Tag Archive for: BioTech and Pharma

Life Science Partner Recruits Ricardo Mesa-Tejada, MD, to Clinical Leadership at Aureon Biosciences

Founder and Director of Immunocytochemistry Laboratory at MetPath/Quest

Life Science Partner announces the recruitment of Dr. Ricardo Mesa-Tejada, a recognized leader in the field of anatomic pathology to become vice president, pathology, Aureon Biosciences Corporation. 

Aureon is a Yonkers, New York-based company enabling personalized patient care utilizing a systems pathology approach to develop predictive clinical tests for cancer care as well as to enable biopharmaceutical research and development.

Dr. Mesa-Tejada will lead the team of specialized anatomical pathologists interrogating and analyzing tissue to provide the first comprehensive and fully integrated view of the progression of cancer by studying multiple molecular pathways of disease as well as micro-anatomic imaging.  By utilizing state-of-the-art informatics, Dr. Mesa-Tejada will be able to provide referring physicians some of the first predictive tests for cancer by integrating molecular pathology and clinical informatics.

“Ricardo is the prototype of physician-scientist who has a keen interest in harnessing new technologies for better patient care,” noted Tom Callaway, MD, founder and president of Life Science Partner.  “He was drawn to Aureon by its intersection of clinical informatics, image analysis and molecular diagnostics to greatly improve the treatment planning of complicated diseases like prostate cancers.”

Dr. Mesa-Tejada is uniquely qualified due to his significant research and clinical service as a pathologist at New York’s Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.  A pioneer in integrating technologies for better patient care, he established the immunocytochemistry laboratory at MetPath in 1987, and remained as either an employee or consultant through its acquisition and integration into Quest Diagnostics.  He remained as director of research in anatomic pathology at the company until 1997.  Until he joined Aureon, he was a consultant to Thieme, an investment banking firm focused on the life sciences.

Dr. Mesa-Tejada received his MD from University of Madrid, completed his residency in Pathology at Columbia-Presbyterian, and was a fellow in OB/GYN Pathology in 1976.

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Russ Ellison, MD, Senior Pharmaceutical Executive Joins FibroGen as Vice President, Clinical Development

Leading Clinical Development of Novel Compounds for Anemia and Fibrosis

Life Science Partner announced today the recruitment of Russell Ellison, MD, to become Vice President, Clinical and Medical Affairs at FibroGen, a biotechnology-based drug discovery company using its expertise in the fields of tissue fibrosis and Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF) biology to discover, develop and commercialize novel therapeutics for fibrotic disorders, anemia, ischemic disease, cancer and other areas of unmet medical needs.

FibroGen also develops and produces recombinant human collagens and gelatins using unique production technology that provides the basis for FibroGen’s proprietary cosmetic dermal filler and biomaterials supply business.

“Russ was attracted to FibroGen due to its extensive portfolio of compounds marching steadily toward the clinic and their potential to dramatically improve the lives of patients with anemia and other life-threatening diseases,” said Thomas H. Callaway, MD, Founder and President of Life Science Partner. “His combination of FDA regulatory experience and global medical affairs made him a perfect fit for this emerging pharmaceutical company,” he added.

Prior to his recruitment to FibroGen, Ellison was Vice President, Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer of Sanofi-Synthelabo USA, with responsibility for building its best-in-class medical affairs, regulatory and safety teams. He oversaw the clinical development of key products such as Plavix and Ambien, and was renown for reducing project development timelines and improving relations with managed care companies.

Ellison was recruited to Sanofi from Hoffmann La Roche. As Vice President, Medical Affairs and the Chief Medical Officer, he oversaw a 300-member organization that oversaw clinical trials, managed medical strategy, intervened on behalf of the company with regulatory agencies and developed clinical development strategies in sync with the company’s commercial strategies for its compounds in development. He was noted by his peers as a rare physician who understood the business aspects, as well as the clinical implications of the pharmaceutical industry.

A Canadian physician, Ellison has a global understanding of drug development and registration, as well as the challenges of reimbursement and clinical acceptance of new drugs. At FibroGen, his skills will be valuable as he builds the clinical and regulatory teams and moves the products from the pre-clinical to clinical development phase.

