Versatope Adds New Board Members
Edward P. Jordan, MBA is the Chief Commercial Officer for XSpray Pharma, a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on advancing oncology care. He leads the USA-based efforts inclusive of commercial operations, supply, manufacturing and medical affairs for the anticipated approval and launch of advanced oncology products. The first of these is Dasynoc, which aims to bolster the clinical efficacy of the chronic myeloid leukemia drug Dasatinib while benefiting a wider patient population. Previously, Ed held various Chief Commercial and Operations Officer roles at Humanigen, DBV Technologies, AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Merck (Schering-Plough). He received dual Bachelor of Science Degrees from the University of Rhode Island and his MBA from Southern New Hampshire University.
Sam Rasty, PhD, MBA is currently serving as Chief Business Officer at Sensorium Therapeutics, a Boston area biotech focused on the discovery and development of first-in-class therapies for neuropsychiatric and neurological diseases. Previously, he was Interim Chief Executive Officer of Sequence Bio, a genomics and precision medicine company in Canada, and President and Chief Executive Officer of PlateletBio, a pioneering cell therapy biotech company in the Boston area. He served as Chief Operating Officer and one of the early employees of Homology Medicines. His earlier career spanned a variety of leadership roles at Shire plc, Endo Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline, focused on R&D, new product planning, commercial strategy, marketing and business development. Dr. Rasty earned a PhD in Biochemistry / Molecular Virology from Louisiana State University, completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in Molecular Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and received an MBA from Villanova University.
The company also announced today that James Tartaglia, PhD joined its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Dr. Tartaglia is an internationally recognized vaccine R&D leader with over 30 years of experience in industry, including contributions to partnerships with private sector, government and international agencies. In his role as Global Head of Vaccine Development and Life Cycle Management at Sanofi, Dr. Tartaglia was responsible for a vaccine portfolio of 25 projects extending from phase I/II through life cycle management in the areas of influenza, pediatric combination vaccines, RSV, rabies, Yellow Fever, pneumococcal and meningococcal vaccines. Over his career, Dr. Tartaglia has been involved in the licensure of 20 vaccines in veterinary and human health.
'Versatope is now a clinical-stage biotechnology company and the addition of our new board members will help us in advancing our commercialization and business strategy,' said Christopher Locher, PhD and CEO of Versatope. 'I am very pleased with the progress our R&D scientists have made to this point and welcome the new board members to the Versatope team.'
About Versatope Therapeutics
Versatope Therapeutics, Inc., is a clinical-stage biotechnology company located in Lowell, MA at the University of Massachusetts' M2D2 biotech incubator. Versatope discovers and develops new vaccines and therapeutics with its novel delivery platform. The technological foundation uses nano-scale vesicles derived from genetically modified variants of microbial cells. Versatope expresses membrane-bound vaccine antigens (epitopes) for vaccines or antibody-derived fragments (paratopes) for drug delivery with cell-specific targeting. Learn more about Versatope Therapeutics at Versatope.com.
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