Management Team
At Halteres Associates, our leadership team brings deep operational expertise and strategic vision to every engagement. With decades of combined experience across diagnostics (including molecular diagnostics), life sciences, and global health, our partners have helped shape some of the industry’s most impactful innovations.
Our leadership is defined not just by titles, but by real-world accomplishments. From pioneering viral load testing to leading multinational business units and launching mission-driven organizations, the team applies this insight to help clients navigate complex scientific, regulatory, and commercial landscapes with confidence.
Rich Thayer
MANAGING PARTNER
Rich Thayer is Managing Partner of Halteres Associates, where he brings more than three decades of leadership in molecular diagnostics product development, diagnostic test commercialization, and strategic growth in the life sciences sector.
Prior to joining Halteres, Mr. Thayer served as Vice President and Head of Business Development for Roche Molecular Diagnostics, where he led global strategic planning efforts. Also at Roche, he served as Vice President and Head of Global Blood Screening where he managed the $260 MM Business Unit. Earlier in his career, he co-founded Praxsys Biosystems, a medical diagnostics company, serving as its Chief Financial Officer and Board Member. At Praxsys, he oversaw corporate finance, manufacturing operations, and co-invented two patented technologies. He was also Program Director of the Blood Screening and Infectious Disease Business Unit at Chiron Corporation where he managed product development and manufacturing programs involving over 60 products and 200 employees. Mr. Thayer started his career at Chiron in the DNA sequencing laboratory where he was a member of the hepatitis C virus discovery team.
Mr. Thayer holds a BS in Biochemistry from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Kristi Whitfield
PRINCIPAL AND CONTRACTS MANAGER
Mickey Urdea
FOUNDING PARTNER
Dr. Urdea is Founder and Partner for Halteres Associates and a recognized pioneer in molecular diagnostics product development and diagnostic test innovation. With a career spanning decades at the forefront of bioscience and biotechnology, he brings extensive experience in creating, launching and scaling impactful diagnostics technologies and products across global markets.
He previously founded and led Tethys Bioscience as CEO, a proteomics-based diagnostics company focused on preventing type 2 diabetes, and served as CEO of Quantum Dots Corporation, later acquired by Life Technologies. Earlier in his career, Dr. Urdea launched the Nucleic Acid Diagnostics division at Chiron Corporation, where he led the development of the first commercial viral load assays for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV. He went on to also head Chiron’s Oncology Diagnostics unit and later served as Chief Scientific Officer and Molecular Diagnostics Business Head at Bayer Diagnostics.
An active leader in both the academic and industry spheres, Dr. Urdea is a member of the UCSF Leadership Council for Global Health and sits on several scientific advisory and corporate boards. He is an author of more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and holds over 125 issued and pending patents.
Dr. Urdea earned his BS in Biology and Chemistry from Northern Arizona University, his PhD in Biochemistry from Washington State University, and completed an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco.