Date: Oct 22, 2013 Author: Jason deBruyn Source: bizjournals (
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Jason deBruyn, Staff Writer- Triangle Business Journal
Raleigh drug developer BioDelivery Sciences appointed Ernest R. De Paolantonio as its new chief financial officer in order to bring another top executive to the Triangle as it readies to commercialize one of its new products.
The former CFO, James A. McNulty, will stay with BioDelivery (Nasdaq: BDSI) as vice president of finance and treasurer. He will report to De Paolantonio.
McNulty is based in Tampa Bay, Fla., and did not have plans to move to Raleigh, according to company spokesman Al Medwar. "The hiring of Ernie is more of a move to make sure we have the resources and skill set here in Raleigh as Bunavail moves closer to market and as we continue to evaluate commercializing the product internally," he wrote in an email. "Ernie has a strong background in manufacturing, supply chain and other areas that are critical to a product moving toward commercialization."
McNulty will stay with the company to handle many of the finance responsibilities he was overseeing previously.
If approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Bunavail would treat opioid dependence. Often, a small drug development company like BioDelivery would partner with a larger company to go through final stages of development or to commercialize the product. In this case, however, BDSI submitted the FDA application itself and is considering commercializing Bunavail on its own.
Medwar has said that about 90 percent of all subscriptions are made by 5,000 doctors, so a giant sales force wouldn't be necessary. On the other hand, BDSI has never commercialized a product on its own, so this would be uncharted territory for the company.
The FDA accepted the new drug application in early October.
