Enteris Biopharma Appoints Timothy J. Saxon, Vice President of Business Development, to Expand “Peptelligence™ Partnering” Program

BOONTON, N.J., Aug. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Enteris BioPharma, Inc., an industry leader in innovative oral dosage formulations, today announced the appointment of Timothy J. Saxon as Vice President of Business Development. A distinguished pharmaceutical industry executive with more than 35 years business development experience, Mr. Saxon will serve as a member of Enteris’ executive leadership team and lead partnering and licensing efforts to advance the clinical development and market expansion of the company’s industry leading oral peptide and small molecule delivery platform.

Key to Enteris’ growth is its feasibility-to-licensing strategy in which Enteris works jointly with pharmaceutical companies to leverage its Peptelligence platform to develop oral versions of peptide and difficult to deliver small molecule drugs. At present, Enteris has a number of active feasibility-to-licensing programs ongoing, including a development agreement with Cara Therapeutics, which recently announced positive Phase 1 data for an oral version of CR845, a novel peripherally-acting kappa opioid agonist.

Brian Zietsman, President and CFO of Enteris BioPharma, commented, “We are extremely pleased to welcome Tim to our executive team and look forward to benefitting from his extensive experience and acumen as Enteris seeks to become the foremost partner for pharmaceutical companies in the development of oral peptides and difficult to deliver small molecule therapeutics. Not only do we anticipate Tim enabling us to rapidly advance our feasibility-to-licensing strategy, but bringing aboard an industry veteran of Tim’s caliber serves to firmly establish Enteris as a partner-of-choice for large and small pharma alike.”

Most recently, Mr. Saxon was an Associate Partner with Alacrita Consulting where he consulted for a range of small pharma and biotech companies, providing international business development capabilities. Prior to Alacrita, Mr. Saxon was Vice President, Business Development for Arecor Ltd., a drug technology company focused on improving the delivery of proteins and biological therapies. While at Arecor, Mr. Saxon led the company’s business development activities and was responsible for securing six out-licensing deals and more than a dozen collaborations with major pharma companies.

Mr. Saxon’s career is also highlighted by global business development positions at Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Wyeth. During his tenure at Novartis, Mr. Saxon was responsible for driving the growth of its Cardiovascular Medicine and Metabolic Dysfunction business; and at Wyeth, Mr. Saxon held numerous positions of increasing authority over a seven-year period in which he led the company’s international business development and was credited with implementing innovation initiatives that enabled Wyeth to more efficiently identify and act upon new product opportunities. Mr. Saxon has also held business development positions at Sagentia Ltd., Boots Pharmaceuticals (now Abbott), and ICI Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca).

Mr. Saxon commented, “As a business development executive, my career has been focused on matching drugs with technologies that offer the greatest promise, both therapeutically and commercially. Enteris with its Peptelligence platform has created a real innovation with the potential to transform expensive, painful and inconvenient injections into simple tablet doses. It’s validated oral peptide and small molecule delivery platform and highly-active partnering initiatives will enable Enteris to rapidly establish itself as the leader in this field of drug-delivery.”

About Enteris BioPharma
Enteris BioPharma, Inc. is a privately held, New Jersey-based biotechnology company offering innovative formulation solutions built around its proprietary delivery technologies. Enteris’ lead delivery platform, Peptelligence, is a clinically proven formulation technology that enables the oral delivery of BCS class II, III and IV compounds, including peptides and small molecules, in an enteric-coated tablet formulation. Peptelligence has demonstrated a track record of clinical success across a range of compounds and therapeutic indications, including a pivotal Phase 3 trial, and has also been the subject of numerous feasibility studies, several of which are in clinical development. For more information on Enteris BioPharma and Peptelligence, please visit http://www.EnterisBioPharma.com.

For Enteris BioPharma:
Arlyn Peguero
973.453.3531

Media Contacts:
Jason Rando / Claire Sojda
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
212.827.0020
jrando@tiberend.com
csojda@tiberend.com

SOURCE Enteris BioPharma, Inc.