Key Advisors
Gary T. Elliott RPh, PharmD, Ph.D. -
Product Development
Marion Howard, Ph.D., M.D., M.B.A.- Strategic Marketing
Ricardo Ochoa, D.V.M. - Drug Safety
Richard Stead, M.D. - Acting CMO
Gary T. Elliott RPh, PharmD, Ph.D.
Product Development
Dr. Elliott was Executive Vice President, Product Development at Aires Pharmaceuticals. Before that he was Vice President, Product Development at Salmedix, Inc. from July 2002 until its acquisition by Cephalon, Inc. in June 2005. Dr. Elliott served as Director and later as Senior Director, Product Development at Corixa Corporation, a biotechnology company, from November 1999 to June 2002. From November 1994 to November 1999, he held the position of Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development at RibiImmunoChem (Ribi), a biotechnology company acquired by Corixa Corporation. Earlier in his career, Dr. Elliott was an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Medical Sciences Center, University of Arkansas in Little Rock. He received his B.S. in Pharmacy from Union University/Albany College of Pharmacy in Albany, New York, and his Doctorate in Clinical Pharmacy and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from University of Florida in Gainesville
Marion Howard, Ph.D., M.D., M.B.A.
Strategic Marketing
Dr. Howard is a business, medical and science professional with a proven track record in strategy design, competitive positioning and market analysis, as well as medical, scientific and technology due diligence of early- and late-stage products and technologies. She is the Founder and Principal of Cambridge BioStrategies, LLC, serving life-science companies and their investors in the United States and Europe. Prior to founding Cambridge BioStrategies, she headed up Corporate Development at Nephros Therapeutics, a private venture-capital funded cell-therapy company focused on the development of products for Acute Renal Failure. She also served as a member of Corporate Development at Genzyme General. Prior to joining Genzyme, Dr. Howard held various academic positions in Molecular Medicine, Translational Medicine and Applied Molecular Biology in Germany and the United States. Dr. Howard went to medical school in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, receiving her M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Mainz in Germany and an M.B.A. from Manchester Business School in the United Kingdom.
Ricardo Ochoa, D.V.M.
Drug Safety
Ricardo Ochoa is an experienced, board-certified veterinary pathologist with expertise in drug safety evaluation. From 2006 to 2008, he served as Vice President of Preclinical Safety at Neurogen Corporation, where he was responsible for drug safety and toxicology. Prior to Neurogen, he held positions of increasing responsibility at Pfizer Inc. from 1991 to 2006, most recently as Executive Director of Pathology at Pfizer Global R&D heading the preclinical toxicology group. Previously he was with The Upjohn Company, where he served as Senior Research Veterinary Pathologist. He was also a professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La. Dr. Ochoa holds a D.V.M. degree from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogata, Columbia and a Ph.D. from Cornell University, New York State School of Veterinary Medicine, Pathology Department. He is board certified in Veterinary Pathology (ACVP).
Richard Stead, M.D.
Acting CMO
Dr. Stead has more than 20 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry directing clinical trials and in- and out- licensing efforts, as well as preclinical research and development at Amgen and Immunex. Since 2002, he has worked as an independent consultant to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies as well as investors in several therapeutic areas. He focuses on clinical and regulatory strategy for therapeutic product development as well as operational issues in executing clinical development programs. He served as the acting CMO for Affymax developing its clinical strategy and served as the PI for their Phase 1 program (see Blood, vol. 108(6)15 September 2006). In 1988, Dr. Stead was recruited to Amgen as its first physician. He played significant roles in the clinical development, FDA approval and commercialization of Amgen's first two products, Epogen® and Neupogen®. In 1999, he joined Immunex as Vice President of Clinical Research and Development with responsibilities for both pipeline and marketed products for oncology and neurology. Dr. Stead holds a B.S. in molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin and an M.D. from Stanford University's School of Medicine. He completed his training in internal medicine with a post-doctoral fellowship in hematology at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Following the completion of a second post-doctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, he joined the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center, where he conducted research in the field of gene therapy.