Executive Leadership Team

Scott M. Plesha serves as Chief Executive Officer of Pelthos. Mr. Plesha joined Pelthos in November 2023. He has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including two decades building and leading specialty pharma commercial organizations. Prior to joining Pelthos, Mr. Plesha was President and Chief Commercial Officer at BioDelivery Sciences (BDSI) until it was acquired by Collegium Pharmaceutical in 2022. Under Mr. Plesha’s leadership, BDSI sales grew from $5 million to $160 million. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Gastrointestinal Sales at Salix Pharmaceuticals. During his fifteen-year tenure at Salix, Mr. Plesha led a nationwide salesforce that grew product sales to more than $1.5 billion annually. Before Salix, Mr. Plesha was a Regional Sales Manager for Oclassen Dermatologics, a division of Watson Laboratories, and in commercial roles of increasing responsibility at Solvay Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Plesha earned a BA in Pre-Medicine and Pre-Medical Studies at DePauw University and pursued graduate studies in Dentistry at Indiana University Dental School.

John M. Gay serves as Chief Financial Officer at Pelthos. Mr. Gay has nearly 25 years’ experience in public company finance and accounting. Prior to joining Pelthos, Mr. Gay served as Chief Financial Officer and Secretary for Novan, Inc. until the acquisition of ZELSUVMI^TM by Pelthos in September 2023. In addition, Mr. Gay also served as Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller, prior to his appointment as CFO. Previously, Mr. Gay held the Corporate Controller position at Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical development company, from its initial spin-out transaction on the NASDAQ to its positive Phase 3 trials resulting in a company disposition to Forest Labs for $1.1 billion; and director-level positions at Maxpoint Interactive, a digital marketing technology company, from its IPO on the NYSE to its successful disposition for nearly $100 million. Prior to joining Furiex, Mr. Gay served in roles of increasing responsibility at Deloitte and Arthur Andersen, registered public accounting firms. He is a certified public accountant and holds Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and History and a Master’s in Accounting degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Carri Geer, PhD, leads the Nitricil^TM technology platform and related product candidate development for Pelthos. Prior to joining Pelthos, Dr. Geer served as Chief Technology Officer for Novan, Inc. until the acquisition of ZELSUVMI^TM by Pelthos in September 2023. Dr. Geer oversees the Pelthos intellectual property portfolio and serves as the technical liaison for collaborative partnerships related to that technology. Dr. Geer is an expert in the proprietary Nitricil^TM platform with over 20 years of experience with nitric oxide and more than 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical product development. Dr. Geer is responsible for and has overseen establishing and advancing the drug substance, drug product, device, and analytical development capabilities of the Nitricil^TM technology platform including chemistry, manufacturing, and controls. Prior to joining Novan, Dr. Geer was employed at Merck and worked as a graduate research assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Geer received her PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry, with honors, from Rollins College.

Sai Rangarao serves as Senior Vice President, Head of Sales, Marketing & Commercial Operations at Pelthos. Mr. Rangarao joined Pelthos in March 2024. He has more than a decade of experience leading, launching, and marketing large and highly differentiated pharmaceutical products, including Otezla^®, the only approved oral systemic therapy with a broad indication. Prior to joining Pelthos, Mr. Rangarao was Vice President of Marketing at Collegium Pharmaceutical, where he led marketing for the full product portfolio and Neurology sales. He joined Collegium from BioDelivery Sciences International (BDSI), which was acquired by Collegium in 2022. Under Mr. Rangarao’s leadership as Vice President of Marketing and Commercial Operations at BDSI, the company expanded its pain and neurology product portfolio and increased market share of the company’s lead product BELBUCA^®, ultimately leading to the successful sale to Collegium. Before BDSI, he was Head of Dermatology Marketing at Celgene Corporation. At Celgene, Mr. Rangarao was responsible for the commercial efforts of Otezla in dermatology for three consecutive years leading to significant year-over-year market share growth until the product was sold to Amgen for $13 billion. He began his career at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where he held roles of increasing responsibility across Global R&D, Sales Force Effectiveness, Multichannel, and In-Line Marketing. Mr. Rangarao also served as a key member of the commercial and marketing organization at Novartis that launched COSENTYX^® in the U.S. Mr. Rangarao earned an MS in Bioscience Regulatory Affairs from The Johns Hopkins University, an MBA and MS from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and a BS in Computer Science from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Melvin Whitehead leads manufacturing and supply chain operations at Pelthos. Mr. Whitehead has over 25 years of industry experience in operational and executive leadership positions working with products across multiple modalities and dosage forms including small molecule, recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies, RNA, gene, and cell therapy, inhaled and nasal medical devices, and topicals. Prior to joining Pelthos, Mr. Whitehead served as Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Operations for Novan until the acquisition of ZELSUVMI^TM by Pelthos. Previously, Mr. Whitehead was the General Manager for Catalent’s Analytical, Biologics and Inhalation site, leading the site to the highest revenues in its 25-year history. Prior to Joining Catalent, Mr. Whitehead was the Chief Operating Officer for Asklepios Biopharmaceuticals, a leading innovator in the gene therapy space. Prior to joining Asklepios, Mr. Whitehead was at Diosynth Biotechnologies, where he served in several roles including Vice President of Operations. During his 15 years at Diosynth, Mr. Whitehead led integration teams through acquisitions by Schering-Plough, Merck, and Fujifilm. Mr. Whitehead served on Fujifilm’s Global Manufacturing Excellence Council and Merck/Fujifilm’s Biotechnology Executive Leadership Teams. Mr. Whitehead started his pharmaceutical career at Bayer Biologics. Mr. Whitehead holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from North Carolina State University.

