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Your RP1 Core Launch Team
Bob Finkel
CEO, Brand Strategy
Bob first dreamt of becoming a creative ad guy while consuming tv commercials that aired alongside his Saturday morning cartoons. His rise from consumer agency copywriter for Fortune 100 companies like McDonald’s to Founder/CEO of two successful independent healthcare agencies is his personal story of love, sweat, and tears. In 2014, Bob proudly launched his most collaborative agency concept yet—FreshBlood Group. His decision to focus all energy, experience, and talent on emerging life science companies was a purpose-driven departure from his years with big pharma, big biomedical, and big agencies. Delivering results that matter with a pioneering spirit is a tell-tale trademark of the FreshBlood Group brand and client roster. Relevant experience: Abraxis Oncology (Abraxane launch); Bayer (Xofigo launch); Celgene (Revlimid); ClearNote Health (Avantect launch), Dendreon (Provenge); Inovio (immunotherapies); Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (pro bono); Onyx/Bayer (Nexavar); Pharmacyclics/Janssen (Imbruvica launch); Natera (Signatera launch)
Pat Malone
CCO, Creative Strategy
Pat’s career as a creative in advertising started as all advertising careers do—as a critical care nurse at Lenox Hill in New York City. What? Having had a passion for writing her whole life, ever since she published her first poem at age 14, Pat took a left turn into healthcare advertising—working her way up through large network agencies in NYC, then relocating to San Francisco where she co-founded her own—overseeing award-winning work for pharma, diagnostic, device, and consumer healthcare brands. After serving as Managing Director/Creative for the San Francisco presence of DDB Health and constantly waxing poetic about missing the creative spirit of working with emerging companies, she joined FreshBlood Group in 2018 and is loving this chapter. Relevant experience: Abbott (Freestyle), Amgen (Vectibix), Breast Cancer Fund (nonprofit), ClearNote Health (Avantect launch), Genentech (Rituxan), J&J/Lifescan One Touch, Natera (Signatera), Roche Diagnostics (women’s health/cervical cancer)
Chris Feifer
COO, Creative Operations
Chris began his career in the graphic arts at age 19 when he realized he could make an ID that stated he was 21. Even during an analog age, he immersed himself in all things digital, pioneering the advent of 'desktop publishing'. He began his healthcare focus in 1999 when he landed at his first healthcare communications agency (Kane and Finkel), which began an education that continues to this day. Since then, even his career has become of legal drinking age, with experience delivering award-winning creative campaigns at Kane & Finkel, Evoke Giant, Cambridge Biomarketing (Mind+Matter), and Intouch Group. Relevant experience: Abraxis Oncology (Abraxane), Akcea (Tegsedi, Waylivra rare launches), Alexion (Strensiq, rare launch), Astellas/Pfizer (Xtandi, prostate cancer), ClearNote Health (Avantect launch), Intercept (Ocaliva, rare launch), Pharmacyclics/Janssen (Imbruvica), Natera (Signatera)
Veronica Tripp
Oncology Launch Strategy
Veronica began her career in the pharmaceutical industry as a sale representative for Novartis and kept moving upwards from there. Today, she is a commercial visionary with extensive oncology experience across US and global marketing, strategy and sales with biotech companies both large and early-stage. Backed by an 18-year tenure at Amgen, Veronica stands as an unrivaled expert, with the strategic acumen that will guide the RP1 launch team towards marketing success. Her distinction arises from her pivotal role as the global launch lead, orchestrating the successful US debut of IMLYGIC®. As a proven Oncology Launch Strategist within FreshBlood Group, Veronica seamlessly translates her experience from the biopharmaceutical trenches to the agency frontlines. Her transition brings forth a treasure trove of insights and knowledge poised to unravel the intricacies of RP1's impending launch. Veronica's ability to navigate the complex terrain of a Sub-part E approval and launch, honed through her tenure with IMLYGIC®, stands as a testament to her extraordinary skill set. Her past experience paves the way to the future—proving that she is not just capable of recreating success, but also pioneering it anew. Relevant experience: Amgen (XGEVA, Neulasta, BLINCYTO, Lumakras, Vectibix, IMLYGIC)
Caley McCaslin
Account Supervisor
When Caley’s mother told her photography wasn’t a career and that she had to choose a major that would ensure her loans could be paid off, she chose Marketing as a way to apply her creative passions but also check the “stability” box for her mom. She registered for as many photography electives as possible thinking she would ultimately switch majors after impressing her mom with her work and grades, but ended up falling in love with Marketing and turning that into her career. Caley made her childhood dream come true by moving to Boston/Cambridge amongst the booming biotech and pharma industry with her sights set on landing a job at one of the major advertising agencies in the city. She got her start at Hill Holliday while getting her MBA degree, then moved on to the digitally-focused Intouch Group where she gained experience working across many different therapeutic areas and leading various teams both domestically and globally. Caley jumped at the chance to join the FreshBlood group team, saying goodbye to the large agency world and has loved contributing to the collaborative, creative and energetic spirt that our agency exudes. Relevant experience: Novartis (Kisqali, Cosentyx), Takeda (Vonvendi, Maribavir launch, Entyvio), Merck/EMD (Rebif/Mavenclad), Ironwood (Duzallo launch), ALK (Odactra launch), Urovant Sciences (Corporate), Roche Diagnostics (Neurology), ClearNote Health (Avantect launch)
Jaime Moy
Commercialization and Market Access Specialist
