About Us

food allergy desensitization

Intrommune is a New York City-based biotechnology company dedicated to simplifying allergy immunotherapy.

Intrommune’s core technology enables immunotherapeutic agents to be delivered in a specially formulated toothpaste designed to incorporate and stabilize allergenic proteins, representing a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of peanut and other food allergies.

Conducting allergy immunotherapy via teeth brushing is referred to as oral mucosal immunotherapy (OMIT). OMIT delivers allergenic proteins to the areas of the oral cavity, potentially driving the immune system toward tolerance without ingestion of the allergen. OMIT may address a significant health care need in the industrialized world, where the spread of food allergies has been characterized as an “epidemic.”

Intrommune’s mission is to develop safe, effective, and easy-to-use health solutions for individuals suffering with food allergy so that they and their loved ones can live their lives without fear.

Company Leadership

Management

Michael Nelson

Michael Nelson, JD

Chief Executive Officer

Michael Nelson, JD

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Nelson graduated from Cornell University and received his J.D. from New York University School of Law. He has a background in law, finance and management. Previously, he was an analyst at Barclays Capital and ING, was an investment banker at Westwood Capital and CIBC World Markets and practiced law at Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Dewey Ballantine.

Stuart Loesch

Stuart Loesch

President

Stuart Loesch

President

As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, Mr. Loesch is responsible for commercialization of Intrommune’s future therapeutics. He oversees sales, marketing, market access and commercial operations for the company.

Mr. Loesch joined Intrommune Therapeutics in August 2021 with nearly 30 years of commercial leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with a particular focus in the allergy, asthma and COPD therapeutic areas. Previously, as Vice President of Marketing and Commercial Strategy for ALK-Abelló, he was instrumental in building out the commercial organization in support of several product launches and line extensions across the U.S. and Canada. At Meda Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Loesch served as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing where he was responsible for leading the commercialization of more than 30 products, including 4 products directly promoted by the company’s sales force. He was also responsible for leading the divestiture activities for the company’s U.S. Business. His prior experience includes serving in global and executive leadership, marketing and sales roles at Glaxo Smith Kline, Altana, Nycomed, Schering-Plough, Merck and Teva Respiratory.

As a graduate of THE Ohio State University, Mr. Loesch holds a B.S. in Biomedical Communications with a minor in Biology.

Alain Van Loo

Alain Van Loo

Chief Operating Officer

Alain Van Loo

Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Van Loo graduated from Lafayette College with a dual degree in International Affairs and Government/Law, with a minor in German. Alain’s professional background entails building and managing teams in institutional trading, investment banking and private capital investment. He was a Director at Deutsche Bank in both New York and London as well as Portfolio Manager and Strategist for the global macro hedge fund, Blenheim Capital Management. He was also Chief Investment Officer and spearheaded the growth strategy for the Sharp Financial Group before becoming COO at Intrommune.

Dr Berger

William Berger, MD, MBA

Head of Clinical Development

William E. Berger, MD, MBA

Head of Clinical Development

 

William E. Berger, MD, MBA, received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1973. He then completed an internship and residency program in pediatrics at the UCLA Medical Center in 1976. Dr. Berger pursued additional training at the National Jewish Hospital and Research Center where he served as a Fellow in Allergy and Immunology from 1976 to 1978. Board Certified in both pediatrics and allergy & immunology, Dr. Berger founded the Allergy and Asthma Associates of Southern California Medical Group in 1981 in Mission Viejo, Calif., where he practiced both adult and pediatric allergy. In 1995, Dr. Berger established the Southern California Research Center, focusing on respiratory and allergy clinical research projects.

As a Certified Principal Investigator, he has conducted over 250 clinical trials in the field of allergy, asthma, and immunology and authored 230 academic papers in peer reviewed journals. Presently, Dr. Berger serves as Head of Clinical Development for Intrommune Therapeutics.