Dr. Martina Cartwright, PhD, RDN is the Vice President of Medical Affairs at Pelthos. Martina has 24 years of experience in medical affairs, with extensive pre and post launch experience in a number of therapeutic areas including infectious diseases, critical care, neuro-oncology, cardiovascular, and dermatology. As a medical affairs leader, Dr. Cartwright has participated in the launch of 6 novel prescription medications and 1 device.  Prior to joining Pelthos in 2021, Martina led medical affairs activities at Cassiopea with previous experience at Anacor-Pfizer, Nico Neuro, United Healthcare, and Eli Lilly.  Martina is a recognized leader in both clinical and basic sciences with over 50 peer reviewed articles in developmental biology, critical care and dermatology. She was recently honored as the recipient of the 2025 University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Outstanding Achiever Award.

Suzie Paulson serves as Vice President of Human Resources at Pelthos, where she leads the company’s HR strategy and operations. She joined the organization in April 2025, bringing over two decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with a strong track record in product launches and complex corporate transformations, including mergers and acquisitions. Prior to Pelthos, Ms. Paulson was Vice President, Human Resources Business Partner at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals. During her five-year tenure, she played a key leadership role in building the company’s first commercial sales team and supported the successful launch of ORLADEYO^®. Preceding BioCryst, she held the role of Vice President, Human Resources at Cempra (later Melinta), where she led the growth from 75 to 350 employees and guided the HR strategy through a pivotal reverse merger. Earlier in her career, Suzie spent eight years at Salix Pharmaceuticals where she assumed significant roles with increasing responsibility within Talent Acquisition and Human Resources. Her contributions were instrumental in the company’s growth from 70 to over 1,000 employees, including several major salesforce expansions. Suzie holds a Bachelor of Science in Biological and Life Sciences from North Carolina State University.

Matt Rysavy serves as Vice President of Market Access and Trade at Pelthos, having joined the company in April 2025. He has over 25 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, with more than 16 years dedicated to various Market Access roles.  Prior to Pelthos, Mr. Rysavy held the same title at Verona Pharma, Inc. from July 2022 to April 2025, where he led the development and execution of the company’s Market Access strategy. His responsibilities included establishing the specialty channel network and designing the go-to-market payer strategy.  Before Verona, he was Head of Market Access and Trade at BioDelivery Sciences International (BDSI), where he oversaw contracting, strategic planning, and the launch of multiple brands, along with managing the company’s channel strategy. He remained with BDSI through its acquisition in 2022.  From 2017 to 2018, Mr. Rysavy served as Director of Market Access at US World Meds/HEMA Biologics, a privately held pharmaceutical firm. There, he drove formulary access initiatives for neurology and addiction products and developed limited specialty drug networks for both new and existing therapies in neurology and hemophilia.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Rysavy spent 15 years at Salix Pharmaceuticals in progressively senior roles and began his pharmaceutical career in sales with Johnson & Johnson, working across the Janssen and Ortho-McNeil divisions.  Mr. Rysavy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Iowa State University.