Julia Stephanus

Julia has been a visionary entrepreneur and strategic brand builder in the veterinary industry for 30+ years. Her achievements include building and scaling two successful start-up veterinary pharmaceutical businesses and launching 28 veterinary products. She was Founder and CEO of Summit VetPharm, which exited to Ceva Animal Health in 2010. As Chief Commercial Officer of Aratana Therapeutics (PETX), she was instrumental in the IPO and the buildout of a fully integrated commercial organization. Julia led the co-promotion and the licensing of Aratana’s lead osteoarthritis product, Galliprant®, to Elanco. Aratana exited to Elanco in 2019.

Julia is Founder and President of Avviare, LLC, providing consulting services to start-ups and established players in veterinary biopharmaceuticals. In addition to the start-up experience, Julia’s career includes senior-level positions at Ceva, Forest Laboratories (Allergan) and Pfizer Animal Health (Zoetis) and their legacy companies.

Julia presently serves on the Boards of Elias Animal Health, Exubrion Therapeutics and Okava Pharmaceuticals. Julia is a Founding Director and Board Member of Feather in Her Cap, recognizing outstanding women in Animal Health.

Julia received her Bachelor of Arts from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, with additional education at the Wharton School of Business, Columbia University, the University of Chicago, and Harvard University.