OUR VISION

Antony Koblish is a medical device entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in health care. Prior to founding TELA Bio, Mr. Koblish was president and CEO of Orthovita, Inc., a publicly traded orthobiologics and biosurgery medical device company. During his tenure as CEO of Orthovita from 2002 to 2011, Mr. Koblish created significant company value, growing valuation from $30M to a $316M exit sale to Stryker Corporation in 2011. He is a skilled leader with a proven track record in driving sales growth, building a robust product pipeline, establishing world-class commercial operations, and instilling clinical and manufacturing quality. Mr. Koblish is also a co-founder and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Onkos Surgical, a surgical oncology company, and is an operating partner with 1315 Capital, a private investment firm that provides expansion and growth capital to commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical, medical technology, and health care services companies. Mr. Koblish earned a Master of Science in Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics from the University of Pennsylvania, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Christopher Smith possesses over 25 years of sales and executive sales management experience within the medical device and service industries. In January 2012, Mr. Smith co-founded Connect Medical, LLC, a national medical distribution channel focused on assisting medical companies achieve their top-line revenue goals by providing clients with immediate access to a nationwide network of tenured medical sales professionals. Prior to Connect Medical, he served as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Orthovita, Inc., where he spent nearly 7 years building the company's domestic sales team while increasing revenues to more than $100M per year. In addition, Mr. Smith was part of the Senior Management team that participated in Stryker Corporation's $316M acquisition of Orthovita in 2011. Previously, Mr. Smith served as Group Director at Medtronic Neurologic Technologies, where he had sales management responsibility for the eastern third of the United States.

Frank Conway is a finance executive with more than 20 years of experience in the life sciences and medical device fields. Mr. Conway has been a Controller, VP of Finance, and Chief Financial Officer in entrepreneurial environments, both public and private, with extremely driven and smart management teams. Before joining TELA Bio, Mr. Conway was Corporate Controller at Orthovita, Inc. from 2009 to 2012. He was Manager, Financial Reporting and Analysis at Centocor, one of the first generation of publicly held biotechnology companies, and Chief Financial Officer at Principia, a fusion-protein therapeutics company acquired by Human Genome Sciences for 22X return to investors. Mr. Conway graduated from Drexel University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Accounting.

Greg Firestone possesses more than 25 years of experience in the IDN, health systems, and GPO market segments. Prior to joining TELA Bio, Mr. Firestone served as vice president of strategic customer relations at ROi, where he led a team of co-workers responsible for provider customer recruitment and support, focusing on supply chain services, operational infrastructure, and financial health of providers’ supply chains. Mr. Firestone also served as regional vice president of MedSpeed, founder and CEO of Dermal Life, LLC, co-founder and president of Mossberg Labs, and owner and CEO of NCI. Mr. Firestone founded the IDN Summit & Expo, which connects IDN and GPO executives, and authored "Swimming with the Supertankers," a book written to assist supplier sales and marketing professionals.

Maarten Persenaire is a medical professional with 35 years of experience. Prior to founding TELA Bio, Dr. Persenaire was Chief Medical Officer at Orthovita, Inc. from 1999 to 2011. At Orthovita, Dr. Persenaire designed, managed, analyzed, and filed an FDA-IDE study in vertebral fractures; managed post-market studies and data collection efforts in the areas of spine, orthopedics, and trauma; and lectured on subjects such as bone biology and spinal fusions. Fluent in four languages, Dr. Persenaire received his medical degree at Groningen University in The Netherlands.

Michael Leonard joined TELA Bio in April 2018 following more than 25 years in operations and quality leadership roles in the medical device industry. Over his career Mr. Leonard has executed strategies to build best-in-class manufacturing organizations from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. From 2011 to 2018 Mr. Leonard served as Vice President of Operations at Stryker, where he was responsible for global quality and operations for Stryker’s spine and biologics portfolio. During his time with Stryker, Mr. Leonard led several M&A projects, responsible for due diligence, integrations, technology transfers, and consolidations. Prior to joining Stryker, Mr. Leonard served as Vice President of Operations and Quality for Orthovita, an orthobiologics and biosurgery manufacturer, where he was a member of the senior leadership team who built the company from start-up to $100M in sales. Previously, Mr. Leonard held various leadership roles in capital medical equipment manufacturing.

