Leadership — it’s in our DNA

The award-winning founding partners not only have deep experience in market access and patient services, but also carry extensive backgrounds in marketing, sales and creative development. Team members have direct experience across industries and all have walked in your shoes as management at top biotechs, pharmas, and medical device manufacturers.

Marina Allen

Co-Founder/Managing Partner

Marina Allen

Marina Allen boasts over two decades of expertise in patient access and reimbursement within the biopharmaceutical sector. Her career began in healthcare, where she held various roles such as certified EMT, medical assistant, surgical assistant, and office practice manager, laying a solid foundation before transitioning into biopharma. Acknowledged as a trailblazer in digital patient access, Marina collaborates with diverse service providers to tailor patient access platforms for manufacturers. With a strong background in patient access and a talent for assembling effective field reimbursement management teams, Marina offers comprehensive guidance to manufacturers.

Marina’s expertise extends across both the medical and pharmacy benefit markets, emphasizing growth in diverse medical specialties, with a particular focus on oncology and biosimilars. During her seventeen-year tenure at Allergan, Marina held multiple positions with a focus on access and reimbursement, culminating in her role as head of patient services for Botox Therapeutic. Additionally, she served as the commercial head for patient access and reimbursement at Coherus Biosciences, overseeing market access marketing, patient services, national field reimbursement, and reimbursement training.

For the past three years, Marina has provided consultancy services to biopharmaceutical companies, leveraging her extensive experience to strategize and develop top-tier patient support programs and field support teams. Most recently, she held the position of senior vice president at a market access agency, spearheading the establishment of a new patient services division and offering innovative solutions to clients by designing, building, and implementing PSP programs, along with developing cutting-edge patient services websites and comprehensive access marketing strategies.

Marina graduated with honors from UC Santa Barbara, earning a BS in Physiology.

Melanie Mays

Co-Founder/Managing Partner

Melanie Mays

Melanie Mays has more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries.  

She began her pharmaceutical career at Amgen, working on marketing operations programs with a heavy focus on regulatory messaging and medical communications across seven brands including Aranesp and Neulasta. She then moved on to Kaiser and focused on provider, payor, and localization programs in support of the initial Thrive campaign. After 13 more years in medical devices, Melanie began consulting in 2018. Her focus has been on market access strategy for large clients such as Novartis. 

Melanie won two GPO Innovation Awards for strategic reimbursement technologies and held several commercialization positions of increasing importance at Abbott (formerly St. Jude Medical), including launching over 30 products, from diagnostic tools to implantable cardiac devices. 

Melanie has launched over 40 products. 

Most recently, she held the position of senior vice president at a market access agency, leading market access AOR projects providing Managed Markets Marketing, Reimbursement, Value & Access and Health Economics specifically within the specialty product in oncology/hematology, inflammation, neurology and rare disease. Melanie is also adept at creating ecosystem work streams and patient journey development. Prior to her work in the healthcare industry, Melanie was a graphic designer and web developer. She is a graduate level professor, teaching marketing foundations, brand strategy, and market research. 

Melanie graduated cum laude from Mount Saint Mary’s University, where she received her B.S. in business administration and minored in marketing. She earned her M.B.A. from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

Francie Nordin

Provider & Patient Advocacy

Francie Nordin

Francie Nordin is a seasoned expert in Revenue Cycle Management, FRM development, Market Access advising, and Patient Advocacy consulting. 

Francie’s career began in 2009 at a multifaceted oncology clinic, where she led the Patient Advocate team and coordinated the autologous stem cell transplant program. She secured expedited Medicaid approvals, preventing treatment delays. 

She later managed an outpatient hospital Patient Service Department in Lewiston, Idaho, developing best practices and training staff. In Spokane, Francie uncovered $1.5 million in denied claims due to third-party billing errors, transitioned billing in-house, and implemented practices that significantly reduced reimbursement times. 

Francie has consulted pharmaceutical organizations, building non-clinical speakers, market access, and FRM teams. In 2022, she became a Field Reimbursement Manager, developing state-specific payer reports and training other FRMs. Promoted to Lead Field Reimbursement Manager, she managed national accounts and large organization relationships. In addition, she has consulted as a revenue cycle manager of a large, critical access, 340B hospital oncology department, dedicated to improving patient care, empowering providers, and fostering pharma partnerships.

Paul Voss

Market Access Strategy

Paul Voss

Paul has over 25 years of specialty medical and pharmacy benefit drug and medical device industry experience, with emphasis on orphan and rare disease conditions, where he works to reduce physician and patient barriers to access. He is an established biopharmaceutical, market access, channel strategy, reimbursement, and patient – caregiver services department leader, with extensive Commercial product launch experience.

