• US-Based Manufacturing
  • US-Based Manufacturing

Leadership Team

Deep inhalation expertise

Transpire Bio has built an inhalation dream team with unparalleled experience in the space.

Deep inhalation expertise

Transpire Bio has built an inhalation dream team with unparalleled experience in the space.

Our leadership team has over 200 years of experience spanning inhalation discovery to formulation, to commercialization.

Our leadership team has over 200 years of experience spanning inhalation discovery to formulation, to commercialization.

Our team has been involved with over half of the approved innovative inhaled drugs currently on the US market.

Our team has been involved with over half of the approved innovative inhaled drugs currently on the US market.

Experienced leadership team

Xian-Ming Zeng, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer

30+ years
industry & leadership experience

Mark S. Lepore, M.D. FAAAAI
Chief Medical Officer

25+ years

respiratory diseases
experience

Abhishek Gupta, Ph.D., PMP
Chief Scientific Officer

25+ years
 
 product dev. & business experience

Kevin W. McCabe, J.D.
General Counsel

25+ years

legal & business
experience

Stuart Loesch
Chief Commercial Officer

30+ years
industry & leadership experience

Axel Perlwitz, Ph.D.
Chief Regulatory Affairs Officer

25+ years

inhalation experience

Michael Goller, Ph.D.
Chief Project Officer

25+ years

inhalation experience

William Schachtner
Advisor

40+ years

industry experience

Longfen (Jessie) Zhou,
CPA, CMA
Head of Finance

Bradford Tompkins
Head of Human Resources

Todd Lewis
Head of Tech Operations

Todd Sunstrom
Head of Quality Assurance

35+ years

industry experience

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Longfen (Jessie) Zhou, CPA, CMA

Head of Finance
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Jessie Zhou is the Head of Finance at Transpire Bio, bringing over 20 years of financial and leadership experience across corporate finance, budgeting, FP&A, commercial strategy, and operational transformation. At Transpire Bio, she leads all core finance functions and plays a critical role in supporting the company’s strategic growth, path to profitability, and fundraising efforts. As a member of the executive leadership tema, Jessie brings a proven track record of building and leading cross-functional teams, driving financial performance, and enabling data-driven decision making to accelerate business outcomes.

Prior to joining Transpire Bio, Jessie spent over 12 years at GE Healthcare, taking different global finance leadership roles in digital, product management, manufacturing operation, R&D, service, and compliance, and controllership.

Jessie started her career with Ernest & Young (EY, one of the big four accounting firms) where she was engaged in multiple successful IPO projects. In addition, Jessie led projects related to risk management, financial due diligence and M&A.

Jessie is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) by both AICPA and CICPA, and a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) by Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).

Bradford Tompkins

Head of Human Resources
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Brad Tompkins is head of Human Resources at Transpire Bio. As a member of the leadership team, he is responsible for building the Human Resources function. He is a results focused leader who delivers talent acquisition, retention and solutions enabling Transpire Bio to harness the full power of one of their most valuable assets – their people.

Brad is a seasoned Human Resource Professional with over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry. Brad has held leadership positions within three prominent pharmaceutical companies, IVAX, Teva and Apotex. Brad’s philosophy is to bring a strong focus on the execution of HR strategies and championing Human Resources into a function that proactively contributes to the achievement of key business results.

Todd Sunstrom

Head of Quality Assurance
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Todd Sunstrom brings extensive experience in Manufacturing and Quality Control of Pharmaceuticals and Biological products, as well as Tissue and Medical Devices, covering many different types of formulations: Oral Solid, Topicals, Thin films, Transmembrane, Inhalant, Large and Small Volume Parenteral, Tissue Topical and Implant, Aseptic and Blow-Fill seal and Combination Product Devices. He is experienced in hosting regulatory inspections, response completion, and follow-up.

He was the head of Quality or held leadership positions at several Pharma and Biotech companies over the past 25 years (GBI, SHL, ARx, AstraZeneca, MedImmune, Cephalon, Wyeth).

Todd began his career at Merck in Vaccine and Biological manufacturing culminating in a QA leadership role for HPV clinical development. He has worked on various other formulations since and was involved in global auditing of enterprise facilities. Todd received a Masters degree from Temple University in Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs and undergraduate in Microbiology/Cell Science.