Nora Brennan joined TELA Bio as Chief Financial Officer in January 2019 and has more than 20 years of financial experience. Ms. Brennan’s extensive experience includes serving in leadership roles across the healthcare and banking industry for both private and public global companies. Prior to joining the company, Ms. Brennan served as Chief Financial Officer at Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, where she oversaw the finance function and execution of the company strategy, including a $75 million initial public offering (IPO). Previously, she was employed at Integra Lifesciences Corporation, a global medical device company, where she held various senior leadership roles, including Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Treasurer. Prior to joining Integra, Ms. Brennan worked at Citigroup and JP Morgan in various finance and investment banking roles. Ms. Brennan holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois.

Paul Talmo possesses over 20 years of experience commercializing technologies within the medical device and service industries including medical devices, implantable materials, as well as imaging and diagnostic technologies and services. Mr. Talmo spent 16 years at LifeCell Corporation and was an impetus behind the transformation of a burn focused company into a soft tissue reconstruction company. Mr. Talmo was responsible for first introducing biologic materials to the urogynecology market, for urinary incontinence and pelvic floor reconstruction, as well as the general surgery market, for hernia repair. Mr. Talmo also worked closely with surgeons to develop the various techniques and protocols for implant-based reconstruction with the first biologic material used in breast reconstruction, eventually commercializing the material and new techniques in the early 2000s. Mr. Talmo applies his years of clinical and commercial experience with innovative and strategic thinking to create unique disruptive business models.

Skott Greenhalgh has 20 years of industrial experience, 18 years in the development and manufacturing of medical devices, and 2 years of teaching and research at North Carolina State University and Philadelphia University. Dr. Greenhalgh has a strong understanding of the medical device clinical and regulatory pathways, and he has lead teams of highly skilled research and development personnel focused on cardiovascular, general surgical, and orthopedic medical device implants. Dr. Greenhalgh has developed multiple hybrid biologic implant devices, with numerous patents issued. He has directed R&D activities for multiple strategic partnerships and co-development programs, including minimally invasive cardiovascular, spinal, surgical, and neurologic implants with multiple start-ups and Fortune 500 medical device companies, and has raised more than $19M in outside capital to fund these efforts. He has licensed 14 medical implant technologies, 10 of which he was initial inventor/creator, and sold one company. Dr. Greenhalgh received his PhD in Fiber and Polymer Science and his Master's degree in Textile Engineering from North Carolina State University. His Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering is from Drexel University.

Stuart Henderson joined TELA Bio in April 2013, assuming commercial and business development responsibilities. Mr. Henderson was previously at Quaker Partners, a healthcare venture capital fund in Philadelphia, where he assisted both in helping to identify a novel technology around which TELA Bio was founded and in securing the Series A financing before transitioning to TELA Bio full time. While at Quaker, Mr. Henderson focused on conducting due diligence in the medical device and biotech sectors and assisting portfolio company teams with projects around market opportunity assessment, fundraising, and strategic planning. In his prior role as a Consultant at ZS Associates, he focused on engagements across sales force effectiveness, market research and segmentation, forecasting, and go-to-market strategy. Mr. Henderson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biological Sciences from Cornell University.

William Allan is an internationally experienced medical devices executive who has held a number of senior global general management positions with large multinational medical device companies, including Stryker, Smith & Nephew, Angiodynamics, and Orthovita. He has a strong track record of raising finance, building businesses, developing and launching new products and has worked in Europe, Africa and North America. Educated at the University of Edinburgh, University of Cape Town and Insead Business School, he has led the successful transition of two small medical device companies to exit. Mr. Allan has been a council member of ABHI (Association of British Healthcare Industries) and a board member of Eastern Academic Health Sciences Network in Cambridge. Originally an Oral Surgeon by profession, Mr. Allan is passionate about medical technology innovation and commercialization.

Antony Koblish is a medical device entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in health care. Prior to founding TELA Bio, Mr. Koblish was president and CEO of Orthovita, Inc., a publicly traded orthobiologics and biosurgery medical device company. During his tenure as CEO of Orthovita from 2002 to 2011, Mr. Koblish created significant company value, growing valuation from $30M to a $316M exit sale to Stryker Corporation in 2011. He is a skilled leader with a proven track record in driving sales growth, building a robust product pipeline, establishing world-class commercial operations, and instilling clinical and manufacturing quality. Mr. Koblish is also a co-founder and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Onkos Surgical, a surgical oncology company, and is an operating partner with 1315 Capital, a private investment firm that provides expansion and growth capital to commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical, medical technology, and health care services companies. Mr. Koblish earned a Master of Science in Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics from the University of Pennsylvania, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Adele Oliva has more than 25 years of finance and health care experience, including 19 years in private equity. Throughout her investing career, she has focused on commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical, medical technology, and health care service investments. Ms. Oliva co-founded 1315 Capital, a firm focused on health care–growth investing, in 2014. She joined Quaker Partners in 2007 to advance their growth- and expansion-stage investing practice. Prior to Quaker, she was Co-Head of US Healthcare at Apax Partners, a global private equity firm. Forbes has recognized Ms. Oliva on its Midas List of top 100 technology investors worldwide, top 10 life science investors, and top women in venture capital. Before entering private equity as a Kauffman Fellow in 1997, Ms. Oliva built a strong foundation in finance and health care at CoreStates in commercial banking and Baxter Healthcare in marketing and business development. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Joseph's University and an MBA from Cornell University, where she was awarded the Albert Fried Fellowship.

