David Abramson
Executive Chairman of the Board
We are PanTheryx
PanTheryx began with a mission to create a nutritional, colostrum-based solution for occasional pediatric diarrhea, the second leading killer of children under the age of five in the developing world. And our product, DiaResQ, does just that. A colostrum-based nutritional intervention that helps to overcome a seemingly intractable problem, DiaResQ is distributed in countries around the world.
Capitalizing on the initial potential of our patented DiaResQ technology, PanTheryx has evolved to leverage the multitude of colostrum benefits to develop and commercialize a wide range of colostrum-based solutions for human and animal health. In 2016, in a move underscoring our commitment to harnessing the power of colostrum to revolutionize health and wellness, PanTheryx acquired APS BioGroup and La Belle, Inc. making PanTheryx the largest global producer of colostrum with more than 35 years of experience and a proven record of performance and reliability, industry-leading innovation, and deep multidisciplinary expertise
Today, we continue to invest in cutting-edge research and new technologies to partner with our customers to commercialize the highest quality colostrum products for early childhood nutrition, immune health, digestive health, animal health, sports nutrition, and skin health.
Our leaders
Wes Parris
President & Chief Executive Officer
Tom Feeley
Chief Financial Officer
Pam Cebulski
General Manager Consumer Brands, Sr. Vice President Marketing
Dave Blackwood
Senior Vice President, Sales
Ryan Fischer
Vice President, Global Supply Chain
Brian Budeselich
Vice President, Global Sales
Wes Parris
President & Chief Executive Officer
Wes Parris is a nutrition industry leader with over 30 years of experience growing brands in the consumer goods and health and wellness space. Prior to joining PanTheryx, he was the President & CEO of i-Health (a subsidiary of DSM) where he led all operations including sales, marketing, research and development, and business development. During his almost 13 years with the company he established and grew a category-leading consumer brand portfolio. These brands include Culturelle (the #1 global probiotic brand), AZO (the #1 global OTC urinary health brand), Estroven (the #1 global menopause symptom relief brand) and Ovega-3 (a leading brand in the vegetarian omega 3 category). Wes has worked in a variety of executive level positions in marketing, sales, and commercial strategy for Fortune 500 companies including, Procter & Gamble, Gatorade, and Energizer. Wes is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The Harvard Business School (General Management Program).
Tom Feeley
Chief Financial Officer
With over 30 years of financial and operational experience Tom Feeley leads all finance and accounting operations for PanTheryx. Tom has an extensive background in the nutrition industry, guiding companies through periods of significant change, integration, and hyper-growth. Before joining PanTheryx, Tom was the VP, Nutritional Lipids Category at DSM where he led a diverse team in delivering market-leading business growth for DSM’s global omega-3 business. During his tenure at DSM, Tom also led the acquisition and integration of the world’s largest marine oil business, drove new product and technology innovations, and led programs to streamline operations, improve margins and reduce waste. Prior to DSM, Tom held numerous leadership roles at Martek Biosciences Corporation, overseeing Financial and Treasury functions, creating Martek’s strategic plans, and driving the development of organizational improvements as Martek grew from a fledgling technology company to a leading player in the infant nutrition ingredient space. Tom has served on several boards, including Chairman of the Global Organization for EPA and DHA (GOED).
Tom is a licensed CPA and received his BBA in Finance and Accounting from Loyola University.
Pam Cebulski
General Manager Consumer Brands, Sr. Vice President Marketing
Pam Cebulski joined PanTheryx with more than two decades of experience leading and commercializing global healthcare brands from consumer goods to pharmaceuticals to medical devices. Prior to PanTheryx, Pam served as Senior Vice President of Marketing with Synergy Pharmaceuticals and was responsible for building the U.S. commercial organization and launching the company’s first drug, Trulance. Previously, she built an extensive, successful career at Johnson & Johnson where she held numerous senior commercial positions across all three business sectors: consumer, medical device and pharmaceuticals. She has been responsible for the development and launch of numerous products and new brands in the U.S. and global markets. Pam earned her MBA from Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management and a BS in International Business and Marketing from American University.
