Management Team

Dr. Rachel Salzman, CEO of Armatus Bio, is an expert in drug development in rare diseases where complex biological and business issues intersect with serious unmet medical need. Prior to Armatus, she was an Executive Vice President at Alcyone Therapeutics, a precision medicines company advancing therapies in serious neurological disorders. Before that she co-founded SwanBio Therapeutics in 2017 and served as Chief Executive Officer and Director through 2019. She was the company’s President and Chief Portfolio & Development Officer until January 2021. She then founded UltraSquared Bio, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing gene therapies to ultra-rare populations where traditional business cases are not tractable. Prior to her time at Swan, Dr. Salzman was the Chief Science Officer of The Stop ALD Foundation a non-profit employing entrepreneurial approaches and innovative methodology towards effective therapies, cures, and prevention of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), an often-fatal neurodegenerative disease. She holds a B.S. in Animal Science from Rutgers University and a DVM in Veterinary Medicine Oklahoma State University.

Michael Triplett, Ph.D., co-founder, President, and CEO of Armatus Bio, Inc., is passionate about translating world-class science and technology into transformative businesses, Prior to Armatus Bio, Dr. Triplett co-founded two early-stage companies including Myonexus Therapeutics, which was acquired by Sarepta Therapeutics in 2019, and Clarametyx Biosciences, Inc., and served as CEO of N8 Medical. Dr. Triplett previously held roles of progressing responsibility at Battelle Memorial Institute, and began his career at Procter & Gamble, prior to completing graduate work in nanoparticle engineering.

Dr. Triplett currently leads an InnovateOhio Gene and Cell Therapy Working Group for Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted with the mission of developing gene and cell therapy economic development strategies to grow the industry within the State of Ohio. He earned a B.S. (summa cum laude) and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University as a United States Department of Defense National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow and University Fellow.

Peter Kleinhenz, co-founder, COO and CFO of Armatus Bio, Inc., is an accomplished life sciences executive and entrepreneurial strategist with extensive C-suite leadership, VC partnership and board membership experience. Prior to Armatus Bio, Mr. Kleinhenz co-founded Clarametyx Biosciences, Inc. and served as CFO and CBO at Myonexus Therapeutics until its acquisition by Sarepta in 2019. He was President and CEO of Woodhall Consulting, LLC, a strategic planning and venture development consultancy focused on life sciences. Mr. Kleinhenz was also previously a General Partner/Managing Director at Fletcher Spaght Ventures and CID Capital, Inc., leading investments in medical device, diagnostic, and therapeutic companies, and serving in various board and advisory roles at numerous companies. He was Vice President of Commercialization Life Sciences for Battelle Memorial Institute, leading start-up formation, development of strategic partnerships, and internal corporate consulting teams. Prior to that he served as CEO of Progenics Inc. and was a member of the founding management team at Neoprobe Corporation, holding positions of CFO, VP of Manufacturing and VP of Product and Market Planning.

 

Mr. Kleinhenz has been active in technology-based economic development issues in Ohio and across the Mid-West. He earned an M.B.A. from Case Western Reserve University and a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University of Chicago.

Brian Price, Ph.D., CTO at Armatus Bio, Inc., has a successful track record of business development growth and product development in Chemistry Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) for therapeutic and vaccine development, toxicology and analytics. Prior to Armatus Bio, Dr. Price was Principal Consultant at Price Biologics Consulting, LLC, assisting in the development of scalable and efficient CMC processes for gene therapy products, and supported the development of an AAV-based COVID vaccine candidate in a COO role for Albamunity, Inc. Prior to that, he served as VP of Pharmaceutical Development at Myonexus Therapeutics until its acquisition by Sarepta in 2019. Dr. Price also served as COO at Blue Water Vaccines where he participated in the development of a universal influenza vaccine candidate. He previously held a range of leadership roles over the course of a 15-year tenure at Battelle Memorial Institute, most recently as the acting lead for business development in the Health business unit.

 

Earlier in his career, Dr. Price served as a technical consultant for the Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program at the Department of Defense (through the Camber Corporation) and Manager of QC at BioPort Corporation (now Emergent BioSolutions). He earned a B.S. and Ph.D. in Microbiology from The Ohio State University.

Scott Harper, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Advisor of Armatus Bio, Inc, is a molecular biologist with more than two decades of experience spearheading innovation in gene therapy. Dr. Harper also serves as a Principal Investigator in the Jerry R. Mendell Center for Gene Therapy at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) and is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Harper has been awarded 211 patents covering 47 different technologies, including several approaches to FSHD and CMT1A gene therapies licensed by Armatus, and these inventions contributed to his selection as the 2024 Innovator of the Year at NCH and 2024 Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year within the OSU Department of Pediatrics.

Dr. Harper earned a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan Medical School, where he worked in the lab of Dr. Jeffrey Chamberlain to develop the first generation of micro-dystrophin gene therapies for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). As a Ph.D. student, Dr. Harper co-invented and patented ΔR4-R23 micro-dystrophin, which became the transgene used in Sarepta’s FDA-approved Elevidys gene therapy.  As a post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Beverly Davidson’s laboratory, Dr. Harper worked to develop the first generation of RNAi-based gene therapies for dominant genetic diseases, and as an independent PI has worked to couple his training experiences to develop various innovative therapies for dominant neuromuscular and neurological diseases.  A member of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) for more than 20 years, Dr. Harper was honored to receive the 2014 ASGCT “Outstanding New Investigator” Award.  Dr. Harper is a veteran of the United States Navy.