Relief is a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company identifying, developing and commercializing novel, patent protected products in selected specialty, rare and ultra-rare disease areas.
We are currently focused on three therapeutic areas where we can best leverage our internal know-how and assets: rare metabolic disorders, rare pulmonary diseases, and rare connective tissue disorders, with particular emphasis on conditions with dermatological manifestations. We also leverage our internal R&D capabilities to identify, develop and commercialize repurposed drugs with proven safety and efficacy.
Our diversified pipeline consists of assets that have the potential to effectively address significant unmet medical needs, including PKU GOLIKE®, engineered with the proprietary Physiomimic technology, which is the first prolonged-release amino acid product commercialized for the dietary management of phenylketonuria (PKU). Relief has a Collaboration and License Agreement with Acer Therapeutics for the worldwide development and commercialization of ACER-001 (sodium phenylbutyrate) for the treatment of various inborn errors of metabolism, including Urea Cycle Disorders (UCDs) and Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD). Relief also continues to develop RLF-100® (aviptadil) for several rare pulmonary indications including pulmonary sarcoidosis, checkpoint inhibitor-induced pneumonitis, non-COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome, and chronic berylliosis. Relief is in clinical development for APR-TD011, a differentiated acid oxidizing solution of hypochlorous acid intended for the treatment of epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a group of rare, genetic, life-threatening connective tissue disorders; APR-TD011 has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the FDA. In addition, Relief is commercializing several legacy products via licensing and distribution partners.
Additional details on our product portfolio can be found in the Pipeline section of the website.
Jack Weinstein serves as chief executive officer. He brings over 40 years of executive management expertise in investment banking and consulting in the biopharmaceutical and life sciences industries. Jack has extensive experience in corporate finance, business development as well as FDA regulatory and intellectual property strategies.
Paolo Galfetti is Chief Operating Officer. He has over 20 years of management experience in the pharmaceutical sector, including in the areas of business development and licensing, operational strategic management, clinical research, and pharmaceutical discovery and development.
Anthony serves as Senior Vice President and Head of U.S. Commercial Operations. He is a highly experienced pharmaceutical executive with a successful track record in launch execution, strategic planning and marketing across a variety of indications.
Christopher Wick serves as executive director and the head of U.S. sales. Prior to joining Relief, Christopher held positions in sales of increasing responsibility at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis. where he developed and led high-performing, excellence award-winning teams and achieved best-in-the-nation sales for two rare disease products and consistently received top sales rankings.
Marco Marotta serves as Chief Business Officer. He brings deep, international expertise in operations, sales and business development within the pharmaceutical sector.
Jeremy Meinen serves as chief financial officer and treasurer. Prior to joining Relief, Jeremy provided financial consulting and controlling services to companies in various industries. Jeremy is a Swiss certified public accountant.
Dr. Varawalla serves as Chief Medical Officer. She brings over 30 years of expertise in clinical trials, regulatory matters and medical affairs, with a track record of leading numerous international teams and clinical development programs for the global adoption of new pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
Dr. Forte is an accomplished scientific and clinical based leader with over 20 years of direct leadership experience and a record of success blending scientific education and business acumen to drive global medical affairs, commercial strategy, and patient advocacy. She has extensive experience in the field of genetic medicines having been directly involved in strategic launch development for several gene therapy companies. Her interests include rare disease, gene replacement, genetic medicines for neuromuscular and metabolic diseases, AAV technologies, and gene editing.
Drew serves as Executive Director and Head of U.S. Marketing. She is proven leader, with a successful track record of launching numerous products in the rare disease space, and has deep expertise in digital technology, strategic planning and team building.
David serves as U.S. Market Access Lead. He brings more than 20 years of relevant commercial development and market access experience in the pharmaceutical industry, providing deep knowledge and nuanced approaches to address barriers to patient care.
Relief is strongly supported by a highly knowledgeable Board of Directors with extensive experience in the healthcare industry and capital markets.
Raghuram (Ram) Selvaraju, Ph.D., MBA, is a Managing Director and Senior Healthcare Analyst in the Equity Research Division of H.C. Wainwright & Co., a New York-based full-service investment bank heavily focused on the healthcare sector. He has over 15 years of experience on Wall Street and previously was a pharmaceutical researcher at Serono in Switzerland. He holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from the University of Geneva and an M.B.A. from Cornell University.
Paolo Galfetti is Chief Operating Officer. He has over 20 years of management experience in the pharmaceutical sector, including in the areas of business development and licensing, operational strategic management, clinical research, and pharmaceutical discovery and development.
Patrice Jean is the Chair of the Life Sciences Practice at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, an international law firm based in New York City. She has over a decade of experience counselling leading and startup pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnology companies in all areas of patent law, including asserting and defending patent rights underlying core technologies and innovations.
Tom Plitz recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Chord Therapeutics SA, a privately held biopharmaceutical firm based in Geneva, Switzerland, which was acquired by Merck KGaA in January 2022. He has more than two decades of R&D experience from senior management positions in the pharmaceutical industry.
Michelle Lock is the Chief Operating Officer of Covis Pharma Group, a global specialty pharmaceutical company based in Zug, Switzerland. She has nearly 30 years of biopharmaceutical strategic, operational and commercialization experience.
Their objective was to develop atexakin alfa, a human recombinant version of interleukin-6, for the treatment of peripheral neuropathy.
The Company began rapidly advancing its proprietary asset RLF-100™ into clinical development and towards approval in COVID-19-induced lung injury. In September 2020, Relief entered into a collaboration agreement with NeuroRx, Inc. for the development and commercialization of RLF-100™ (aviptadil).
In March 2021, Relief entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Acer Therapeutics for the worldwide development and commercialization of late-stage development candidate, ACER-001.
In January 2021, Relief signed a binding term sheet to acquire all shares of AdVita. Amongst the AdVita assets being acquired in this transaction, Relief will gain further pending intellectual property rights that may cover RLF-100™ inhaled formulation.
In May 2021, Relief signed a binding term sheet to acquire all outstanding shares of APR Applied Pharma Research. APR already has products on the market in addition to a clinical portfolio in rare or debilitating diseases with high unmet medical need that is synergistic with Relief’s current development pipeline.
In March 2021, Relief’s partner NeuroRx reported top-line 60-day results from the U.S. IV Phase 2b/3 clinical trial evaluating RLF-100™ IV in critical COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure.