About

Anthony “Tony” Schwartz co-founded Essential Medication, LLC and serves as the President and CEO.  Mr. Schwartz has a proven track record of building successful companies by focusing on products, people, and platforms.  In 2019, he joined Wells Pharma where he served as President of this start up and built a successful 503B Outsourcing Facility exceeding expectations in achieving the business and financial goals of the company.  Prior to Wells Pharma, Mr. Schwartz was with ROi Group Purchasing Organization where he served as a General Manager and Pharmaceutical Contract Executive.  In this role, he was instrumental in pharmaceutical contracting that saved the hospital systems tens of millions of dollars and assisted with drug shortage issues by managing ROi’s in-house 503B Facility.  Mr. Schwartz started his career in pharmaceutical sales with such companies as Johnson and Johnson, Abbott Labs, and Forest Pharmaceuticals and has launched several new products and exceeded sales revenue goals. Throughout his career, Mr. Schwartz has consistently achieved revenue, profitability, and leadership goals improving company performance.

Mr. Schwartz has a passion for the pharmaceutical business and together with the rest of the Essential Medication Leadership Team will make essential medication accessible and affordable for patients nationwide. 

Mr. Schwartz received his Bachelor of Science degree from Southeast Missouri State University, Harrison College of Business. 

Dr. Oh co-founded Essential Medication, LLC and serves as General Counsel.  Dr. Oh has a longstanding and successful career in the Pharmaceutical Industry.  This includes serving as Apertus Pharmaceuticals General Counsel since 2019 where she has risen to the challenge of meeting/exceeding the company’s growing need for legal and regulatory guidance.  Dr. Oh was formerly an attorney at Husch Blackwell LLP in St. Louis and brings a wide breadth of legal experience to both companies. Dr. Oh’s legal experience includes defending one of the world’s largest agrichemical companies in multi-jurisdictional litigation and advising large multi-national manufacturers on how to successfully bring a European facility into FDA compliance. Dr. Oh also worked in the US Attorney’s office, both in the Southern District of Illinois and the Eastern District of Missouri during her time at Washington University as a law student.  ​ 

Dr. Oh, who is married to Dr. Gindelberger, assisted with the initial business plan and regulatory research for both EM and Apertus Pharmaceuticals. 

Prior to practicing law, Dr. Oh was an English Professor at University of Miami where she taught American Literature.​ 

Dr. Oh received her J.D. from Washington University, and her Ph.D. in Rhetoric from University of California. Berkeley.​ 

Dr. Ryan co-founded and serves as a Managing Partner for Essential Medication, LLC. Dr. Ryan has extensive experience in the development of pharmaceuticals, and also serves as the Executive Chairman at Apertus Pharmaceuticals.  Rick has over 40  years experience in the life sciences industry including business management, strategy and  business/technology development. He has held executive leadership positions in multinational corporations and start-ups/early-stage ventures.​

Before joining, Rick was Vice President of the Drug Discovery & Development business unit at Millipore Corporation. He had P&L responsibility for DDD, which provided discovery and development products and services to Pharma and Biotech customers. At Millipore he also led innovation programs, such as biomarker applications for discovery, and development for companion diagnostic applications.  He started his biotechnology career at Monsanto, where he held several technology and business management positions of increasing responsibility. .​

In addition, Rick is a General Partner for Cultivation Capital Life Science, a venture firm focused on Life/Health Sciences.   He is on the boards of portfolio companies Mobilion , Aptimmune and Euclises.  ​

Rick received his PhD (Biochemistry) from the University of Illinois and his executive MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.  He obtained his B.S. in chemistry from Central College in Iowa  where he serves on the Board of Trustees.

Denise Heinz co-founded and serves as a Managing Partner for Essential Medication, LLC.  Additionally, Mrs. Heinz is Vice President of Quality at Apertus Pharmaceuticals and heads-up  Apertus’ quality operations, and manages the analytical laboratory team.  She assures full DEA and FDA regulatory compliance.  Denise also provides leadership in daily operations, including the start up and build out of the new facilities.​ 

Denise has over 15 years of pharmaceutical industry experience.  She initially served as the director of quality control for Apertus Pharmaceuticals, and in the process supervised the build-out of a cGMP laboratory, established quality systems for the start-up company, and implemented in-house quality testing for seven product lines.  She previously worked for Mallinckrodt/Covidien pharmaceuticals in quality control, research and development, validations, and manufacturing support.  In those roles, she led the peptide chemistry quality control group and built and led the peptide research laboratory. She later worked in the technical support R&D group as a Senior Research Analytical Chemist where she assisted with OOS investigations, customer complaints, impurity identification, analytical method development and validation for Mallinckrodt’s controlled substance API product lines.  Denise received her Bachelor’s degree (Chemistry) from Knox College. 