Nandini Murthy

Head of Regulatory

Nandini Murthy

Head of Regulatory

Ms. Murthy is Principal and Founder of ENEM Consulting LLC, a regulatory consulting firm based in MA. As a Consultant with over 25 years of experience in industry, Ms. Murthy has worked with clients in industry and academia, on novel digital therapeutics, cardiovascular, gastroenterology devices and device-biologic and device-drug combination products.
Ms. Murthy has developed regulatory strategy, represented clients at FDA meetings and successfully authored FDA submissions for novel products, typically with no precedent regulatory pathway at the Agency. She has also led regulatory projects with inter-Center review, including neonatal device-biologic products, devices with GRAS components and drug delivery systems with mobile/digital applications. In addition to her core expertise in regulatory affairs, Ms. Murthy has designed and executed clinical trials and established quality systems to ISO and FDA Quality System requirements. This complementary work experience enables Ms. Murthy to provide the kind of comprehensive regulatory support crucial to novel, early-stage ventures, aligning the engineering and clinical support documentation with overall regulatory strategy.

Wendy_Perrow

Wendy Perrow, MBA

Head of Innovation

Wendy Perrow, MBA

Head of Innovation 

Wendy Perrow, MBA is the lead member of the Intrommune Therapeutics, Inc. innovation team. Ms. Perrow serves as a Senior Advisor at Princeton Capital Advisors, a global independent advisory firm, and she is a member of the board of advisors for the Maryland Momentum Fund. Ms. Perrow serves as a Director of the women’s health company Femasys, Inc. Previously, she served as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of AsclepiX Therapeutics, Inc. from 2016 to 2020 where she raised several rounds of funding. She was the Vice President of Marketing and then Chief Executive Officer of Alba Therapeutics, Inc. from 2008-2016, where she was responsible for raising collectively over $31M in capital and closed a multi-million-dollar licensing deal in 2016. Previously, she served as Vice President, Marketing & Sales for Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals focusing on rare and orphan disease products. She also held positions with Merck & Co. in U.S. and global marketing where she led U.S. and global launches/initiatives for Zocor®, Varivax®, Cozaar®, and Hyzaar®. Ms. Perrow began her career in a division of the Johnson & Johnson Company. Ms. Perrow also serves as member of the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board – appointed by Governor Larry Hogan, the Maryland TEDCO review board of the Maryland Innovation Initiative, and Women in Bio. Ms. Perrow is a graduate of Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business with an MBA and Eastern Illinois University with a BS in Education. We believe that Ms. Perrow is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her extensive experience as a biotechnology entrepreneur and leader for innovative biotech and pharmaceutical ventures, as well as her leadership experience in expediting growth, profitability, and fundraising.

Ray Forsland

Ray Forslund Ph. D, MBA

Head of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls

Ray Forsland Ph.D.

Head of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls

Dr. Forslund received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his MBA from Babson College. Ray has 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry working for both pharmaceutical and CRO/CMO companies. In his current role as Senior Vice President at Syner-G BioPharma Group, Ray leads the CMC Development, Project Management, and Quality Assurance business units. His combination of scientific and business knowledge allow him to deliver advice and solutions that not only work as a technical matter, but make sense for his client’s business. Specifically, Ray’s team at Syner-G BioPharma Group is made of a diverse group of scientists who follow his lead in providing practical scientific solutions for drug development programs including identifying and managing CRO/CMO/CDMOs for clients to support drug substance, drug product and analytical development activities in biologics, small molecules and peptides. Ray’s scientific team is also tasked with providing CMC strategy and Program Management oversight of development and clinical stage programs, while also leveraging Syner-G’s regulatory specialists as needed. Previously, Ray was part of the Senior Leadership team at Laurus Synthesis Inc. (LSI), a Boston based CRO/CMO where he led the Project Management group. He began his pharmaceutical career as a process chemist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and then moved on to Ironwood Pharmaceuticals holding several scientific positions of increasing responsibility, leaving as a Senior Manager of Operations.

