Leadership Team - VERO Biotech

Brent Furse

CEO and President

Brent Furse has served as a Director and our Chief Executive Officer and President since June 2016. Prior to coming to VERO Biotech, Mr. Furse was a key member of The Medicines Company leadership team where he joined in 2000 pre-IPO and served as a section 16 Officer.

Brent has held various leadership positions including Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Commercial Officer, Vice President and General Manager Interventional Medicine, Vice President Surgery and Perioperative Care, and Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He was responsible for the launch and success of their flagship product Angiomax, as well as countless successful partnerships and operational excellence. In addition to his success at The Medicines Company, Brent has held leadership positions with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Schering Plough Corporation, and serves on the board of Anthera Pharmaceuticals, The Special Olympics and Salus Tele-health.

White Handwritten Love on Black Background Square Pillow

Erica Bitten

Director of Human Strategies

Erica Bitten joined VERO Biotech as Director of Human Strategies in November 2020. Erica is a dedicated HR professional with over 12 years of experience developing and implementing human capital strategies to improve employee engagement.

Prior to joining VERO, Erica served as the Program Director/HR Business Partner at the Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory and an independent HR consultant for emerging biotech and startup companies.

Erica is Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR); she earned a Master of Health Administration from Ohio University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Clayton State University.

Eric S. Finkelman

Chief Technical Officer

Mr. Finkelman has been an Operational and Product Development leader for over 25 years. He has led global teams in Operations, R&D and Customer Service. He combines a Growth-Oriented mindset with lean leadership methodologies to build systems and cultures that enable the development of people, products and processes.

Prior to joining VERO, Mr. Finkelman served as the V.P. of Global Operations and R&D at EndoChoice (Acquired by Boston Scientific). During his tenure, Mr. Finkelman oversaw all activities related to the Endoscopic Imaging platform, including direct oversight of the facilities in Germany and Israel. Mr. Finkelman served as the Vice President of Operations and R&D at Sierra Scientific Instruments, an NIH funded startup that became the global GI diagnostic industry leader in high-resolution manometry and reflux monitoring. During Mr. Finkelman’s tenure, the organization commercialized their flagship ManoScan and DigiTrapper platforms. This business was acquired by Given Imaging before subsequently becoming part of Medtronic. In prior positions, Mr. Finkelman held both product development and operational leadership roles for both early stage private organizations and larger public companies. Mr. Finkelman holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a M.S. in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Michelle Nickoli

Vice President of Customer Engagement

Michelle joined VERO Biotech sales team for the launch of the GENOSYL Delivery System. She is a healthcare and patient-centric business professional with over twenty-two years experience in building positions driven by quality and results.

Ms. Nickoli brings a track record of demonstrated consistent achievement of organizational goals, strong sales, performance, and quality objectives. Michelle is a Registered Respiratory Therapist and holds a Bachelors Degree in Sales and Marketing. She started her career as an RRT at Bellin Hospital and Aurora HealthCare before moving into the medical device industry at Possis Medical and pharmaceutical industry with The Medicines Company and Melinta Therapeutics. Michelle has built and lead several successful customer facing teams for 10 acute care product launches in various therapeutic areas such as infectious disease, surgical, emergency medicine, and cardiovascular. Her passion for presenting patient focused messages is invaluable, as well as in leading and bringing teams to action that result in completion of common goals.

Brent Furse

Erica Bitten

Eric S. Finkelman

Michelle Nickoli

Contact Info

Quick Links

Medical Inquiries