Swapan Sen Recruited to Lead Expansion of eRadiology at Cleveland Clinic

Bringing a lifetime of commercial radiology management to internationally renown academic institution

Life Science Partner announced today the recruitment of Swapan Sen to become Executive Director, eRadiology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Sen was previously the President and COO of Raytel Imaging Holdings, a division of SHL-Telemedicine Ltd., which provides radiology services and new facilities that provide for  the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.

“Sen has the broad financial and operational management of radiology centers, with a strong background in the commercial arena of national operations, “noted Thomas H. Callaway, MD, President and Founder of Life Science Partner.  “He was attracted to joining the Cleveland Clinic because their cutting-edge radiology technologies and international brand recognition gives them a leg-up in the emerging market for teleradiology.”

The eRadiology Department at Cleveland Clinic provides services and equipment to allow geographically dispersed radiologists access to experienced specialists in the development of outpatient imaging centers (including site selection and design, equipment acquisition, employee recruitment and training) and teleradiological access to the academic, subspecialty trained radiologists of the Cleveland Clinic.

At Raytel Imaging, Sen led a company that owns and operates stand-alone, multi-modality diagnostic imaging centers across the country. These centers provide a wide variety of imaging services, which include MRI and MRA, CT, Ultrasound, Mammography, Nuclear Imaging, DEXA Scanning and X-Ray.  Since its acquisition in April 2002 by SHL-Telemedicine, Sen oversaw its expansion into cardiac monitoring (e.g., EKG telemonitoring) and cardiac imaging, including nuclear cardiac business.

Early in his career, Sen was a leader in the introduction of Nuclear Magnetic Imaging (MRI) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.  He received his B.S. from Calcutta University, in Calcutta, India and his MS in Healthcare Administration at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

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BD Biosciences Recruits Jim Carraher to Become Director, Program Management of Cellular Analysis Business

Life Science Partner recruits proven project management leader at Dade Behring and Syva Company

Life Science Partner announces the placement of James (Jim) D. Carraher, formerly director of program management at Pelikan Technologies, to become the director of program management, cellular analysis business unit at BD Biosciences. 

BD Biosciences, a division of Becton, Dickinson and Company, provides a comprehensive portfolio of reagents, systems and technical expertise to accelerate the pace of biomedical discovery and diagnosis.

In this new role, Carraher will be responsible for the BD Bioscience cellular analysis product development team – speeding products rapidly from concept to prototype to final product in manufacturing and into the research scientist’s laboratory.  Carraher will  accelerate product development for this world leader in flow cytometry solutions for research and clinical use for immune function, vaccine research, infectious disease and oncology.

At Pelikan Technologies, Carraher led an entrepreneurial team to develop the next generation sample acquisition and blood glucose monitoring.  Previously, he was director of project management at Aviron, a vaccine company developing the FluMist delivery system.

“Jim is a top-flight project manager, who has been proven on the international stage,” says Life Science Partner vice president Cindi. Roberts. “He will prove a valuable addition to speeding the commercialization of BD Biosciences’ considerable portfolio.”

Carraher comes to BD Bioscience with more than 20 years of experience developing leading-edge diagnostic products.   In addition to Pelikan Technologies, Carraher has had leadership roles in product management, international marketing and business general management during 20 years at Syva and its successors Behring Diagnostics and Dade Behring. 

While living in Germany during 1996 to 2000 leading global product management for Dade Behring, he introduced the first Customer Advisory Board and Technology Advisory Board that created the Company’s first detailed product lifecycle plan.  The net resulting efficiency was seen in a 17% reduction in manufacturing cost and reduced post-installation service calls.

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Steven Damon Joins Altea Therapeutics as VP, Business Development

Life Science Partner places drug delivery executive to guide business development

Life Science Partner announced the placement of Steven Damon as vice president, business development at Altea Therapeutics. Hired August 22, 2005, Damon will be responsible for leading activities in product licensing, product pipeline analysis and assessment of competitive products and technologies. 

In particular, he will be responsible for evaluating and concluding agreements for development, manufacturing and marketing of Altea’s products.

“Damon’s knowledge of the drug delivery space, coupled with his repeated success in cultivating strong and productive relationships with potential partners and closing the deal, prepares him well for this key position,” says Cynthia B. Roberts, vice president at Life Science Partner.

As a senior business development executive with DURECT Corporation, Damon was highly successful in assessing market potential, providing due diligence, and term sheet and contract negotiation.  In addition, he handled all market research and market conditioning activities related to the DURECT product pipeline including opinion leader relationships, interviews with patients and physicians, conferences, presentations, pricing and reimbursement planning and product concept planning.  During his tenure, he was also the chairman and president of Absorbable Polymers International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DURECT. Damon joined the Company as a director of market development responsible for preparing the market for Chronogesic from a commercial development perspective which culminated in a significant deal with Endo Pharmaceuticals.

Previously, Damon spent 13 years with Kimberly Clark proving his versatility in a range of positions. His most recent role as director of mergers and acquisitions for Professional Health Care allowed him to work on two significant medical device acquisitions: Ballard Medical and Safeskin.

Damon spent his early career in the sales and marketing function at Kimberly Clark, starting in Roswell, GA as a sales representative and moving through positions in corporate and district sales before accepting a role as business development manager for Europe based in Düsseldorf.  He was promoted to director of sales for Europe based in London before returning to the US in 1999 in the mergers and acquisitions role.

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PrognostiX Welcomes Mark Willig as new CEO

Life Science Partner places entrepreneurial-minded sales exec to lead Cleveland Clinic’s diagnostic services spin-off

Life Science Partner announces the placement of Mark R.Willig, as CEO, at Cleveland-based PrognostiX, Inc. As the company’s chief executive, Willig will lead product development and commercialization of technology while overseeing finance and marketing strategy.

A medical diagnostics company founded by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, PrognostiX’s testing kits and laboratory services focus on inflammatory processes in major disease areas including cardiovascular, respiratory, neurodegenerative disease and obesity.

“It’s been invigorating to watch this come together for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s first homegrown spin off,” says Thomas H. Callaway, Life Science Partner’s founder and president. “PrognostiX has won product approval, defined a strategy, and prepared for production. What they needed was an entrepreneur to catalyze sales and organizational development. Mark fits that bill very well.”

Willig joins another Life Science Partner placement at PrognostiX, Vijay Aggarwal, who is a member of the board of directors.

At both established and specialized diagnostic firms, as well as companies serving other healthcare fields, Willig has demonstrated his ability to devise successful go-to-market strategies while planning, assembling and managing effective sales forces. Previously with Specialty Labs, a clinical reference laboratory and diagnostic research company, he was senior vice president of sales and marketing. There, he set strategy for the sales and marketing organization, guiding transitions to a customer-driven focus, a vertical-markets approach, and greater international revenues. Under Willig, Specialty was the only national reference lab to record eight consecutive quarters of organic revenue growth.

As vice president of sales at Myriad Genetics, a biopharmaceutical company, Willig led an organization that saw sales increase by an average of 200 percent annually over a four-year period. Willig managed a total in-house staff of 106 people in addition to an alliance partner’s sales force of 700. He also held responsibility for sales infrastructure and process improvements including a customer relationship management software implementation.

With software developer Orca Medical Systems, as vice president of sales and marketing, Willig devised the start-up’s first marketing strategies, which targeted hospital emergency departments worldwide. He also recruited and trained a national sales force. Within 18 months, Orca won $3 million in new business and added some of the most prestigious provider organizations in the US to its client roster.

Willig began his career in the diagnostics division of Abbott Laboratories, a provider of diagnostic instrumentation and reagents to hospitals, clinics and reference labs. Most recently at Abbott, as integrated health systems manager, Willig had responsibility over a staff of 42 sales reps selling to and serving large healthcare systems.

Willig holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri.

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Amy Boyle Joins International Team at St. Jude Medical

Life Science Partner places cardio device industry executive to guide international strategy, marketing and product launches.

Life Science Partner announces the recruitment of Amy Boyle as vice president, marketing of the International Division at St. Jude Medical, Inc. For the company’s International Division, encompassing Canada, Latin America, Europe/Middle East/Africa, Asia and Australia/New Zealand, Boyle will have responsibility for marketing strategy and performance.

Her team will coordinate product launches, oversee relevant training programs, and strengthen government relations. St. Jude, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, designs, manufactures and distributes mechanical and tissue heart valves, defibrillators, and other medical devices for use in treating heart conditions.

“Amy’s broad knowledge of this therapeutic space, coupled with her repeated success in cultivating strong productive relationships with sales forces and clients, prepares her well for this key role,” says Tom. Callaway, MD, Life Science Partner’s founder and president.

As a senior executive in the highly competitive field of cardiac rhythm management (CRM), Boyle’s career is replete with successful product launches and solid market growth. She comes to St. Jude from Medtronic, where she was a regional vice president for CRM responsible for major accounts and physician group strategy and execution, education and market development.

In various previous positions with Medtronic, Boyle has proven her ability to meet a range of challenges. As a director of sales and marketing, she held P&L responsibility for the company’s vascular business in Canada. While a regional manager, she created and led a diverse team that directed sales, field clinical support, customer education and market development for CRM, in Medtronic’s highest-grossing Canadian region. When a marketing manager, Boyle managed the company’s coronary angioplasty business across all territories in Canada—including the launch of the company’s stent technology. The business unit’s revenues grew by a factor of six in an 18 month period. Also as a marketing manager, Boyle developed Medtronic’s Canadian tachyarrhythmia business, extending market share from 51 percent to 85 percent.

