SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a private start-up pharmaceutical company committed to addressing the unmet medical needs of patients with life-threatening inflammatory diseases, announced that David E. Thompson has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Thompson brings his corporate strategy and alliance management expertise to Anthera as the Company enters an important phase of development.
“David brings an extraordinary complement of pharmaceutical operations and alliance management experience to Anthera,” said Lowell E. Sears, chairman of the Board of Directors for Anthera Pharmaceuticals. “David’s more than 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience from Eli Lilly and Company will provide additional leadership in our product development and in-licensing programs.”
“Our strategy to in-license compounds for the treatment of life-threatening inflammatory diseases dovetails perfectly with David’s experience at Eli Lilly and Company. He has successfully stewarded many corporate and product partnerships and joins Anthera at the moment we are preparing to finalize our licensing efforts,” commented Paul F. Truex, President and Chief Executive Officer of Anthera Pharmaceuticals.
Mr. Thompson joins four other distinguished members of Anthera’s Board of Directors. In addition to Mr. Sears, chairman, and Mr. Truex, President and CEO, the other board members are: Christopher S. Henney, a co-founder of three major publicly held U.S. biotechnology companies and has been associated with the formation of several others; and Dennis M. Lanfear, president of Lanfear Capital Advisors, LLC and formerly corporate officer and vice-president at Amgen.
About David E. Thompson
David E. Thompson, now retired, was named vice president of corporate strategy business development, the ventures group, and alliance management for Eli Lilly and Company in January 2001. Prior to that, Mr. Thompson served as vice president of corporate business development for Eli Lilly and Company. Mr. Thompson joined Eli Lilly in 1971, and throughout the 1970s, held numerous positions in sales, marketing research, sales management, and new product planning and licensing. He was named president and general manager of Eli Lilly Canada, a Lilly affiliate, in November 1985 and president/CEO of IVAC Corporation, a medical device subsidiary in December 1986. He served as vice president of pharmaceutical product management and licensing from 1988-1992. Born in Lansing, Michigan, he received Bachelor of Science (BS) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) degrees from Michigan State University.
Mr. Thompson retired from Eli Lilly and Company in July 2005 and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for a select group of pharmaceutical companies including Bayhill Therapeutics, Inc. and Anthera Pharmaceuticals.
About Anthera Pharmaceuticals
Anthera Pharmaceuticals is a privately held pharmaceutical company committed to world-class development and commercialization of promising clinical products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with life-threatening inflammatory diseases. Anthera has identified a number of novel clinical stage and late stage pre-clinical anti-inflammatory products which have the potential to address a variety of inflammatory diseases including: Acute Lung Injury, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Acute Chest Syndrome, Acute Coronary Syndrome, Atherosclerosis, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Psoriasis.
In order to efficiently commercialize this platform, Anthera has formed a management team with extensive experience in licensing, clinical research, development, and commercialization of anti-inflammatory products. Anthera’s focus is to bring products with promising commercial potential onto the market in the near term. To date Anthera has raised approximately $1M of seed funding from Sears Capital Management and Lanfear Capital to complete its initial in-licensing activities. Please visit Anthera Pharmaceuticals at www.anthera.com
MEDIA CONTACT:
Laura Silver, LAS Communications, Inc.
323.848.2051, laura@lascommunications.com
Anthera Pharmaceuticals
CONTACT: Laura Silver of LAS Communications, Inc., +1-323-848-2051, orlaura@lascommunications.com, for Anthera Pharmaceuticals
Web site: http://www.anthera.com//