Dr. Sutterer serves as the  Cheif Development Officer at Essential Medication, LLC.  Dr. Sutterer also serves as the Chief Technology Development Officer at Apertus Pharmaceuticals, LLC., where she continues to be a critical member of the Leadership Team.  

Dr. Sutterer is a pharmaceutical development leader with proven experience in NDA, ANDA and OTC product development and manufacturing.  Her strengths include leadership and team development, technical and regulatory aptitude, entrepreneurial drive and client relationship management.  She has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry with demonstrated expertise in both API and finished drug product development.  ​ 

A St. Louis native, Dr. Sutterer graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry.  After several years of focusing on API manufacture as a process chemist for Dow Chemical’s Pharma Division, she transitioned to developing and manufacturing finished dosage forms for Fleming Pharmaceuticals, a St. Louis based pharmaceutical company.  For the next 12 years Dr. Sutterer held the technical leadership position at Fleming where she designed and implemented a nasal spray development program resulting in approval and subsequent commercial launch of multiple prescription nasal spray products, developed multiple approved Rx and OTC semi-solid, suspension, and solid dose product formulations, and was credited with launching and growing Fleming’s contract development and manufacturing business.  ​ 

The seven years prior to joining Apertus Pharmaceuticals in 2021 Dr. Sutterer held technical leadership positions in virtual pharma companies (Lumara Health, now Amag Pharmaceuticals, Avadel, and Burke Therapeutics) where she was responsible for leading externally developed drug product pipeline activities including formulation, process, and analytical development; non-clinical, clinical, and regulatory submission strategy and preparation, along with process validation and commercial launch supply planning and execution for sterile injectable, nasal spray, topical, and controlled substance products. 

Dr. Gindelberger is the Chief Scientific Officer at Essential Medication, LLC and founding member.  Additionally, Dr. Gindelberger serves as the President and CEO at Apertus Pharmaceuticals where he leads the product commercialization efforts and business development. Dr. Gindelberger has deep expertise in the manufacturing and regulatory aspects of regulated API’s including over 25 years of research, manufacturing, and management experience in the pharmaceutical and fine chemicals industry. ​ 

Under Dr. Gindelberger’s leadership, Apertus successfully commercialized and launched seven products over the course of 2 years and currently manufactures these products for sale in the US. Prior to Apertus, Dr. Gindelberger was a Principal Scientist for Mallinckrodt in the research and development group.  His duties involved technical support and design of the API manufacturing processes.​ 

Dr. Gindelberger previously started a CRO focused on synthesis of organic compounds, which he managed as President for four years.  While running the CRO Dr. Gindelberger worked with customers such as Sigma Aldrich, ExxonMoble, Umicore, and TCI Americas.​ 

Previously, Dr. Gindelberger was a Director of New Product Development at the Cal Tech based start-up Materia.  At Materia he focused on commercialization of Robert Grubbs’ ruthenium olefin metathesis catalysts, and efforts to use this technology in pharmaceutical production.  He has also worked as a Quality Manager at KMCO, the largest toll processor in the United States, and was a Senior Research Scientist for Exxon early in his career.  Dr. Gindelberger has a total 19 patents and three pending applications spanning a wide variety of disciplines, including controlled substance and catalyst manufacturing.​ 

Dr. Gindelberger received his PhD (Synthetic Chemistry) from the University of California, Berkeley and his Bachelors (Chemistry) from Purdue University. 

Richard Brady

Richard Brady co-founded Essential Medication, LLC and serves as the Chief Financial Officer.  Mr. Brady has a multitude of experience in accounting and finance.  This includes serving as CFO for Apertus Pharamceuticals since its founding in 2011. With a background in public accounting, he brings extensive financial leadership and strategic expertise that plays a crucial role in driving financial performance and ensuring compliance. He leverages this experience to implement rigorous financial controls and optimize resource allocation, contributing to sustainable growth and operational efficiency. 

Prior to joining Apertus Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Brady held pivotal roles in public accounting at several prominent Los Angeles accounting firms specializing in tax compliance, financial reporting and strategic financial management. He has serviced a wide range of sectors including entertainment, insurance, legal and manufacturing. 

Mr. Brady holds a Degree in Business Economics with a minor in Asian American Studies from University of California at Santa Barbara