Biography

Richard Kollender has more than 30 years of financial, operational and business development experience in the healthcare industry. Mr. Kollender is currently the Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Reaction Biology Corporation, a provider of drug discovery services, where he also served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer from April 2022 through December 2024. Mr. Kollender also serves as a Partner and Executive Manager of Quaker Partners, a healthcare-focused venture capital and growth equity firm with $700 million under management, where he has led investments and served as an active Chairman or board member of more than a dozen private and publicly traded companies, including Rapid Micro Biosystems. Mr. Kollender also serves on the board of directors of Ocugenix Corporation, a privately-held, clinical-stage ophthalmology company.

Prior to joining Reaction Biology, Mr. Kollender was President and Chief Financial Officer of Strongbridge Biopharma (NASDAQ:SBBP), a commercial stage rare disease pharmaceutical company which was acquired by Xeris Pharmaceuticals in late 2021. Previously, he held positions in sales, marketing, global business development, and venture capital at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and its corporate venture arm, S.R. One. Mr. Kollender previously served as a director of Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc., currently a subsidiary of Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: JAZZ), Nupathe, Inc., and Insmed, Inc.

Mr. Kollender began his career as a Certified Public Accountant initially with KPMG, and his practice had a significant emphasis on the healthcare and emerging businesses sectors.

Mr. Kollender holds an MBA and a certificate degree in the graduate program in health administration and policy from the University of Chicago and a BA in Business Administration and Accounting from Franklin and Marshall College.