Sangart, Inc. Announces Key Executive Appointments and Company Restructuring
Business Units Refocused on Additional Clinical Studies Planned for
Hemospan(R)
SAN DIEGO, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Sangart, Inc., a privately held
biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and
commercialization of oxygen-therapeutic agents, today announced a company
restructuring that includes the addition of four key leadership positions
and a significant reduction in work force, primarily in the product
manufacturing area. This restructuring reduces the company's burn rate and
refocuses Sangart's business units on pursuing further clinical trials for
its lead product, Hemospan(R).
"Sangart remains committed to developing a safe and effective
oxygen-therapeutic agent," said Brian O'Callaghan, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Sangart. "Our recent successful Phase III clinical
studies of Hemospan demonstrated very encouraging efficacy results for the
prevention and treatment of hypotension in hip replacement procedures.
These trials provide a platform from which to conduct the pivotal clinical
studies that will be necessary to establish the clinical benefit of
treating patients with Hemospan. The appointment of key executives and the
decision to reduce our workforce, which was difficult but necessary, will
enable us to focus our resources on these upcoming clinical trials."
As part of the restructuring, Sangart announced appointments for four
new leadership positions:
-- Howard Levy MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer -- Dr. Levy will assume
overall responsibility for preclinical, clinical research, and research
and development for Hemospan. A critical care and pulmonary physician,
Dr. Levy brings more than 20 years of experience both serving as a
principal investigator at research institutions as well as leading
clinical study development teams for pharmaceutical companies. Prior to
Sangart, he was responsible for clinical research of the hemostasis
platform at Novo Nordisk, Inc.
-- Elias Nyberg, DVM, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality
Assurance -- Dr. Nyberg is responsible for all international regulatory
communications, as well as overseeing Quality Assurance for the
company. Dr. Nyberg brings more than 20 years of experience working
with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in regulatory affairs.
Prior to Sangart, he served as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs at a
Boston-based biopharmaceutical company and Senior Director for
International Regulatory Affairs at BIOGEN.
-- Clive Bertram, Head of European Commercialization -- Mr. Bertram is
responsible for the company's European commercial operations and brings
to Sangart a wealth of experience ranging from marketing and sales for
larger pharmaceutical companies to advising small biotech companies on
overall branding and commercialization. Prior to Sangart, he was Senior
Director of International Marketing for Pharmion Ltd.
-- Kristine Figueroa, CCP, Head of Human Resources -- Ms. Figueroa is
responsible for all human resources for the company, including
recruitment, benefits management and employee relations. Ms. Figueroa
brings more than 13 years of experience in human resources. Prior to
Sangart, Figueroa held human resource management positions for SGX
Pharmaceuticals and Elan Pharmaceuticals.
About Sangart
Sangart, Inc. is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on
being the global scientific, clinical and commercial leader in
oxygen-therapeutic agents, providing innovative products to patients in
need. Sangart was founded based on technologies developed during more than
two decades of research into the mechanisms of oxygen transport by
cell-free hemoglobin solutions at the Letterman Army Institute of Research
and University of California at San Diego. The discoveries arising from
this research on the effective action of oxygen therapeutics have been
patented and published in numerous scientific articles and form the basis
for Sangart's technologies.
About Hemospan(R)
Sangart's lead product candidate, Hemospan(R) is an oxygen therapeutic
product that is created using unique polyethylene glycol conjugation with
human hemoglobin. Hemospan(R) was specifically designed to the optimal
molecular size, viscosity, oxygen affinity and diffusion potential to
target oxygen delivery to tissues at risk of oxygen deprivation based on
experiments with artificial capillaries and in several different animal
models. Extensive research and testing demonstrates that this approach
optimizes oxygen delivery in the microcirculation while minimizing the side
effects that plagued earlier generation products.
To learn more about Sangart or Hemospan, please visit
http://www.sangart.com.
Media Contact:
Lisa Waters
Edelman
323-202-1051
[email protected]