PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Anacor Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has appointed Kurt Jarnagin, Ph.D., as its Vice President of Biological Research.
“We are pleased to welcome Kurt to the company,” said Jacob Plattner, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Research at Anacor Pharmaceuticals. “Kurt is a noted expert in the field of small molecule drugs involved in inflammation and his expertise will enrich our team as we continue to expand our pipeline fed by our boron chemistry platform.”
Previously, Dr. Jarnagin was with Iconix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., serving as Vice President of Biology and Chemogenomics and Vice President of New Technology and Translational Medicine from 1998 to 2007. Dr. Jarnagin also held research leadership roles at Roche Pharmaceuticals (Palo Alto) from 1994 to 1998 and at Syntex Research, a specialty pharmaceutical company acquired by Roche, from 1986 to 1994.
At Iconix he directed the development of the DrugMatrix and ToxFX products -- tools and decision-making resources that aid scientists in the selection and prioritization of novel drugs. At Roche and Syntex he focused on drug discovery, targeting receptors and enzymes involved in inflammation, arthritis and asthma. Dr. Jarnagin was awarded the Fry-E. Werele International Kinin Chemistry Prize for work in the bradykinin field. He is the author of numerous peer-reviewed scientific papers and has several granted patents.
Dr. Jarnagin carried out highly cited studies of the insulin receptor at the Hormone Research Institute of the University of California, San Francisco. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
About Anacor Pharmaceuticals
Anacor is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule therapeutics derived from its boron chemistry platform. Anacor has focused initially on developing topical applications of its compounds to treat fungal, bacterial and inflammatory diseases. Anacor’s most advanced product candidate is AN2690, a novel topical antifungal in development for the treatment of toenail onychomycosis, which is a fungal infection of the nail and nail bed. AN2690 is licensed to Schering-Plough under a worldwide development and commercialization agreement for all indications including the treatment of onychomycosis. Anacor also has a research and development collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline for the discovery, development, manufacture and worldwide commercialization of novel systemic therapeutics for viral and bacterial diseases utilizing Anacor’s boron-based chemistry. For more information visit http://www.anacor.com.
CONTACT: Anne Bowdidge, Investor Relations of Anacor Pharmaceuticals,
+1-650-543-7575
Web site: http://www.anacor.com/
