Management Team

Greg McKee, M.A., MBA
President & CEO

Mr. McKee is President & CEO of Akela Pharma and PharmaForm and is also a member of Akela’s Board of Directors. Mr. McKee brings more than 20 years of biotechnology and life sciences management and leadership experience to the company. Before joining Akela, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Nventa Biopharmaceuticals Corporation, from 2005, which successfully merged with Akela in May of 2009. Prior to his position as Chief Executive Officer of Nventa, Mr. McKee served as the company’s Vice president, Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. McKee previously served as Senior Director, Corporate Development for Valentis, Inc., a San-Francisco-based gene delivery company, and held several positions at Genzyme Corporation including Director – Asia. He spent several years overseas as an investment banker and aide to the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Mr. McKee earned an MBA and an M.A. from the Wharton School and the Joseph H. Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania and holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Washington.

Rudy Emmelot
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Rudy J. Emmelot is the Chief Financial Officer at Akela Pharma, Inc. and PharmaForm, LLC. Mr. Emmelot has over two decades of experience as a financial executive in biotech, high-tech, financial and healthcare companies. Prior to joining Akela in 2009, Mr. Emmelot served as Executive Financial Consultant to Akela and PharmaForm. Mr. Emmelot also served as Senior Financial Consultant for Nventa Biopharmaceuticals Corporation. His previous experience includes work as Corporate Controller for Allergy Free, LLC, a manufacturer and distributor of allergy preventative products. In 2001 Mr. Emmelot founded Bodhi, LLC, a San Diego based company in the health and wellness industry. From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Emmelot served as Vice President, Finance for Xencor, Inc., focused on the development of enhanced antibody therapeutics through protein design. Prior to joining Xencor Mr. Emmelot served as Director of Operations at Clinical Micro Sensors, Inc. a biotech DNA diagnostic company in the bio-electric DNA detection field. From 1991 to 1997, Mr. Emmelot served in several management positions with Stafford Trading (Ronin Capital) in Chicago, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Los Angeles. Mr. Emmelot began his career at Stafford Trading, a privately held Market Maker firm based at the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. Mr. Emmelot graduated with a B.S. degree in Finance from the University of Illinois.

James Blair West
VP of Pharmaceutical Operations

Blair West joined PharmaForm as VP of Pharmaceutical Operations in 2010, with over 25 years of industry experience. Most recently, Dr. West was Senior VP of Technical Affairs, Formulations and CTM Manufacturing at AzoPharma, a CRO, for 5 years.

Prior to that, he was Director of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Bend Research between 1988 and 2004, where he focused on technology development in the areas of solubilization, chemical and physical stabilization, drug discovery and drug delivery for various drug product dosage forms.  Dr. West holds an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Harvard, and received his PhD in Bio-organic Chemistry from Texas A&M.

His expertise includes peptide and synthetic organic chemistry, applied bio-organic chemisty, bioprocessing, development of drug delivery technologies, drug absorption technologies, formulation development, solubilization, bioavailability enhancement, and controlled release technology development.

Kenny Burrow
Director, Programs
Prior to joining PharmaForm Mr. Burrow's worked as Program Manager and Project Manager for the military, several government contractors and a utility company. He serves as an Adjunct Professor for the University of Management and Technology where he teaches Risk Management, Quality Management, eCommerce, and Communications courses. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor for Webster University as well as an instructor for the University of Maryland and Central Texas College. Dr. Burrow received his PhD in Business Administration from Columbia Southern University, an M.S. in Systems Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, an M.S. in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas, an M.B.A in Project Management from the University of Management and Technology, a B.S. in Industrial Technology from Southern Illinois University, a B.S. in Computer Technology from the University of New York, and a Certificate in Process Management from the University of Texas.He holds Program Management Professional (PgMP), Project Management Professional (PMP), Project+ Certified Professional (PCP), Certified Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE), Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Certified Manager (CM), Certified Safety Professional (CM), International Senior Project Manager (IPMA-B), and Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) certifications. He is also DAWIA certified in Program Management, Systems Planning, Development, Research, and Engineering, Acquisition Logistics, and Information Resource Management.