Safi R. Bahcall, Ph.D.
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Director, President and Chief Executive Officer
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Dr. Bahcall co-founded Synta with Dr. Lan Bo Chen and has been Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors since July 2001, and President since December 2003. Dr. Bahcall has led Synta from inception through multiple acquisitions, financings, an initial public offering, and the establishment of integrated, multi-product drug discovery and development organization. Prior to founding Synta, Dr. Bahcall was a consultant at McKinsey & Company advising investment banks and pharmaceutical companies on strategy, technology, and operations. Dr. Bahcall also co-founded a drug discovery company focused on novel ion channel research, now part of Synta. He received his B.A. summa cum laude from Harvard University, was awarded his Ph.D. from Stanford University in theoretical physics, and was a Miller postdoctoral fellow at U.C. Berkeley.
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Michael P. Bailey
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Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
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Before joining Synta in August 2008, Mr. Bailey led ImClone's Worldwide Commercial Organization, responsible for commercial aspects for the planning and launch of Erbitux(R) across multiple indications. In addition, Mr. Bailey was a key member of the strategic leadership committees for ImClone and its North American and Worldwide partnerships. Prior to joining ImClone, Mr. Bailey served at Genentech, Inc. where he managed the company's cardiovascular development portfolio. Mr. Bailey started his career in the pharmaceutical industry as one of two MBA graduates selected for Smith-Kline Beecham's Executive Marketing Development Program, where he held a variety of commercial roles, including sales, strategic planning, and product management. Mr. Bailey earned a B.S. in Psychology from St. Lawrence University and holds an M.B.A. in International Marketing from the University of Notre Dame Graduate School of Business.
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James Barsoum, Ph.D.
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Senior Vice President, Research
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Before joining Synta in February 2003, Dr. Barsoum was the Director of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Biogen, where he held leadership roles starting in 1987. At Biogen, Dr. Barsoum directed protein, small molecule, and gene therapy research programs in cancer, inflammation/fibrosis, and neurodegeneration. He also conceived and supervised Biogen's interferon-ß gene therapy cancer program from preclinical to clinical development. Prior to Biogen, Dr. Barsoum received a Ph.D. from MIT, and held research fellowships at Stanford University and the Whitehead Institute at MIT.
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Jeremy G. Chadwick, Ph.D.
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Senior Vice President, Program Management and Clinical Operations
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Before joining Synta in May 2004, Dr. Chadwick served as Vice President Development Operations at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. During his tenure at Vertex, Dr. Chadwick's responsibilities included outsourcing, planning, new systems and technologies, portfolio management, drug safety, medical writing and clinical pharmacology. Prior to joining Vertex, Dr. Chadwick held various positions including Vice President, US Biostatistics and Data Management at Parexel International; Senior Manager, Medical Data Sciences Division, Glaxo Group Research; and Chief Operating Officer at Foliage Software Systems, a privately-held high-end software development company. Dr. Chadwick obtained both his Masters and Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of London, UK.
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Eric Jacobson, M.D.
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Senior Vice President, Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs
Chief Medical Officer
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Before joining Synta, Dr. Jacobson had been Senior Director, Clinical Research at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. While at Millennium, Dr. Jacobson participated in creating development strategies for various small-molecule and biotherapeutic compounds targeting rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, chronic hepatitis C, and HIV. Prior to his position at Millennium, Dr. Jacobson served as U.S. Medical Director, New Clinical Therapies, at Serono Laboratories, where he directed a clinical research team supporting multinational registration of new products and expanded indications of existing products. Previously, Dr. Jacobson spent almost 10 years as an academic rheumatologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. Dr. Jacobson was selected for “The Best Doctors in America” several times, including every year from 2000 to 2004, and he has served as a reviewer for the Journal of the American Medical Association. He earned his M.D. from Rush Medical College of Rush University in Chicago, Illinois, and his B.S. at the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana.
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Keizo Koya, Ph.D.
