to 2015, and as Assistant General Counsel at Warner Chilcott from 2003 to 2005. Ms. Harsch received her J.D. and B.A. degrees from the University of California at Berkeley.