Leadership

Duane H. Barnes is President, Head of Sobi North America (NA). He is responsible for all strategy and business operations for Sobi NA and is accountable for the company’s overall performance and operational excellence in the North American region.

Prior to joining Sobi, Duane served as President, Head of U.S. Operations for UCB Biopharma. He has more than 30 years of experience encompassing executive leadership and business development roles in large pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology, payor and pharmacy industries, including Amgen, Prime Therapeutics, Aetna, Quest Diagnostics, and Merck-Medco.

In addition to his role at Sobi, Duane served as a Board Member with the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), and the Healthcare Leadership Council, each for four years. He also served as a Board Member of the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP) for over seven years.

Duane earned a Master of Business Administration degree in Strategic Management, and a Master of Science degree in Global Supply Chain Management from Indiana University – Kelley School of Business. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia University and studied Engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

My reason for working at Sobi is to make a difference and meaningfully impact in patients and families living with rare and debilitating diseases, and to cultivate and expand upon a culture that exemplifies humility, empowerment, impact and inclusion.

Guled Adam is General Counsel for Sobi North America. In this role, he oversees all legal, ethics and compliance matters pertaining to the NA organization, serving as a member of the NA Leadership Team, Sobi’s global Legal Leadership Team and the Pricing and Incentive Compensation committees.

Guled’s legal career has focused exclusively in life sciences. He began in private practice representing some of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies in complex products liability and related litigation, before transitioning to senior in-house roles supporting a broad array of legal matters pertaining to commercialization, business development and strategic transactions, healthcare compliance, corporate governance, securities and disclosures, intellectual property, employment, and contracting. He joins Sobi NA from AgNovos where he served as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary.

Guled earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and his Juris Doctor degree from Syracuse University College of Law in New York.

Christine Belin is Chief Financial Officer and Head of Information Technology for Sobi North America (NA). She is responsible for all aspects of Sobi NA’s financial operations and reporting, as well as the company’s technical operations and systems.

Christine joined Sobi NA in September 2014 as Vice President, Head of Finance. Prior to joining Sobi, Christine served in finance roles of increasing responsibility for ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Human Genome Sciences and Amgen. She began her career with Shell Exploration and Production Co. as a Reservoir Engineer.

Christine has a Master of Business Administration degree from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University.

My reason for working at Sobi is to lead a talented team who develops solutions that will open new possibilities to improving the lives of patients living with a rare disease.

Employed since June 2019.  MBA – Harvard University, B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Significant pharmaceutical and biotech experience spanning program management, strategic planning, M&A and operational improvement.

Previous positions: Vice President, Corporate Integration and M&A Strategic Programs Lead at Shire.  Principal at Bain & Company, providing corporate and commercial strategy consultation and performance improvement to clients across healthcare and life sciences.

Matt Gurtis is Vice President, Hematology Education and Head of the U.S. Synagis franchise. In this combined role, Matt is responsible for raising awareness of treatment considerations for Myelofibrosis and increasing our Share of Voice in a competitive landscape. Matt also oversees all U.S. marketing and sales activities for the Synagis brand.

Previously, Matt served as National Senior Director Regional Payer Accounts. He joined Sobi in early 2019 as Regional Sales Director for the Florida, Georgia and Puerto Rico markets, and a year later was promoted to Commercial Business Senior Director, Western U.S.

Matt has 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, holding several sales, sales training, and market access positions with Bayer, MedImmune and AstraZeneca. Matt has a successful track record in leading sales and market access teams and is skilled in the therapeutic areas of rare disease, oncology, infectious disease, cardiovascular and metabolic, among others. His experience also includes hospital systems and large integrated delivery networks, biotechnology and specialty distribution, national and regional payers, Medicaid, and pharmacy benefit managers.

Matt has Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Florida State University in Tallahassee.

My reason for working at Sobi is to ensure that the patients in need can access therapies to improve their quality of life.

