CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ra Pharmaceuticals today announced it has appointed Pamela Esposito,
Ph.D., as Chief Business Officer to lead strategic and corporate
development efforts for the Company. Dr. Esposito was most recently
Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning & Business Development at
Angiochem Inc., where she was instrumental in executing several
important collaborations for the company.
“Pamela brings to Ra Pharma™ a track record of success in creating high
value alliances within the biotech industry, which will be a great asset
for us as we seek to expand the reach of our Extreme Diversity™ platform
for the development of Cyclomimetics™, a new class of compounds with the
diversity and specificity of antibodies and the desirable attributes of
small molecules,” said Doug Treco, Ph.D., Co-Founder, President and CEO,
Ra Pharmaceuticals. “I previously worked with and have respected Pamela
for many years and look forward to her contributions to our team,
especially as we initiate additional partnerships with companies seeking
candidates for novel and challenging targets, including protein-protein
interactions.”
“I was drawn to Ra Pharma for its culture of excellence and
entrepreneurship as well as for the opportunity to work with the
high-caliber scientific team responsible for the development of their
innovative platform addressing previously undruggable targets,”
commented Dr. Esposito. “Ra Pharma has made significant progress with
its platform and intellectual property portfolio enabling the Company to
offer this powerful platform to potential partners. I see a tremendous
opportunity to create value for what I believe to be a revolutionary
drug discovery engine.”
Prior to Angiochem, Pamela was Vice President of Business Development at
Biovex, a clinical stage oncology company focused on melanoma. In 2011,
she was responsible for driving the successful acquisition of Biovex by
Amgen. Before joining Biovex, she led business development and
commercialization at Vion Pharmaceuticals and has been one of the first
employees at a number of successful early stage companies, including
Galenea and Bioduro (sold to PPD in 2009). Pamela received a B.A. from
Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in pharmacology and experimental
therapeutics from Tufts University School of Medicine.
About Cyclomimetics™
Cyclomimetics™ are peptide-like molecules characterized by their cyclic
structure and backbone and side-chain modifications that provide unique,
beneficial properties not found in natural peptides. The result is a
highly specific and stable molecule with improved cell permeability, the
potential for greatly increased bioavailability and the opportunity to
address protein-protein interactions and other previously undruggable
targets.
Cyclomimetics are generated using the Company’s proprietary Extreme
Diversity™ platform. The platform is unique in that it combines in
vitro display technology with a wide variety of non-natural amino
acids. Unlike certain other display technologies, in vitro
display does not require the use of a bacterial or yeast host, and it
can produce libraries of 10 to 100 trillion members.
About Ra Pharmaceuticals
Ra Pharma™ is developing Cyclomimetics™, a new drug class with the
diversity and specificity of antibodies, coupled with the many benefits
of small molecules. Ra Pharma’s peptide-like molecules are
highly-stable, synthetic products with chemical structures that offer
intrinsic cell permeability. Ra Pharma is leveraging its ability to
discover and develop its own portfolio of products in oncology and
select rare diseases. Ra is also engaged in industry partnerships to
rapidly generate drug candidates for broader indications and has
developed a strong intellectual property position around its unique
capabilities. For more information, please visit: .
Ra Pharma was incorporated in 2008 and has been funded by New Enterprise
Associates, Morgenthaler Ventures, Novartis Venture Funds and Amgen
Ventures.
Contacts
MacDougall Biomedical CommunicationsMichelle Avery, 781-235-3060mavery@macbiocom.com
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