Healthcare Industry News: Esprit Pharma
News Release - September 21, 2006
EKR Therapeutics Expands Management Team
Appoints Graham S. May as Chief Medical Officer and Bruce Osthoff as Regional Sales DirectorCEDAR KNOLLS, N.J.--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Sept. 21, 2006--EKR Therapeutics, Inc, an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company, announces expansion of its management team with the addition of Graham S. May as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer and Bruce Osthoff as Regional Sales Director. Dr. May joins EKR from Esprit Pharma, and brings extensive successful global pharmaceutical development experience while Mr. Osthoff, previously of PDL Biopharma, brings demonstrated success in building and managing sales teams.
"The addition of seasoned professionals like Graham and Bruce to EKR is a critical step in our company's growth plans", said Howard Weisman, Chairman & CEO. "We now have in place key management that will be responsible for commercializing our first product."
Cathy Kerzner, President & COO, stated, "Graham comes to EKR with a strong background in all phases of drug, medical device and biotechnology development plus demonstrated success in leading key clinical trial programs while at the National Institutes of Health and as former head of a global contract research organization. Bruce's depth in building and managing effective sales teams will be vital to EKR as an emerging pharmaceutical company. He brings to EKR a track record of top performance in both hospital and private practice sales leadership for both pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. With their vast industry leadership experience, Graham and Bruce will be valued members of the EKR executive management team.
Dr. May has more than 25 years as a pharmaceutical development physician in the drug, medical device and biotechnology research industry in the US and Europe. He was responsible for multiple product approvals in a wide array of therapeutic areas. He was most recently with Esprit Pharma, a New Jersey-based company specializing in urology and women's health and prior to that, with ESP Pharma, a company which focused on the hospital acute care area. Dr. May came to the US from the UK in 1980 as a visiting scientist at the Clinical Trials Branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, MD. He participated in a number of landmark cardiovascular studies. He also held senior research positions at Hoechst-Roussel (now Sanofi-Aventis), Pharmacia (now Pfizer), and Cytogen. He was previously a principal with the healthcare practice of Gemini Consulting (now CapGemini), a leading management consulting company, and President ClinTrials Research (now Kendle), a global contract research organization, where he oversaw US Operations. Dr. May has an undergraduate degree from Cambridge University and is an Elected Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Physicians.
Mr. Osthoff has over 18 years of sales experience, with a background in both pharmaceutical and biotechnology areas, covering a wide scope of therapeutic areas in acute and chronic care. He was most recently Regional Sales Director with PDL Biopharma, a biotechnology company focused on critical care in the thrombolytic and oncology segments. Bruce also held sales management positions of increasing responsibility with Elan Pharmaceuticals and Bristol Myers Squibb, where he worked in both the hospital and office-based areas across a number of therapeutic areas including neurology, cardiology and orthopedics surgery. His consistent top performance has earned him high recognition throughout his career, including several awards for his effective interaction with key thought leaders in several disease areas and innovative approaches to helping healthcare providers become familiar with new products. Mr. Osthoff has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Florida.
About EKR Therapeutics, Inc.
EKR Therapeutics was founded to provide prescription products and therapeutic solutions that support and improve the quality of life of cancer patients. As new and increasingly effective therapies emerge, more patients survive cancer. Oncology supportive care is becoming an increasingly critical component in support of patients as they progress through the complex arena of oncology treatment. The management team of EKR believes that cancer survival is largely impacted by the appropriate management of side effects encountered by patients undergoing therapy. EKR Therapeutics is committed to collaborating with the full scope of healthcare practitioners in helping patients adhere to primary treatment through the use of supportive care products.
Source: EKR Therapeutics
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