Members of our management team have enjoyed repeated success in building world-class specialty pharmaceutical companies that have acquired and effectively promoted acute and chronic care products in a variety of therapeutic areas.
Matt Heck, President and Chief Executive Officer
Prior to co-founding Victory Pharma, Mr. Heck was Vice President of Sales at Biovail Pharmaceuticals, where he built and managed U.S commercial operations that consisted of over 650 employees and had combined, annual revenues from a portfolio of cardiovascular, anti-viral, CNS and respiratory products in excess of $300 million. Mr. Heck joined Biovail in 2000 when it acquired DJ Pharma, which he had joined at inception and served as Vice President of Sales. While at DJ Pharma, he built and managed a 300 person US Sales team and was central the integration and effective commercialization of a diverse portfolio of anti-infective and respiratory products that were acquired and in-licensed from different parties. Mr. Heck began his specialty pharmaceutical industry career Dura Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Elan), where he held a variety positions in Sales, Sales Management and Marketing. Prior to joining Dura, he served as a sales representative at Dial Corporation. Mr. Heck earned his B.A. in Marketing from the University of South Carolina.
David Parker, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Parker joined Victory Pharma in November 2007 after serving as a General Partner at Ampersand Ventures. During his thirteen year tenure at Ampersand, Mr. Parker was responsible for sourcing, evaluating, executing and managing equity investments in private companies, with a primary focus in the life science and healthcare sectors. These investments included ACLARA Biosciences, NOVEX (Invitrogen Corporation), Stereotaxis, LTI Lighting (Philips), IBT Laboratories, Ortho Organizers and Signature Genomic Laboratories. Prior to joining Ampersand, Mr. Parker was a management consultant at Bain & Company and Mercer. He began his career as a commercial lending officer with First National Bank of Boston. Mr. Parker earned his B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Finance from the Wharton School.
Daniel Stokely, CPA, Chief Accounting Officer
Prior to joining Victory, Mr. Stokely was the Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting officer at Wireless Facilities, Inc., a public company engaged in the development and maintenance of wireless sites. Prior to WFI, he served as Corporate Controller and Senior Director of Accounting at Dura Pharmaceuticals and subsequently Elan Corporation. While at Dura, Mr. Stokely led the development and integration of financial and accounting systems, related internal controls, and financial reporting that supported executive decision-making and enabled external financing in excess of $1 billion. Mr. Stokely also supported the evaluation and integration of acquisitions and license arrangements representing cumulative, combined revenues of over $300 million. Mr. Stokely began his career as a CPA with Deloitte and Touche, and earned his B.S. in Accounting from San Diego State University.
Shawn A. Scranton, Pharm. D., Vice President of Scientific Operations
Dr. Scranton brings more than 16 years of clinical development experience to Victory. Most recently, he was Senior Director of Translational Medicine for Kalypsys, Inc., where he contributed to non-clinical, regulatory, and clinical strategies that enabled the successful opening of NCE INDs, and conducting Phase 1 clinical programs in neuropathic pain and metabolic disease. Formerly, Dr. Scranton was Director of Clinical Development and program director of the SDX-101 program for Salmedix, Inc., which was acquired by Cephalon. He began his commercial career as a Senior Clinical Research Scientist at Dura Pharmaceuticals after holding a series of academic positions at Baylor College of Medicine, where he served as a Principal Investigator on a number of industry and government-supported clinical trials. Dr. Scranton earned his Pharm.D. from the University of the Pacific School of Pharmacy, where he also completed a fellowship in cardiovascular pharmacology. He earned his B.A. in Animal Physiology from University of California, San Diego.
Michael Hercz, JD, Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer
Mr. Hercz brings over a dozen years of healthcare compliance, risk management and legal counsel experience to Victory. Previously, Mr. Hercz spent nearly eight years with Amgen Inc. in a series of legal and compliance roles, including Senior Counsel, Development, Regulatory & Compliance Law, Director, Corporate Compliance, and most recently, Executive Director, Enterprise Risk Management. While at Amgen, Mr. Hercz was appointed to the Chief Compliance Officer’s senior leadership team and served as Secretary of the Board of Director’s Corporate Responsibility and Compliance Committee.
Prior to joining Amgen, Mr. Hercz was an attorney in the health law practice group of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP where he counseled life science companies on a variety of matters. Mr. Hercz began his legal career with Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, a healthcare-focused, boutique law firm. Mr. Hercz earned his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School.
Doug Baratta, Senior Vice President, Trade Relations
Mr. Baratta has over 17 years of specialty pharmaceutical industry experience in both branded and generic products. Before joining Victory, Mr. Baratta was an Account Director for Eon Labs where he managed generic products business with major wholesale and retail accounts. Prior to Eon Labs, Mr. Baratta held a series of positions at Biovail Pharmaceuticals, Inc. including, Director of Trade Relations, Director of Long-Term Care and Area Sales Director. Mr. Baratta began his specialty pharmaceutical career at Dura Pharmaceuticals, where he held positions in Sales and Sales Management. Mr. Baratta earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of South Carolina.
Mike Cvijanovich, Vice President of Marketing
Mr. Cvijanovich brings over 15 years of Sales and Marketing experience to Victory in a variety of therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, CNS, anti-infective, respiratory, and pain therapy. Prior to joining Victory, he served as Vice President of Business Development at Access Worldwide, a provider of marketing services to the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Cvijanovich previously held various Marketing positions at Biovail Pharmaceuticals, where he launched a number of products in the U.S. market and was responsible for managing co-promotion of a multi-billion dollar brand through a strategic alliance with a major pharmaceutical company. Prior to joining Biovail, Mr. Cvijanovich held various positions in Sales Management at Dura/Elan Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Cvijanovich earned a B.S. in Biology with a concentration in Animal Physiology from Cornell University.
Mike Goolsby, Vice President of Sales
Mr. Goolsby has more than 23 years of Sales and Commercial Operations leadership experience with a variety of pharmaceutical companies. Most recently, he was Vice President of Commercial Operations for Inspire Pharmaceuticals, where he launched the latest entry into the ocular allergy market. Mr. Goolsby has built sales teams ranging in size from 60 to more than 600, and has been responsible for the sales launch of numerous products in a variety of therapeutic categories, including cardiovascular, respiratory, allergy, pain management, antiviral and antimicrobial. Previously, he was National Sales Director at Biovail Pharmaceuticals, and he held various positions in Commercial Operations at Bausch & Lomb, Boehringer Mannheim, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Mr. Goolsby earned a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Kentucky where he also conducted post graduate research in infectious disease.
Thomas Heck, Vice President of Business Development
Mr. Heck has over 17 years of specialty pharmaceutical industry experience. Most recently, he served as Vice President of marketing and business development at Cornerstone Therapeutics, Inc. he was responsible for the acquisition, licensing and marketing of new products. Prior to Cornerstone, Mr. Heck held various sales and marketing positions at DJ Pharma/Biovail Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he had primary responsibility for multiple product launches. Before Biovail, he held a series of sales and sales management positions at Dura Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Heck earned a B.A. in business Applied Professional Sciences from the University of South Carolina.
Kevin McAdams, Vice President, Commercial Affairs
Mr. McAdams brings more than 17 years of commercial experience in the pharmaceutical industry to Victory. Most recently, he was the Executive Director of Specialty Markets for Verus Pharmaceuticals, where he managed all promotional efforts to non-retail customer segments. Prior to Verus, he was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Cornerstone BioPharma, a private specialty pharmaceutical company. In this role, he built a 80 person sales force which promoted multiple branded products in the pain management and respiratory markets. Mr. McAdams also previously served as Senior Director of Commercial Operations at Prestwick Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for building the U.S. commercial infrastructure and deploying an international sales team for the company’s first product launch. Mr. McAdams spent the majority of his pharmaceutical career with Dura Pharmaceuticals in various sales and marketing positions. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
