About Melissa

As Chief Operating Officer at Akari Therapeutics, Melissa Bradford-Klug leads strategy in multiple areas of the company, business development, partnering and fundraising activities, legal and commercial functions, and stakeholder relations.  Ms. Klug has a strong track record of successful fundraising, global acquisitions, licensing and development collaborations. Prior to joining Akari, Ms. Klug was President and Chief Business Officer at RareStone Group, where she led the identification and execution of strategic transactions for rare disease development programs for the China market. As co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the women’s health startup Mayfield Pharmaceuticals (now Harrow Health), she created the company strategy, secured funding, drove clinical development and oversaw operations. She has held senior strategy and corporate/business development roles at Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Mallinckrodt and Baxter International. She also has held commercial and research and development positions at Eli Lilly and Company and Monsanto..  Ms. Klug is a member of the MassBio Board of Directors and Gender Diversity Committee and is a MassConnect mentor. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri and an MBA from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.