SEATTLE, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- VLST Corporation, a Seattle-based biotechnology company focused on the development of therapeutics for autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, today announced the appointments of Dr. David L. Urdal, chief scientific officer of Dendreon Corporation , to the Company’s board of directors and Mr. Ron Myers, former associate general counsel, intellectual property for Corixa Corp., as vice president, legal affairs and intellectual property.
“The addition of these talented and experienced professionals to VLST’s board and management comes at a time of continued advancement and growth for our Company,” said Martin Simonetti, president and chief executive officer of VLST. “Both Dave and Ron will be instrumental in helping to guide our efforts as we begin advancing our novel product candidates into the clinic.”
“I am pleased to be joining VLST’s board and to be working again with VLST cofounder, Dr. Craig Smith. We worked together at Immunex,” said Urdal. “Craig’s seminal work in the discovery of Enbrel is the basis for VLST’s novel drug discovery platform.”
Dr. Urdal has served as Dendreon’s chief scientific officer since 1995. Prior to joining Dendreon, he held various positions with Immunex Corporation, including president of Immunex Manufacturing Corporation, vice president and director of development, and head of the departments of biochemistry and membrane biochemistry. At Immunex, Dr. Urdal participated in the discovery, development and commercialization of hematopoietic growth factors, cytokines and cytokine receptors, such as GM-CSF (Leukine(R)) and TNF-receptor (Enbrel(R)). Dr. Urdal has served as a director of Dendreon since 1995 and also serves as director for Ore Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Urdal received his M.S. in Public Health and his Ph.D. in Biochemical Oncology from the University of Washington.
Mr. Myers has broad experience in M&A, licensing, litigation and intellectual property, including more than 16 years experience in intellectual property acquisition, enforcement and defense in the biotech and pharmaceutical fields. Mr. Myers joined Corixa in 2004 and served as associate general counsel, intellectual property. In 2005, Corixa was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline, plc., during which time Mr. Myers played a key role in the transition of assets. Mr. Myers also served as senior patent counsel to Pfizer Inc., where his responsibilities included global management of Pfizer’s antiviral therapeutic portfolio, as well as patent enforcement and defense in the US, Canada, Asia and Japan. Prior to his in-house work, Mr. Myers served as outside counsel to several Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Myers received an M.S. in Molecular Pharmacology from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA and his J.D. from George Washington University in Washington, DC.
VLST recently relocated its operations within Seattle to a new corporate headquarters at 307 Westlake Avenue North. The new office location provides for expanded laboratory and research facilities.
About VLST
VLST Corporation is a privately held biotechnology company dedicated to the streamlined discovery and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. The VLST approach combines novel bioinformatics and cutting-edge proteomics to provide a rapid and rational approach to identifying new targets for the development of novel biologic therapies. The VLST discovery platform has primary applications for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, lupus and diabetes. For more information, please visit http://www.vlstcorp.com.
julie@rathbuncomm.com
CONTACT: Julie Rathbun of Rathbun Communications, Inc., +1-206-769-9219,
julie@rathbuncomm.com, for VLST Corporation
Web site: http://www.vlstcorp.com/