Ashley Friedman has more than 15 years of life science investing and finance experience. Throughout his career, Mr. Friedman has focused on the pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors. He is currently a Managing Director at Signet Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm focused on growth-stage health care investments. Prior to joining Signet Healthcare Partners in 2014, Mr. Friedman spent more than 10 years (2003-2013) working for Investor Growth Capital, a venture capital firm focused on health care investments. While at Investor Growth Capital, Mr. Friedman was involved with several successful biotechnology, specialty pharmaceutical, and medical device investments. He began his career as a health care investment banker at Lehman Brothers. Mr. Friedman holds a Bachelor of Science from Yale University in both Economics and Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology (MCDB), with a concentration in biotechnology.

Kurt Azarbarzin currently serves as Chief Technology Officer for CONMED Corporation, a global, publicly-traded medical device company dedicated to helping customers improve patient outcomes. Mr. Azarbarzin is the former Founder and CEO of SurgiQuest, Inc., a medical device company focused on advancing minimally invasive surgery. He built SurgiQuest to a $50 million revenue business until the company was acquired by CONMED Corporation in January 2016 for $265 million. Mr. Azarbarzin is a member of the executive board at Center for Biomedical Innovation and technology at Yale. Mr. Azarbarzin previously held leadership roles in Research and Development at U.S. Surgical & Tyco Healthcare. He earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Bridgeport and completed advanced graduate studies in mechanical design at Bridgeport Engineering Institute and manufacturing engineering at Bradley University.

Matt Zuga is co-founder of HighCape Partners, and brings more than 20 years of life sciences investment and banking experience. Mr. Zuga was formerly a Managing Director of Syngenta Ventures, an investment vehicle of Syngenta Corp. He was a founder and managing member of Red Abbey Venture Partners (RAVP), where he is currently a member of the Investment Committee.

His current board memberships include Aziyo Biologics and Alba Therapeutics (Co-Chairman). He has previously served as a Board member for Arginetix, Inc. and Board observer at Advanced BioHealing, Aegerion Pharmaceutical, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals and Stromedix, Inc. Prior to RAVP, Mr. Zuga was Head of Life Sciences investment banking at Legg Mason. Mr. Zuga received an M.B.A. from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.S. in Business Administration/Finance from The Ohio State University.

Ron Ellis brings over 20 years of health care experience in medicine, clinical research, equity research, and institutional investing. Dr. Ellis is currently Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Business Development at Pacira Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Ellis was a Managing Director at Leerink Partners, a boutique health care investment bank, advising institutional investors on health care trends, strategy, and capital markets across a broad array of investment instruments, including equities, derivatives, and convertibles. Before that, Dr. Ellis was the Healthcare Trading Specialist at Citigroup Global Markets and Deutsche Bank Securities. He was a Biotechnology Analyst in Equity Research at Prudential and Leerink Swann. Dr. Ellis began his Wall Street career as an Associate on the specialty pharmaceuticals equity research team at ING Barings, which was subsequently acquired by ABN AMRO. Dr. Ellis did his post-doctoral work in pharmacoeconomics and health outcomes, as a Wyeth-Ayerst fellow (later acquired by Pfizer). He earned his medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and an MBA with a concentration in Medical Management from St. Joseph’s University, where he also pursued post-MBA studies in Pharmaceutical Marketing.

Vince Burgess is a Venture Partner with OrbiMed. Mr. Burgess has more than 20 years of experience in health care operations, business development, and venture capital. Mr. Burgess was a crucial member of the founding executive team at Volcano Corporation, where he served as President of Advanced Imaging Systems. He also led marketing and business development at Volcano from 2002 to 2010 and was a key architect of the company's product, marketing, and mergers and acquisitions strategies. During his tenure, Volcano grew from a start-up to a global company with more than 1,000 employees and a market cap of more than $1.2 billion. Mr. Burgess previously served as a partner of Sorrento Ventures and has operational and board experience in the surgical tool, ophthalmology, and health care IT fields. He earned his MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina.