Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer Steve Porada Mr. Porada has over 30 years of pharmaceutical research and commercialization experience and is a co-founder of Verséa Holdings. He began his career as a research scientist at Ciba-Geigy, now Novartis, and later held a variety of sales, marketing and commercialization positions at pharmaceutical and medical device companies. In 2004 Stephen’s entrepreneurial experience began with joining Aventine Co, a startup medical marketing and communications company focused in the therapeutic area of pain. Stephen, as partner, directly engaged with, consulted on, and established a variety of commercial-related plans and strategies spanning 12 unique analgesic brands. His work included preapproval clinical trial and market development plans, tactical new formulation development, multi-partner commercial planning, strategic marketing, launch planning and implementation. In addition to his work related to product commercialization, Stephen conceptualized and founded Aventine’s primary asset, PAINWeek, which was ultimately sold to Tarsus, a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange.

“Dr Toby” is also the Chief Medical Officer of Summit Institute and Desert Clinic Pain Institute that has 17 locations in Southern California. Prior to going into private practice, he held an appointment as associate clinical professor of anesthesiology and psychiatry and as the director of clinical pain research at the University of California San Diego. He is double-board certified in Anesthesiology and Pain Management and became an assistant clinical professor and enrolled in the masters program for clinical research. He joined the VA San Diego Healthcare System and established his pain clinic there serving the Veteran population. Dr. Toby also serves as the Director of Research with Vitamed Research, LLC., conducting research projects and trials in the field of pain and neurosciences. Dr. Toby served as the director for clinical pain research at UCSD, is well published and is an associate clinical professor (voluntary) with the University of California Riverside School of Medicine. Toby was part of the founding team of Verséa, where he understands that there is an unmet need to further the science of the Endocannabinoid System to find solutions for patients looking for alternative therapy treatments.

Mr. Olin comes to Versea as a proven executive with over twenty-five years of leadership experience in brand marketing, sales, commercial development and general management. He was most recently the President & CEO of COM Holdings, LLC a private equity owned B2B2C platform company. Jim’s unique background combines the classical training of leadership roles at Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive, with senior executive positions in multiple high-growth entrepreneurial and private equity backed companies.  An expert at building brands and commercial teams, having led some of the nation’s most iconic brands, Jim’s capabilities span the full range of commercial processes across diverse industries including health & beauty, personal care, nutritional supplements, nutraceuticals, integrative health, natural products.  Jim resides in Maine with his wife, two daughters and their canine companions Mickey and Jeter.

Sanjay is an independent Board Member and advisor to Verséa on Biologics, Pharmaceuticals and other Healthcare initiatives. He is also a board member of several molecular lab systems in the US and Canada, and advises multiple diagnostics companies.  For the decade ending Q1’18, Sanjay served as a Board Member of CanLab, Inc, a National network of leading Cannabinoid testing and analysis laboratories and Global President of the Toxicology division of Alere, Inc (NYSE: ALR), the Global leader in diversified toxicology products, services and rapid diagnostics. Sanjay deployed over $1B across diagnostics assets, merging 30+ companies to form a stand-alone division of 2,500+ employees across all world regions. As a member of the company’s executive team, he supported Alere’s $5.3 billion sale to Abbott Laboratories, Inc (NYSE: ABT) in 2017. Sanjay has executive experience across diversified In-Vitro Diagnostics platforms and health services – including Biologics, Point-of-Care Diagnostics, Laboratory Services and Health Information Solutions Based Screening Services- and has developed the world-leading business in every healthcare category he has worked in. He held successive executive and commercial leadership positions within the Point-of-Care and Diabetes Care divisions of Roche Diagnostics, Inc. and within the Specialty Chemicals division of Dow Chemical, Inc. Sanjay holds an MBA from Northwestern University and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University.

