Management with a track record in innovation
Senior Management
Dr Mark Heffernan
Chief Executive Officer
Dr Heffernan co-founded Opsona in 2004 and was responsible for forming and coordinating the company's initial capital raising and business development activities.
He has driven the growth of the company to 18 people and has executed a number of licensing, collaboration and research agreements with global companies and institutes.
Dr Heffernan received his PhD in Biochemistry at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He has senior management experience overseeing internal and external R&D and business development activities in two listed Australian biotechnology start-up companies under the Circadian Group (Metabolic Pharmaceuticals and Antisense Therapeutics).
Dr Heffernan was a finalist in the Ernst & Young 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year competition in Ireland, and is an active participant in a number of life-science initiatives throughout Ireland and Europe.
Ms Mary Reilly
VP of Pharmaceutical Development
Mary Reilly joined the Opsona management team in March 2005 to head up the pharmaceutical development of its pre-clinical candidates.
Her role is to direct the development of lead compounds from discovery through pharmaceutical development including chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) and their progression into the clinic.
She has extensive experience in drug development from late-stage discovery to registration and approval of products at all stages of the development cycle within Europe and the USA.
Before joining Opsona, Mary Reilly worked for 15 years with Elan Pharmaceuticals where she was Associate Director and Project Leader for development projects. She also has experience in parenteral sterile drug development, manufacture and registration. Mary currently oversees programme management, pharmaceutical and clinical development and operational activities. Mary has QP qualifications in line with EU clinical directive 2001/20/EC
Dr. Andrew Parker
VP Research
Dr. Parker joined the Opsona management team in November 2008 to lead the pre-clinical research programmes and support Opsona’s development candidates.
Andy received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from The National Institute for Medical Research (MRC), London, UK before spending four years as a post-doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Baltimore, USA.
Andy has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry working for over ten years in the Respiratory and Inflammation Research Area at AstraZeneca, Alderley Park, UK, most recently as Head of In Vitro Pharmacology. Prior to this Andy spent two years with Janssen Pharmaceutica, Beerse, Belgium in the Functional Genomics Group.
Andy has directed large research groups and led drug discovery projects from target identification through to candidate drug nomination and early development. Andy’s role at Opsona is to lead and direct the pre-clinical programmes to deliver new candidate drugs for clinical evaluation.
Dr. Jeremy Skillington
Senior Director of Business Development
Dr Skillington joined the Opsona management team in June 2009 to lead all of Opsona's Business Development activities, including In-licensing, Out-licensing and Media Relations.
Jeremy received his B.Sc (Hons) and PhD in Biochemistry from the National University of Ireland, Galway and performed Postdoctural Research at the University of California, San Francisco publishing on the mechanisms of mesenchymal cell signalling and differentiation.
Jeremy then joined the Business Development group at Genentech Inc where he spent over six and a half years in a variety of BD roles, responsibilities and company-wide strategic initiatives. He globally sourced novel therapeutic and technology opportunities, led cross-functional due diligence teams and successfully negotiated a wide variety of licenses, collaborations and investment transactions that covered Immunology, Oncology and Tissue Growth and Repair Indications.
Jeremy brings to Opsona a deep scientific understanding, extensive knowledge of the Biotechnology Industry and a breadth of Business Development transactional experience.
David Hurley
Chief Financial Officer
David Hurley was appointed as Chief Financial Officer in July 2009.
Prior to joining Opsona, David worked in various Financial and Management roles, most recently for Merrion Fleet Management Limited. Prior to this he was employed by Elan Corporation plc initially as Vice President of Taxation for the Elan Group and subsequently as Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, North America. He came to Elan from KPMG where he held various audit and taxation roles. He has been involved in a number of start-up companies including Merrion Fleet Management Limited, P-K Chemicals Limited, Techman Ireland Limited and Azur Pharmaceuticals Limited.
David is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, a member of the Institute of Taxation, and a holder of a B Comm and a Diploma in Professional Accounting from UCD.