Leadership Team

Derek Hennecke's background with Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing (GRAM) dates back to 2017. He has been part of GRAM's expansion, which has grown from one facility to four. Derek focuses on maintaining continuity and operational stability across GRAM while continuing to scale up CDMO operations. He is data-driven, results-oriented, and encourages a collaborative leadership style based on extensive experience bringing together highly technical teams.

Derek is the executive chairman of the boards for Microsize and Particle Dynamics and serves as a board director for several other Arlington Capital Partner companies, including GRAM. Previously, he was the founder and CEO of an international CDMO, Xcelience, and has held various leadership positions at DSM across The Netherlands, Mexico, and Egypt. Derek has a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Alberta, an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University in the Netherlands, and a Master of Science in Biology from Harvard University.

Nick Bykerk, chief financial officer, applies his vast leadership experience to develop and execute strategic growth initiatives.

Part of GRAM since 2012, Nick held positions overseeing supply chain, finance, and business development before his current role leading the finance and accounting departments. Nick maintains a critical role in the executive team leading the company through several years of high growth and substantial industry partnerships.

Before joining GRAM, Nick worked at Plante & Moran where he focused on manufacturing and service companies and served in technical, management, and advisory positions. After leaving public accounting, he joined a local manufacturing company as a member of the executive management team to run the finance and accounting departments.

Nick is a CPA and graduated from Calvin College with a degree in public accounting.

John Wichelt brings 25 years of experience at pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries to his role as vice president of client pharmaceutical services. With executive experience at companies regulated by the FDA, John has specific expertise in validation, quality assurance, business development and project management.

Prior to joining GRAM in June of 2010, he was the Midwest regional manager for ProPharma Group, a validation, quality assurance and remediation services company. During his career at GRAM, John has held various roles of increasing responsibility including director of quality assurance and regulatory affairs. John led GRAM’s large-scale fill-finish facility expansion project that was completed in June 2020. The facility was awarded FOYA’s 2021 Special Recognition Award for Operational Agility: COVID-19 Impact.  He is a graduate of Colorado Technical University.

Steve Nole serves as vice president of MSAT, responsible for all manufacturing and packaging operations and facility engineering. He has more than 20 years of industry experience with biologics and small molecule aseptic manufacturing, lyophilization, technical transfer, new facility startup and contract manufacturing organization management. 

Prior to joining GRAM in 2015, Steve held roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer’s pharmaceutical sciences biotherapeutics group in technology transfer and scale-up of biosimilars. Most recently at Pfizer, Steve was senior manager of liquid dose manufacturing at its Andover facility, working with engineering and validation to commission and start up a new sterile fill/finish facility. In his career, he also worked at Anika Therapeutics and King Pharmaceuticals. Steve graduated from Oakland University with a degree in biology. 

Laura Malagon is our vice president of quality and regulatory and a member of Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing’s executive leadership team. She is responsible for GRAM’s quality assurance, quality systems and compliance, laboratory services encompassing quality control, analytical, microbiology and stability, continuous improvement, and regulatory affairs functions. Her extensive pharmaceutical, biotech, drug delivery, and global business operations expertise is invaluable, as she has more than three decades of proficiency and knowledge of quality assurance principles, compliance, and multinational regulatory standards in the cGMP FDA-regulated healthcare manufacturing industry.

Before joining GRAM, Laura was the vice president of quality assurance and learning and development at OrganaBio, LLC, where she was responsible for building the quality team, developing the quality system, and maintaining regulatory licensures for all sites. Before that, she served as vice president of compliance and regulatory at CutisPharma, where she grew and developed the quality department. Laura created a new inspection process, led the company through its first successful PAI, and received its first FDA product approval.

Laura is a patient advocate, passionate about quality, and has a dynamic, diverse background that allows her to assist large and small life science companies. She graduated from Barry University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and she is a certified quality manager through the American Society for Quality and ISO 13485 certified through the BSI group.

Wendy Turner brings invaluable experience and leadership to GRAM's executive team as Vice President of Project Management and Client Relations. Wendy has over 30 years of pharmaceutical industry expertise, with a remarkable 23+ years dedicated to various Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs) such as Baxter Pharmaceutical Solutions, Alcami, and Patheon Pharma Services. Her focus has been on the development and commercial supply of sterile injectable products in multiple presentations.

Throughout her career, Wendy has excelled in Project Management leadership roles, where she has been instrumental in growing businesses, developing personnel, and delivering on customer commitments. Most recently, she spent over six years at CSL, a leading global biotech company, as Sr. Director of R&D Project and Portfolio Management.

Wendy is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Indiana University. She has also completed executive business certification courses at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University.

Dave Powell brings over 28 years of industry experience in aseptic manufacturing, drug delivery, technical transfer, project management, marketing and business development to his role as GRAM’s vice president, business development. Prior to joining GRAM, Dave held various leadership roles within the CDMO organizations at Abbott, Hospira, and Pfizer.

Most recently, Dave led the Development Services and Commercial Accounts organizations of the Pfizer CentreOne contract development and manufacturing business, including accountability for customer management. Over his career, Dave has led global teams of Business Development and Program Management professionals. Part of the GRAM team since 2019, Dave earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from Marquette University.

Kelly is a goal-focused operations professional with over 30 years of experience in the life sciences manufacturing environment. He has a strong background in Lean Six Sigma methodologies and consistently demonstrates his commitment to continuous improvement in productivity, quality, safety, and processes through innovation and customer commitment.

Prior to joining GRAM, Kelly served as Vice President and General Manager at Emergent BioSolutions in Rockville, MD, where he led the fill/finish manufacturing site responsible for producing liquid/lyophilized aseptic viral products. Before that, he was the Sr. Director of Operations at Curia, where he led 24/7 site operations for contract manufacturing and was responsible for technical operations, training and development, and operational excellence teams. Additional experience includes time at Evonik Corporation, Endo Pharmaceuticals, and Abbott Laboratories.

With a bachelor's degree in business administration from Carthage College in Kenosha, WI, and a Six Sigma Green Belt Certification from Edgecombe Community College in Rocky Mount, NC, Kelly brings a unique blend of academic and practical knowledge to his role. His high-integrity leadership and proven track record of success make him a significant contributor to GRAM’s leadership team.