Tobira is building a world-class team and leading core competencies in clinical, regulatory and business development. Tobira’s management and advisors are comprised of experienced biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry entrepreneurs, and respected experts in the field of drug development.

James Sapirstein, RPh, MBA, - CEO and President
James Sapirstein is CEO and President of Tobira Therapeutics, a NJ based biopharmaceutical company developing novel compounds for HIV/AIDS and inflammatory diseases. Prior to Tobira, James served as the Executive Vice President of Metabolic and Endocrinology at Serono, Inc., where he gained his experience working with biological products. Prior to working at Serono, James held several marketing positions in the industry, including the global marketing launch lead for Gilead Sciences’ Viread®. He has launched several HIV/AIDS agents worldwide during his 25-year career in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. James has held positions of increasing responsibility at Gilead Sciences, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Hoffmann-LaRoche Ltd. and Eli Lilly and Company. His positions included Sales and Marketing management positions in Infectious Diseases, Pain Management, Neurology, Anesthesia, Oncology, Cardiology, Gastroenterology and Dermatology. James attained his pharmacy degree at Rutgers University, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and his Masters of Business Administration at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Sandra Palleja, M.D. - Chief Medical Officer
Sandra joined Tobira from Shionogi USA, where she lead numerous clinical programs as Vice President of Clinical Development in several therapeutic categories, including an HIV joint venture with GlaxoSmithKline. Prior to her years at Shionogi, Sandra was at Triangle Pharmaceutics where she helped develop FTC, DAPD and worked on their hepatitis program. She joined Triangle after many years at Hoffmann-LaRoche where she worked on the HIV portfolio including the launch of Saquinavir. Previous to her career in industry, Sandra was an associate professor, instructor and led the AIDS Team at Albert Einstein Medical Center, and the Director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in New York City during the late 80’s and early 90’s. Sandra earned her M.D. degree at Boston University School of Medicine.

David Martin PharmD MBA - SVP, Drug Development and Regulatory Affairs
David joins Tobira from Panacos Pharmaceuticals where he served as SVP, Drug Development and Regulatory Affairs on the team responsible for the pre-clinical and early clinical development of bevirimat, a first-in-class maturation inhibitor. Prior to Panacos, David held positions in Clinical Pharmacology at Bristol-Myers Squibb (formerly DuPont Pharmaceuticals) and SmithKline Beecham. In addition to his extensive clinical pharmacology experience, David was the Assistant Director for Virology Clinical Development at PharmaResearch Corporation.  David received his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Southern California and his Masters of Business Administration in Pharmaceutical Marketing from St. Joseph’s University.

Richard Ogden, PhD, Scientific Development Advisor
Richard is co-founder of RORR Enterprises, a medical, scientific consulting and education company. Prior to working with Tobira, he held the position of Senior Director of Scientific Affairs, HIV, US Medical at Pfizer, Inc. Richard was one of the original employees and the Senior Director of Scientific Development at Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Richard holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Cambridge University in England.

Kathleen A. McGowan, MBA – VP Finance
Kathleen brings over 26 years of financial experience in the pharmaceutical/ biotech industry. She was formerly Director, Finance & Controller (Chief Accounting Officer) for Discovery Laboratories, Inc., a publicly-held biotech company. From 2000-2004, she served as Director of Financial Analysis at Claneil Enterprises, Inc., a private equity investment firm. Previously, Ms. McGowan served as Financial Controller at The Liposome Company, Inc., a publicly-held biotech company acquired by Elan Corporation, plc., and was Controller at Nelson Communications. From 1983 to 1995, Ms. McGowan held various financial management positions with Johnson & Johnson, primarily at Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical and Johnson & Johnson Corporate. Ms. McGowan received her B.S. in Finance and Accounting from Drexel University and holds an M.B.A. in Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University.