COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Ventaira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a privately-held specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today the promotion of Leslie J. Williams to the position of President and CEO, effective immediately.
Williams joined Ventaira in March 2003 and most recently held the position of Chief Operating Officer. Before joining Ventaira, she held the position of Director of Marketing for INO Therapeutics, Inc. Ms. Williams brings more than 13 years experience in management, marketing and commercial development in the pharmaceutical industry to Ventaira. While at INO Therapeutics, she assisted their research and development group with the development of the NDA submission for INOmax(R) (nitric oxide) for inhalation. Williams was responsible for the commercial aspects of INOmax(R), including establishing the U.S. commercial objectives for the product, setting marketing objectives and strategy, expanding the commercial organization, developing key constituency groups and expert advisory boards, and overseeing the launch of the INOtherapy(TM) platform.
Since joining Ventaira in 2003, Ms. Williams led a major company reorganization and design changes to their proprietary pulmonary delivery platform.
"We are confident that, under Leslie's leadership, Ventaira will achieve the company's position in the market place as a successful specialty pharmaceutical company focused in pulmonary delivery," said Morton Collins, Chairman of Ventaira's Board. "Leslie's proven track record of managing successful commercial products and her understanding of delivery systems are a tremendous asset to the company."
"Ventaira's superior technology will establish this company as the market leader in pulmonary delivery platforms," said Williams. "I am proud to provide the leadership to move Ventaira through the next phase of product commercialization."
Ms. Williams holds an MBA from Washington University, John Olin School of Business and a B.S. Degree with Honors in Nursing from the University of Iowa. She has prior pharmaceutical commercial experience at Merck and GlaxoSmithKline. Prior to entering the industry, she spent six years as a critical care nurse at Duke University, Medical College of Virginia and the University of Iowa.
About Ventaira Pharmaceuticals
Ventaira is a privately-held specialty pharmaceutical company leveraging science and technology to design more effective medicines. Ventaira's products are based on two platform technologies: Mystic(TM) inhalation technology and novel formulation technologies. The company develops products by combining these platforms with novel or generic compounds to create therapies to treat respiratory and systemic diseases. For more information on Ventaira Pharmaceuticals, reference the company's website at http://www.ventaira.com/ .
Ventaira Pharmaceuticals, Inc.