Todd Lewis

Head of Tech Operations
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Todd Lewis is the Head of Technical Operations at Transpire Bio. As a member of the leadership team, he is responsible for site operations, facilities, EH&S, IT, Procurement, Quality Assurance, and Quality Control.

Todd received a Master’s degree from Temple University in Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs. Todd began his career as a Research and Development Chemist with a focus on method development and validation. He led several development groups over his career with a focus on high-potency compounds.

Todd has spent the last 10 years focused on inhalation. Todd was Global Head of Quality and Compliance for Complex Generics at Lupin and held leadership positions with Boeringer-Ingelheim and Mylan. He has assisted in the design, construction, and commissioning of two facilities and is now focused on his third at Transpire Bio.

Todd values teamwork, communication, and empowerment, and enjoys building successful teams, processes, systems, and facilities.

William Schachtner

Advisor
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William Schachtner is Transpire Bio’s Chief Technical Operations Officer, responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership to the development and commercial manufacturing activities for Transpire Bio’s overall product portfolio. In addition, William will also oversee the GMP facilities for Transpire Bio’s US operations.

He began his career with 3M Pharmaceuticals with an emphasis on pMDI development and manufacturing. He then transitioned to consulting, which then progressed to positions at PPD’s GMP Labs and then to Lupin’s Inhalation Research Center.

Over the course of his career, William has been involved in the development of numerous pMDI, DPI, and nebulizer products in the areas of formulation, testing, manufacturing, product support, and project management. He has been involved in the inhalation drug industry for over 40 years and served on the AAPS Inhalation and Nasal Technology Focus Group for several years.

Michael Goller, Ph.D.

Chief Project Officer
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Michael Goller, Ph.D., is a globally recognized leader in the field of respiratory pharmaceutical product development, with an international career spanning more than twenty years at Sandoz, Lupin, Teva, Chemo, IVAX, and Quadrant Healthcare.

Dr. Goller has directed multiple projects that led to filings and approvals in the US, UK/EU, across all major drug delivery systems (DPI, MDI, SMI, and nebules) and drug classes (SABA, LABA, LAMA, ICS, and combinations).

As Chief Project Officer, Dr. Goller is responsible for Transpire Bio’s product development strategy and project management, delivering a pipeline of respiratory products, improving patient access to affordable medicines, and providing treatment options where there is unmet need.

Axel Perlwitz, Ph.D.

Chief Regulatory Affairs Officer
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Axel Perlwitz, Ph.D., is Transpire Bio’s Chief Regulatory Affairs Officer, responsible for providing leadership in all areas related to adherence to regulatory requirements, policies, and procedures, and Transpire Bio’s drug submissions to global regulatory health authorities. As a member of the leadership team, he is also responsible for developing the strategic direction of the company, including the development of the company’s pipeline.

He started his career as a chemist, graduating from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and transitioned into pharmaceuticals while serving as a post-doctoral fellow at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Kentucky. After leaving academia, Axel spent some years working in the pharmaceutical CRO field, supporting clients in their development of orally inhaled and nasal drug products. He later transitioned from product development into regulatory affairs and worked in this capacity at IVAX and Teva, supporting the development and registration of Teva’s first branded MDI and DPI products in the US. Subsequently, he joined Glenmark Pharmaceuticals to support the organization in the development of its first branded nasal spray product. Later, he joined the generics industry for several years with regulatory positions at Lupin Research Inc., supporting the development and registration of that organization’s first orally inhaled products in the US, UK, and EU.

Axel has been working with inhalation drug-device combination products for over 25 years, with more than 20 of these years focused on Regulatory Affairs. Throughout his time in industry, he has served on the Board of the International Pharmaceutical and Aerosol Consortium on Regulation and Science.

Stuart Loesch

Chief Commercial Officer
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Stuart Loesch is a seasoned pharmaceutical executive with extensive experience in both the branded and consumer product sectors, with a particular focus on the allergy, asthma, and COPD therapeutic areas.

Prior to joining Transpire Bio, he served as President and Chief Commercial Officer at Intrommune Therapeutics. He began his career at GlaxoSmithKline, where he successfully led the launch of several innovative products for allergy, asthma, and COPD.

