SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Athenagen, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused in the area of neurovascular diseases, said today that it has added two new management positions, expanding its executive team with senior pharmaceutical experts. Joining Athenagen are John Anthony Hey, Ph.D., Vice President of Non-clinical Development and Carl F. Grove, Vice President, Development Operations.
“John and Carl have complementary experience in many facets of clinical research and drug development at both large pharmaceutical companies and emerging biotechnology companies,” said W. Scott Harkonen, M.D., Athenagen President and Chief Executive Officer. “Their expertise in the management of preclinical development programs and drug development operations will be a tremendous asset to Athenagen as we continue to move our products through clinical development towards commercialization.”
Dr. John Anthony Hey joined Athenagen from the Schering-Plough Research Institute where, for the past 18 years, he held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility. Recently, he was a Senior Director at Schering-Plough where he directed and coordinated the drug discovery and early clinical development activities of numerous multidisciplinary teams. Based in Oklahoma City, Dr. Hey is responsible for the research and preclinical development of Athenagen’s Oklahoma-based scientific teams as well as taking the role as Group Leader of the company’s beta-secretase inhibitor program. He received his Ph.D. in pharmacology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and completed post-doctoral training at the Dean McGee Eye Institute at the University of Oklahoma.
Carl F. Grove joined Athenagen from SEQUUS (now part of Alza and Johnson & Johnson) where, for 13 years, he held a variety of positions including Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. In this role he led the efforts to obtain regulatory approval of two products in the U.S. and Europe. Carl has more than 20 years of experience in senior management and product development positions in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries including serving as president of two early-stage drug delivery companies, iMEDD and IDEA, AG, where he led the drug development efforts on a variety of products using novel drug delivery systems. Based in South San Francisco, Carl’s development operations responsibilities include regulatory affairs, quality assurance and project management. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in urban planning from California State University, San Luis Obispo and the University of Oregon in Eugene, respectively.
About Athenagen
Athenagen, Inc., located in South San Francisco, is engaged in the discovery and development of small-molecule drugs to treat neurovascular disease indications, such as Alzheimer’s disease, AMD and cognitive disorders. The company has two fundamental technology platforms: (i) beta-secretase inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease; and (ii) nACh receptor agonists and antagonists for the treatment of angiogenesis mediated diseases and cognitive disorders. Athenagen currently has four product development programs based on these two technologies: ATG003, a topical (eye drop) anti-angiogenesis compound for neovascular AMD in a Phase I study; GTS-21, an oral agonist of the alpha-7 nACh receptor pathway for cognition enhancement currently in a Phase II study; ATG002, a topical (gel) pro-angiogenesis compound for diabetic foot ulcers currently in a Phase I/II study; and multiple clinical candidates from the beta-secretase inhibitor program approaching Phase I/II study for Alzheimer’s disease in 2007. For more information: www.athenagen.com .
Athenagen, Inc.
CONTACT: W. Scott Harkonen, M.D., President and CEO of Athenagen,+1-650-869-7600, or press@athenagen.com
Web site: http://www.athenagen.com//
