BERKELEY, Calif., Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Aerovance, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of clinical-stage respiratory drugs, announced today the appointment of William J. Newell, 48, to the newly-created position of President. Mr. Newell joins Aerovance from QLT Inc., a global biopharmaceutical company, where he served as Chief Business Officer and Senior Vice President. Mr. Newell and Richard Fuller, M.D., Ph.D., the Company’s recently promoted Chief Operating Officer, will both report to the Board of Directors and together will lead the Company.
“Bill and Rick are seasoned executives with extensive industry experience. Bill adds a strong base of operating knowledge with extensive experience in business development, strategic planning, intellectual property, financing and legal matters. This adds to Rick’s extensive product planning, development and commercialization capabilities,” said Dr. Wolf-Dieter Busse, Vice Chairman of Aerovance’s board of directors. “Their leadership will put us in a strong position to maximize the value of our promising portfolio of respiratory drugs currently in development.”
“I am excited to join Aerovance because the company has all the key elements necessary to become a successful and highly productive biopharmaceutical company: multiple products in clinical development; an experienced team with a proven track record of developing and manufacturing marketed drugs; and differentiated biological drug candidates with proven mechanisms that address large unmet medical needs,” said Mr. Newell.
About William J. Newell
Over the past 25 years, Mr. Newell has been involved in over 100 corporate transactions including over 30 deals with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. While at QLT, he spearheaded multiple deals, including the $855-million acquisition of publicly-traded Atrix Laboratories and the acquisition of Kinetek Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held biotech company. Among his many accomplishments at QLT, he helped raise over $170 Million in working capital.
Prior to QLT, Mr. Newell was integral in the sale of Axys Pharmaceuticals to Celera Genomics for $220 Million, having served as Axys’ Senior Vice President, Corporate and Business Development. At Axys Mr. Newell was responsible for deal-related activities, including mergers and acquisitions, partnering and licensing, financing and spin-outs.
He began his career at Bingham McCutchen LLP, where he specialized in corporate securities, mergers and acquisitions and general commercial transactions. During his 15-year tenure with the firm, Mr. Newell was integrally involved in strategic transactions for both publicly-traded and privately-held companies valuing over several billion dollars. He received his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College.
About Dr. Richard Fuller
Dr. Fuller joined Aerovance in 2004 and presently serves as its Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President. Prior to joining Aerovance, Dr. Fuller was employed at GlaxoSmithKline in several positions including as head of the Respiratory Clinical Group. In addition, Dr. Fuller has served as an Executive Board Member for Science Funding for the Wellcome Trust. Dr. Fuller is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and is clinically accredited in Internal Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Fuller received a B.Sc. in Immunology from University College London, his MB BS (M.D.) from St. Georges Hospital Medical School London and his M.D. (Ph.D.) from the University of London.
About Aerovance
Aerovance is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused exclusively on the development and commercialization of biologics for severe respiratory and inflammatory diseases such as asthma, cystic fibrosis (CF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and eczema. The company’s two lead products are Aerovant(TM), an IL4/13 receptor antagonist for severe asthma and eczema currently in Phase 2 studies, and Aerolytic(TM), a recombinant protein for CF and COPD currently in Phase 1/2a studies. In addition to these investigational products, Aerovance has several preclinical programs in respiratory disease. Aerovance was spun off from Bayer Pharmaceuticals’ biotechnology unit in August 2004.
Aerovance, Inc.
CONTACT: E. Blair Schoeb, +1-760-365-1857, or blair@weisscommpartners.com,or Daryl Messinger, +1-415-946-1062, or daryl@weisscommpartners.com, bothof WeissComm Partners for Aerovance, Inc.
Web site: http://www.aerovance.com/
