Healthcare Industry News: sanofi-aventis
News Release - May 15, 2009
InVasc Therapeutics Announces Executive and Board Appointments
ATLANTA--(HSMN NewsFeed)--InVasc Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that its Board of Directors has made multiple appointments as the Company positions itself for future growth and clinical development. Effective immediately, William D. Johnston, Ph.D. has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Johnston will succeed Bobby V. Khan, M.D., Ph.D., a founder of InVasc, as CEO. Dr. Khan will continue as a clinical advisor and as a member of the Board of Directors. Additionally, William D. Schaeffer has been appointed Chief Operating Officer and Larry M. Dillaha, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Sciele Pharma, Inc. has been elected to the InVasc Board of Directors.Dr. Johnston brings 35 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Previously he was the President, CEO and operational founder of Inhibitex, Inc. where he led an initial public offering in 2004. During his nine years at Inhibitex the company raised approximately $220 million. Prior to joining Inhibitex, Dr. Johnston spent 22 years at Baxter Healthcare Corporation where he held various executive positions and played a leadership role in bringing products to the market that have annual revenues approaching $1 billion.
Mr. Schaeffer brings 35 years of operations and quality assurance experience within the industry. Most recently he was Vice President, Global Head of Quality for Ciba Vision Inc. (a Novartis company) where he co-led their global quality improvement initiative. Prior to joining Ciba Vision, Mr. Schaeffer was President of the American Cardiovascular Research Institute. He began his career with Johnson & Johnson where he spent 27 years in a variety of management positions. Prior to leaving JNJ, he was Vice President, Quality Assurance Worldwide for Cordis, Inc.
Dr. Dillaha, joins InVasc’s Board with a combination of business and clinical skills. His experience in the industry includes Sciele Pharma, Inc. (previously First Horizon Pharmaceutical), and the sanofi-aventis organization where Dr. Dillaha served as Director, Medical Affairs and as Therapeutic Liaison. Dr. Dillaha obtained clinical experience as the Medical Director at the Baptist Hospital Outpatient Primary Care Clinic in Nashville, Tennessee.
"We are extremely pleased to announce these changes to our board and executive team," said Dr. Bobby Khan. "Each of these executives brings extensive industry expertise which makes them eminently qualified to lead InVasc into the future. These additions to our team will accelerate our growth and development, and will facilitate strategic alliances for our emerging product pipeline.”
"This is a very exciting time to join InVasc," Dr. Johnston commented. "The company is poised to make a rapid transition from a research-based startup with great science to a drug development biopharmaceutical company with significant market potential and a deep pipeline of drug candidates that will give us multiple shots on goal."
About InVasc
InVasc Therapeutics, Inc., headquartered in Tucker, Georgia is a biopharmaceutical company developing drugs to mitigate risk factors in the diabetes and cardiovascular disease continuum. Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide and they collectively represent the single largest market for pharmaceutical drug development. InVasc holds provisional patents for compounds within its pipeline. InVasc drug candidate INV-65 has demonstrated a reduction of proteinurea in preclincal models and is currently being studied in an investigator sponsored IND. Compounds INV-75 and INV-7065 have demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity and arterial plaque regression in preclinical models. These positive effects are expected to eventually reduce risk, improve quality of life and longevity in patients with cardiometabolic diseases.
Source: InVasc Therapeutics
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