Seattle-based Atossa Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ATOS) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to discover and develop innovative medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need. Atossa’s current focus is on breast cancer and radiation-induced lung injury.
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Leadership
Dr. Wabnitz has extensive experience in clinical development with a unique combination of clinical medicine, pharmacology, toxicology, and industry drug development experience. He has acted as an investigator and Medical Monitor on over 50 first in human Phase I/II clinical trials over the last two years, including several Phase I/II first in human oncology studies, as well as previously being the Executive Medical Director of a leading Australian Phase I clinical unit. His scientific background includes a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, a Post Doc at Parke-Davis (Ann Arbor, MI), 6.5 years of drug development industry experience (Pfizer/Esperion), an M.B.A. from the Stephen Ross School of Business (University of Ann Arbor, MI), and a Drug Development certificate in Regulatory Affairs from Temple University (Philadelphia, PA). His clinical background includes a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), and he is a qualified Specialist Physician and Clinical Pharmacologist (Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physician, Australia).
Dr. Mak Jawadekar is currently an independent Pharma Professional. He worked at
Pfizer, Inc. based in Groton-New London Connecticut for 28 consecutive years. In 2010,
he was a Director, Portfolio Management at Pfizer Inc. During his career at Pfizer, he was
responsible for Drug Delivery Technology Assessment function involving external ‘Drug
Delivery’ technologies. He has extensive experience in creating and cultivating external
partnerships and alliances for Drug Delivery Technologies. He began his professional
career at Pfizer Central Research in early 1982, after having completed his Ph.D. in
Pharmaceutics, under Prof. Ed Rippie at the University of Minnesota.
His 28+ years of experience with Pfizer Global R&D specifically includes Solids R&D,
Drug Product formulation/ Dosage Form/ Drug Delivery development, Clinical Trials
Supply Manufacturing, Scale-up and Technology Transfer & Research Pharmacy
functions. He helped create various Pharma R&D Partnerships, JVs, and Collaborations.
He managed several functions/groups within R&D for many years. As a bench Scientist,
he worked on many challenging commercial formulations which became multibillion-
dollar products for many years for Pfizer Inc. These R & D formulations & Product
development programs included ZOLOFT, ZITHROMAX, VIAGRA faster onset,
DIFLUCAN ODT and EXUBERA pulmonary delivery system. He also worked on many
“Life Cycle Management “projects for Pfizer’s existing products. Post Pfizer career, he
worked with KKR, a Private Equity group in New York, for acquisition of Capsugel
division from Pfizer which Pfizer divested later in 2011. Mak has presented at many
professional meetings and has participated in various Panel Discussions/Round Tables
around the globe.
During February 2018, he worked with Mr. Tonino Lamborghini, Chairman, Tonino
Lamborghini S.p.A. from Italy in creating Strategic Collaborations in India, working
through India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chief Minister, D. Phadanavis.
Currently, he serves on various company Strategic & Scientific Advisory Boards
around the globe. Some of the list includes:
- Actinium Pharma, New York city
- Applied DNA Technologies, Stony Brook, NY
- Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, California
- Tonino Lamborghini SpA, Italy.
- NMBT, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York
- Sonnet Bio Therapeutics Inc., Cranbury, NJ
- Saama Technologies Inc., Campbell, California
Serving on the Board of Directors: (Public Companies)
- Preveceutical Medical Inc., Vancouver, Canada
- Cardax Pharma, Honolulu, Hawaii
- Nanoviricides Inc. Shelton, Connecticut
Member of the Board of Directors at a NY based, Non-Profit organization,
- Abilities Inc.
Dr. Hall is widely regarded as a leading researcher in the field of breast cancer and prevention. He is the Head of the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet. Dr. Hall is leading the unique KARMA (Karolinska Mammography Project for Risk Prediction of Breast Cancer) Cohort, including over 70,000 women, which is regarded as the best characterized breast cancer cohort in the world and serves as a resource for studies about breast cancer risk assessment and prevention, and the Karisma Intervention Study, which is studying the change in MBD in women taking various doses of oral tamoxifen.
Dr. Novina is one of the leading researchers in the field of RNAi therapeutics. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School and an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. He is currently the Principal Investigator of the Novina Lab at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His laboratory has made several important discoveries into the biology of noncoding RNAs, their dysregulation in cancers, and their development as biomedical tools.
Dr. Novina received his M.D. from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2000 and his Ph.D. from Tufts University, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences in 1998. His graduate work has resulted in 10 publications examining transcriptional regulation of TATA-less promoters. In 2014 he received the coveted National Institutes of Health Pioneer Award, which funds bold and innovative research proposals to attack challenging biomedical problems. Dr. Novina has established many collaborations between industry partners and physicians to facilitate his goal of bringing biomedical innovations from bench to bedside.
Director
Mr. Steinhart has served as a director of the Company since March 2014. Mr. Steinhart is currently the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. From October 2015 to June 2017 he was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Remedy Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a privately held pharmaceuticals company. From January 2014 until he joined Remedy Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Steinhart acted as an independent financial consultant to the Biotechnology and Medical Device Industries.
