Leadership Team

Greg is the president and chief executive officer of Reneo Pharmaceuticals and serves as a member of the company’s board of directors. Greg brings to Reneo more than 25 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience in executive management, corporate and business development, operations, sales and marketing, and clinical development. He has been closely involved with several novel development programs resulting in multiple product approvals and successful commercial launches in the U.S. and Europe.

Prior to joining Reneo, Greg was chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Novus Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NVUS), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company he took public in 2017 and led through the transformational acquisition of Anelixis Therapeutics in 2020. Prior to Novus, Greg was chief business officer of publicly traded Avanir Pharmaceuticals (AVNR), a commercial-stage pharmaceutical company, where he led corporate and business development as well as corporate operations through the $3.5 billion acquisition of the company by Otsuka Pharmaceuticals in 2015. From 1995 to 2006, Greg held multiple leadership roles at Intermune (acquired by Roche), Amgen, and Eli Lily and Company.

Greg received his B.S. in biology from Purdue University and studied biochemistry and molecular biology at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Alejandro (Alex) Dorenbaum, M.D., is the chief medical officer of Reneo Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he was chief medical officer at Allakos, where he achieved proof-of-concept in clinical trials for novel therapeutic antibodies targeting inflammatory cells. He also served as chief medical officer at Lumena Pharmaceutical until its acquisition by Shire. Prior to that, Alex worked at Genentech, where he was responsible for the respiratory programs for asthma and cystic fibrosis, and at BioMarin Pharmaceutical, where he conducted the clinical development of Kuvan. He began his career at Chiron Corporation, gaining broad expertise in several areas of drug development including biologics, small molecules and vaccines.

Alex received his M.D. from the National Autonomous University in Mexico City. He completed his residency in pediatrics at University of Texas Health Science Center and held a fellowship in allergy and immunology at Baylor College of Medicine. He maintains an active academic position as Clinical Professor in Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he specializes in allergy and immunology.

Vinny is the Chief Financial Officer of Reneo Pharmaceuticals, where he brings more than 20 years of experience in investor relations, corporate communications, capital markets, licensing, strategy, and corporate development.

Vinny served as the Vice President of Strategy and the Vice President of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at Reata Pharmaceuticals. In these roles, he oversaw the Business Development, Competitive Intelligence, Corporate Communications, and Investor Relations functions at Reata, and played a key role in the company’s strategic financings. Prior to his time at Reata, Vinny was the Entrepreneur-In-Residence at the University of Texas, Southwestern, and was the founder of several startup companies, including an investor networking platform and a life sciences business consultancy firm. Previously, he was a Managing Director and Head of Healthcare Equity Research at ThinkEquity and served as the Vice President of Biotechnology Equity Research at Wedbush Morgan Securities. Vinny was also a biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals research analyst at Origin Capital Management and Lehman Brothers. Vinny earned his M.S. in Pharmacology from the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, an M.S. in Endocrinology, and a B.A. in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Wendy Johnson is Chief Development Officer of Reneo Pharmaceuticals, where she brings more than 30 years of experience in drug development, venture capital, licensing, strategy and corporate development. Prior to joining Reneo, Wendy was interim Chief Operating Officer and board member of AmpliPhi Bioscience (now Armata Pharmaceuticals). Wendy serves on the board of MorphoSys AG, a publicly held biotechnology company.

Wendy previously served on the investment team at ProQuest Investments and was president and CEO of Aires Pharmaceuticals, acquired by Mast Therapeutics. She also served as senior vice president of corporate development at Salmedix until its acquisition by Cephalon/Teva, and held executive roles at WomenFirst Healthcare, Selective Genetics and Cytel. Earlier in her career, she was assistant director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Wendy holds an M.B.A. from Loyola University, an M.S. in clinical microbiology from the Hahnemann Medical School and a B.S. in microbiology from the University of Maryland.

Michael is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Operations of Reneo Pharmaceuticals, where he brings more than 20 years of experience in corporation operations and business administration. Prior to joining Reneo, Michael was Novus Therapeutics’ (now Eledon Pharmaceuticals) Vice President of Corporate Operations, where he oversaw the daily non-finance general and administrative operations.

Michael previously served as the Vice President of Corporate Operations at OticPharma, Inc (acquired by Tokai Pharmaceuticals) and the Executive Director of Sales Operations at Avanir Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceuticals.) Earlier in his career, he co-founded a technology consulting firm focused on bringing technology platforms and business automation to small and mid-market organizations. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Franklin University.

Lynn Purkins is the vice president of clinical operations for Reneo Pharmaceuticals. Lynn has nearly three decades of drug development experience in large and small biotechnology companies. Before joining Reneo, Lynn was a founder and chief development officer at Ziarco Pharma, which was acquired by Novartis in 2017. Prior to Ziarco, Lynn held numerous roles at Pfizer, including clinical pharmacology, clinical operations and team leader for projects from target selection to clinical proof of concept. Her experience spans multiple therapeutic areas including dermatology, pain, respiratory and gastroenterology.

Lynn received a Ph.D. in nutrition and immunology from University of Leeds and a B.S. in dietetics from Leeds Beckett University.

Deborah Tower is the Vice President of Finance and Administration. A graduate of San Diego State University and a Certified Public Accountant, Deborah started her career working at Deloitte, a big 4 accounting firm working primarily in high tech and manufacturing. She subsequently focused her career on start-up private and public biotechnology companies in the San Diego area. At Reneo, she is part of the starting management team leading the company’s accounting, finance and administrative operations where she is responsible for accounting, budgeting, HR, finance, foreign operations and R&D incentive programs and internal controls.

Prior to Reneo, she was Controller and Director of Administration at AmpliPhi Biosciences Corporation (now Armata Pharmaceuticals (NYSE American: ARMP). She served as a consultant at Tracon Pharmaceuticals and CustoPharm, Inc. Earlier in her career she was a key member of and start up management and IPO teams at Vical, Inc., Sequana Therapeutics and Aurora Biosciences.