Paul has a proven track record in establishing global access strategy that considers pricing and reimbursement, Payer/PBM contracting, and public and healthcare policy – advocacy initiatives.

Paul has built and deployed multiple sales, access, provider/patient reimbursement services teams, and his focus includes Commercial readiness, tactical Access and Policy execution, and delivery on a pricing, reimbursement, and Global economic value propositions for payer, HTA, and organized system customers.

His key therapeutic experience: Orphan and Rare/Ultra-Rare Disease, CNS/Neurological (Mitochondrial, Amyloidosis, Epilepsy, Movement Disorders and Migraine), Cardiometabolic/Cardiovascular, Ophthalmology/Retinal, Urology, and Endocrinology.

Elissa Curtis

Marketing & Creative

Elissa Curtis

Elissa Curtis is a seasoned Creative Director renowned for her leadership in guiding companies through innovative branding and market strategies. With a dedicated focus on refining global brand identity and strategy, she has successfully led transformative rebranding initiatives within the pharmaceutical and specialty pharma sectors, positioning these organizations as industry leaders. Embracing a tech-forward approach, Elissa collaborates closely with executive leadership and stakeholders to ensure a consistent and compelling brand voice and visual identity across all platforms.

Her expertise in market access and reimbursement design has resulted in effective strategies that support pharmaceutical clients, payers, healthcare providers, and patients alike. Elissa leads national and global teams in developing creative solutions that enhance patient outcomes and foster strong partner relationships.

With a robust background in design and innovation, Elissa excels in developing comprehensive marketing strategies, enhancing brand visibility, and coordinating cross-functional teams. She is adept at optimizing digital marketing campaigns, implementing client engagement strategies, and providing mentorship to creative teams. Known for her ability to streamline project workflows and processes, Elissa Curtis continually drives creative excellence and strategic growth in every endeavor. Elissa graduated from Pratt Institute with an MFA and has served as an adjunct professor teaching communication and website design. Outside of her professional pursuits, she is an avid equestrian who values a balanced lifestyle.

Renelle Kelmar

Marketing Operations, Veeva Expert

Renelle Kelmar

Renelle Kelmar brings over 20 years of experience in a variety of marketing roles in the healthcare industry. Her expertise spans product and corporate marketing, marketing operations, branding, public relations, advertising, and social media. She boasts excellent project management skills and has worked on launching a multitude of products in a variety of therapeutic areas.

Renelle began her work in the pharmaceutical industry with10 years at Gilead Sciences, where she helped launch drugs for Hepatitis, PAH, Ischemic Heart Disease, and Cystic Fibrosis. During her time at Gilead, Renelle earned her MBA and transitioned from event planning and operations into strategic marketing, overseeing advertising, sponsorships, and product promotion.

After she left Gilead, Renelle found her niche in pre-commercial pharma, where she led efforts in disease-state education, product branding, corporate communications, and materials creation. She also instituted and managed promotional review processes, as companies readied themselves for launch. With her extensive marketing background, she effectively promoted and established credibility for new products from lesser known companies, and was a key contributor to the most successful biosimilar launch in history, with UDENYCA.

Renelle graduated with honors in Kinesiology from UC Berkeley and earned her MBA with high honors from Golden Gate University.

Doug Neely

Market Access

Doug Neely

Doug brings extensive experience in Market Access, having supported dozens of product launches across various disease states, including both oral and physician-administered drugs. His expertise spans patient and provider support programs, field reimbursement and payer teams, health policy, value messaging, HEOR, distribution, trade, pricing, contracting, and payer strategy.

Doug has worked as a consulting partner with biopharma companies and in-house, leading the development of several Market Access departments. His contributions have been recognized through national presentations and multiple publications.

Doug holds a B.A. from Wake Forest University and an MHA from the Medical College of Virginia/VCU. Outside of work, he enjoys cycling, traveling, and outdoor activities. Doug is also actively involved in his community, coaching youth sports teams and holding leadership positions in not-for-profits focused on children, equity, and healthcare access.

Eric Kassel, PharmD

Medical Affairs

Eric Kassel, PharmD

Eric Kassel is an accomplished medical affairs professional with over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries. He excels in team-focused, values-based leadership, driving corporate medical affairs performance to foster company growth and enhance patient lives through superior scientific products.

Eric has successfully led the establishment and expansion of multi-therapeutic medical affairs functions, building frameworks from inception to company buyout. His expertise spans a broad range of therapeutic areas, including migraine, low back pain, movement disorders, immunology, allergy, respiratory, neuroscience, psychiatry, urology, ophthalmology, facial aesthetics, dermatology, and plastic surgery.

