Ra Pharma Appoints Pamela Esposito, Ph.D., as Chief Business Officer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ra Pharmaceuticals today announced it has appointed Pamela Esposito, Ph.D., as Chief Business Officer to lead strategic and corporate development efforts for the Company. Dr. Esposito was most recently Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning & Business Development at Angiochem Inc., where she was instrumental in executing several important collaborations for the company.

“Pamela brings to Ra Pharma™ a track record of success in creating high value alliances within the biotech industry, which will be a great asset for us as we seek to expand the reach of our Extreme Diversity™ platform for the development of Cyclomimetics™, a new class of compounds with the diversity and specificity of antibodies and the desirable attributes of small molecules,” said Doug Treco, Ph.D., Co-Founder, President and CEO, Ra Pharmaceuticals. “I previously worked with and have respected Pamela for many years and look forward to her contributions to our team, especially as we initiate additional partnerships with companies seeking candidates for novel and challenging targets, including protein-protein interactions.”

“I was drawn to Ra Pharma for its culture of excellence and entrepreneurship as well as for the opportunity to work with the high-caliber scientific team responsible for the development of their innovative platform addressing previously undruggable targets,” commented Dr. Esposito. “Ra Pharma has made significant progress with its platform and intellectual property portfolio enabling the Company to offer this powerful platform to potential partners. I see a tremendous opportunity to create value for what I believe to be a revolutionary drug discovery engine.”

Prior to Angiochem, Pamela was Vice President of Business Development at Biovex, a clinical stage oncology company focused on melanoma. In 2011, she was responsible for driving the successful acquisition of Biovex by Amgen. Before joining Biovex, she led business development and commercialization at Vion Pharmaceuticals and has been one of the first employees at a number of successful early stage companies, including Galenea and Bioduro (sold to PPD in 2009). Pamela received a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics from Tufts University School of Medicine.

About Cyclomimetics™

Cyclomimetics™ are peptide-like molecules characterized by their cyclic structure and backbone and side-chain modifications that provide unique, beneficial properties not found in natural peptides. The result is a highly specific and stable molecule with improved cell permeability, the potential for greatly increased bioavailability and the opportunity to address protein-protein interactions and other previously undruggable targets.

Cyclomimetics are generated using the Company’s proprietary Extreme Diversity™ platform. The platform is unique in that it combines in vitro display technology with a wide variety of non-natural amino acids. Unlike certain other display technologies, in vitro display does not require the use of a bacterial or yeast host, and it can produce libraries of 10 to 100 trillion members.

About Ra Pharmaceuticals

Ra Pharma™ is developing Cyclomimetics™, a new drug class with the diversity and specificity of antibodies, coupled with the many benefits of small molecules. Ra Pharma’s peptide-like molecules are highly-stable, synthetic products with chemical structures that offer intrinsic cell permeability. Ra Pharma is leveraging its ability to discover and develop its own portfolio of products in oncology and select rare diseases. Ra is also engaged in industry partnerships to rapidly generate drug candidates for broader indications and has developed a strong intellectual property position around its unique capabilities. For more information, please visit: www.rapharma.com.

Ra Pharma was incorporated in 2008 and has been funded by New Enterprise Associates, Morgenthaler Ventures, Novartis Venture Funds and Amgen Ventures.