SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Proteolix, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing novel medicines that target the proteasome, today announced the appointment of Thomas Kassberg to the newly-created position of Executive Vice President, Corporate Development. In this role, he will oversee business development, corporate strategic planning and legal affairs and report directly to Susan Molineaux, Ph.D., the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Kassberg brings more than 19 years of industry experience in corporate strategy and business development in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, having worked previously at InterMune, Plexxikon, SUGEN and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
“We are pleased to welcome Tom to the Proteolix team. Tom brings an impressive background in negotiating corporate collaborations, managing partnerships and conducting market assessment and product planning in oncology and other therapeutic areas,” said Dr. Molineaux. “His expertise and extensive track record of achievements will be a major asset as we advance our programs through the clinic and evaluate strategic opportunities.”
Most recently, Mr. Kassberg served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Commercial Operations at InterMune. In this role, he oversaw the commercial team responsible for in-line sales of Actimmune(R) and pre-launch planning for late-stage products, and led strategic corporate planning including the company’s signing of a collaboration agreement with Roche for InterMune’s protease inhibitor compound. Prior to joining InterMune, Mr. Kassberg was a co-founder of Plexxikon, where he served as Vice President, Business and Corporate Development for four years. In this role, he helped to establish the company’s initial operating plan and raise early rounds of venture financing in addition to leading the company’s corporate development activities. Mr. Kassberg also served as the Senior Director of Business Development and Corporate Licensing at SUGEN until the company’s acquisition by Pharmacia. Mr. Kassberg began his career at Bristol-Myers Squibb where he held a variety of positions in market, financial and product analysis. Mr. Kassberg received his M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and his B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota.
About Proteolix
Proteolix, Inc. is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, headquartered in South San Francisco, dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing pharmaceutical therapies that target certain cancers and immunological conditions by inhibiting the proteasome and thereby disrupting protein turnover in cells. Proteolix’ lead product, carfilzomib (PR-171), is currently in clinical studies to evaluate its safety and efficacy in multiple myeloma, lymphoma and solid tumor malignancies. Proteolix is also developing a pipeline of next-generation proteasome inhibitors, including an oral proteasome inhibitor and a selective immunoproteasome inhibitor. For additional information on Proteolix, please visit http://www.proteolix.com.
CONTACT: Matthew Ferguson of Proteolix, Inc., +1-650-266-2825,
investors@proteolix.com
Web site: http://www.proteolix.com/
