Who We Are

Rahela Gasparac-Knezic is a seasoned professional with almost 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry with a strong technical foundation in drug product development for small molecules from pre-clinical to commercial.

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She started the HeliPharm Consulting LLC after gaining pharmaceutical experience from organizations such as Verastem Oncology, Ra Pharmaceuticals (now UCB), Epizyme (now Ipsen), Novartis Pharma AG, Tesaro (now GSK), Idenix Pharmaceuticals (now Merck), and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

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She played a leadership and technical role in the development and commercialization of Defactinib and Avutometinib for Verastem and TAZVERIK® (tazemetostat) for Epizyme (Ipsen). She was the drug product lead for the development of ZEJULA® (niraparib) for Tesaro (GSK) and ISTURISA® (osilodrostat) for Novartis Pharma AG. During her time at Idenix Pharmaceuticals (Merck) she led formulation optimization efforts to successfully remove a partial FDA clinical hold to continue the Phase IIB study. Rahela was a drug product lead for the line extension development program for Incivek® at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

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Rahela obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Florida, an EMBA from Swiss School of Business and Management Geneva, Switzerland, and received M.S. and B.S. degrees from the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Croatia. She is an inventor on multiple U.S. patents, has published in numerous key peer-reviewed publications, and was given recognition awards from Vertex Pharmaceuticals.​