Boyle began her professional career as a physical therapist at Toronto Western Hospital and Credit Valley Hospital near Toronto.   Boyle has an MBA from York University and a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy from Queen’s University.

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PrognostiX Board Welcomes Dr. Vijay Aggarwal

Life Science Partner recruits industry veteran to board of directors for emerging cardiovascular diagnostics firm

Life Science Partner announces the placement of Vijay Aggarwal, Ph.D., as a member of the board of directors for PrognostiX, Inc. Basing its work largely on research from The Cleveland Clinic, PrognostiX focuses on the role of inflammatory processes in cardiovascular, respiratory, and other disease areas.

“Early-stage companies like PrognostiX can really benefit from the advice and guidance of marketplace veterans,” says Thomas H. Callaway, Life Science Partner’s founder and president. “Vijay is an entrepreneurial CEO with an impressive history at market-leading clinical lab companies. He knows the diagnostic testing business, so we’re pleased that we were able to connect Vijay with PrognostiX’s board.”

Dr. Aggarwal is a seasoned executive who has held senior-level positions in the diagnostic lab sector as well as in pharmaceutical and medical device development. He agreed to join the board based on his assessment of PrognostiX’s core platform of laboratory tests, which show promise in enhancing cardiovascular diagnoses. He is currently CEO and president of Aureon Biosciences, which is developing pathology technologies that predict individual clinical outcomes by analyzing tissue.

Prior to Aureon, Dr. Aggarwal was president at aaiPharma. In addition to leading all research and development activities for this specialty pharmaceutical company, he was responsible for a $100 million contract product development business that served start-up, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies.

With Quest Diagnostics, as president of Quest Diagnostic Ventures, Dr. Aggarwal oversaw e-commerce strategy, pharmaceutical clinical trials, medical diagnostic equipment, medical informatics, point-of-care testing and other high-growth opportunities. He also held P&L responsibility for an existing product portfolio and headed the lab operations integration team during the merger between Quest and SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories (SBCL).

With SBCL for more than a decade, Dr. Aggarwal rose from his position as a regional technical director to vice president and director of U.S. laboratories, with responsibility over $1.2 billion in sales.

Dr. Aggarwal has also consulted in the areas of e-prescribing, pharmacogenomics, healthcare informatics, clinical diagnostics and technology licensing for companies such as WebMD, Genomic Health, InstantDX, and Plexus Ventures.

Dr. Aggarwal holds a doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology from Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia Campus, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Case Western Reserve University.

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Medtronic Hires Kathy Lewis As A Clinical Information Solutions Director

Life Science Partner places IT product development and customer service expert in lead technology role

Life Science Partner announces the placement of Kathy Lewis, MPH, as director for Paceart and clinic practice management solutions at Medtronic, Inc. in Minneapolis.

In this new position, Lewis will lead market analysis and strategic planning efforts, oversee customer relationships, and guide the integration of the company’s Paceart solution with complementary clinical workflow products. Medtronic is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies. Paceart’s scheduling, analysis, device monitoring and other features help healthcare professionals deliver care to arrhythmia patients.

“Kathy is a healthcare IT veteran who has also excelled as a solution-based manager,” says Thomas H. Callaway, Life Science Partner’s founder and president. “At healthcare software start-up Abaton.com, she was responsible for some of the company’s first installations. Her continued success at McKesson demonstrates her effectiveness as a manager, customer service advocate, and both ambulatory and inpatient workflow expert.”

An experienced clinical information technology executive, Lewis complements her product development process knowledge with particularly strong customer skills.

Lewis comes to Medtronic from McKesson Information Solutions. As director of client services there, she led pricing, implementation planning, system transition and ROI evaluation for major new product families. Also previously vice president of product management for the company’s iMcKesson division, she managed a staff of 45 and held responsibility for design, documentation and quality assurance of web-based clinical systems.

Previously, Lewis was director of client services at Abaton.com, managing implementation, training and quality assurance efforts for laboratory, prescription and charting systems. During the company’s acquisition by McKesson, she guided the client services organization’s transition.

Her corporate career began at HealthPartners Medical Group, where Lewis managed a wide range of strategic and operational information systems initiatives.

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Shelley Hartman Tapped To Lead GMP Companies

Life Science Partner places healthcare industry strategist and investment banker to guide medical device company.