Chris Schuster

Chris Schuster

Chief Financial Officer

Chris Schuster

Director of Finance

Mr. Schuster is the Managing Director at Banyan Asset Advisors, LLC, and a financial executive with over 30 years of hands-on accounting and operations management experience in high-tech, life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. Chris’ background includes both Fortune 500 and early-stage company experience with demonstrated accomplishments in mergers & acquisitions, fundraising, manufacturing, business development, Initial Public Offerings, and investor relations. Chris was a business partner to over 60 International operations, managed multi-billion-dollar investments and foreign currency portfolios, supported private placements, and managed public SEC filings. Chris has an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson’s F.W Olin Graduate School of Business, and a BS from Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management.  

Scientific Advisory Board

William Reisacher, MD

Inventor of OMIT; Senior Scientific Advisor, Chair

Sharon Chinthrajah, M.D.

Medical Advisor

Lara Gross, M.D.

Medical Advisor

Greg Plunkett, PhD

CMC Advisor

Saul Fink

CMC Advisor

Anthony Robinson, CRNP, MBA

Clinical Advisor

Gerard Kugel DMD, MS, PhD

Dental Advisor

William Reisacher, MD

Inventor of OMIT; Senior Scientific Advisor, Chair

Dr. Reisacher is a General Otolaryngologist and Otolaryngic Allergist on the full-time Faculty of Weill Cornell Medical College, where he is a Professor of Otolaryngology and the Director of Allergy Services within the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. He has served on the Board of Directors of the AAOA and the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, and he lectures both nationally and internationally.

Sharon Chinthrajah, M.D.

Medical Advisor

Doctor Chinthrajah joined the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy & Asthma Research at Stanford University in August 2013 after completing her subspecialty training in Pulmonary/Critical Care and Allergy/Immunology at Boston Medical Center. She obtained her MD from Drexel University College of Medicine in 2004 and completed her Internal Medicine training at California Pacific Medical Center in 2007 and chief residency in 2008. Dr. Chinthrajah is currently Director of the Clinical Translational Research Unit at the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy & Asthma Research at Stanford University. She oversees all the clinical trials, sees patients, teaches fellows, and is an investigator on many of the Centers clinical trials in food allergy and asthma. Asthma and food allergies have common underlying mechanisms and many patients with food allergies often have a history of other allergies or asthma. In fact, about 65% of the patients with food allergies at our Center also have asthma. Working with patients with both asthma and allergy, I am able to fully utilize both my training in Pulmonary and Critical Care and Allergy/Immunology.

Lara Gross, M.D.

Medical Advisor

Dr. Lara Gross was born and raised in Dallas. She attended Princeton University, and after college she stayed on the east coast, first working at Massachusetts General Hospital and then completing her master’s degree at New York Medical College. She returned to Texas for medical school at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Dr. Lara Gross completed her internship and residency at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. She completed her allergy and immunology fellowship in Denver at National Jewish Health and the University of Colorado. She is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Lara Gross treats both children and adults. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time outdoors, reading, and running.

Saul Fink

Medical Advisor

Saul is a biotech and pharmaceutical R&D leader.  He has led CMC teams across many therapeutic areas for both small molecule and biologic assets. He is currently Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development at Goldfinch Bio where he leads teams for small molecule and biological assets to provide CMC strategic guidance, budgets and all operational activities to establish a supply chain for clinical supplies. He also leads all strategic and operational aspects for nonclinical development.  He is a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Greg Plunkett, PhD

CMC Advisor

Greg Plunkett is an independent consultant providing support for the allergy immunotherapy field. He has over 40 years of experience with allergen manufacturing, quality control and pharma regulations with 18 publications and over 68 abstracts. He most recently was the Director of the Allergy Research Lab for ALK USA allergen extract manufacturing since 2001. His focus was on the characterization of allergen source material and finished products. Prior to joining ALK, Dr. Plunkett served as a Research Scientist in the laboratories of Hollister-Stier where in addition to allergen characterization, he developed in vitro tests for diagnosing allergy. Dr. Plunkett sits on allergy immunotherapy committees for national allergy societies, is the Science officer for the US Allergen Manufacturers Association and has twice been a member of the FDA Allergenics Products Advisory Committee. Dr. Plunkett has a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Cal State University, Fullerton and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Washington State University.

