Our Team | BioLineRx

Philip A. Serlin CPA, MBA

Chief Executive Officer

Philip A. Serlin, CPA, MBA, has served as our Chief Executive Officer since October 2016. From May 2009 to October 2016, Mr. Serlin served as our Chief Financial and Operating Officer. From January 2008 to August 2008, Mr. Serlin served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Kayote Networks Inc. From January 2006 to December 2007, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Tescom Software Systems Testing Ltd., an IT services company publicly traded in both Tel Aviv and London. His background also includes senior positions at Chiaro Networks Ltd. and at Deloitte, where he was head of the SEC and U.S. Accounting Department at the National Office in Tel Aviv, as well as seven years at the SEC at its Washington, D.C., headquarters. Mr. Serlin is a CPA and holds a B.Sc. in accounting from Yeshiva University and a Master’s degree in economics and public policy from The George Washington University.

Tsipi Keren-Lehrer BSc, LLB

Head of BD and Strategic Advisor

Tsipi Keren-Lehrer has served as our Head of BD and Strategic Advisor since August 2019. Tsipi also serves as mentor for young startups via both SPARK at Tel-Aviv University and the Biomed-MBA program at the Hebrew University. Prior to joining the company, from August 2001 to June 2018, she served at Compugen with growing responsibilities until assuming the BD leadership and joining the company’s executive management in 2012 as VP of Business Development. She led multiple partnering efforts including the transformative transaction with Bayer HealthCare with over USD 550 million total deal value, and played an important role in the company's strategic focus shift towards drug development in cancer immunotherapy. Ms. Keren-Lehrer holds a B.Sc. in Biology (cum laude) and an LL.B., both from Tel-Aviv University, and she is a certified lawyer in Israel.

Holly May MBA

President, BioLineRx USA

Holly May has served as our President of BioLineRx USA since September 2022. From June 2022 to September 2022, Ms. May served as our Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to joining BioLineRx, she was CCO at AVROBIO where she was responsible for building the company’s global commercial organization inclusive of driving the development and execution of commercial strategy. Prior to that, she served as VP & Head of Commercial at SOBI, Inc., where she led all aspects of commercial strategy, operations and performance. Before SOBI, Ms. May held leadership roles of increasing strategic importance across marketing, operations, sales, and planning at Sanofi and Genzyme with her last roles encompassing VP in the Genzyme rare disease unit, and head of marketing operations/strategic planning for Sanofi’s global oncology division. She holds a BA in Zoology from Miami University of Ohio, and an MBA with a concentration in marketing from the University of Akron.

Tami Rachmilewitz MD

Chief Medical Officer

Tami Rachmilewitz, M.D., joined BioLineRx as Chief Medical Officer in January 2023 and brings over 15 years of clinical development industry experience, including overseeing clinical development programs in oncology, immunology, and neurodegeneration. Previously, she was Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at VBL Therapeutics, where she led all aspects of the company’s immuno-oncology clinical trial programs and oversaw its clinical operations and medical affairs teams. Her prior experience also includes clinical development leadership positions at NeuroDerm Ltd., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., and Novartis. Dr. Rachmilewitz received her Bachelor of Medical Sciences degree from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and her Doctor of Medicine degree from the Hadassah Medical School at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she also performed her internship and residency in psychiatry.

Ella Sorani PhD

Chief Development Officer

Ella Sorani, Ph.D., has served as our Chief Development Officer since January 2021. From February 2017 to December 2020, Dr. Sorani served as our Vice President Research and Development. Before joining BioLineRx, from 2000 through 2016, Dr. Sorani served in a number of management positions in the global R&D division at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. In her most recent position as Senior Director and Global Project Leader, Dr. Sorani led the development of one of Teva’s leading innovative late stage compounds. Dr. Sorani holds a B.Sc. in chemistry and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in pharmacology, all from Tel Aviv University.

Mali Zeevi CPA

Chief Financial Officer

Mali Zeevi has served as our Chief Financial Officer since October 2016. Prior to becoming Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Zeevi served as our Senior Director of Finance and Reporting beginning in 2011 and as our Director of Finance and Reporting beginning in 2009. Before joining BioLineRx, Ms. Zeevi was employed by Tescom Software Systems Testing Ltd., her last position there being Vice President Finance. Ms. Zeevi also served as a CPA at Kesselman & Kesselman, a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited. She holds a B.A. in business and accountancy from the College of Management Academic Studies in Israel.

