• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

ProNAi Announces Executive Team Buildup, Names New CEO and Top Development Management

Posted on: Tuesday, 26 September 2006, 09:01 CDT

ProNAi Therapeutics, Inc., a pioneer in developing a novel class of

drugs based on DNA interference (DNAi), today announced that it has

built up its leadership team, adding a veteran CEO and top R&D and

management executives with long track records of success in life

sciences.

Recently, the company named longtime life sciences executive Dr.

Richard D. Gill as its new Chief Executive Officer, as ProNAi closes

its bridge financing and embarks on its upcoming B round of investment.

In addition, ProNAi has also named the following company officers:

Donald C. Anderson, MD, Chief Medical Officer

Dr. J. Patrick McGovren, Vice President of Preclinical

Development

Dr. Wendi V. Rodrigueza, Vice President of Product Development

Daniel C. Wade, Project Manager

Douglas A. Burlingham, Controller

Robert Forgey, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of ProNAi, said, "ProNAi

is both thrilled and honored to have on board what can only be described

as an 'all star'

team of distinguished and proven life sciences leaders to help direct

and guide our campaign to bring DNAi-based drugs to market. We are

especially proud that the majority of our new company leadership hails

from the Kalamazoo area, as a testament to the deep and rich pharma

development talent in Michigan."

Dr. Gill said, "I am delighted to join the

ProNAi team, alongside such excellent and quality professionals, as we

embark on this fascinating mission. We feel it is both rare and unique --

almost unprecedented - that such impressive and successful big pharma

experience and knowledge becomes concentrated in a small dynamic

company. We are excited at our upcoming prospects for building our

business, and creating the first-ever pipeline of drugs based on our

novel and promising DNAi technology."

Team ProNAi Profiles

Dr. Richard D. Gill, CEO -- Dr. Gill

joins ProNAi following over 25 years of strategic management, research

and technology commercialization experience, as CEO of numerous life

sciences and bio-IT companies. Most recently, Dr. Gill served as

President and CEO of Signet Laboratories, Inc., a maker of monoclonal

antibodies, and prior to that, was President and CEO of AnVil, Inc,

following a similar post at ActiveCyte.

Donald C. Anderson, MD, CMO -- Dr.

Anderson has over 32 years of prestigious and award-winning service in

life sciences industrial and academic environments, most recently

serving as VP Discovery Research at Advancis Pharmaceutical

Corporation, following a term as Global Head of Pharmacogenomics at

Aventis Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Anderson has also served in executive

capacities at Pharmacia & Upjohn, as well as held a 20-year

professorship at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. J. Patrick McGovren, VP, Preclinical Development --

Dr. McGovren is a longtime and well-known cancer research specialist,

holding senior positions in big pharma oncology departments, as well

as extensive consulting experience. Prior to joining ProNAi, Dr.

McGovren was most recently Research Director, Clinical Pharmacology,

Medical Development at Pfizer, following a term as Clinical Research

Manager, Oncology Medical Affairs at Pharmacia. Between 1976 and 2000,

Dr. McGovren held numerous senior research and management positions at

Pharmacia & Upjohn.

Dr. Wendi V. Rodrigueza, VP, Product Development - Dr.

Rodrigueza, whose therapeutic research expertise includes

cardiovascular disease, oncology, diabetes and metabolic diseases,

joins ProNAi after most recently serving at Novartis Institute of

Biomedical Research, Inc. (NIBRI) as Director, Product Management,

Cardiovascular Disease Area. Prior to NIBRI, Dr. Rodrigueza held

numerous senior research positions at both CuraGen and Esperion

Therapeutics (now a division of Pfizer Global Research and

Development).

Daniel C. Wade, Project Manager --

Mr. Wade has a long and successful track record in pharma project

management, having served in a wide number of project leadership roles

during his 31-year tenure at Pfizer, most recently as project manager

of the company's New Products Group

(1992-2005), where he helped lead a number of successful new drugs to

market.

Douglas A. Burlingham, Controller --

Mr. Burlingham has over 30 years of financial and accounting

experience, of which over 20 years were served in life sciences,

notably The Upjohn Company, Pharmacia & Upjohn and Pfizer. He obtained

is CPA in 1982 and received his MBA in Finance from Western Michigan

University in 1992.

About ProNAi Therapeutics, Inc.

ProNAi Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical drug development

company pioneering a new class of nucleic-acid drugs based on DNA

interference (DNAi), which employs single strands of DNA to target and

treat non-transcribed regions of genomes responsible for complex genetic

diseases.

ProNAi is currently developing multiple DNAi-based drug candidates with

the potential to treat multiple cancers, including non-Hodgkin's

lymphoma, prostate, breast, and colon cancers. The company's

lead drug candidate, PNT 100, which has demonstrated in vivo

efficacy in a variety of human tumor xenograft models, is currently in

preclinical development. ProNAi is also exploring the potential of

DNAi-based therapies for indications such as diabetes, Alzheimer's

and inflammatory disease.

ProNAi is based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. For more information, please

visit: www.pronai.com.

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category