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Gelesis SRL - Italy

The Gelesis team includes proven entrepreneurs and leaders in obesity & metabolism, healthcare and commercialization

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Yishai Zohar

Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Gelesis

A seasoned entrepreneur, Mr. Zohar has over 25 years’ experience in the development of industry innovating companies. Mr. Zohar is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and a Board of Directors member of Gelesis Inc., a Boston-based biotechnology company developing a proprietary hydrogel platform designed to leverage mechanobiology along the GI tract to potentially alter the course of chronic diseases including obesity, NAFLD/NASH and inflammatory bowel disease. Zohar led the company from formation and initial discovery as a co-inventor and shepherded the company and product through clinical studies and a landmark FDA clearance of lead product PLENITY™ as an aid for weight management. PLENITY is the first and only FDA-regulated aid for weight management cleared for use by all adults with excess weight (BMI between 25-40 kg/m2) with or without the presence of comorbidities, in conjunction with diet and exercise. Prior to founding Gelesis, Mr. Zohar was a Co-Founder of PureTech Health (PRTC.L), a biopharma company developing groundbreaking therapeutics that target the Brain-Immune-Gut axis. In his role at PureTech he led the obesity/GI initiative which engaged leading experts to look at a broad landscape of technologies and approaches. This initiative led to the formation of Gelesis. Zohar has a degree in Business Administration from the College of Management Academic Studies (COMAS) in Tel Aviv and was an air force pilot ranked Captain in the Israeli Defense Forces.

Paul Fonteyne

Retired Chairman of Boehringer Ingelheim USA

Paul Fonteyne is the retired Chairman and of Boehringer-Ingelheim USA. He was with Boehringer-Ingelheim for 15 years in leadership roles both in the US and globally. Since November of 2011, he was President and CEO of Boehringer-Ingelheim USA, and subsequently its Chairman (retired 1/1/19). During this time, he led teams that grew BI’s sales and earnings several fold in the USA and participated in acquisitions and divestitures that led to a significantly greater focus of BI’s portfolio of companies in the US in two main segments of Animal Health and Human Pharmaceuticals. He served as President of its Human Pharmaceutical business during a critical period of consolidation of the customer landscape, and important launches for Boehringer-Ingelheim. He served as President of the Animal Health Business in the US during the critical period of integration following the acquisition of Merial. During his 30+ years in the pharmaceutical industry Paul also held commercial leadership roles at Merck and Co. Inc. for 9 years, and Abbott Laboratories for 8 years.

He has served on the board of PhRMA, chaired the National Pharmaceutical Council, Served as Chair of an American cancer Society initiative for New England (CEOs against Cancer), and is on the board of a specialty pharmaceutical company: AMAG, as well as several clinical stage biotechnology companies including Gelesis, DalCor (Chairman), Apellis, and ResTorbio inc. (Chair of compensation Committee), and a device company, Ypsomed AG (Switzerland). In addition, Paul serves as an Executive in Residence to Canaan Partners, a Venture Capital Fund dedicated to Health Care and Technology early stage venture investing. He advises several companies in the Canaan Portfolio.

Paul holds dual citizenship in the USA and Belgium. He holds a MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Brussels and an MBA for Carnegie Mellon University. He resides in Westport CT with his wife Nathalie. They have three grown children Jaclyn, Louise and Luke; who are all gainfully employed.

Raju Kucherlapati, Ph.D.

Paul C. Cabot Professor of Genetics and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School

Raju was a founder and formerly a Board member of Abgenix (acquired by Amgen), and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Takeda), and is currently the Paul C. Cabot Professor of Genetics and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and was the first Scientific Director of the Harvard-Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Kucherlapati’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School is involved in cloning and characterization of human disease genes with a focus on human syndromes with a significant cardiovascular involvement, use of genetic/genomic approaches to understand the biology of cancer and the generation and characterization of genetically modified mouse models for cancer and other human disorders. He served on the editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine and was Editor in Chief of the journal Genomics.

Jane Wildman

Global Marketing Executive and Procter & Gamble Alumna

Jane Wildman is an accomplished global business leader, board member, president, and chief marketing officer across Fortune 25, mid-sized, and start-up consumer health and wellness companies.

Jane successfully positions companies and brands for growth ahead of the market as a recognized leader in strategy, digital, and holistic marketing with a strong focus in user experience and omni-channel sales.

As president and board member of Combe Incorporated, a personal-care consumer products company, Ms. Wildman successfully led the company to record sales and profit growth ahead of peers. Prior to Combe, Ms. Wildman was a partner and consultant with The Partnering Group, where she specialized in corporate strategy, omni-channel marketing, transforming the user experience, and multi-cultural marketing. Clients included Fortune 50 and digital start-ups, including Walmart, P&G, and Nestle. Ms. Wildman spent over 25 years at Procter & Gamble, where she worked in beauty, health, baby, feminine care, and food both in the U.S. and internationally. She served as global Vice President and and led the global marketing organization for Pampers, P&G’s largest brand. She led the repositioning of a declining Pampers brand and during her tenure, Pampers doubled from $4 to $8 billion in sales with over half of the sales in international.