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Senior Vice President, Drug Development
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Dr. Koya led the research and development of numerous investigational cancer and autoimmune drugs as the VP, R&D at Shionogi BioResearch. A synthetic chemist by training, Dr. Koya was the Director, Drug Discovery and Development at Fuji ImmunoPharmaceuticals, and the Head of Pharmaceutical R&D at Fuji Photo. He also was involved in the development of MKT-077, the first mitochondria-based anticancer agent. Dr. Koya has more than 34 issued and pending U.S. patents. He earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Kyushu University.
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Suresh R. Babu, Ph.D.
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Vice President, Drug Product Development
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Dr. Babu has extensive pharmaceutical industry experience in the areas of preformulation, enabling dosage forms, drug delivery, and the development of immediate and controlled release dosage forms. Prior to joining Synta, he was employed at Pfizer Global R&D with responsibility for discovery formulation, preformulation, and formulation development. Prior to Pfizer, Dr. Babu worked for Johnson & Johnson identifying and implementing new technologies for drug delivery. He has several years of teaching experience in Pharmaceutical Sciences. He earned his B.S. in Pharmacy (India) and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.
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Keith S. Ehrlich, C.P.A
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Vice President, Finance and Administration
Chief Financial Officer
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Mr. Ehrlich was formerly Vice President-Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer at Argentys Corporation. Previously, Mr. Ehrlich was Vice President-Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer at Dyax Corp. and OraVax Inc. (now Acambis) and Director of Finance at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He had financial responsibility for the initial public offerings of OraVax and Vertex. Previously, Mr. Ehrlich was a Senior Audit Manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mr. Ehrlich holds a B.A. in Biology from Drew University and an M.B.A. from Rutgers University.
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Rob Kloppenburg
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Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
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Before joining Synta, Rob Kloppenburg was Senior Vice President and head of the Boston Life Sciences practice of Fleishman-Hillard, Inc., where he provided strategic communications counsel to a variety of clients in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors. Mr. Kloppenburg was Senior Director of Corporate Communications with Millennium Pharmaceuticals from 2001 to 2003, where he was responsible for product and pipeline communications. From 1995 to 2001, Rob Kloppenburg held increasingly senior roles in communications and public affairs at Bayer Corp., first in Canada and later at the North American Pharmaceutical Division headquarters in West Haven, CT. He currently is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Healthcare Communications. Rob Kloppenburg received his BA in Political Science and Economics from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
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Arthur J. McMahon
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Vice President, Human Resources
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Arthur J. McMahon joined us as our Vice President, Human Resources in January 2007. From 2001 until joining us, Mr. McMahon served as Senior Director of Human Resources for Cabot Corporation, a publicly traded specialty chemical company. From 1995 to 2001, Mr. McMahon was Vice President of Human Resources for Osprey Systems, Inc., a privately owned software and information technology services company. Mr. McMahon's past experience in the field of human resources also includes positions with Broadway and Seymour, Inc., Wang Laboratories, Inc. and Raytheon Company. Mr. McMahon earned his B.S. from North Carolina State University and his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.
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Wendy E. Rieder, Esq.
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Vice President, Intellectual Property and Legal Affairs
General Counsel
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Prior to joining Synta in December 2002, Ms. Rieder served as the co-founder, COO and VP, Business Development and Intellectual Property of Microbiotix, Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company developing small-molecule anti-infectives. She is a registered patent attorney with experience in all aspects of business and intellectual property law relating to private and public companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Ms. Rieder was also the VP, Business Development and Intellectual Property at CereMedix, Inc. and LipoGenics, Inc., a patent attorney at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, and a patent agent at Fish & Neave. Ms. Rieder holds an M.S. in Organic Chemistry from Columbia University and a J.D. from Fordham University.
