ReAlta Life Sciences Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on safely targeting neutrophils and central components of the complement system to revolutionize the treatment of inflammatory disorders, today announced the appointments of Howard Berman, Ph.D., as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Kia Motesharei, Ph.D., as President and Chief Operating Officer.
Dr. Berman, who has served as Executive Chairman since November 2025, will lead ReAlta’s overall strategy, clinical development, and corporate execution, while Dr. Motesharei, who was recently appointed to the company’s board of directors, will oversee operations, business development, and strategic partnerships. The additions bring to ReAlta’s leadership team industry expertise that is important to the company’s next stage of growth with a focus on the late-stage clinical development of pegtarazimod for the treatment of Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) and other indications.
“We have assembled a team that has built, financed, and led companies from clinical development all the way through to commercial launch,” said Dr. Berman. “Kia brings a unique combination of transaction expertise, capital markets experience, and operational leadership that will be instrumental in accelerating our growth. My experience is in building and managing biopharma businesses through critical stages of development. I look forward to working with Kia and other members of our team to maximize value for our shareholders while advancing what we believe is a potentially groundbreaking therapy for HIE and other inflammatory diseases.”
Dr. Berman has more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical industry leadership experience spanning company formation, clinical development, strategic partnerships, and public market execution across multiple therapeutic areas, including immunology and neuroscience. Prior to joining ReAlta, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Coya Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: COYA), a regulatory T cell therapeutics-focused company that he founded and led through its initial public offering on NASDAQ, multiple rounds of financing, and subsequent business development transactions with strategic pharmaceutical partners of up to $700 million. Dr. Berman currently serves as Coya’s Executive Chairman. Under his leadership, Coya has advanced multiple clinical programs in neurodegenerative diseases, including a potentially pivotal trial in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and a Phase 2 trial in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). He also serves on the board of directors of Atea Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AVIR) and as a Board Observer at Mammogen Inc. Earlier in his career, Dr. Berman held senior leadership roles at AbbVie Inc., Eli Lilly and Co., and Novartis AG, where he contributed to the commercial launches of several blockbuster therapies in oncology and neuroscience. Dr. Berman holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Michigan and an MSc. and Ph.D. in neuroscience and pharmacology from Weill Cornell Medical College.
Dr. Motesharei is a seasoned biopharmaceutical business development executive with a global network and a proven deal track record, having completed more than 100 transactions across licensing, mergers and acquisitions, financings, and strategic partnerships. He has held senior corporate development, licensing, and investor relations leadership roles at Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc., Formation Bio Inc., Akcea Therapeutics Inc., Merck KGaA, Dyax Corp., and GENFIT S.A.
Most recently and before joining Formation, Dr. Motesharei led business development and investor relations for Madrigal, where he played a key role in raising more than $1 billion in capital, supporting the FDA approval of Rezdiffra®, the first approved therapy for NASH/MASH, and helping drive a market capitalization increase from approximately $800 million to more than $7 billion. Earlier in his career, he helped to reposition GENFIT’s lead drug development program from atherosclerosis to NASH, contributing to a market capitalization increase from approximately $110 million to more than $1.2 billion. At Dyax, he supported the development of Takhzyro®, a next-generation hereditary angioedema therapy that ultimately led to the company’s $6.5 billion acquisition by Shire plc. Dr. Motesharei earned a B.A. in Chemistry from Colorado College and holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles. He also completed an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute.
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