Anthony Robinson, CRNP, MBA

Clinical Advisor

Anthony Robinson is a drug development executive with over 25 years experience in biopharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare industries. He has led, advised and managed clinical development, regulatory affairs and pharmaceutical development teams for virtual startups with one product to mid-cap pharmaceutical companies with larger pipelines in global markets. Anthony has contributed to over 10 products approved (small and large molecules) by US and global regulatory authorities, and over 20 additional INDs/CTAs/New Regulated Clinical Trial Programs.

Prof. Dr. Sergi X. Trilla I Muntanyola

Prof. Dr. Trilla is an entrepreneur with over 29 years of experience in health, including 19 years in international and business development. As a qualified MD, Prof. Dr. Trilla has successfully connected the two vastly disparate fields of health and business in his professional career. After a number of years in practice and working for some pharmaceutical companies, Prof. Dr. Trilla founded trifermed in 2002, a business service provider specialising in digital business development for health solutions. As the CEO of the company, he transformed his knowledge and experience in health entrepreneurship into design and validation of business models, managing business projects that have so far culminated in over 150 successfully executed collaborative partnerships in the human and animal health sector. Apart from his activity at trifermed, Prof. Dr. Trilla is a proud Adjunct Professor at the Forsyth Institute in Cambridge, MA (USA) and a lecture as Visiting Professor on some courses of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and digital business development in Healthcare (UAB, UIC, ESADE, IESE, Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar, D·Health Barcelona, among others). A frequent speaker at international congresses and mentor different programmes in public and private business and lifesciences universities.

Dr. Gerard Kugel, DMD, MS, PhD

Dental Advisor

Dr. Gerard Kugel, DMD, MS, PhD, received his B.S. from Rutgers University and M.S. from the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University. Kugel then earned his D.M.D. at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, his PhD in Dental Materials from the University of Siena in Siena, Italy, and in 2004 his Certificate of Management from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He began his career in private practice before transitioning to academia, where he is now Associate Dean for Research, and Professor. Dr. Kugel sits on Editorial and Advisory boards for multiple dentistry journals and publications. He has 120 articles and over 300 abstracts in the field of restorative materials and techniques and holds four patents in the field of dental technology.

Business Advisory Board

Jotin Marango, MD, PHD

Corporate Development & Investment Advisor, Chair

Tonya Winders, MBA

Stakeholder Outreach Advisor

Terrence Tormey

Business Development Advisor

Jack Levitt, MBA

Executive Development Advisor

Mark Durham, MA

Human Capital Advisor

Moises “Moe” Vela, JD

Business Development Advisor

Miles McLennan, MBA

Business Development Advisor

Tonya Winders, MBA

Stakeholder Outreach Advisor

Tonya Winders, MBA is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Allergy & Asthma Network, the leading patient advocacy organization dedicated to ending needless death and suffering due to asthma, allergies, and related conditions.

Tonya has over 17 years of experience in leadership roles within the allergy and asthma industry. From sales and marketing leadership to managed market access, she has worked tirelessly to ensure patients have access to effective diagnostic and treatment tools.

Greg Van Gasse, MBA

Marketing Advisor

Greg has over 30 years of global consumer brand experience that includes over a decade as CEO/President/Board/Founder/Chairman. His experience ranges from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups. Greg consistently finds and executes strategic paths to a successful company and brand performance. He has won numerous major awards for his ability to create, grow, and turnaround companies in fast pace industries that include footwear/apparel, cosmetics, personal care, and household products. Industry awards include: Fragrance of The Year, Footwear Brand of the Year, and Finalist NW Startup of the Year.