Mr Alfaras comes to Verséa as a Proven Leader in Pharma, Biotech and Healthcare as a C-Suite Executive with a demonstratedhistory of success and Skilled Leadership in Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Medical Device, Strategic Planning and Business Development. Carlos has served as President & CEO of Gensco Pharma beginning January of 2011. Since the acquisition, the company has developed and launched five new products based on Patented Transdermal drug delivery technology and increased market valuation to over $200MM under his direction. Carlos has been Head of Business Development, Bioniche Pharma (Acquired by Mylan Specialty), Senior Director Alternate Care and Business Development, ANDA Pharmaceuticals/ANDRX Corporation (Acquired by WATSON Pharmaceuticals), Executive Director, Head of Business Strategy and Global Development ANDA/Watson Pharmaceuticals (Acquired by TEVA) . He attended theUniversity of Miami, majoring in Biology/Pre-Medical studies and utilized this education and experience to enter the pharmaceutical management world. In his dedication for the pursuit of excellence, he has had successes in creating growth in revenues at every company he has been associated with through education, team building, strategic planning and efficiently determining the development strategies for all.

Gary has over 23 years of pharmaceutical commercialization experience. He is the Founder and President of Sapient Pharmaceutical Advisors Inc., a consulting company targeting startup companies preparing for commercialization. Prior to this Gary was the Senior Director of Market Development at Depomed Pharmaceuticals and led the commercial development and execution of strategy for a portfolio of Pain and CNS brands including Cambia®, Zipsor®, Gralise®, Lazanda®, Nucynta®, Nucynta® ER and a new chemical entity cebranopadol. Gary was Senior Director of Marketing and successfully led the re-launch of the $1 billion-dollar acquisition of the Nucynta and Nucynta ER franchise. Prior to Depomed, Gary was Director of Marketing at Purdue Pharma L.P. overseeing the portfolio of pain products including MS Contin®, MSIR®, OxyContin®, OxyFAST®, OxyIR®, Dilaudid®, Dilaudid® HP, Palladone®, Ryzolt®, Butrans®, and Hysingla® ER. Gary is an experienced commercial leader who has overseen new product development ranging from Pre-clinical through Launch and Phase IV.

Rick joined the Verséa team to develop Strategic alignment of business development processes and procedures with the Verséa strategic business goals. Over the years, Rick has developed a rolodex of ideal clients using brand promises that companies like Verséa can deliver upon.  Rick is founder of several innovative corporate and population health, compliance and transparency initiatives including Health Coach^® Corporate Wellness Centers, LifeStrive^® Corporate Wellness, Direct Access Lab^®, TrendShift^® and most recently Strategic Compliance & Clinical Solutions. The healthcare and corporate transparency programs he has developed are unique in combining the expertise of population health-trends, predictive models and fiduciary oversight to meet both corporate health and financial goals. Clients include ADP, Qwest, Century Link, Maricopa County, Allstate, Aflac, The City of Phoenix, Discover Card, American Express, Microsoft, AT&T, Consol Energy, Pizza Hut,

Mr. Johnson has 12 years of experience selling in the Orthopedic, Podiatry, and Pain Management spaces. While the first half of his career was spent building and growing a multi-million-dollar territory as a corporate Account Executive for companies such as Smith & Nephew and Celularity Inc, he soon learned to leverage that success, as well as his relationships with practitioners and other medical professionals into his own distribution company. He then began contracting directly with other medical device and biologic companies such as Celularity, Organogenesis, Medline, Omni, as well as Verséa, to market and sell their products.  With his ability to identify opportunities and relationships that add value for all parties, and his high level understanding of the rapidly growing and evolving Biologic space, Tyler joined the Verséa team in a more permanent role in November 2021 to help oversee, develop, and grow their newly established Biologics division.

Charlie Durkin is an experienced sales professional who has spent his career in the medical device field. He worked for some of the most successful companies in the industry (Lifecell, Medtronic, Allergan, Telabio, Conmed). His extensive knowledge and experience in the Biologics and the Regenerative Injectables space will help drive growth as we build out our new Biologics Division.