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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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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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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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Dennis W. Harris Joins Serologicals Executive Team as Vice President

To build Serologicals’ product portfolio, Life Science Partner recruits former Amersham Biotech head of North American R&D, global genomics.

Life Science Partner announces the placement of Dennis W. Harris as vice president of research and development/business development and chief scientific officer at Serologicals Corporation in Norcross, Georgia.

With the move, Harris becomes the senior leader in strategic planning for overall product portfolio expansion as well as identification and development of new product opportunities. Serologicals is a global provider of products and technologies for the development and manufacture of biologically based products. The company competes in three primary areas: specialty cell culture supplements, life science reagents, and diagnostic antibodies.

“In Harris, Serologicals welcomes just the right talent for their product development efforts,” says Life Science Partner Founder and President Thomas H. Callaway. “Harris is a leader in creating integrated systems for genomics and the discovery sciences. And he’s a proven R&D manager at the global level as well.”

Throughout his 22-year career, Harris has demonstrated both a keen scientific awareness and an aptitude for successfully managing research and development projects in the molecular biology industry. In his dual role as vice president of research and development for North America and genomics at Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, for example, Harris led an organization with 220 scientists and engineers while maintaining strategic responsibility for genomics research worldwide, among other duties.

Harris comes to Serologicals most recently from Vitra Bioscience, where he served as executive vice president of research and development. At Vitra, Harris held primary responsibility for automating and integrating cellular assays with engineering software for higher throughput as well as cultivating relationships with top pharmaceutical companies.

As senior vice president for ACLARA BioSciences, a developer of technologies for gene and protein analysis, he directed the company’s R&D program and was heavily involved in strategic development. Later, Harris led system integration and business development efforts at ACLARA BioSciences, in which capacity he closed the company’s largest deal.

Harris launched his career as a development scientist with Amersham in 1982. As life sciences research program manager, based in England, he later led a team of scientists funded by the European Economic Community to develop automated systems for DNA sequencing, template preparation and related methodologies. More recently, while senior program manager at Molecular Dynamics (later acquired by Amersham), he directed the development and launch of the MegaBACE 1000 DNA Sequencing System. In this role, he provided technical and strategic direction while managing engineering, software, applications, reagent development, and marketing. He was then promoted to vice president of research and development for North America and genomics, a position he held for three years.

Harris holds a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

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James Klein Selected by Adherex to Serve as CFO

Life Science Partner recruits pharma finance executive with entrepreneurial and global R&D experience

Life Science Partner announces the placement of James A. Klein, Jr., as chief financial officer at Adherex Technologies, Inc., to be based in its new Research Triangle Park, North Carolina headquarters. Klein assumes overall responsibility for the company’s financial health and integrity. He will oversee ongoing financing of this publicly traded company, including analysis and review of financial data, reporting performance, and internal operations.

A biopharmaceutical company, Adherex discovers and develops cancer therapeutics through its pioneering platform for tumor vascular targeting.

“James Klein’s broad, varied experience prepares him well for Adherex,” says Life Science Partner Founder and President Thomas H. Callaway. “On the one hand, he directed finance for a $500 million international research operation at Wellcome. On the other hand, he was the start-up CFO of an emerging pharma company. So he’s a proven quantity and a tremendous resource.”

To his experience in finance matters ranging from intellectual property to IPOs to cost controls, Klein adds a firm understanding of the drug development, research organizations, and business management. Klein transitions to Adherex from a company he founded, DataScout Software, which develops data acquisition and management solutions for the pharmaceutical industry.

Previously, Klein was an early employee of Triangle Pharmaceuticals, serving as CFO and treasurer. With Klein managing all financial aspects of the operation, Triangle raised venture capital and held a successful initial public offering.  With a market capitalization of more than $500 million at Triangle, Klein oversaw SEC filings, financial reporting, accounting, budgeting, long-range planning, risk management, as well as investor relations.

At Burroughs, Klein held the titles of international R&D financial controller, senior financial analyst, and various other corporate accounting positions. Here, he held financial responsibility for a $500 million, international R&D operation. In addition to financial reporting, Klein guided business plans for new product acquisitions; managed facilities expansions; and served as a member of the international integration committee during the Glaxo-Wellcome merger.

Klein earned his accounting degree at the University of Mississippi. He is a certified public accountant in the state of North Carolina.

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