Leadership

Amit D. Munshi has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2016, and as our President and Chief Executive Officer since May 2016. Previously, Mr. Munshi served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Epirus Biopharmaceuticals and as Chief Executive Officer of Percivia, a biotechnology company (sold to JNJ undisclosed). Prior to that, Mr. Munshi was Co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Kythera Biopharmaceuticals from 2005 to 2010 (sold to AGN $2.2B) and held multiple leadership positions at Amgen from 1997 to 2005.  Mr. Munshi holds a BS in economics and a BA in history from the University of California, Riverside, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. Mr. Munshi has more than 30 years of global biopharmaceutical industry experience in executive management, business development, product development, and portfolio management. Mr. Munshi serves as an independent director for Enterprise Therapeutics (private) and Galecto, Inc. (Nasdaq: GLTO).

Vince Aurentz has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer since August 2016. Mr. Aurentz has over 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Previously, he served as the Chief Business Officer of Epirus Biopharmaceuticals. Prior to that, Mr. Aurentz served as President of HemoShear Therapeutics, where he oversaw scientific and business development efforts, including collaborations with global organizations such as Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen R&D, and Children’s National Health System. Prior to joining HemoShear Therapeutics, Mr. Aurentz was Executive Vice President and member of the Executive Management Board at Merck KGaA (Merck Serono), where he directed R&D programs and portfolio strategy and headed all deal activity and venture investments. He is a former Executive Vice President at Quintiles, he was the Co-founder and Managing Director of a venture capital and advisory business, and he started his career at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). Mr. Aurentz received a BS in mathematics from Villanova University. He currently serves on the board of Longboard Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Douglas A. Bakan has served as our Executive Vice President of Technical Operations since May 2018. Previously, Dr. Bakan served as Senior Vice President of Technical Operations from January 2017 to May 2018.  He has extensive expertise in all aspects of pharmaceutical drug development and commercialization, along with over 25 years of experience in firms ranging in size from entrepreneurial startups to established publicly traded companies. In various roles at companies including Medicis Pharmaceutical (now Valeant Pharmaceuticals); Novalar Pharmaceuticals; Neurocrine Biosciences; Alerion Biomedical; MetaProbe LLC; Corvas International; and Molecular BioSystems, Inc.; Dr. Bakan has been responsible for activities including discovery research, nonclinical and clinical testing, CMC efforts for drug substance and drug product supply, quality system development, program management, regulatory submission preparation and review, intellectual property creation and prosecution, venture capital financing, technology in-licensing and out-licensing, and technical due diligence. Most recently, Dr. Bakan has provided pharmaceutical consulting services to various clients in the areas of product development, regulatory dossier preparation, and technical due diligence. Dr. Bakan has been an author on more than 50 scientific publications and is an inventor on more than 35 issued or pending patents. Dr. Bakan earned his BS in biomedical engineering and his PhD in biology from the University of California, San Diego, and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan in the laboratories of Drs. Raymond Counsell and Jamey Weichert.

Robert Lisicki has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer since November 2018. Prior to joining Arena, Mr. Lisicki most recently served as General Manager, Vice President Cardio-Metabolic and Inflammation at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to joining Regeneron, he was Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing and Chief Customer Officer at Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. Prior to his time at Daiichi Sankyo, Mr. Lisicki held several management positions at Amgen, including Vice President and General Manager, responsible for a 700-plus-person sales force in the United States. His US leadership experiences consisted of working with such market-shaping products as Enbrel and Prolia. During his tenure, he also covered several ex-US regions and worked as an International Franchise Lead running the development and international strategies and business plans across Amgen’s portfolio, including Nephrology, Cardiology, Bone, and Oncology. Prior to joining Amgen, Mr. Lisicki held various sales and marketing positions at Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Lisicki brings over 20 years of experience in biopharmaceutical management, sales, and marketing to Arena. Mr. Lisicki holds a BS in finance and business administration from the State University of New York at Albany.

Mike Paolucci has served as our Executive Vice President of Human Resources since February 2021. A seasoned HR executive, he has more than 20 years of global experience working directly with boards of directors and C-level executives to improve organizational capabilities and HR programs that result in sustained improvements in business performance. From 2015 until 2020, he served as Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. Prior to his time at Halozyme, Mr. Paolucci served as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer for CareFusion Corporation. Mr. Paolucci also served as Executive Vice President of Human Resources at NuVasive and spent 5 years at Life Technologies. Previously, he was Head of Human Resources for the services division of Hewlett-Packard and served in several leadership roles with EDS, which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard. Prior to his time at HP/EDS, Mr. Paolucci was a partner with the HR consulting firm Towers Perrin. Mr. Paolucci is a graduate of Ohio State University.

Joan Schmidt has served as our Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary since March 2020. Prior to joining Arena, Ms. Schmidt served as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Secretary at DBV Technologies SA, a publicly traded, clinical stage biopharmaceuticals company. Prior to her time at DBV, she served as EVP, Legal Affairs and Human Resources, and General Counsel at Biotronik, Inc. Ms. Schmidt’s experience includes 20 years in positions of increasing responsibility at Novo Nordisk in both the United States and Europe, most recently as Corporate Vice President, Legal Affairs of Novo Nordisk, a publicly traded, Fortune 100 company. Ms. Schmidt earned a JD from Pace University and a BA from the University of Connecticut.

Laurie Stelzer has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since March 2020. Ms. Stelzer has over 20 years of experience in biopharmaceutical management, including leading teams in finance, treasury, investor relations, business development, and emerging markets. Most recently, Ms. Stelzer served as Chief Financial Officer of Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. Prior to joining Halozyme, Ms. Stelzer served as SVP of Finance for R&D, Technical Operations, and Business Development, and was previously Division CFO for Regenerative Medicine, at Shire Plc. Before her time at Shire, she spent 15 years at Amgen in senior leadership roles in finance and business development, with responsibilities including the US, Canadian, and international markets, ultimately serving as the company’s acting treasurer and playing an integral role in the original build of its immunology business. Ms. Stelzer earned her MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management, and a BS in accounting from Arizona State University. She currently serves on the boards of Surface Oncology, Inc.; PMV Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and Longboard Pharmaceuticals. 

Paul D. Streck, MD, has served as our Senior Vice President, Clinical Development, and Chief Medical Officer since November 2020. Most recently, Dr. Streck served as Chief Medical Officer at Alder BioPharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company acquired by Lundbeck in late 2019. In this role, Dr. Streck led clinical development, clinical operations, medical affairs, regulatory, and safety/pharmacovigilance, and drove US approval of Vyepti®, a biologic medicine for prevention of migraines. From 2017 to 2019, Dr. Streck was the Chief Medical Officer of Insmed, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company at which he led the filing, FDA advisory committee, and successful launch of Arikayce® for nontuberculous mycobacterium. Previous biopharmaceutical experience includes roles of increasing responsibility at Amgen, Shire plc, and GlaxoSmithKline. He also has 10 years of experience in academic medical practice. He is a board-certified Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon. Dr. Streck earned his MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, MD with honors from Jefferson Medical College, and BS from Rutgers University.