Jaime began her career in a healthcare think tank in Washington DC. Since then, she has become a versatile healthcare and biopharmaceutical leader with a depth of diverse, functional and strategic experience at both large and small biotech companies. She has a comprehensive understanding of specialty products, including the nuances of launching assets with forecasts of $100M to $1B+ and managing commercialization processes. Jaime’s 12-year tenure at Amgen and her role as US Value Access new product development lead over their oncology pipeline, including the launch of IMLYGIC is bringing invaluable experience and expertise to FreshBlood Group. Jaime was responsible for directing the market access and distribution challenges faced by IMLYGLIC from pre-launch through an impactful market entry, garnering an unmatched wealth of insights into the barriers to adoption that parallel Replimune’s own endeavors with RP1. Her contributions to IMLYGIC’s journey provide an vital blueprint for Replimune’s goals. In addition, her career includes roles as Commercial Lead at Theravance Biopharma, where she led commercialization efforts, developing launch plans, marketing, access and communication strategies for the company’s pipeline assets. Most recently, she served as Head of Market Access for Fibrogen. Relevant experience: Amgen (Nplate, XGEVA, IMLYGIC, Blincyto, Oncology Pipeline, Lumakras ), Theravance (ampreloxetine), Fibrogen (Pamrevlumab)
John Hixson
Medical Director
An accomplished neurologist, associate professor at UCSF, AAN Advisory Board and editorial member, published author and public speaker, John’s CV boasts a seemingly endless number of accolades that spans more than two decades. Dr. Hixson continues to demonstrate unbridled passion, focusing primarily on neurologic care and innovative research. While maintaining his clinical practice at the San Francisco VA, John also active conducts pioneering research in the area of digital medicine for neurologic conditions. John completed his undergraduate studies at Texas A&M University. He received his medical and neurology degrees from the John Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively.
Peggy Demouthe
Senior Copywriter
Peggy is an award-winning copywriter who been a part of the FreshBlood Group for many years and has worked on many accounts with the most recent being a blood-based biomarker for cancer. She has a deep interest in the ways in which people respond to words and is an expert in adapting the story to fit the channel. Her expertise encompasses digital content, concepting, storytelling, AMA style, Veeva, educational copy, patient education, video. Her journey to FreshBlood Group includes 20 + years of experience working with large networked agencies as well as pioneering start-ups in the pharmaceutical, biotech and device arenas. She has worked with high-profile companies and oncology brands, including Merck (Keytruda), Genentech (Rituxan), Janssen (Carvykti CAR-T therapy in multiple myeloma), Puma (Nerlynx), Actelion (Optivo), BMS (Breyanzi CAR-T therapy in lymphoma), Amgen, Novartis.
Chuck Long
Senior Art Director
Chuck is a senior creative with strong expertise in digital and brand design. He brings a distinctive blend of creativity, strategic thinking, and technical expertise to UX, UI, interaction design, brand/corporate and visual Identity, art direction and concept development. Specializing in the healthcare arena, Chuck brings a keen eye for detail, UX/UI design, and a passion for creating intuitive and impactful digital experiences to FreshBlood Group. He merges artistic vision with user-centric design principles to deliver solutions that resonate with patients, providers, and professionals. He is involved in every stage of the digital design process from idea generation to prototyping and testing and enjoys harnessing the power of visuals to simplify complex healthcare information, making healthcare interactions seamless, engaging, and memorable. Fun facts: In his free time, Chuck can be found playing music with friends, gardening, swimming, and hiking the beautiful trails of Northern CA.
Tim Peck
Digital Strategy
Tim began his career as a financial analyst in the semiconductor realm. From there, he made the leap into the internet world and business development for large tech companies—responsible for developing company-wide strategies using a cross-functional process to identify key strategic initiatives and business opportunities that leverage internet technologies As a global marketing operations manager for TekTronix, Tim developed global systems to measure, analyze and report on marketing effectiveness with a comprehensive set of KPIs. Backed by an extensive career in tech, Tim brings his knowledge and problem-solving skills to FreshBlood Group. He uses utilizes an in-depth understanding of digital channels, platforms, tools and technologies to create integrated strategies that engage our audiences, build brand awareness, drive sales and foster customer loyalty.
Karen Asbelle
Medical Editor
Karen started in healthcare on the hospital side, building and managing physician referral and advice nurse call center services for California’s Sutter Health system for often bewildered consumers, tapping into her years of dedicated “customer service” experience in the trenches as a San Francisco suicide prevention counselor and training new crisis intervention phone volunteers. Recognizing her genetic “editorial” predisposition to ensure clarity, accuracy, and understanding in healthcare communications, she shifted to the agency side as copy editor for a range of medical devices and diagnostic products at Stratagem and Dudnyk/VIVO agencies, before joining the FreshBlood Group in 2019 where she thrives on the genuine sense of teamwork and collaboration that FBG fosters. Karen is responsible for coordinating Veeva submissions, making sure that cited materials are loaded into the Veeva library, and that produced content is appropriately annotated and referenced for our clients’ legal, medical, and regulatory reviews. Relevant experience: ClearNote Health (Avantect launch), Roche Diagnostics (women’s health/cervical cancer), Breast Cancer Fund (nonprofit), Pulse Biosciences (CellFX cellular-based benign lesions).