ForeRunner's keen focus in bio-pharmaceutical product development and launch readiness coupled with deep first-hand experience is what sets us apart from the alternatives in the market. We’re able to efficiently and effectively work with you and your team to create comprehensive, integrated product development and launch readiness components to get your teams into harmonized stride.

Our team has a unique blend of experience in commercial strategy and operational planning excellence. We are seasoned veterans in the industry with in-line and consulting experience in bio-pharmaceutical product development planning and design.

Managing Partners

Kevin O'Neill

Kevin is a global pharmaceutical industry leader with over 30 years of commercial leadership experience in a wide range of technologies and disease states. He has successfully launched multiple blockbuster pharmaceutical brands which generated >$9 billion in peak year sales.

As a launch strategist, Kevin has built innovative strategies for cancer, cardiovascular disease, dietary supplements, vaccines, orthopedic devices and many other areas.

Kevin was the commercial leader for the successful launches of the Protonix™ (a proton pump inhibitor) and Prevenar™ 13 (a 13 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine) franchises and has contributed strategy to eight other product launches in line management and consulting roles. Kevin has served as President of Life Science Business Strategies, LLC and prior to that he was the Global Vice President of Vaccines at Pfizer / Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. He holds a BS in Biology from Ursinus College and has attended numerous executive leadership programs at Harvard Business and Law Schools and the Wharton School.

Tim Zuponcic

Tim is a successful operations leader who, in line management and consulting roles, has worked with executive and line teams in regulated environments to optimize operations and meet business goals. His experience spans sales and marketing operations, global operations, organizational change and transition, product development, business process excellence, and pharmaceutical sales.

Tim has led the design and implementation of bio-pharma commercial product development process frameworks which include the creation of end-to-end innovation constructs that provided decision-gates, processes, and governance for ideation and product development pipelines across Marketing, R&D, Regulatory, Clinical, Manufacturing, Health Outcomes, and others.

Consultant Partners

Brian Kitson

Brian has over 20 years of management consulting and training experience, providing consulting services to the life sciences, manufacturing, public services, healthcare, finance, and education industries. Brian has led and implemented a wide range of initiatives in strategic alignment, process redesign, organization development, and change management. He has led several major transformational programs, from organizational structural design and improvement, to process mapping and refinement, to cultural transformation.

Some of his major clients have included Pfizer, Wyeth, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Allergan, CSL Behring, Covidien, SEPTA, the PA Turnpike Authority, Amerix, and New York-Presbyterian Hospital. In addition to his work in the United States, Brian has done work in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, China, and the Pacific Rim.

Brian has an M.B.A. from Boston University and a B.A. from Syracuse University, and a certificate in International Organization and Systems Development from the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. He has served as a U.S. Army officer for the last twenty-four years, currently serving a Lieutenant Colonel (O-5) in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

Karin Sassa

Karin is a pharmaceutical project management leader with expertise in pharma and bio-pharma asset development for global and US commercialization launch planning. Her combined skills of organizational effectiveness, project and program management, coupled with an entrepreneurial mindset, leads teams in small and large companies to successful launches.

Karin's collaborative style makes her a leader skilled in motivating cross-functional teams to achieve aggressive goals and objectives. Karin applies her skills in Knowledge Management and Six-Sigma methodologies to get the most out of the teams she manages.

Karin has more than 20 years experience, has a Masters Certificate in Program Management and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Joe Cirino

Joe is an experienced and proven pharmaceutical and life sciences executive with over 25 years of global experience in payer strategy, market access, financial management, business development, and marketing.   He has worked in a wide range of therapeutic areas and has provided effective project leadership and first-hand experience building global payer strategies for assets throughout the development and commercialization process.

Joe's work includes building strong stakeholder engagement plans to augment payer strategies and building support for value-driven payer strategies.  Joe has held numerous leadership roles and has managed a portfolio of assets in various stages of development exceeding $10 Billion in sales.

Joe holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from Villanova University and an M.B.A. in Business & Finance from St. Joseph's University. Joe has had training in University of Arizona College of Pharmacy's Health Economics and Outcomes Research Training Program, Wharton's Value Creation and Pharmaceutical Pricing, MIT's Leading Enterprise Change, and Harvard's Negotiation Skills.