SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Proteolix, Inc. today announced the appointment of Craig C. Parker to the post of Senior Vice President, Finance and Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and the expansion of the company’s clinical development and regulatory leadership team with the appointment of Michael G. Kauffman, M.D., Ph.D., to the post of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Albert L. Kraus, Ph.D., to the newly-created position of Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance.
“We are pleased to welcome Craig Parker and Drs. Kauffman and Kraus to the Proteolix team at this important stage in the company’s maturation. Craig’s rich experience in finance, management and forming partnerships make him a superb addition as we advance our lead anti-cancer product, carfilzomib, into late-stage clinical studies,” said John A. Scarlett, M.D., Proteolix’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “In addition, the expansion of our clinical development leadership team reflects the excellent progress made in carfilzomib’s development. Michael’s background as program leader in the development of VELCADE, combined with his knowledge of carfilzomib as a prior member of the Proteolix Board of Directors, and Albert’s experience in regulatory affairs and shepherding the late-stage development of new oncology therapeutics, will be invaluable as Proteolix advances carfilzomib through pivotal clinical trials.”
Craig C. Parker
Senior Vice President, Finance and Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Parker brings more than 15 years of finance and business development leadership in the biotechnology industry to Proteolix. In this newly-created role, he is responsible for the company’s financial operations, business development, corporate strategic planning and legal affairs.
Mr. Parker’s career includes 12 years as a Wall Street research analyst. From 2002 - 2007, he was a Managing Director and head of Biotechnology Equity Research at Lehman Brothers. Mr. Parker also covered the biotechnology industry as the senior biotechnology analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette from 1998 - 1999, and as an analyst at JP Morgan from 1994-1998. He was consistently rated one of the top analysts covering the biotechnology sector by Institutional Investor, Reuters, and Greenwich Research surveys, and was also a Wall Street Journal All-Star Analyst. His additional investment experience includes serving as a Partner at Sprout Group, the venture capital affiliate of CSFB, from 2001 - 2002, where he also represented the firm on the boards of Picoliter, Gryphon Therapeutics, and Xcyte.
Mr. Parker’s operating experience includes serving as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Specialty Therapeutics Franchise at Immunex Corporation from 1999 - 2001. In that capacity, he managed the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing for Immunex oncology and neurology products.
Mr. Parker received his undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Chicago, an MBA from the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business, and attended the Georgetown University School of Medicine.
Michael G. Kauffman, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Kauffman, previously a member of Proteolix’s Board of Directors, was a clinical developer of the proteasome inhibitor VELCADE(R) at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now a subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company). As CMO, he will be responsible for the advancement of carfilzomib, Proteolix’s lead anti-cancer proteasome inhibitor for the treatment of multiple myeloma and other cancers, through late-stage clinical development. In addition, Dr. Kauffman will oversee the clinical development of Proteolix’s earlier-stage proteasome inhibitor programs, including PR-047, an oral proteasome inhibitor for the treatment of cancer.
Most recently, Dr. Kauffman was President and Chief Executive Officer of EPIX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (previously Predix Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) from 2002 to 2008. From 1997 to 2002, he held a number of senior medical and program leadership positions at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Kauffman also served as Medical Director at Biogen Corporation (now Biogen Idec).
Dr. Kauffman received an M.D. and Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry from Johns Hopkins and holds a B.A. in biochemistry from Amherst College. He trained in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Albert L. Kraus, Ph.D.
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance
Dr. Kraus joins Proteolix with more than 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in overseeing drug development and regulatory strategy, particularly for novel oncology products. In his new role, Dr. Kraus will be responsible for regulatory affairs and quality assurance, including registration development strategy and the company’s interactions with the FDA and regulatory bodies outside the United States.
Dr. Kraus joins Proteolix from Kosan Biosciences (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2008), where he served as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Development while overseeing the clinical development strategy of Kosan’s oncology product portfolio. Prior to joining Kosan in 2006, he was Group Director, Global Regulatory Strategy, Oncology with Bristol-Myers Squibb. While there, he led Bristol-Myers Squibb’s oncology regulatory strategy organization, with worldwide responsibilities for new drug development, licensing support, registration strategy and execution, and post-marketing support. In his tenure with Bristol-Myers Squibb, he also held positions of Director, Regulatory Science Europe and Associate Director, Worldwide Regulatory Affairs. Previously, he held positions of Section Head, Toxicology, Human Safety and Regulatory Services for Procter & Gamble and Group Leader and Section Head of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Human Safety at Richardson Vicks, a Procter & Gamble company.
Dr. Kraus holds a Ph.D. in biochemical toxicology from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in biology and economics from Hamilton College.
About Proteolix
Founded in December 2003, Proteolix, Inc. is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, headquartered in South San Francisco, dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing novel therapeutics that target protein degradation pathways for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Proteolix’s lead product, carfilzomib, is the first in a new class of highly specific proteasome inhibitors, and is currently in multiple Phase 2 clinical studies to evaluate its safety and efficacy in multiple myeloma and other malignancies. Proteolix is also developing a pipeline of novel proteasome inhibitors, including an oral proteasome inhibitor and a selective immunoproteasome inhibitor. For additional information on Proteolix, please visit www.proteolix.com.
CONTACT: Investors, Craig C. Parker, Senior Vice President, Finance and
Corporate Development & Chief Financial Officer of Proteolix, Inc.,
+1-650-266-2682; or Media, Karen L. Bergman, +1-650-575-1509, or Michelle
Corral, +1-415-794-8662, both of BCC Partners for Proteolix, Inc.
Web site: http://www.proteolix.com/
