Date: May 20, 2013 Author: press release Source: Company Data (
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Terpenoid Therapeutics Inc., a University of Iowa spinout company based in Coralville, Iowa, recently elected Stephen Collins, M.D., Ph.D. as Chairman of its Board of Directors. The announcement was made at its annual shareholders meeting, which took place on May 8th, 2013 in Coralville.
Dr. Collins career has focused on the research and clinical development of therapeutics for hematologic, oncologic and CNS disorders. He served as the CEO of NeuroTherapeutics Pharma, and previously, he was Chief Scientific Officer and Vice President for Clinical Affairs of Ovation Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company acquired by Lundbeck A/S for $963M. His distinguished research career has also included research and development at major pharmaceutical companies including Johnson & Johnson and Abbott Laboratories and has been responsible for the development and regulatory approval of multiple new drugs.
The company also announced appointment of Frank H.(Hal) Ebetino, Ph.D., as vice-president, and a new consulting agreement with Steve Wanaski, Ph.D.
Dr. Ebetino has over 30 years of drug discovery and medicinal chemistry experience. He worked at Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals from 1984-2009, where he was an integral part of the P&G team that discovered and developed the therapeutic agent risedronate (Actonel®) for osteoporosis. In 2009 he joined Warner Chilcott as Director of the Drug Discovery Department. He has academic appointments with Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland, and the University of Oxford, UK, and for the past 10 years with the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Wanaski previously served as Vice President of Research and Development at Neurotherapeutics Pharma and Senior Director of Preclinical and Clinical Pharmacology at Ovation Pharmaceuticals. He started his pharmaceutical career at Neopharm Inc. and was also a founder and Vice President of RND Pharmaceuticals. His research has resulted in the approval of drugs with multiple indications.
Drug development at Terpenoid Therapeutics Inc. is based on research from the UI departments of Chemistry, Pharmacology, and Internal Medicine and Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UI. The company was founded by professors Raymond J. Hohl , M.D., Ph.D. and David F. Wiemer, Ph.D. and university of Iowa researchers Jeffrey D. Neighbors, Ph.D., and Andrew J. Wiemer, Ph.D. The company has been awarded several NIH grants as part of its STTR/SBIR program.
The company has two drug development projects which affect the cholesterol metabolic pathway, both aimed at treating cancer. One project targets enzymes within the cholesterol metabolic pathway and is intended to treat metastatic bone disease associated with prostate and breast cancer and multiple myeloma. The second project targets regulation of cholesterol levels and is being developed to treat brain cancers.
