Healthcare Industry News: TargeGen
News Release - October 25, 2006
CoLucid Names James F. White as President and Chief Executive Officer
Lilly Veteran Offers Start-up, Drug Development Experience to Focus CoLucid GrowthINDIANAPOLIS--(HSMN NewsFeed)--CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a development stage biopharmaceutical company developing new treatment for migraine headaches, pain and other neurological disorders, has announced James F. White, Ph.D., as President and Chief Executive Officer. Additionally, White has been elected to serve as a member of the CoLucid Board of Directors.
White is in charge of leading day-to-day activities of the company, including managing the progression of the initial migraine compound and the company's existing portfolio of pharmaceutical therapies.
In addition to White, CoLucid has hired Nadia Rupniak, Ph.D., as Executive Director of Project and Alliance Management. Rupniak has 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry at Merck and was formerly head of project management at Dynogen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a start-up located in North Carolina.
Joining White and Rupniak on the management team is Barbara Dearry, who is the Director of Operations. Dearry has a significant amount of experience in small biotech operations, with over 20 years in operations and administration in biotechnology and pharmaceutical ventures.
"The investors are pleased to have recruited an executive with Jim's relevant experiences and leadership capabilities to lead CoLucid," said Art Pappas, Chairman of the CoLucid Board of Directors and Managing Partner of Pappas Ventures. "Jim and his team have the experience to move this company forward in its growth and development." Pappas was the founding CEO of CoLucid Pharmaceuticals.
CoLucid has also assembled a Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board. Joining White and Pappas on the Board of Directors is Jesse I. Treu, Partner, Domain Associates.
Members of the Scientific Advisory Board are Peter J. Goadsby, Professor of Clinical Neurology, The National Hospital, London; J. David Leander, a retired Lilly Research Fellow; Nabih M. Ramadan, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology, Rosalind Franklin University and Alison J. Pilgrim, who brings outstanding clinical development insight to CoLucid from her years of experience at Glaxo and other pharmaceutical companies. She also serves as Chief Medical Officer for CoLucid.
White received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Purdue University. Following completion of his work at Purdue, White joined Eli Lilly and Company as a Senior Toxicologist, where he was responsible for the toxicological evaluation of several new drugs targeted for cardiovascular disease, central nervous system disorders and cancer. Over a 20 year career at Lilly, White held several senior management positions in the company's central nervous system drug discovery and development programs.
In 2001, White joined Hypnion, Inc., a biotech company in the Boston-area as Executive Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Operating Officer. In that role, he led a multi-disciplinary team to discover and develop new non-addicting sleep and wake promoting medications.
"I look forward to working with the Board of Directors and the Scientific Advisory Board to help set the future direction of CoLucid," said White. "Their support and involvement is so important and I am pleased to be working with such a talented group of scientific and business leaders."
Pappas Ventures seed funded and formed CoLucid. The company was formed with a novel clinical stage migraine compound licensed from Eli Lilly and Company and the acquisition of a novel chemistry platform from an East-coast biotech company
The Series A financing was co-led by Pappas Ventures and New Jersey-based Domain Associates with other investors including Triathlon Medical Ventures and Pearl Street Venture Funds.
About CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CoLucid Pharmaceuticals is a development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and discovering therapeutics that will be used to treat neurological dysfunctions. CoLucid is committed to developing pharmaceuticals with novel mechanisms of action to treat various neurological disorders including migraine headaches. The company also possesses a robust chemistry platform that will produce unique bifunctional neuromodulators to treat indications such as Alzheimer's disease. For more information, please contact CoLucid Pharmaceuticals at 317-684-6703.
About Pappas Ventures
Pappas Ventures is a Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based venture capital firm that invests nationally in the life science industry. Founded in 1994, Pappas has $230 million under management and recently began investing its third venture capital fund. Among Pappas Ventures' more than 40 current and former portfolio companies are Arena Pharmaceuticals, Bayhill Therapeutics, NuVasive, Panacos Pharmaceuticals, Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, Plexxikon, and TargeGen. The firm's primary investment focus is on product oriented biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies with a secondary focus on medical technologies. For more information visit www.pappasventures.com.
About Domain Associates
Domain Associates, LLC is a venture capital firm focused on health care product opportunities including biopharmaceuticals, medical devices and related businesses. Over its 20 year history, Domain has been involved in the creation of over 170 companies. Its latest venture capital fund is Domain Partners VI, L.P., which is capitalized at $ 500 million. Domain is located in Princeton, NJ and in Laguna Niguel, CA. For more information visit www.domainvc.com.
About Triathlon Medical Ventures
Triathlon Medical Ventures is a Midwest-based venture capital firm that invests exclusively in the life sciences. They provide equity capital to early and expansion stage companies with proprietary biomedical technology platforms or products addressing significant human healthcare needs. Triathlon is geographically focused on early stage opportunities in the Midwest but will also selectively invest in later stage companies nationwide. We are headquartered in Cincinnati, with offices and partners in Indianapolis, Louisville and St. Louis. The partners are industry veterans with extensive experience as both operational managers and venture capitalists. For more information visit www.tmvp.com.
About Pearl Street Venture Funds
Pearl Street Venture Funds invests in early staged life sciences companies primarily in the biotech, medical device, pharmaceutical and agri-bio sectors. The fund actively seeks therapeutic product companies, "best of breed" enabling technologies and technologies that add value to the drug discovery process. Pearl Street Venture Funds possesses significant life sciences industry experience, venture capital experience and success in advising early stage companies on growth and commercialization strategies, successful exits and syndicating venture deals. For more information visit www.psvf.com.
Source: CoLucid Pharmaceuticals
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