As a talented and seasoned senior executive with Colgate-Palmolive and Unilever, he was responsible for successfully building and turning around billion dollar global brands such as Colgate Dental Care, Palmolive Brands, Vaseline, and Ponds Skin Care. As a CEO/President and Board Member for leading footwear companies, Greg brought his expertise to build wholesale and retail teams to grow leading brands such as Dr. Marten’s, Florsheim, and Naturalizer. His start-up experience includes creating a footwear company to save women’s feet from the damage caused by high heels, Oh! Shoes, Inc. Greg is currently focused on teaming with early stage companies that have measurable social and/or environmental impact with the potential to grow into global mega brands.

Jotin Marango, MD, PHD

Corporate Development & Investment Advisor, Chair

Dr. Marango is the Chief Business Officer and Senior Vice President at Aptose Biosciences, a clinical stage company developing precision therapies in hematology and oncology. Prior to joining Aptose, Dr. Jotin Marango was a managing director and senior research analyst at Roth Capital Partners covering oncology with a focus on epigenetic and molecularly targeted therapies, as well as pulmonary medicine and allergy therapeutics. Dr. Marango began his career in equity research with Collins Stewart/Canaccord Genuity. Previously, Dr. Marango also served as Chief Operating Officer at the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, where he oversaw academic collaborations in translational therapeutics, as well as venture philanthropy initiatives in drug development. Dr. Marango studied chemistry and classical literature at Harvard University and later received his Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University.

Jack Levitt, MBA

Executive Development Advisor

Jack began his career in banking as a commercial lender, where he developed and ran a formal credit training program for new analysts to become lenders. After earning his MBA from Rutgers Graduate School of Management, he moved to the corporate world and led teams in both Finance/Accounting and Sales/Marketing for a Bell Atlantic subsidiary. Jack was later recruited by Lucent Technologies to join their Marketing and Offer management team as a coach and trainer. Subsequently, Jack earned an Executive Masters in Technology Management from Stevens Institute of Technology and collaborated with Stevens to launch PlasmaSol, a company that commercializes a non-thermal plasma technology. PlasmaSol was recognized as the Environmental Company of the Year for the State of NJ and was eventually sold to Stryker Medical. Jack is also a certified Executive Coach specializing in Individual Leadership Coaching and High Performance Team Development, as well as Executive Presentation Coaching.

David Sanders

Advisor, Government Affairs

David T. Sanders has more than 20 years experience in politics, policy, and industry. He worked for U.S. Senator Fred D. Thompson (R-TN), U.S. Representative Marsha W. Blackburn (R-TN) and Bush-Cheney 2004. He was appointed as legislative liaison for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office working on intellectual property and trade law. He advanced policy and public affairs for Teva USA, National Community Pharmacists Association, DaVita Inc. and now leads a small team at Coherus BioSciences. He also serves as executive director to Securing America's Medicines and Supply.

Mark Durham

Advisor, Human Capital

Mark Durham, based in Morristown, NJ, has extensive experience in leadership best practices, organizational effectiveness, and board governance. He is active in Strawn Arnold’s Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences practices. He offers clients a broad industry perspective as well as a proven track record of recruiting top talent.
Mark has an extensive network in the pharmaceutical industry and is comfortable working on assignments that cover a wide range of functional expertise. His operational experience, coupled with his human resource background, is always highly valued by his clients.
Prior to Joining Strawn Arnold, Mark held executive roles in human resources and talent acquisition at Valeant, Biovail, and Pharmacia. Mark began his career in sales operations and manufacturing at the Upjohn Company of Canada.
Mark has a BA in Political Science and Economics from Carleton University and an MA in Psychology from Farleigh Dickinson University. He often speaks on issues surrounding talent and organizational effectiveness.