Known for his dedication, flexibility, and positive work ethic, Eric is recognized as a leader who achieves goals and integrates global medical affairs systems, policies, and procedures. His exceptional clinical, communication, and relationship skills have made him a respected team player and leader in the industry.

Eric currently serves as the Consultant Director of Medical Affairs at Alfasigma USA, Inc., and has held senior roles at Azura Ophthalmics, eNeura Inc., Satsuma Pharmaceuticals, Alder Biopharmaceuticals, Circassia Pharmaceuticals, and Allergan. He holds a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Illinois State University. Eric is a registered pharmacist in Illinois since 1995.

Sudip Saha

Market Access, Analytics

Sudip Saha

Sudip has 12+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, specializing in market access, operations and data analytics.

During his decade at Genentech, Sudip drove substantial operational efficiencies and cost savings. He implemented forecast modeling and process automation, which reduced contract administration times by over 90%. His management of rebate and service fee contracts with payers, PBMs, providers, and SP partners ensured compliance and optimized financial performance.

At Envision Pharma Group, Sudip led high-impact consulting engagements that delivered measurable results for biopharmaceutical clients. He developed value messages for new product launches, increasing market penetration and revenue. His strategic market and pricing assessments facilitated successful market entries and competitive positioning. Projects included market landscape analysis, new product launch planning, portfolio contracting, and financial modeling. Clients included Gilead, Teikoku, and AbbVie, covering disease areas such as HDV, pain management, rheumatoid arthritis, women’s health, diabetes, hepatitis, migraine, ophthalmology, and dermatology.

Sudip earned his Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research from the University of California, Berkeley, a graduate certificate in Product Creation & Innovative Manufacturing from Stanford University, and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Chad Straughan, PharmD

Pharmacy

Chad Straughan, PharmD

Chad Straughan, PharmD has over 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical and retail pharmacy industry focusing on the development and management of patient access and procurement of medicine and specialty products in various disease states.

He began his career with Eli Lilly, after graduating from pharmacy school, in the diabetes marketplace relaunching Humalog and launching numerous first to market products, including Byetta, Cialis, Actos, Cymbalta, Effient, and Livalo. He transitioned his career from sales to training, developing national training programs specializing in customer service and customer relationships. He then moved onto management and into the hospital account space developing programs focusing on access to C suite executives. In 2012, he entered the startup medical device space as medical director. He developed the sales strategy and implementation plan, creating the sales force initiatives, the hiring of the sales force, and preparing them for the launch of a one a kind medical device product in the drug diversion space. He also worked closely with the DEA to ensure compliance and synergy existed to help reduce drug diversion in the healthcare space.

Getting back to his roots, most recently, he has been the owner and pharmacist in charge of a large independent retail pharmacy he established in 2014. He developed and implemented a business plan that focused on diversifying the pharmacy retail space and leveraging pharmaceutical market access and patient services to grow the pharmacy business into a highly successful and sought after retail pharmacy, partnering in the pharmaceutical manufacturer space covering South Carolina and Georgia.

He also serves as an expert pharmacist, advising law firms representing local and national clients on malpractice cases.

Chad completed his undergraduate and earned his Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently resides in Mount Pleasant, SC with his 4 children.

Darcy Duckenfield

Patient Services

Darcy Duckenfield

Darcy has over 15 years of client relationship and Patient Support Program leadership experience. Darcy held senior leadership positions at EVERSANA Life Sciences and the Lash Group, where he designed and implemented complex access, affordability, and adherence patient support/reimbursement programs. His extensive healthcare industry experience includes leading day to day operations of 100+ person reimbursement programs, in addition to client relationship and business development leadership responsibility for those programs. He has experience across a broad range of therapeutic areas including oncology, neurology, rare, gene therapy and digital therapeutics.

Prior to joining Rx Access Partners, Darcy developed a digital patient engagement and adherence solution and led patient support programs at PatientsLikeMe.

William Daniels

Patient Services & Engagement Strategy

William Daniels is an accomplished healthcare strategist with over 17 years of experience in patient access, reimbursement, and program management. As the Principal Consultant at Daniels Consulting Group LLC, he provides expert leadership to pharmaceutical manufacturers, helping them develop and optimize patient access programs, including financial support, prescription conversion, patient engagement, adherence, and reimbursement initiatives. His work focuses on enhancing conversion and adherence rates while reducing time to therapy for patients, ensuring operational efficiency and high levels of customer satisfaction.

William has a proven track record of success, having led multiple initiatives that have delivered measurable results, including a significant $100K recovery due to billing discrepancies and the creation of a highly successful patient access program for clients. His expertise extends across co-pay support, pharmacy network management, and reimbursement strategy, and he is skilled in identifying and resolving complex data visibility issues to improve service provider outcomes.

