SAN DIEGO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 14, 2006--Avera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company developing neuroscience therapeutics, today announced the appointment of Dinu Sen as chief executive officer. He will replace Jeffrey F. McKelvy, founding president and CEO of Avera, who will transition to president and chief technical officer.
Dinu joins Avera from Corus Pharma, Inc., where he had been chief commercial officer since 2004, and where his duties included oversight of manufacturing and inhalation technology, in addition to all commercial activities. During his 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Dinu has played a key role in the launch or marketing of several of the most successful therapeutic products, including Epogen®, Neupogen® and TOBI®.
Prior to joining Corus Pharma, Dinu was president and chief operating officer at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for daily company operations. He also served as senior vice president of sales and marketing at PathoGenesis Corporation, and served in several senior marketing roles at Amgen, Inc. He has been instrumental in licensing products, raising capital from venture and corporate partners, and was a member of the executive teams that sold PathoGenesis to Chiron Corporation (now Novartis) and Corus Pharma to Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Dinu is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. He has a Masters in Management (MBA) from the J. L. Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
“Dinu brings an outstanding record of commercial accomplishment in the pharmaceutical industry, especially in his involvement in the successful commercialization of several major products,” said Jeff McKelvy. “In addition, his depth of senior management experience will help enable Avera’s growth as a specialty pharmaceutical company. We will work as a team in identification, development and commercialization of drug candidates, in order to provide a good return to Avera’s investors.”
Avera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Avera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (San Diego, CA) is a privately held, emerging specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel compounds in the neuroscience therapeutics arena. The Company’s strategy is to identify opportunities for therapeutic advances in the treatment of neurologic and psychiatric disorders, and then to in-license, develop and commercialize promising compounds that can meet these needs. The company has three potential products in clinical development, in a pipeline that includes compounds licensed from Novartis, Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline. Additional information on the Company can be found at www.averapharm.com.
Contact: Avera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Jeff McKelvy, 858-847-0650 ext.206 or Kureczka/Martin Associates Ellen M Martin, 510-832-2044 Emm4@pacbell.net
Source: Avera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