Dave Blackwood
Senior Vice President, Sales
Dave Blackwood brings more than 25 years of experience in diverse industries, including nutrition, specialty chemicals and specialty materials. Dave is an entrepreneurial-minded global business leader with a track record of success in maximizing company growth and revenue within complex and diverse industry sectors. He has an extensive background in sales, marketing, strategy, and operations in global B2B companies, previously serving as the VP of sales and marketing at DSM, and the VP of marketing and customer development at BASF Corp. Dave received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech and his MBA from Duke University.
Ryan Fischer
Vice President, Global Supply Chain
As PanTheryx’s vice president of global supply chain, Ryan Fischer leans on his 25 years of food processing experience to manage all activities related to sourcing and procurement of PanTheryx’s cow colostrum, nutritional ingredients and finished products. Throughout his work with leading food companies, including Del Monte Foods, Inc. and Tri Valley Growers, Ryan led his teams in reducing costs, increasing uptime, improving quality and driving transformational results. Ryan has a proven track record of developing world-class factories and operating environments. His experience spans managing significant capital expense facility projects to implementing strategies to create sustained cultural change within large CPG facilities. Prior to joining the public sector, Ryan served in the United States Marine Corps for five years as a Sergeant and has training as an air traffic control navigational aid technician.
Ryan received his BA in Organizational Leadership from Chapman University.
Brian Budeselich
Vice President, Global Sales
Brian Budeselich brings over 25 years of consumer packaged goods sales experience in all classes of trade. Prior to joining PanTheryx, he served as Senior Director of Sales at I-Health managing multiple business units. Brian played a key role in building the Culturelle, Azo and Estroven brands, all three of which have grown to become the #1 selling brands in their respective categories. Brian also previously worked for over 8 years at Novartis Consumer Health. He received his BBA from Western Michigan University.
David Abramson
Executive Chairman of the Board
Craig Cogut
Vice Chairman of the Board
David Cogut
Director
Peter Erickson
Director
Holger Liepmann
Director
Wes Parris
President & Chief Executive Officer
Rajiv Shah, MD
Director
Stuart Harris, MD
Director
David Abramson
Executive Chairman of the Board
Mr. Abramson has a demonstrated track record of advising and building emerging growth, middle-market companies, and large multi-national companies primarily in health and wellness, food, and nutrition business sectors. Formerly, Mr. Abramson was President of Martek Biosciences Corporation where he played a key role in transitioning Martek’s business from a research and development company to a fully integrated, highly profitable commercial organization. He personally developed and implemented the branding strategy for life’sDHA™, one of the most successful branded food ingredients, while leading efforts to include life’sDHA™ in over 500 commercial products.
Before Martek Biosciences, Mr. Abramson was the Executive Vice President and General Counsel for U.S. Foodservice as well as the Executive Vice President for Legal Affairs at Ahold, U.S.A. Mr. Abramson managed the sale of U.S. Foodservice to Royal Ahold, N.V. Prior to joining U.S. Foodservice, Mr. Abramson was the President of Levan, Schimel, Belman & Abramson, P.A., a law firm specializing in corporate matters and mergers and acquisitions. In addition to serving on numerous for-profit boards of directors, Mr. Abramson also previously served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Howard County General Hospital: Johns Hopkins Medicine, as well as serving on the Wellness Board of the Cleveland Clinic.
Mr. Abramson is a graduate of The George Washington University, B.B.A. and the University of Maryland School of Law, J.D. with honors. Mr. Abramson is a member of the Maryland bar.
