Stem Cell Therapeutics Announces Reorganization and Management Changes
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Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. has announced a corporate reorganization to reposition the company as the commercialization partner of choice for stem cell technologies in regenerative medicine from Canadian and international research institutions.
As part of the reorganization, the Company has recruited Dr. Albert Agro to the position of Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Bev Incledon to the position of Vice President of Development and Mr. Scott Duncan to the position of Director of Intellectual Property.
These changes are effective immediately. Dr. Allen Davidoff has resigned from the position of Chief Scientific Officer, effective during the first quarter of 2012, to pursue other opportunities.
The purpose of the restructuring is to focus the Company's activities towards licensing and acquiring stem cell technologies from research institutions, positioning the Company as a bridge to translate basic stem cell research into commercial products.
The Company continues to maintain its existing portfolio of valuable intellectual property and potential products, from the seminal discoveries of Dr. Sam Weiss of the University of Calgary and to advance the current trial in Traumatic Brain Injury at Foothills Medical Centre.
"The calibre of talent we have attracted with our new team members demonstrates our mutual vision for the potential of stem cells and regenerative medicine to fundamentally change how medicine is practiced. With this restructuring, we have clearly positioned Stem Cell Therapeutics as Canada's preferred commercialization receptor company for stem cell technologies," said Mr. David Allan, Executive Chairman of Stem Cell Therapeutics.
Mr. Allan continued, "We intend to build on the strength of Dr. Weiss' discoveries to expand our existing product portfolio by accessing early stage research from academic and research institutions and advancing their discoveries through clinical development as products that are useful to patients."
Dr. Agro has 15 years of clinical development experience with global roles at Bayer Inc. and Boehringer Ingelheim where he advanced several drug candidates from development through to the New Drug Application stage.
Most recently, Dr. Agro held the position of Senior Vice President, Clinical Development, at TransTech Pharma overseeing the development of several drug candidates in diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, obesity and oncology.
He currently runs his own consulting firm, HNZ Strategic Holdings Inc. where he acts as Chief Medical Officer at GlycoRegImmune Inc., a start-up biotech entity he co-founded in California as well Cynapsus Therapeutics in Toronto.
Dr. Agro received his Ph.D. from the Department of Medicine at McMaster University and maintains the position of assistant professor, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at the university.
Dr. Incledon brings more than 16 years of pharmaceutical industry experience to his new role as Vice President of Development, including drug discovery, product development, and portfolio management, among others.
He is currently President of Concept 2 Clinic, Inc., a research and development management company. His previous roles include Director, Research and Development, of Eli Lilly Canada, Inc.
Dr. Incledon also held various research and scientific positions at Glaxo Wellcome Inc. (Canada), University of Guelph, Syntex Inc., and the Canadian Red Cross Society. He has been directly involved in more than 60 regulatory submissions and the development of five marketed products (Lexiva, Symbyax, Strattera, Effient, Byetta).
Dr. Incledon was a Post Doctoral Fellow at Cornell University and obtained his Ph.D. degree in Biophysics from the University of Guelph.
Mr. Duncan is recognized for the quality of his patent consulting services which he has provided for the past 12 years to a diverse range of biotechnology companies since he built and managed Canada's largest biotech patent estate during his tenure with Allelix, one of Canada's initial biotech companies that was acquired by NPS Pharmaceuticals of Salt Lake City.
His responsibilities within that role included the development of patent assets relating to transgenic crops, medicinal chemistry, protein drugs and expression systems, and in vitro diagnostics.
Mr. Duncan has been a registered patent agent since 1986, when he qualified magna cum laude while working at a Toronto firm specializing in intellectual property.
Management is confident that the personnel changes will not increase the expenses of the corporation and potential cost savings from these changes are anticipated.
The Company will make a provision of approximately $141,000 for termination payments in the fourth quarter related to the restructuring, and expects net savings as a result of the changes by the end of 2012.
Notice of Conference Call:
The Company will hold a conference call on Wednesday, December 7, 2011, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, hosted by Mr. David Allan, Executive Chairman of Stem Cell Therapeutics, to provide a corporate update regarding this announcement. A question and answer session will follow.