From April 2006 to December 2013, Mr. Steinhart was an executive at MELA Sciences, Inc., most recently serving as its Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary. From 1992 to 2006, Mr. Steinhart was Managing Director at Forest St. Capital/SAE Ventures. Earlier, he served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Emisphere Technologies from 1991 to 1992 and as General Partner and Chief Financial Officer of CW Group Inc. Mr. Steinhart is a Member of the Board of Directors of Actinium Pharmaceuticals where he is Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee. From 2004 to 2012, Mr. Steinhart was a Member of the Board of Directors of Manhattan Pharmaceuticals and was Chairman of the Audit Committee. Mr. Steinhart received his B.B.A. and M.B.A. degrees from Pace University. Mr. Steinhart has been selected to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors because of his qualifications as a business executive and audit committee financial expert, and his prior experience as a Chief Financial Officer, director and committee member of public companies.
Director
Mr. Weaver has served as a director of the Company since October 2013. Mr. Weaver is currently serving as a financial consultant for several biopharmaceutical companies. From October 2017 – March 2020, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Eloxx Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded biotech company. From October 2015 to August 2017 he served as Chief Financial officer of ProMetic Life Sciences, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company.
From January to October 2015 he served as Global Chief Financial Officer of Oryzon Genomics, a public biotech company. From August 2013 to October 2014, Mr. Weaver served as Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Corporate Secretary of Fibrocell Science, Inc., a public biotech company. From June 2011 to July 2013, Mr. Weaver served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Celsion Corp., Mr. Weaver received his B.S. degree from Trinity University and his M.B.A. degree from Boston College. Mr. Weaver has been selected to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors because of his qualifications as a business executive and audit committee financial expert, and his current and prior experience as a Chief Financial Officer, director and committee member of public companies. Mr.Weaver serves on the board of directors of Egalet Corp., a public biotech company.
Director
Mr. Remmel has served as a director of the Company since February 2012. He is currently a partner of the law firm Pryor Cashman LLP, located in New York City, where he chairs the Banking and Finance practice group. Mr. Remmel joined Pryor Cashman in 1988. His practice includes corporate and banking financings, issues relating to the Investment Company Act of 1940, and intellectual property and licensing issues, in particular in the biotechnology and biocosmeceutical areas.
Mr. Remmel served on the Board of Advisors of CytoDel, LLC, an early stage bio-pharmaceutical company developing products for bio-defense, neuronal drug delivery, and musculoskeletal and aesthetic medicine. In February 2018, he became a director of CytoDel, Inc., the successor to CytoDel LLC. He was an associate of the law firm Reboul, MacMurray, Hewitt, Maynard & Kristol from 1984 to 1988, and began his legal career at Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, where he was an associate from 1979 to 1984. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1980 and is a member of the New York State Bar Association. He received his J.D. from the Washington & Lee University School of Law in 1979 and his B.A. from Princeton University in 1975. He currently is a doctoral candidate in the Graduate School of Life Sciences of the University of Utrecht, in the Department of Clinical and Translational Oncology, with a thesis project in hyperplasia and early stage breast cancer. Mr. Remmel has been selected to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors because of his substantial experience as a corporate attorney advising biotechnology companies and his familiarity with the fiduciary duties and the regulatory requirements affecting publicly traded companies.
Director
Dr. Galli has served as a director of the Company since July 2011. Dr. Galli has been a Professor of Pathology and of Microbiology & Immunology and the Mary Hewitt Loveless, M.D., Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California since February 1999. He served as Chair of the Department of Pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine from 1999 to 2016. Before joining Stanford, he was on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. He holds 14 U.S. patents and has over 400 publications.
He is past president of the American Society for Investigative Pathology and past president of the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum. In addition to receiving several awards for his research, he was recognized with the 2010 Stanford University President’s Award for Excellence through Diversity for his recruitment and support of women and underrepresented minorities at Stanford University. He received his B.A. degree in biology, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1968 and his M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School in 1973 and completed a residency in anatomic pathology at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1977. Dr. Galli has been selected to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors because of his qualifications as a professor and physician, and his specialized expertise as a pathologist.
Director
Dr. Chen has served as founder and director since April 2009. She served as Chief Scientific Officer of the Company since it was incorporated in April 2009 through August 2014. She was an Associate Professor at National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, and served as the principal investigator of an NIH RO1 grant studying tumor suppression by gap junction protein connexin 43 at the Department of Molecular Medicine at Northwest Hospital, Seattle, WA.
She has two issued U.S. patents and 20 pending U.S. patent applications related to cancer therapeutics. Dr. Chen received her Ph.D. degree in microbiology and public health from Michigan State University in 1992 and has published extensively on molecular oncology. She received her B.S. degree in medical technology from National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan in 1984. Dr. Chen was selected to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors because of her role as a founder of the Company and her qualifications in medical technology and as a professor and researcher in the field of cancer therapeutics.