Craig Cogut
Vice Chairman of the Board
Mr. Cogut has spent a career building successful investment businesses. He founded Pegasus Capital Advisors, a private equity fund, in 1996. He now serves as its Chairman and President. Mr. Cogut is an active philanthropist in the fields of improving education, building civil society and championing environmental and health issues. He serves as Chairman of The Polyphony Foundation, an organization that he co-founded to provide equal opportunity music education for Arab and Jewish Israeli youth. In addition, Mr. Cogut serves as a board member for Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability, for The McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University, for the R-20 Regions of Climate Action, for Six Senses, a luxury hotel and resort chain focused on sustainability and wellness, and for Lighting Science Group, a provider of LED lighting technology.
Mr. Cogut is an alumnus of Brown University and Harvard Law School.
David Cogut
Director
David Cogut is a Principal at Pegasus Capital Advisors. Prior to joining Pegasus, Mr. Cogut was an investment banker at Moelis & Company, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, and financing transactions across the gaming and lodging, industrial, media, real estate, and technology sectors. He was significantly involved in Pegasus’ investments in Halo, HTS, PanTheryx, Renaissance Downtown, Six Senses, and T&M Protection Resources. He currently serves on the boards of the following Pegasus portfolio companies: PanTheryx, Six Senses and Halo. He also serves on the board of ZeroBase Energy, and the Advisory Council for the Institute at Brown for Environment & Society. Mr. Cogut graduated from Brown University with a major in Economics.
Peter Erickson
Director
Mr. Erickson brings more than 30 years of food science expertise to the PanTheryx Board. Most recently he served as Executive Vice President for Innovation, Technology and Quality at General Mills Inc. Mr. Erickson has held a variety of technical leadership positions since joining General Mills in 1988. He is credited with building a culture of industry-leading innovation, technical excellence, product quality, and food safety, resulting in invention and commercialization of advanced food and technologies that benefit the lives of consumers globally. Mr. Erickson remains committed to driving innovation and delivering safer, more effective products to consumers through his active board service with Noblegen Inc. and Wenger Corporation.
Mr. Erickson received a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in food science from University of Massachusetts, with a focus in dairy microbiology.
Holger Liepmann
Director
Mr. Liepmann has been consistently recognized for his leadership and business results throughout a 35+ years career in the global healthcare industry, including pharmaceutical, nutritional and hospital products. Mr. Liepmann retired after an extensive career with Abbott Laboratories, including his last position as Executive Vice President, Nutritional Products. In this capacity, he was responsible for all aspects of the global nutritional business and reported to Abbott’s CEO. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President, Pharmaceutical Products Group; Senior Vice President, Abbott International, the commercial operations for Abbott’s international pharmaceutical business; and Vice President Japan Operations. Prior to joining Abbott, Mr. Liepmann worked for Bayer AG in a variety of capacities, both in the US and in Germany. Mr. Liepmann has advised boards since 2012 and remains active on the boards of Altan Pharma and the Desert Research Institute.
Mr. Liepmann earned his Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a Master’s degree in business administration from Stanford University.
Wes Parris
President & Chief Executive Officer
Wes Parris is a nutrition industry leader with over 30 years of experience growing brands in the consumer goods and health and wellness space. Prior to joining PanTheryx, he was the President & CEO of i-Health (a subsidiary of DSM) where he led all operations including sales, marketing, research and development, and business development. During his almost 13 years with the company he established and grew a category-leading consumer brand portfolio. These brands include Culturelle (the #1 global probiotic brand), AZO (the #1 global OTC urinary health brand), Estroven (the #1 global menopause symptom relief brand) and Ovega-3 (a leading brand in the vegetarian omega 3 category). Wes has worked in a variety of executive level positions in marketing, sales, and commercial strategy for Fortune 500 companies including, Procter & Gamble, Gatorade, and Energizer. Wes is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The Harvard Business School (General Management Program).