Irit Gliko-Kabir PHD

Vice President Clinical Operations

Irit Gliko-Kabir, Ph.D., has served as our Vice President Clinical Operations since January 2021. From September 2017 to December 2020, Dr. Gliko-Kabir served as our Senior Director of Clinical Operations. Dr. Gliko-Kabir has over 20 years of experience in clinical operations management with wide-ranging experience in drug development and clinical development international programs. Before joining BioLineRx, Dr. Gliko-Kabir served in a number of management positions in the global R&D division at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, as well as other Israeli innovative companies. In her last position as Senior Director of Clinical Development at Bioblast Pharma, Dr. Gliko-Kabir led all clinical operational activities in the company’s pipeline. Dr. Gliko-Kabir received a B.Sc. in chemistry, an M.Sc. in pharmaceutical chemistry and a Ph.D. in pharmacy, all from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Asaf Aloni MBA

Vice President Global Supply Chain

Asaf Aloni, B.Sc., MBA, has served as our Vice President Global Supply Chain since August 2022. Mr. Aloni has over 22 years of experience in various operational management positions in the R&D and commercial areas. Prior to joining BioLineRx, he was Executive Director Manufacturing & Supply Chain at Chiasma Inc., where he was responsible for leading the operational activities of the company, inclusive of launching its first commercial product in 2020. Prior to that time, since 2000, Mr. Aloni held several managerial positions at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., including as Head of Operations and Head of the Clinical Supplies Department, and he has extensive experience in the management of complex projects in multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environments. Mr. Aloni holds a B.Sc in Industrial Engineering and an MBA, both from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Efrat Halbfinger PHD

Vice President Chemistry and Formulation

Efrat Halbfinger, Ph.D. serves as our Vice President Chemistry and Formulation, responsible for all aspects related to drug substances and drug product from development through cGMP manufacturing, process validation and registration. Dr. Halbfinger has over 20 years of industrial experience in a wide range of medicinal projects in R&D and Clinical phases. Dr. Halbfinger has been at BioLineRx since 2006 and over the years has held positions of increasing responsibility in the development of pharmaceuticals. Before joining BioLineRx, Dr Halbfinger was the Senior Research Chemist at Bio-Rad Laboratories in Israel. Dr. Halbfinger received her B.Sc. in medicinal chemistry, M.Sc. in organic chemistry and Ph.D. in medicinal and organic chemistry, all from Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

Bela Neiman PHD

Vice President Analytical Chemistry

Bela Neiman, Ph.D. has served as our Vice President Analytical Chemistry since June 2021. Dr. Neiman leads the analytical chemistry activities at BioLineRx and also manages the GLP/GCLP bioanalysis in support of non-clinical and clinical studies. Dr. Neiman has been at BioLineRx since 2008 and previously served as Senior Director of Analytical Chemistry and before that, as Head of the Analytical Chemistry Group. Before joining BioLineRx, Dr. Neiman served as a scientist in analytical R&D at Rafa Laboratories Ltd. Dr. Neiman holds a B.Sc. in chemistry from Tel Aviv University, and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in chemistry from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Jael Birenberg MSc

Senior Director, Head of RA, QA and PhV

Jael Birenberg, M.Sc., has served as our Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs, Quality Assurance and Pharmacovigilance since March 2021. From June 2019, Ms. Birenberg served as our Director of Regulatory Affairs. Before joining BioLineRx, Ms. Birenberg served for almost 20 years in a number of management positions in the Global Innovative R&D Division at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. In her most recent position as Senior Director – Head of International Markets Regulatory Affairs, Ms. Birenberg was responsible for registration of all Teva’s Innovative products in ex-US/ex-EU markets. Ms. Birenberg holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry and an M.Sc. in Organic Synthetic Chemistry, both from Bar Ilan University.

Liron Shemesh-Darvish PhD, MBA

Senior Director, Head of Preclinical Development

Liron Shemesh-Darvish, Ph.D., MBA, has served as our Senior Director, Head of Preclinical Development since March 2021. From June 2019 to December 2020, Dr. Shemesh-Darvish served as our Director, Head of Preclinical Development. Dr. Shemesh-Darvish has over 15 years of extensive industry experience in preclinical drug development in global programs. Before joining BioLineRx, from 2018 through 2019, Dr. Shemesh-Darvish served as Director of Toxicology at Salzman Group Ltd. and before that, served for 12 years as Senior Manager, Non-clinical Leader and Senior Researcher of Method Development in a number of positions in the global R&D division at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Dr. Shemesh-Darvish holds a Ph.D. in biology and MBA, both from Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

Gideon Stein MD

Senior Director of Clinical Development Strategy

Gideon Stein, M.D., has served as our Senior Director of Clinical Development Strategy since 2018. Dr. Stein joined BioLineRx in 2004 and until 2018 held various positions in BioLineRx’s Business Development department. Throughout his career at BioLineRx, Dr. Stein has been responsible, among other things, for in-licensing of new projects. From 1997 to 2004 Dr. Stein completed his residency in otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Sapir Medical Center, Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba. From then Dr. Stein worked as a physician in the ENT clinic. Dr. Stein holds an M.D., M.B.A and M.H.A., all from Tel Aviv University.