Throughout his career, he also held senior leadership roles at Altana Pharmaceuticals, Nycomed, Schering-Plough, Merck, Teva, and Meda Pharmaceuticals, where he led the North American business.

Kevin W. McCabe, J.D.

General Counsel
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Kevin W. McCabe, J.D., serves as Transpire Bio’s General Counsel, leading the company’s legal, compliance, and U.S. government affairs activities. As a member of the executive management team, he is also responsible for providing legal advice to the company on a wide range of issues, including commercial, competition, corporate, regulatory, litigation, and data protection issues.

Mr. McCabe earned his law degree with honors from the George Washington University School of Law. He obtained his Master of Science degree in applied molecular biology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Richmond. Mr. McCabe is also registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Abhishek Gupta, Ph.D., PMP

Chief Scientific Officer
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Abhishek Gupta, Ph.D., PMP, ‘Abhi’, is Transpire Bio’s Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). Dr. Gupta is responsible for the scientific direction of Transpire Bio. As a member of the leadership team, Dr. Gupta is responsible for providing the strategic and operational leadership to develop and implement the company’s scientific strategy, overall product portfolio, and conceptualization and introduction of new product opportunities. Dr. Gupta is also responsible for the evaluation of new product opportunities and M&A to expand existing business and create new business.

Dr. Gupta is a seasoned and accomplished bio-pharmaceutical executive with over 26 years of product development experience across dosage forms, with over 20 years focused primarily on inhalation drug-device combination products. Dr. Gupta’s time in industry has included leadership positions at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Nektar Therapeutics, Cardinal Health, Lupin, and his most recent position at Cipla as the SVP & Head of R&D, North America. Dr. Gupta has successfully led the product development and approval of several branded and generic dosage forms, including small molecules, polypeptides, proteins, and biologics for registration in the US and EU.

Dr. Gupta is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s business analytics program. Dr. Gupta has a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Arizona, US, with a focus on Pharmaceutics, Analytical, and Material Sciences. He is a certified project management professional (PMP) through the Project Management Institute (PMI) of America and has a Bachelor’s in Pharmacy (B. Pharm.) from India. Dr. Gupta has over 50 peer-reviewed publications and numerous granted and filed patents.

Mark S. Lepore, M.D. FAAAAI

Chief Medical Officer
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Mark S. Lepore, M.D. FAAAAI, is Transpire Bio’s Chief Medical Officer, responsible for providing leadership in all areas related to preclinical and clinical development, drug safety, clinical operations, and medical affairs. As a member of the leadership team, he is also responsible for developing the strategic direction of the company, including the development of the company’s pipeline.

He began his career as a physician, board-certified in both General Pediatrics and Allergy, Clinical Immunology. After a decade in private practice, Dr. Lepore transitioned into drug development with roles at Teva and Lupin.

During his tenure with these companies, he collaborated on the development of numerous inhaled therapeutics, including DPIs, MDIs, and nasal spray products. He’s helped shape discussions with regulators in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and elsewhere. He comes to Transpire Bio after a stint with Aquestive Therapeutics as their Chief Medical Officer, advancing the world’s first sublingual treatment for anaphylaxis.

Xian-Ming Zeng, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer
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Xian-Ming Zeng, Ph.D., has over 25 years of experience in leading multidisciplinary teams for the development and commercialization of generic and branded inhalation products for advanced markets. He has held global R&D leadership roles at Ivax, Teva, and Lupin in the UK and US, and led the successful development of multiple DPI products (SABA, LAMA, ICS, ICS-LABA combinations), MDI products (SABA, ICS, ICS-LABA combinations), Inhalation Solutions and Suspensions (ICS, antibiotics, LABA), and an ICS HFA nasal spray.

Xian-Ming is also an academician, having served at King’s College London as a Maplethorpe Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Professor, followed by being appointed as a Professor of Pharmaceutics and Director of Research at Medway School of Pharmacy, University of Kent. His academic research has led to the publication of a textbook, a book chapter, and over 50 peer-reviewed research papers.

Xian-Ming is a regular speaker at many national and international conferences on inhalation product development and regulation. Apart from serving in the European Pharmaceutical Aerosol Group, he was also a board member of the International Pharmaceutical Aerosol Consortium on Regulation and Science. He currently serves as a board advisor for BioFlorida, US.