Rajiv Shah, MD
Director
Currently serving as President of the Rockefeller Foundation, Dr. Shah brings over twenty years of experience in business, government, and philanthropy. Appointed as USAID Administrator by President Obama in 2009, and unanimously confirmed by the Senate, Dr. Shah was charged with reshaping the $20 billion agency’s operations to provide greater assistance to pressing development challenges around the globe. When Dr. Shah left USAID in 2015, he continued to create opportunities for communities to thrive in the developing world by founding Latitude Capital, a private equity firm focused on power and infrastructure projects in Africa and Asia. Prior to his appointment at USAID, Shah served as Chief Scientist and Undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics at the United States Department of Agriculture. He also served in a number of leadership roles at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he helped launch the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, a joint venture by the Gates and Rockefeller foundations, and the International Financing Facility for Immunization, which is credited with raising more than $5 billion for childhood immunizations worldwide.
Dr. Shah is a graduate of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the Wharton School of Business.
Stuart Harris, MD
Director
As the founder and Chief of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Division of Wilderness Medicine, Dr. Harris brings more than twenty years of experience in emergency medicine, clinical research, and the interplay between environment and human health. Dr. Harris is a full-time attending physician in the MGH Emergency Department, an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and an affiliated faculty member at the Arctic Initiative at the Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Dr. Harris graduated from the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency in 2003. His research focuses on investigating the pathogenesis and treatment of high-altitude illness and on the interplay between climate change and human health. His research teams are active on/in the Himalayas, Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Andes, Alaska, and far Eastern Siberia and have been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. DOD, MGH, and HMS.
Dr. Harris has been nominated for the MGH McGovern Award for Clinical Excellence, was awarded the 2010 NOLS Alumni Service Award, the Symbols of Hope Award, and the John E. Thayer III Award by the Japan Society of Boston and he is a National Fellow of The Explorers’ Club.
Michael Roizen, M.D.
Lauren Crosby, M.D.
Harry Oken, M.D.
Mia Syn, MS, RDN
Michael Roizen, M.D.
Dr. Michael Roizen has more than 40 years of experience as a medical doctor – certified in Internal Medicine and Anesthesiology. He is the Chief Wellness Officer, Emeritus, of the Wellness Institute of the Cleveland Clinic, and initiated and developed the RealAge concept to motivate behavior change. Dr. Roizen has also written four medical books and is the author or co-author of 19 books – four of which made the New York Times #1 Bestsellers list and nine overall New York Times bestsellers, including the RealAge, YOU, and WhenWay series. He is the Chief Medical Consultant to the Dr. Oz Show, and he regularly provides expert commentary on Good Morning America and CBN700 Club, as well as many other television networks and publications.
Dr. Roizen received his M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Harvard’s Beth Israel Hospital.
Lauren Crosby, M.D.
Dr. Lauren Crosby is a nationally recognized parenting expert and board-certified pediatrician. She is a member of and the official spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Crosby is a pediatric consultant and medical correspondent for television news, is on the Advisory Board of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and a founding member of Hope in A Suitcase. Currently, she is a medical reviewer for What To Expect. Dr. Crosby is in private practice at La Peer Pediatrics in Beverly Hills, CA, and is an attending physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Dr. Crosby received her M.D. from the UCLA School of Medicine and completed her residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center during which time she served as Chief Resident.
Harry Oken, M.D.
A practicing physician since 1987, Dr. Harry Oken has a private practice in Columbia, Maryland. Dr. Oken specializes in internal medicine with a special emphasis on difficult diagnoses and nutrition as well as Crohn’s disease. Dr. Oken also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University Maryland Medical School, is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and is the Medical Director of the Columbia Association, one of the nation’s largest homeowners’ associations.
Dr. Oken received his M.S. and M.D. from the University of Maryland.
Mia Syn, MS, RDN
Mia Syn is a nationally recognized nutrition expert and host of Good Food Friday on ABC 4. She holds a master of science in human nutrition from Columbia University and has been featured by dozens of major media outlets including Women’s Health Magazine, Cosmopolitan and BuzzFeed. As one of the most recognized and trusted young dietitians in the country, she has helped hundreds of clients and millions of readers and viewers improve their health and adopt healthier eating habits.