Nadège Houri is Sobi North America’s Vice President, Head of Strategy and Business Optimization. In this role, Nadège leads the development and execution of Sobi NA’s business strategy, including merger and acquisition diligence, new product planning, and launch program management. Nadège works closely with the Global Strategy and Development team to ensure strategy alignment and execution excellence. 
 
Nadège joined Sobi from Janssen Pharmaceuticals where she held various global commercial roles, most recently leading the company’s retina gene therapy portfolio and key global strategies for Oncology and Rare diseases. Her experience also includes specialty and primary care, cardiovascular, immunology and medical devices with roles in commercial, marketing, and sales with Merck and Pfizer, and in management consulting leadership with McKinsey & Company. 
 
Nadège received a master’s degree in Management from the top-ranked ESCP Europe in Paris.

Bob Jahr is Chief Commercial Officer for Sobi North America (NA). He oversees Sobi’s North America commercial strategy, planning and executional excellence, which includes accountability for all marketing, sales, operations and market access activities. Bob leads with a focus on driving business growth in North America and ensuring an integrated commercial strategy to deliver and exceed the customer and patient experience.

Bob has more than 20 years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical industry including a deep understanding across diverse therapeutic markets and geographies. He joined Sobi NA in May 2021 from UCB, where he served as head of international markets leading global teams in China, Japan, Latin America, Middle East, and Canada. He also served as head of U.S. payer strategy, value & innovation and was responsible for developing teams during a period of expansion and launches. Prior to UCB he held leadership roles in sales, marketing, operations, payor strategy and market access at Amgen.

He has a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Management from University of Montana.

My reason for working at Sobi is enabling people with a rare disease to lead fulfilling lives.

Hank Kessler is Vice President, Head U.S. Hematology Franchise for Sobi North America. He is responsible for all commercial activities for the franchise in North America, including strategy and all marketing and sales activities and execution.

Hank has more than 20 years of commercial leadership experience, including leading teams across marketing, sales, value and access while successfully launching ten products spanning a variety of therapeutic areas.

Prior to joining Sobi, Hank was Value Strategy and Marketing Lead for the full portfolio at Amgen. In this role, he was responsible for Amgen’s U.S. value-based partnerships, brand value propositions, above-brand thought leadership initiatives, and integrated delivery network strategy. Hank also initiated and shaped the company's focus on social determinants of health, which served patients in the healthcare ecosystem in unique ways. Before this role, Hank led the U.S. Commercial integration during the company's acquisition of Otezla from Celgene/Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS). He also played a key role in the build out of Amgen's cardiovascular presence and led U.S. marketing for Amgen’s cardiovascular brands. Prior to Amgen, Hank spent eight years at BMS in various marketing and sales leadership roles in the virology, neuroscience, and cardiovascular disease areas.

Hank serves as a Board Member and Vice Chair of the Coalition for Family Harmony. He has a Master of Business Administration degree from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Environmental Studies from Yale University.

My reason for working at Sobi is the opportunity to use our rare strength to help patients.

Bob McLay is Vice President and General Manager of Canada for Sobi North America (NA). As General Manager for Canada, Bob oversees operations and commercial aspects of Sobi NA’s business strategy and performance in Canada.

Bob joined Sobi NA in early 2016 as General Manager for Canada and added in the responsibility of Franchise Head of Kineret and Orfadin in the US for three years, beginning in 2020. He led a team of high performers who overcame many challenges to deliver results.

Prior to Sobi, Bob served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Merus Labs. He also held roles as a Sales Director at Takeda Canada, Marketing Director at Graceway Pharmaceuticals, and Sales leadership roles at Pfizer, Alcon and Nordic Labs.

Bob earned a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance from Auburn University Harbert College of Business, and a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Guelph.

My reason for working at Sobi is to lead and collaborate with purpose driven professionals to do all we can to ease the suffering of those affected by rare diseases.