Jane serves on the board for the Association of National Advertisers Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing as well as the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication Advancement Council. She has won numerous industry awards in marketing, including a Cannes Gold Lion. Jane is a graduate of the University of Oregon with a BS in Journalism where she is inducted into their Hall of Achievement and holds a Cornell Digital Marketing certification.

Dominic Perks

Co-Founded Hambro Perks

Mr. Perks co-founded Hambro Perks with British banker and businessman Rupert Hambro. In 2014, Mr. Perks co-founded Laundrapp, an on-demand dry cleaning and laundry service and served as chairman until November 2018. Mr. Perks has since founded or seeded numerous technology companies including Echo, What3Words, By Miles, Primary Bid, Takumi and Insurtech Gateway.

Through Hambro Perks, he is an investor in over 95 companies including Cambridge Innovation Capital, Tide and Muzmatch. In December 2020, Mr. Perks led the acquisition of Ombu Group in partnership with Sir John Rose and created Hambro Perks Environmental Technology Fund.

Mr. Perks also acquired all of Invesco's unquoted assets in the UK and US in a deal that included stakes in Gelesis, Vedanta, Genomics, Nexeon and Hawkeye360.

In February 2021, Mr. Perks launched the Hambro Perks Oryx Fund with backing from Public Investment Fund to invest into technology companies in the Middle East. Prior to his entrepreneurial career, Mr. Perks was a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Co., where he advised clients on growth strategies. Mr. Perks was also employed at Morgan Stanley where he primarily originated investment opportunities for private equity firms. Mr. Perks graduated from Oxford University with a first-class degree in English Literature.

Ali Bauerlein

Co-Founder and Former CFO of Inogen

Ms. Bauerlein brings extensive experience in SEC reporting, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, investor communications, strategic planning, business development, and corporate governance in high-growth direct-to-consumer, insurance rentals, and business-to-business revenue-generating companies.

She co-founded Inogen (NASDAQ: INGN), a global medical technology company offering innovative respiratory products for use in the homecare setting, and led it from start-up through initial public offering and commercialization with $300M+ in annual revenue.

Clayton Christopher

Founder of Deep Eddy Vodka and Sweet Leaf Tea

Mr. Christopher is the co-founder and an advisor to CAVU Venture Partners, an investment firm focused on best in class, better-for-you, food and beverage brands. Prior to CAVU, Mr. Christopher was the co-founder and CEO of Deep Eddy Vodka, which became one of the fastest growing spirits brands in the United States before being purchased by Heaven Hill Distilleries in August of 2015.

He started his entrepreneurial journey at Sweet Leaf Tea, a company he started in 1998 with $12,000 in savings and a recipe from his grandmother. Sweet Leaf grew to a nationally recognized brand and was acquired by Nestle in 2011. Mr. Christopher is also the co-founder and Chairman of Waterloo Sparkling Water. He has also served on or currently serves on the board of directors of Nulo Pet Foods, Kite Hill, Rhythm Super Foods, REBBL, Kettle & Fire, Austin Eastciders, Good Culture, Bridge Equipment Leasing and SKU, a consumer products accelerator.

In 2006, Mr. Christopher was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year for Central Texas and is a recipient of Austin Under 40 Austinite of the Year Award. Mr. Christopher has also served on a number of non-profit boards over the years, including Mission Capital, Naturally Austin, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the University of Texas President’s Innovation Board.

Kathryn Cavanaugh

Founder and Managing Partner of Capstar Ventures, Former Partner at Grace Beauty Capital

Mr. Perks co-founded Hambro Perks with British banker and businessman Rupert Hambro. In 2014, Mr. Perks co-founded Laundrapp, an on-demand dry cleaning and laundry service and served as chairman until November 2018. Mr. Perks has since founded or seeded numerous technology companies including Echo, What3Words, By Miles, Primary Bid, Takumi and Insurtech Gateway.

Through Hambro Perks, he is an investor in over 95 companies including Cambridge Innovation Capital, Tide and Muzmatch. In December 2020, Mr. Perks led the acquisition of Ombu Group in partnership with Sir John Rose and created Hambro Perks Environmental Technology Fund.

Mr. Perks also acquired all of Invesco's unquoted assets in the UK and US in a deal that included stakes in Gelesis, Vedanta, Genomics, Nexeon and Hawkeye360.

In February 2021, Mr. Perks launched the Hambro Perks Oryx Fund with backing from Public Investment Fund to invest into technology companies in the Middle East. Prior to his entrepreneurial career, Mr. Perks was a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Co., where he advised clients on growth strategies. Mr. Perks was also employed at Morgan Stanley where he primarily originated investment opportunities for private equity firms. Mr. Perks graduated from Oxford University with a first-class degree in English Literature.

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LEADERSHIP TEAM