Radnor, PA, June 1, 2009 QR Pharma, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), today announced the election of Paul Blake, MD, Hal Broderson, MD, MBA and Franz Hefti, PhD to the QR Board of Directors. These appointments follow the recent announcement that QR raised seed financing from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of SE PA.
“As QR continues to grow, it is with pleasure that I announce the appointment of three outstanding and distinguished individuals to our newly established Board of Directors,” said Maria Maccecchini, PhD, CEO of QR Pharma. “Paul, Hal and Franz, with their extensive experience in startup strategy and funding as well as Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials and design, are a significant addition to the company. Since QR is a clinical stage company, it is imperative that we have expertise in clinical strategy and development. Specifically our Board brings a wealth of knowledge and deep understanding in drug development and FDA relations and in how to translate that knowledge into successful clinical outcomes as well as successful strategic exits.”
Paul Blake, MD, F.R.C.P. Dr. Blake is the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Clinical Research and Development of Aeterna Zentaris, Inc. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President and then Executive Vice President of Worldwide Medical and Regulatory Operations at Cephalon, Inc. From 1992 to 1998, he held the position of Senior Vice President and Medical Director, Clinical Research and Development at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals (now GSK). Prior to that, he worked for ICI Pharmaceuticals (now Astra Zeneca) and G.D. Searle. Dr. Blake sat on the board of Memory Pharmaceutical, Inc., until it was purchased by Roche in 2009 and was a founding board member of Protez Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until it was purchased by Novartis in 2008. He was also a Director of ViaCell, Inc., until its purchase by Perkin Elmer in 2007.
Hal S. Broderson, MD, MBA. Dr. Broderson is the President of Rock Hill Ventures where he pioneered the use of the virtual company business model for maximum start-up company capital efficiency. Prior to that, he was a General Partner of Hillman Medical Ventures, a venture capital fund. He started his career at SmithKline and French Laboratories (now GSK) as the Associate Director of Strategic Planning and Analysis. Dr. Broderson has been the CEO of six venture capital backed biomedical start-ups: Genvec, Corbec Pharmaceuticals, Selectus Pharmaceuticals, Cogent, Focus and Agile Therapeutics. He has a broad operational skill set with extensive experience identifying, funding, managing and exiting biomedical companies. He has raised multiple rounds of capital while advancing five product candidates from the pre-IND stage, through Phase 2 clinical trials. During his career, he has structured and managed liquidity events via stock purchases, asset purchases and IPOs in both investor and management roles. Dr. Broderson received his MD from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and his MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Franz Hefti, PhD. Dr. Hefti is currently Chief Scientific Officer of Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, a biotech company developing imaging agents for neurodegenerative diseases. He also serves as advisor to several biotech companies developing therapeutics for neurological diseases. Previously, he was Executive Vice President of Drug Development at Rinat Neuroscience Corporation, a company acquired by Pfizer Inc. which developed antibody therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease and chronic pain. Before joining Rinat, he was Senior Vice President of Neuroscience Research at Merck & Co. for eight years, where he coordinated the company’s neuroscience research worldwide, serving as site head for the neuroscience research centers in the U.K. and San Diego. Prior to Merck & Co., Dr. Hefti was Director of the Neuroscience Research Department at Genentech. Prior to Genentech, he spent more than a decade in academia as a Professor at the University of Southern California and Associate Professor at the University of Miami. Dr. Hefti received his PhD from the University of Zurich and did his postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Max Planck Institute in Munich.
About QR Pharma, Inc
About QR Pharma, Inc.: Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, QR Pharma, Inc. is a clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company committed to developing therapeutics with novel approaches for the treatment of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). QR currently has two product development programs based on oral small-molecule, blood-brain barrier passable therapeutics that target two distinct pathways for the treatment of AD.
Contact: Maria L. Maccecchini, PhD
Tel: 484 253 2296
Fax: 484 253 2288
maccecchini@qrpharma.com
http://qrpharma.wbprg.pw