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Andrew J. Sonderfan, Ph.D., DABT
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Vice President, Preclinical Safety Assessment
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Andrew J. Sonderfan, Ph.D., D.A.B.T. joined us as our Vice President, Preclinical Safety Assessment in December 2006. Prior to joining us, Dr. Sonderfan spent five years at Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., during which time he served as Senior Director, Toxicology and Safety Pharmacology. From 2000 to 2001, Dr. Sonderfan was the Director of Toxicology and Product Safety at BioChem Pharma (today, Shire Pharmaceutical Development Inc.). Dr. Sonderfan began his industry career at Syntex, Inc. as Nonclinical Leader, Palonosetron Program. Dr. Sonderfan earned his B.S. in Toxicology from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (today, the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia) and his Ph.D. in Toxicology from the University of Kansas Medical Center.
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Lijun Sun, Ph.D.
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Vice President, Chemistry
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Dr. Sun joined Shionogi BioReseach in 1997 and was promoted to the positions of Director of Chemistry in 2000 and Senior Director of Chemistry in 2002. He received his Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from Emory University; was post-doctoral fellow in chemistry biology at the Emory University School of Medicine; and has more than 30 issued and pending U.S. patents. Dr. Sun published more than a dozen scientific articles.
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Anthony Williams, MD, FRCP
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Vice President, Clinical Research
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Anthony Williams, MD, FRCP, joined Synta as the Vice President of Clinical Research in January, 2007. Prior to joining Synta, Dr. Williams was interim Chief Medical Officer at Genvec. Previously he was Senior Vice President and head of U.S. Clinical Development at Fresenius Biotechnology North America. In both of these roles, Tony focused on oncology drug development. From 1998 to 2001, Tony Williams was Vice President, Medical Affairs at Aronex Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for both oncology and anti-infective products. He has worked at a number of different companies including Glaxo Group Research, Marion Merrell Dow, Medeva Group Development, and Dyax Corp. His experience has included designing and running clinical trials in numerous oncology indications including gastric carcinoma, pancreatic carcinoma, melanoma, sarcoma, leukemia and lymphoma, among others. Dr. Williams received his undergraduate degree from Trinity College, Cambridge University, in the UK. He received his medical degree from University College Hospital Medical School in London. His professional affiliations include Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
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David Noskowitz
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Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance
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Mr. Noskowitz brings to Synta over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, having worked on 18 products in development or on the market. Most recently, Mr. Noskowitz was Director of Regulatory Affairs at Genzyme Corporation, where his efforts contributed to U.S., E.U., and international approvals of Aldurazyme® (laronidase), a treatment for Mucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS I). While at Genzyme, Mr. Noskowitz served as team leader for interdisciplinary project teams and provided regulatory perspective on in-licensing/acquisition due diligence activities. Prior to joining Genzyme in 2000, Mr. Noskowitz was Associate Director and Manager of Regulatory Affairs at Wyeth-Ayerst Research/Genetics Institute, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Noskowitz served as Regulatory Affairs Manager at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Mr. Noskowitz received an M.Eng. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and earned both a B.S. in Environmental Engineering and a B.A. in Chemistry at the University of Rochester.
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Mary C. Drummond
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Senior Director, Oncology Commercial Development
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Before joining Synta in April 2007, Ms. Drummond held leadership positions in Millennium Pharmaceuticals’ oncology commercial organization, including key strategic and tactical roles for each of VELCADE's three indication launches (3rd line multiple myeloma, 2nd line multiple myeloma, and 2nd line mantle cell lymphoma). In addition, she played a pivotal role in building the company's original marketing and medical affairs functions. Prior to Millennium, she was the Senior Director of Sales and Marketing at Rosetta Inpharmatics, now Merck & Co, and has held several other marketing management roles in biotechnology and technology-focused companies. Her experience bridges the entire spectrum of marketing, ranging from early market analysis and planning to sales and marketing strategy for commercialized products. Ms. Drummond holds a BA from George Washington University, Washington DC, and an Executive MBA from Pepperdine University, Los Angeles, CA.
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