Prof. Dr. Sergi X. Trilla I Muntanyola

Director, Corporate Strategy

Prof. Dr. Trilla is an entrepreneur with over 29 years of experience in health, including 19 years in international and business development. As a qualified MD, Prof. Dr. Trilla has successfully connected the two vastly disparate fields of health and business in his professional career. After a number of years in practice and working for some pharmaceutical companies, Prof. Dr. Trilla founded trifermed in 2002, a business service provider specialising in digital business development for health solutions. As the CEO of the company, he transformed his knowledge and experience in health entrepreneurship into design and validation of business models, managing business projects that have so far culminated in over 150 successfully executed collaborative partnerships in the human and animal health sector. Apart from his activity at trifermed, Prof. Dr. Trilla is a proud Adjunct Professor at the Forsyth Institute in Cambridge, MA (USA) and a lecture as Visiting Professor on some courses of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and digital business development in Healthcare (UAB, UIC, ESADE, IESE, Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar, D·Health Barcelona, among others). A frequent speaker at international congresses and mentor different programmes in public and private business and lifesciences universities.

Terrence Tormey

Business Development Advisor

Terrence O. Tormey, CEO at Xenon-VR Inc., a Delaware C-Corp based in New Jersey. Xenon-VR is bringing to Market “The Next Generation of Eye Exams™.” Tormey has more than 45 years of Sales, Marketing, and Executive experiences in the global Bio-Pharmaceutical, Medical Device Markets. He has worked at Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer, and has been the CEO and President of several healthcare companies with extensive Board experience. His BS was in Biology from St. Vincent College with Graduate studies at Wharton, Duke University Fuqua School, and Duke Law.

Moises "Moe" V. Vela, Jr.

Business Development Advisor

Moe Vela is the CEO of MoeVela, LLC, a strategic business advisory firm, with business partnerships and ventures that span the globe across a diversity of sectors and industries. He is also the Founder of The Vela Group, LLC, a global business development consulting firm.

Moe’s most recent entrepreneurial endeavor is as the co-creator, co-producer, and co-star of the hottest new business reality streaming series. Mr. Vela stars alongside the likes of Steve Wozniak, Lance Bass, Rosie Rios, and several other business titans and luminaries.

Mr. Vela served as the Director of Administration and Senior Advisor for then-Vice President Joe Biden. He also served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Advisor on Hispanic Affairs for Vice President Al Gore. Vela holds the distinction of being the first Hispanic-American to serve twice in the White House in a senior executive role.

Mr. Vela’s entrepreneurial tenacity and organizational and political prowess have been well-established throughout his career. Mr. Vela is highly respected for his 35+ years of business and political experience/knowledge and has advised numerous candidates and corporate executives on grassroots organizing, marketing, messaging, management, and communications, as well as national campaign and business development strategies.

A proud fourth-generation Texan, Mr. Vela earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin and his law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law. Mr. Vela is frequently invited to be the keynote speaker at events and serve on panels. He has been featured in several national publications and has been named one of the “Top 100 Hispanics in America” by “Hispanic Business” magazine and was twice named as one of the “101 Most Influential Latinos” by “Latino Leaders” magazine, as well as one of Washington’s Top 300 Insiders by the “National Journal.”

Mr. Vela also holds memberships in the American Bar Association; State Bar of Texas; UnidosUS; Hispanic National Bar Association; and the NAACP.

News & Resources

Want to learn more about Intrommune and our OMIT technology?
See The Latest
oral allergy desensitization
food immunotherapy
new treatment for food allergies
oit allergy therapy

Partners

Allergy & Asthma Network
Bio NJ
Circuit Clinical
Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Connection Team
JFK Communications
The Solution Lab
We Heal Foundation

The time is now for a desensitization method that is safe, effective and easy to use. This is exactly the solution that Intrommune Therapeutics offers.

Tonya Winders

President, CEO
Allergy & Asthma Network

Learn More