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Quay has served as Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company since the Company was incorporated in April 2009. Dr. Quay is certified in Anatomic Pathology with the American Board of Pathology, completed both an internship and residency in anatomic pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, and is a former faculty member of the Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine.
Dr. Quay is a named inventor on 87 U.S. patents, 130 pending U.S. patent applications, and is named inventor on patents covering five pharmaceutical products that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Quay received an M.D. in 1977 and a Ph.D. in 1975 from the University of Michigan. He received his B.A. degree in biology, chemistry and mathematics from Western Michigan University in 1971. He was selected to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors because of his role as a founder of the Company, as well as his qualifications as a physician and the principal researcher overseeing the clinical and regulatory development of the Company’s pharmaceutical programs.
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Quay has served as Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company since the Company was incorporated in April 2009. Dr. Quay is certified in Anatomic Pathology with the American Board of Pathology, completed both an internship and residency in anatomic pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, and is a former faculty member of the Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine.
Dr. Quay is a named inventor on 87 U.S. patents, 130 pending U.S. patent applications, and is named inventor on patents covering five pharmaceutical products that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Quay received an M.D. in 1977 and a Ph.D. in 1975 from the University of Michigan. He received his B.A. degree in biology, chemistry and mathematics from Western Michigan University in 1971. He was selected to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors because of his role as a founder of the Company, as well as his qualifications as a physician and the principal researcher overseeing the clinical and regulatory development of the Company’s pharmaceutical programs.
Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel and Secretary
Mr. Guse has served as Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel and Secretary since January 2013. His experience includes more than 20 years of counseling life sciences and other rapid growth companies through all aspects of finance, corporate governance, securities laws and commercialization.
Mr. Guse has practiced law at several of the largest international law firms, including from January 2012 through January 2013 as a partner at Baker Botts LLP and, prior to that, from October 2007 to January 2012, as a partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP. Before working at McDermott Will & Emery, Mr. Guse previously served as a partner at Heller Ehrman LLP. Mr. Guse began his career as an accountant at Deloitte & Touche and he is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of California. Mr. Guse earned a B.S. in Business Administration and an M.B.A. from California State University, Sacramento, and a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law.
VP Clinical, Regulatory & CMC
Dr. Fraser brings over 20 years of extensive industry experience in the biotech industry to the Company, recently serving in a leadership role as VP Clinical Operations & Program Management at Cerecor, Inc. She held positions with increasing levels of responsibility at Anthera Pharmaceuticals and CV Therapeutics (acquired by Gilead Sciences) where the roles included preclinical and clinical sciences and regulatory affairs. Dr. Fraser has experience in drug development across diverse therapeutic areas including psychiatry, central nervous system disorders, cardiovascular disorders, and rare diseases; and she has been involved in all stages of drug development from pre-clinical through Phase 4. Dr. Fraser received her BS in Zoology from the University of British Columbia, her MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Montana and her PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Alberta. She also completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
VP, Administration & HR
Delly Behen, PHR, SHRM-CP has served as Atossa’s VP, Administration & Human Resources since July 2014. Delly brings over 20 years of human resources, administrative, and operational experience to the company. Her experience includes leading people, culture and administration at various biotech companies throughout the Puget Sound. Most recently, she served as Impel NeuroPharma’s HR Consultant, where she helped grow the company and implement HR policies and procedures. She also held positions with increasing responsibilities at CTI Biopharma. Delly received her B.A. degree from the University of Washington and her HR certification from Seattle Pacific University.
Vice President, Finance and Accounting
Ms. Rees brings more than 25 years of experience in finance and accounting leadership roles within publicly traded, IPO startups and global organizations. Prior to her current role, Ms. Rees served as Atossa’s Controller from 2017 through early 2021. She previously spent ten years working as an independent financial consultant serving public and private companies including, Avalara, Getty Images, Fisher Communications, and Flow International. Heather began her career with Deloitte & Touche and worked nine years in the audit practice. Ms. Rees earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Gonzaga University. She is a CPA in the state of Washington (inactive).
VP, Investor & Public Relations
Mr. Van Zanten brings over 25 years of corporate communications experience working within the biopharmaceutical, finance and healthcare industries. He will oversee corporate, executive and digital communications, investor relations, thought leadership, and branding for the Company. Prior to joining Atossa, Mr. Van Zanten led corporate affairs at Faron Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on tackling difficult-to-treat cancers via precision macrophage immunotherapy and Urogen Pharma, a commercial stage biotech delivering innovative solutions that treat specialty cancers. He was also formerly Head of Commercial and Medical Communications and Director of Oncology Communications at Bristol-Myers Squibb where he helped launch Opdivo, one of the most successful oncology brands ever. Earlier in his career he held communications leadership roles at Deloitte, Booz Allen & Hamilton, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Unisys Corporation. Mr. Van Zanten is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, where he received his BA in Political Science and Government.