Previously, William served as Director of Patient Support & Reimbursement at LEO Pharma, where he drove the strategic development of patient access programs, achieving a 52% conversion rate and exceeding patient adherence targets through innovative digital engagement solutions. At Conduent, he led the development of a next-generation CRM for patient assistance programs and secured $65M in new business through his contributions to RFP responses and business development efforts. His early career included key roles at Novartis and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, where he demonstrated leadership in launching patient support programs and streamlining reimbursement processes, driving both operational savings and enhanced patient experiences.

Throughout his career, William has been recognized for his ability to build strong cross-functional teams, develop strategic relationships with key stakeholders, and implement innovative solutions that drive growth and improve patient access to care. With a deep understanding of pharmaceutical reimbursement processes and a commitment to patient advocacy, he continues to make a significant impact on the healthcare landscape.

Jamil Welch

Patient Services

Jamil Welch brings 20 years of expertise in the pharmaceutical industry with large, midsized, and small pharma clients.

Jamil Welch currently resides in Charlotte, NC. He has an undergraduate degree in Mass Communications from North Carolina State University. In addition, he has a Master of Science degree in Kinesiology from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi. Jamil’s career in the pharmaceutical industry with large, midsized, and small pharma clients spans approximately 20 years with over 18 years in a leadership position.

Throughout his tenure, Jamil progressed from an entry level position to Director of Commercial Strategy prior to transitioning into the manufacturer space. Formerly, as the Director of Market Access, he managed all specialty pharmacy relationships and contracting as well as engaged with payers to drive patient access. He recently served as the Director of Patient Support for an organization moving toward launching an MDMA-assisted therapy for adults with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) pending FDA approval. Jamil has extensive knowledge in launching and providing oversight of patient access and support programs to include field reimbursement, patient assistance, QuickStart, bridge, voucher, rebate and copay programs among other company specific access initiatives. His skillset includes establishing performance metrics, standard operating procedures (SOPs), business rules documents (BRDs) and other key strategic elements that guide performance along with product growth. Ensuring patients access to therapy is Jamil’s primary objective. 

Christie Webb

Project Manager

With over two decades of experience in sales and business operations within a large B2B environment, Christie Webb excels in driving operational efficiencies and facilitating transformative workplace changes.

Christie began her career in healthcare at El Camino Hospital, starting as a Patient Services Representative before transitioning to a Managed Care Coordinator role, where she facilitated communication between medical facilities and insurance carriers. This foundation in contract management and customer relations paved the way for her 19-year tenure at Intel Corporation, where she held various roles, including Sales Compensation Manager, Event Program Manager, Event Delivery Manager, and Transition Change Manager.

Recognized for her leadership and mentorship, Christie has successfully managed high-profile sales events and training programs, overseeing logistics for international conferences and incentive trips that engaged thousands of participants. Her extensive background in sales strategies includes redesigning incentive plans, leading an international operations team, and implementing incentive tools such as Callidus Cloud and Varicent.

Christie is also skilled at driving workplace change to enhance sales processes and streamline CRM tools. Her achievements include integrating newly acquired SaaS company sales teams onto the CRM platform and promoting the adoption of innovative sales tools like Groove and various Sales AI solutions.

Her ability to forge strong cross-organizational partnerships and focus on customer-centric solutions has consistently delivered timely and impactful results. Christie has received several Division Recognition and IT Excellence Awards, among other accolades throughout her career.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus on Marketing from San Jose State University.

Lena Covington

Market Access

Lena Covington is a market access marketing specialist with experience commercializing and operationalizing dozens of products and programs.

Lena began her career as a project and program manager in the United States Navy before transitioning into marketing with the City of Jacksonville, Florida’s Downtown Chamber of Commerce. She entered the market access industry in 2019 and is a talented market access marketer, collaborating and leading cross-functional consulting teams in support of her industry clients. Her extensive experience in content and collateral development, advisory board planning and execution, education and training materials creation, and product launch support makes her an agile and effective team member.

Lena has experience with medical and pharmacy benefit products in growing markets such as oncology, neurology, pain medicine, biosimilars, and psychiatrics, including treatments for rare disease and orphan drug. She has supported the commercialization of products with challenging or unique delivery, reimbursement, and distribution models. Most recently, Lena worked as the Manager, Market Access Marketing for MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, supporting market access strategy and program development, designed and executed primary and secondary market research initiatives including insights and readout development, launch project and program management, payor account program management, and distribution modeling. Lena received her BS in business management Summa Cum Laude from DeVry University San Diego, and her MBA With Highest Honors from Keller Graduate School of Management San Diego.