Foment Bio

Ben Chlebina has over 15 years of experience in the biotech industry, specializing in medical device and cell & gene therapy development. As the CEO & Co-Founder of Foment Bio, he leads the company’s mission to advance its transient gene therapy platform for in vivo exosome production and tissue repair, positioning Foment at the forefront of regenerative medicine. With a strong background in biopharma business development and operations, Ben has successfully guided multiple companies through fundraising, clinical development, and commercialization. Before founding Foment Bio, he served as VP of Business Development & Clinical Operations at Koligo Therapeutics, where he managed the clinical operations of a commercial cell therapy program and spearheaded expansion efforts into new hospitals. He also previously served as President & General Manager of Tissue Genesis, where he navigated the company through a successful acquisition. Ben and his Co-Founder, Dr. Marc Penn, have a long-standing history of collaboration, having worked together at Black Beret Life Sciences, where they developed early-stage cell-based therapies, executed international clinical studies, and successfully translated R&D assets into the clinic. Additionally, Ben brings extensive gene therapy expertise from his time at Juventas Therapeutics, a clinical-stage gene therapy company upon which Foment Bio's pipeline builds. Holding an MBA from Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University, and a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, Ben combines technical expertise with strategic leadership, driving Foment Bio’s vision for next-generation regenerative therapies.

Dr. Marc Penn is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Foment Bio, Inc. a biotechnology company focused a novel regenerative medicine approach that induces the bodies ability to heal. An active clinician, he is an attending cardiologist, Program Director for the Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship at Summa Health Heart and Vascular Institute (Akron, OH). From 2000-11 Dr. Penn was a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic where he served as the Director of the Coronary Intensive Care Unit, Director of the Experimental Animal Laboratory, Director of the Bakken Heart-Brain Institute, and the Founding Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Cell Therapy. From 2008-10 Dr. Penn was the Senior Medical Director for Emerging Businesses at Cleveland Clinic. He was the 2006 Innovator of the Year, and in 2011 recognized as one of the top 50 doctors in the history of the Cleveland Clinic (MedCity News). Dr. Penn completed his undergraduate and postgraduate work at Case Western Reserve University completing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in 1989 and Doctor of Medicine in 1994. He completed his Internal Medicine training at University Hospitals of Cleveland (1994-97) and his Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship at Cleveland Clinic (1997-2000). He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Medicine. During his training he received numerous awards including the 2000 Joseph Cash Memorial Prize for Clinical Outcomes Research and the 1999 Irvine H. Page Young Investigator award for Atherosclerosis Research presented by the National American Heart Association. He has adjunct appointments at Case Western Reserve University in Biomedical Engineering and in the Bioengineering Center at Cleveland State University. Dr. Penn is an active inventor, serial entrepreneur and internationally recognized as an expert in translating basic science research to clinical populations. He has generated intellectual property in the fields of diagnostics, biologics and devices that has been licensed by numerous companies, having authored dozens of U.S. and international patent applications. He was the founder of Juventas Therapeutics, Inc. (Cleveland, OH), a regenerative medicine company founded on his intellectual property based on novel fundamental concepts of endogenous stem cell mediated tissue repair pioneered by his group. As CMO of Juventas Therapeutics, Inc. (2007-2016) he designed and executed the Phase II studies STOP-CLI, STOP-HF, RETRO-HF and designed the STOP-PAD. His SDF-1 technology was optioned by Astellas Pharmaceutical in December of 2018. He was co-founder and CMO of Cleveland Heart Lab, Inc. (Cleveland, OH), a diagnostic company based on biomarkers associated with coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, and other inflammatory diseases. Quest Diagnostics acquired Cleveland Heart Lab in December of 2017. He is a Senior Advisor to Quest Diagnostics and serves as the Medical Director for the Quest Diagnostics Center of Excellence of Cardiometabolic Testing at Cleveland Heart Lab.

Mr. D’Andrea is an expert CMC professional with 35+ years of experience in process & formulation development as well as biomaterials and biologics manufacturing for clinical use. Beginning his career as a Project Leader at Hydro Med Sciences, he went on to become Manager of Process and Product Development at Interferon Sciences where his team developed the Alferon® N parenteral formulation which received FDA approval. After serving as Executive Director of Operations for the Institute of Molecular Biology, Senior Director of Process Development at Selective Genetics, and VP of Manufacturing at Vitagen, Mr. D’Andrea has been a CMC Consultant for the last 20 years for a range of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Juventas Therapeutics.