Tranzyme Pharma Appoints New Vice President of Business Development & Licensing
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. and SHERBROOKE, Québec – August 10, 2006 -Tranzyme Pharma, a leading biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) and metabolic diseases, announced today the appointment of Eric M. Nelson, Ph.D., as the Company’s Vice President of Business Development & Licensing.
Dr. Nelson’s career encompasses 20 years of experience in business development and licensing for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Previously, Dr. Nelson served as Assistant Vice President, Technology Licensing for Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories where he was responsible for product licensing in several therapeutic areas including oncology, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anti-bacterial diseases. While at Wyeth-Ayerst, Dr. Nelson was also responsible for establishing multiple drug discovery and development partnerships. Prior to joining Wyeth-Ayerst, he served as Director, Business Development at Becton Dickinson & Co. and managed several advanced drug-delivery R&D alliances. Earlier in his career Dr. Nelson held appointments with Athena Neurosciences as Manager of Business Development and with SG Cowan & Co. where he was a biotechnology securities analyst and biotechnology investment banker. Immediately prior to joining Tranzyme Pharma, he had a successful biotechnology consulting practice. Dr. Nelson received his doctorate degree in oncology and molecular biology from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and was a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University.
“We are very pleased that Dr. Nelson is joining Tranzyme Pharma,” said Vipin K. Garg, Ph.D., President & CEO of Tranzyme Pharma. “He is an accomplished business development executive with a demonstrated track record in product licensing and negotiating drug development collaborations. His breadth of experience will enable him to be very effective in executing our business strategy and leading our partnership negotiations.”
“I am excited to join Tranzyme Pharma and be part of a creative and seasoned drug development and management team,” said Dr. Nelson. “Tranzyme has an outstanding combination of first-in-class drugs in development for GI and metabolic diseases, which represent fast-growing markets. Tranzyme is well-positioned to be successful with the development of its products internally and to be a strategic partner in the development and commercialization of innovative therapeutics.”