Management team

Ian Johnson

Executive Chairman

Ian Johnson joined Circassia as Executive Chairman on 5 December 2019.

Ian has spent his business career in life science and was founder and CEO of Biotrace International PLC, which was a listed company until its sale to 3M in December 2006. Most recently Ian was Executive Chairman of Bioquell PLC, which was acquired by Ecolab Inc. in January 2019.  Prior to this Ian was non-executive Chairman of Quantum Pharma PLC, Cyprotex PLC and Celsis Group Ltd.  He has also served on the boards of various other public and private companies including the AIM traded companies, Evans Analytical Group, MyCelx Technologies Corporation and AOI Medical Inc.

Ian studied at Cardiff University obtaining a BSc and MSc in Microbiology. He is a chartered biologist, and a member of the Institute of Biology and the Institute of Directors.

Michael Roller

Chief Financial Officer

Michael Roller joined Circassia as Chief Financial Officer on 9 January 2020.

Michael is a highly experienced Finance Director and life sciences company Director. He was previously Group Finance Director of Bioquell PLC, Corin Group PLC and Genus PLC and is currently a Non-Executive Director of Filtronic PLC.  In addition, Michael has held a number of senior finance roles in a broad range of public and private companies.

Michael completed his training at KPMG and is a Chartered Accountant and member of the ICAEW. He graduated from Merton College, Oxford with a BA in History.

Jonathan Emms

Chief Operating Officer

Jonathan brings significant senior-level experience of the global pharmaceutical industry to Circassia. Prior to joining the Company, he was Chief Commercial Officer for Pfizer’s Internal Medicines organization, where he led commercial activities across the company’s global operations.  Previously, he held a number of senior positions at Pfizer, including Head of Marketing for its Global Established Pharmaceutical Business and Head of Marketing for Specialty Care, Europe, and oversaw the UK launch of Spiriva® under the company’s co-promotion agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim.  He was also Country Manager in the UK, Pfizer’s largest affiliate outside the United States, where he had responsibility for manufacturing, research and commercial operations and during his tenure was elected President of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).  Prior to his time at Pfizer, Jonathan held several roles of increasing responsibility at GSK, where he gained significant respiratory experience, including leading the UK launch of Serevent® in COPD.  He holds a BSc in Materials Technology from Coventry University, UK.

Darren Mercer

Senior Vice President EU & RoW Commercial

Darren Mercer brings to the company extensive sales & marketing and international commercial experience, gained in a number of senior roles.  Prior to joining Circassia, he was Head of Commercial Operations, Asia Pacific at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, having previously headed up the commercial launch readiness team that was responsible for supporting over 200 launches across 35 emerging markets. Prior to taking this role in Singapore, he was Divisional Sales Director and National Business Director at Takeda in the UK.  Previously, he was Commercial Director at Nycomed, and was also Business Manager at the company’s respiratory business unit.

He began his career in the pharmaceutical industry at GlaxoSmithKline, where he held a variety of sales and commercial management roles.  He holds a Master’s Degree in Management Studies from the University of St Andrews, Scotland. 

Nina Kataria

Senior Vice President Global Human Resources

Nina Kataria joined Circassia in June 2014 to lead the company’s HR function.  She brings to Circassia over 25 years’ experience of Human Resources, and has significant experience of the life sciences industry.

Most recently, she was Human Resources Director at Lonza Biologics PLC, where she had strategic and operational responsibilities in the UK and internationally.  Previously, she was the UK Human Resources Manager at Innovex (part of Quintiles), following roles of increasing responsibility at companies that are now part of Toyota and Unilever.

She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and holds a post-graduate diploma from the Institute.  She graduated from Thames Valley University in Business and Finance.

David Williams

SVP General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer

David Williams is a highly experienced lawyer who brings to Circassia significant legal expertise gained at a number of international pharmaceutical companies, including product commercialization, M&A, licensing and compliance.

In his most recent role, he was General Counsel, International at Concordia, where he was responsible for the company’s legal activities across Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Prior to this, he was General Counsel, Northern Europe at Teva Pharmaceuticals, having previously held senior legal positions at Cephalon and Astellas.

David qualified as a solicitor at the leading London law firm Allen & Overy, where he subsequently practiced in the Corporate Finance department. He holds a BA degree in Modern History from Durham University.

Dr Rod Hafner

Senior Vice President Research & Development

Dr Rod Hafner has many years of experience at a senior level in the life sciences industry and is a named inventor on numerous granted patents and patent applications. Before joining Circassia, he led the UK operating company of the Scandinavian drug delivery business, OptiNose AS (now OptiNose US Inc.) and prior to that was Director of Programme Management and Vice President of Research & Development Portfolio Management at PowderJect. Other roles have included Head of Project Management at Cortecs International Limited and positions at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now Pfizer) and The Procter & Gamble Company. Rod has led Circassia’s research and development function since joining in 2007. He has a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from Edinburgh University and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge.