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News Release - June 6, 2007
CoMentis Announces Appointment of Martin Tolar, M.D., Ph.D., as Vice President of Strategic and Corporate Development
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network)--Jun 6, 2007 -- CoMentis, Inc. (formerly Athenagen), a privately held biopharmaceutical company, announced today that Martin Tolar, M.D., Ph.D., has joined the company as Vice President of Strategic and Corporate Development, a newly created position. Dr. Tolar joins CoMentis from Pfizer, where he spent six years in a variety of leadership positions in Clinical Development and Alliance Management, as well as Business Development. Most recently, Dr. Tolar chaired the Neuroscience Licensing Team at Pfizer."Martin's academic and industry training in Neurology, combined with his extensive experience in CNS drug development and licensing, make him an ideal addition to our executive management team," commented W. Scott Harkonen, M.D., CoMentis President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our focus on neurological diseases, including several proprietary compounds targeting Alzheimer's disease and cognition, will be enhanced by Martin's depth of knowledge and expertise."
As Director, Neuroscience Worldwide Business Development at Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Tolar was responsible for licensing and outreach activities in Neurology and Psychiatry, including the recent acquisition of Rinat Neurosciences and the license of the RAGE platform from TransTech Pharma. Prior to his work in Neuroscience Licensing, Dr. Tolar served as the U.S. Clinical Leader for indiplon, an insomnia treatment developed with Neurocrine Biosciences, where he was responsible for the conduct of clinical trials and the New Drug Application (NDA) filings for immediate and modified release formulations. Dr. Tolar also holds an appointment at Yale University School of Medicine as Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology, and has published more than 20 scientific papers and posters in the area of Neurosciences.
Dr. Tolar received his M.D. from the 2nd Medical School, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio for his work on the role of apolipoprotein E in Alzheimer's disease. He then completed an internship in Internal Medicine at the Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, and a residency in Neurology at the Boston Medical Center. Dr. Tolar also worked as consultant for Apologic, Inc. and Genzyme Corporation.
About CoMentis
CoMentis, Inc. (formerly Athenagen) has its headquarters in South San Francisco, with research operations in both South San Francisco and Oklahoma City. The company is engaged in the discovery and development of small-molecule drugs to treat diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cognitive disorders. The company has two fundamental technology platforms: (i) aspartic protease inhibitors, including beta-secretase inhibitors for Alzheimer's disease; and (ii) nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) agonists and antagonists for the treatment of angiogenesis mediated diseases and cognitive disorders.
CoMentis currently has four product development programs based on these two technologies: ATG-3, a topical (eye drop) anti-angiogenesis compound for neovascular AMD; CTS-21166, an orally active beta-secretase inhibitor for Alzheimer's Disease; GTS-21, an oral agonist of the alpha-7 nACh receptor pathway for cognition enhancement; and ATG-2, a topical (gel) containing a pro-angiogenesis compound for diabetic foot ulcers. For more information: www.comentis.com.
NOTE TO EDITORS: M. (Ken) Kengatharan, Ph.D., M.B.A., CoMentis Vice-President, Pre-clinical R&D, will be speaking at the Drug Delivery 2007: Where Science and Business Meet conference in San Diego June 6 - 8. His talk, "Delivering Drugs to the Retina-Choroid Using Topical Eye Drop Formulation" will be presented on Thursday morning, June 7.
Source: CoMentis
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