Life Science Partner announces the placement of Shelley Hartman as president and chief executive officer for GMP Companies, Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In addition to her overall responsibilities for global strategy, finance, and operations, Hartman will direct GMP Companies’ continued expansion and transformation toward a greater emphasis on commercialization of its innovative products. GMP Companies’ pharmaceutical, diagnostic and medical device technologies help treat medical conditions including diabetes, glaucoma, genetic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, immunologic diseases, cancer and neurological disorders.

“Shelley will be able to put her broad talents and knowledge of the industry to great use for a company with such farreaching complexity like GMP,” says Thomas H. Callaway, Life Science Partner’s founder and president. “As a financier who has worked with some of the biggest names in the medical device and healthcare services fields, she’ll impact GMP’s strategic partnership portfolio and commercialization efforts.”

Hartman is an experienced investment banker with a background in corporate strategy and mergers and acquisitions.

Before joining GMP Companies, Hartman was vice president and managing director of Goldman Sachs’ medical technology investment banking division, a group she created to serve both emerging and established medical device companies. Also at Goldman Sachs, Hartman held the same title at the healthcare services division. In these roles, she
has helped senior executive teams define strategy at some of the nation’s largest healthcare companies.

Hartman began her career at First Boston, where she held several positions, including vice president of the mergers and acquisitions division in the firm’s healthcare division.

Hartman is a graduate of Wellesley College, with a degree in economics and math.

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Adherex Selects Brian Huber As Chief Scientific Officer

Life Science Partner connects accomplished research executive with cancer therapeutics company

Life Science Partner announces the placement of Brian E. Huber, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer (CSO) at Adherex Technologies, Inc., in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. As CSO, Huber will lead a 20-person research and development team focused on the preclinical development of compounds.

He and his team will provide scientific intelligence and guide decisions about potential clinical effectiveness and regulatory strategies. A biopharmaceutical company, Adherex discovers and develops cancer therapeutics through its pioneering platform for tumor vascular targeting.

“Brian’s a prime example of a scientist who thrived after his original transition from academia. In the ’90s, he was at Glaxo, which was known for its modern, innovative research organization,” says Thomas H. Callaway, Life Science Partner’s founder and president. “During that time, he demonstrated great entrepreneurial instincts and an ability to build high-performance drug development infrastructures. Adherex’s broad oncology pipeline should benefit from his work.”

A successful manager, Huber has managed multiple departments and large staffs at one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. As a researcher who has secured many patents, he has contributed extensively to the literature and has frequently lectured at and organized symposia.

Huber comes to Adherex from GlaxoSmithKline where, most recently, he held the position of vice president of biology and pharmacology drug discovery. In this role, he was accountable for seven departments with total staff numbering 170, held therapeutic responsibility in more than a dozen areas, managed the portfolio from strategy through target selection and preclinical development, and chaired both joint ventures and major strategic alliances.

Under Glaxo Wellcome, he was director, and more recently vice president of the division of pharmacology with responsibility for the departments of cancer biology, rheumatic diseases, the metabolic diseases and virology.

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Rajesh Malik Chosen To Lead Clinical Development – Adherex

Life Science Partner places pharmaceutical veteran and oncology specialist as chief medical officer

ATLANTA, Georgia – September 7, 2004 – Life Science Partner announces the placement of Rajesh K. Malik, M.B., Ch.B. as chief medical officer at Adherex Technologies, Inc., in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. With the position, Malik takes responsibility for the clinical development efforts behind Adherex’s growing portfolio of oncology products. He will

guide decisions about clinical utility, formulate regulatory strategies for the U.S. and Europe, lead the clinical trials design team, and promote physician advocacy. A biopharmaceutical company, Adherex discovers and develops cancer therapeutics through its pioneering platform for tumor vascular targeting.

“For Adherex, Raj was an exceptional find,” says Life Science Partner, Founder and President Thomas H. Callaway. “In addition to his original insights into anti-angiogenesis, which is at the core of Adherex’s product portfolio, he has a successful record of regulatory submission on three continents and he fully understands the commercialization process.”

A pediatric oncologist by training, Malik combines experience in cutting-edge academic research with strong business analytical skills and accomplishments in corporate pharmaceutical environments large and small.

Prior to Adherex, Malik was executive director at EMD Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Germany-based Merck KGaA. As part of senior management at EMD, Malik led global project management for single oncology products and served on the company’s combined business and clinical operations team to guide global oncology product strategy.

As associate director at Bristol Myers Squibb, Malik held responsibility for the clinical development strategy for oral taxane worldwide and provided clinical oversight for Erbitux in Europe.

Malik also spent seven years as an assistant professor at the University of Virginia, where his research focused on signal transduction across the interface of integrins and extra cellular matrix.

Malik holds a medical degree from the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K. He is licensed in pediatrics in North Carolina and Virginia.

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