About

Steven Thornton

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Mr. Thornton has served as Chief Executive Officer of Aerami since November 2020 and has served on the Aerami Board since April 2017, including serving as the Chairman of the Aerami Board from January 2020 to November 2021. Mr. Thornton also served as our Chief Executive Officer from July 2018 to September 2018.  In 2011, he became President and Chief Executive Officer of Excelsior Medical LLC, a supplier of saline and heparin pre-filled syringes and disinfection caps in the U.S., until its sale to ICU Medical and Medline Industries in late 2015.  From May 2007 to September 2010, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Bioniche Pharma Inc., a company specialized in the development, manufacture and sale of both proprietary and generic injectable pharmaceuticals. In 2002, Mr. Thornton joined SkyePharma Inc., a company developing drug delivery technology for the sustained release of injectable drugs, where he served as President until its sale in 2007, at which time he was asked to join its board of directors.  Mr. Thornton has held a number of board of director positions and has acted in advisory capacities for both private and public companies. He is currently the Chairman of the board of directors for XBolt Orthopedics, an Irish based company focused on a novel device for hip fixation.

Lisa Yanez

Chief Operating Officer

Prior to joining the leadership team at Aerami, Ms. Yañez held executive positions at Acceleron Pharma and United Therapeutics. At Acceleron, as vice president of global strategic marketing, she established the pulmonary franchise vision and strategy and led the global strategic marketing function for Acceleron’s lead product candidate, a clinical stage drug being developed for PAH. Instilling commercial leadership early in development, she spearheaded initiatives that engaged clinical development, preclinical research and external medical experts to build a differentiated development strategy in PAH. Acceleron was acquired by Merck for approximately $11.5 billion in 2021.

At United Therapeutics, as vice president of marketing, analytics, and training, Ms. Yañez oversaw commercial efforts for the multi-billion dollar PAH franchise, driving a continuum of care strategy that drove successful launches and injected growth into established brands.

Prior to United Therapeutics, Ms. Yañez held leadership roles in commercial and development at leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, namely Merck, GSK, Allergan, Genentech, and Grifols. Ms. Yañez has engaged throughout her career across the product life cycle, establishing expertise ranging from early product planning to launch and life-cycle strategy, as well as across treatment categories including pulmonary, oncology, neurology, immunology, cardiovascular, and rheumatology.

Barry Deutsch

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Deutsch has served as Chief Financial Officer of Aerami since November 2021. Prior to joining Aerami, Mr. Deutsch served as the Chief Financial Officer and, prior to that, Vice President of Business Development at Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: XERS) from July 2017 to October 2021. Previously, from 2007 to 2017, Mr. Deutsch was a Vice President for the BioScience Division of Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Baxalta Incorporated following its spinoff from Baxter, and Shire plc following its acquisition of Baxalta. Mr. Deutsch’s roles included serving as Vice President of Business Development at Baxter BioScience and Baxalta and head of business development and public-private partnerships for the intercontinental region at Baxalta and Shire. Mr. Deutsch also has held chief financial officer and vice president of business and corporate development roles at Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and TLContact, Inc. and investment banking positions at healthcare-focused Vector Securities International, Inc. and Salomon Brothers. Mr. Deutsch received a B.S. in Economics degree in finance and accounting from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.