Kate Thota is Vice President of Customer Experience, Insights and Operations for Sobi North America. In this role, she is responsible for insights and analytics, commercial effectiveness, omnichannel, commercial data management, commercial learning and development, field operations and innovative commercial capabilities.

Previously, Kate served as Senior Director, Innovation and Commercial Effectiveness. In this role, she led digital experience and ecosystem, digital insights, marketing operations, cross-brand strategy, customer relationship management and customer engagement tools.

Prior to joining Sobi in January 2020, Kate was an executive with Vynamic, a healthcare management consulting firm focused on brand strategy, launch excellence, commercial operations and integration. Her career also includes leading various functions at EMC Corporation and Yahoo, Inc., and partnering with a broad range of healthcare clients in management consulting positions at Accenture and Capgemini.

Kate received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Planning from University of California San Diego.

Jim Trimble is the Head of Human Resources for Sobi North America. He is responsible for all human resources activities in North America, including strategy,  professional development and employee engagement/retention.

Prior to joining Sobi, Jim served as the VP, Human Resources North America for BSN medical (now Essity). During his tenure, Jim held a variety of Human Resources roles with increasing responsibility. He also has held HR roles with Leggett & Platt.

Jim has a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from The University of Akron. He also has a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification and is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (ICGB).

Laura Saltonstall is Vice President Immunology Medical Affairs for Sobi North America, leading medical affairs strategy and execution for multiple assets and teams within the US immunology franchise. She joined Sobi in January 2023, bringing a wealth of medical affairs leadership experience from prior roles at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (VP Medical Affairs US & LATAM), Sanofi Genzyme (VP North American Multiple Sclerosis Medical Affairs) and Applied Therapeutics (VP Medical Affairs).

Laura has an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, an M.B.A. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, and an A.B. degree from Harvard College. She serves on the Board of Trustees for Vincent Memorial Hospital, The Boston Home and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

My top reasons for working at Sobi are the people-focused culture, inspiring colleagues and the opportunity to make an impact on the lives of patients living with serious rare diseases.

Steven Pieri is Head of Market Access for Sobi North America (NA). He is responsible for leading the development and execution of market access strategies at the national level.

Steven joined Sobi NA in July of 2023. Prior to joining Sobi, Steven has held positions of increasing responsibility with various leading industry organizations. Most recently, Steven worked at Bristol Myers Squibb as Vice President, Pricing, Contracting, Trade & Government Reporting. Steven has served as Head of Pricing for Johnson & Johnson and as Executive Director, Reimbursement Access and Value for the Bone and Cardiovascular business units at Amgen. Steven also worked in various market access roles in the U.S. and Worldwide for Daiichi Sankyo and Symphony Health Consulting.

Steven brings over 20 years of industry experience in pricing, trade, payer and market access, sales, marketing and strategic planning across small molecule and biologics in multiple therapeutic areas including oncology, hematology, immunology, cardiovascular, CNS, osteoporosis, rare and orphan disease, diabetes and pain. Steven has extensive global and national product launch experience, as well as extensive specialty experience, having worked in diverse specialty markets throughout his career.

Steven received his Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree from Saint Joseph's University.

My reason for working at Sobi is to ensure every patient who needs treatment for their disease has access to therapy.

Glenna Shen is VP Corporate Affairs for Sobi North America (NA). In this role she is responsible for strategic communications, public policy and advocacy relations. In addition, she serves as the Sobi NA lead for DEI and Health Equity.

Glenna joined Sobi from 98point6, a privately held growth stage virtual healthcare provider where she most recently served as their Chief Ethics, Risk and Compliance Officer. Prior to 98point6, she served in multiple leadership roles with Amgen, including Advocacy Relations, Global Marketing, Compliance and Business Ethics, and Legal. She also has held senior leadership positions with Hilton Hotels Corporation.

Glenna graduated from University of Southern California with a Juris Doctor and a Master of Business Taxation degrees. She also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from University of Miami.