Charlie holds a Bachelor of Arts from Hartwick College.

Kiana Panlilio is one of the longest members of Verséa Team. She joined the company in January 2019 and since then advanced to a position of a Director of Sales. She oversees all distribution and direct account management across 20+ states. Kiana works alongside Verséa’s medical advisors and management & regulatory affairs teams with a goal to further legitimize the medical hemp industry through quality products, clinical studies and education. She is also very actively helping Diagnostics division promote and sell their product solutions.

Kiana graduated with honors from Gulf Coast University with a degree in Health Science and is best known for her contributions to United Way, as a mentor helping underprivileged children learn how to read and write.

Natasha Svast is an experienced senior level manager specialized in Product & Brand Marketing Development and Life-cycle Management. She has over 12 years of work experience in the Pharmaceutical & Healthcare industry and 7 years in Business Advisory & Consulting.

Prior to joining Verséa Natasha worked for a European based pharmaceutical/healthcare company at different senior level management positions (last one being a Global Product Portfolio Manager) and an American advertising agency as a Brand Strategist for healthcare industry clients.

She developed and managed OTC products, dietary supplements, and functional foods & beverages for: cardiovascular health, immunology & inflammation, metabolic health and weight management, anti-aging, skin health & beauty.

She promoted and sold patented and non-patented active ingredients for pharmaceutical, food production and cosmetics industries (herbal and fruit extracts, peptides, enzymatic antioxidants) and developed and implemented preventive, pre-clinical Health Management programs at private clinics and Medical Wellness centers.

Natasha holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Management and is an author of books and scientific articles on intellectual capital, branding and competitiveness.

A serial entrepreneur, investor and software developer, Colby Fox, owns Bit9 Systems, a software development firm. He has been supporting Verséa since its beginnings.

Lisa Sawmiller is a seasoned Human Resources professional with over 30 years of visible, pro-active leadership in the areas of talent acquisition, onboarding, employee relations, performance management, succession planning, contract and benefits administration. Lisa has used her strong human resources background and a blend of experience working for a diverse range of industry leaders, including Rooms to Go, UnitedHealth Group, WellCare Health Plans, Inc., and Kelly IT Resources, to fuel growth and affect positive change in the organizations. Throughout her career, she has contributed to the hiring of hundreds of professionals into Fortune 500 companies, specialized in the areas of Information Technology, Engineering, Finance and Accounting, Sales & Marketing, Operations, and Administration.

Lisa holds a Bachelor of Science (Magna cum laude) in Human Resource Management from Syracuse University and is an active member in the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Gavin Steward is a senior accounting professional with 15 years of experience working for profit and non-profit companies from different industry sectors. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the American International College, Springfield, MA.

He started his career at Citigroup working as a Tax Analyst, handling all Employee accounts and working directly with State and Local Departments to determine rates, changes, active employees, and billing issues.

Gavin continued his professional career at Phoenix Life Insurance working as a Business Analyst, using actuarial models to construct insurance plans. In 2008 he was hired as an Accountant by a non-profit organization New Opportunities. He managed all their accounts, transactions and donations, produce detailed financial reports, prepare grant requests and work on special Accounting projects: Pension analysis, Economic Strategy Team.

He continued his Accounting career working for a media Tribune Company, non-profit healthcare company Healthfirst, ecommerce company FANCY, and healthcare staffing agency Nomad Health where he managed payroll for 250+ medical clinicians and was heavily involved in hiring and training payroll team.

He managed Billing and Collections, and traveled out of state to establish and implement training for a new billing department in Charlotte, N.C. He worked on special projects and analysis: Profitability reporting, receipts and disbursements reporting, collection reporting, implementation of new ERP systems and applications. He assisted auditors in analysis work, prepared schedules as well as provided supporting documents, researched financial information for auditing purposes and financial reporting for end of month and end of year end. Gavin has experience mentoring 5 supporting members of the finance team as well as 10 members in various teams and delegated assignments and tasks to appropriate member.