On October 20, 2014, the Company hired Dr. G. Kenneth Smith as its Vice President of Legal. The position of Vice President of Legal duties includes providing senior management with effective advice on legal strategies and negotiating critical business contracts. The Vice President of Legal reports to and receives direction from the CEO and shall perform such functions and duties as are required by the Company’s CEO.
Dr. Smith has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Houston (1997) and a J.D. from the University of Houston (1994). Prior to joining, Elite, Dr. Smith served as Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for Alpharma Inc and Head of North American Intellectual Property for Sanofi Aventis. In both positions, Dr. Smith had global responsibility for all intellectual property issues related to multiple business units involved in various technologies including branded products, animal health products, active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), generic drugs, and vaccines. He has managed and participated in international intellectual property litigation, including European and Japanese oppositions as well as patent litigation in Canada and France. Dr. Smith has also been involved in trademark issues, and many licensing and acquisition negotiations. Dr. Smith also has an MBA with a concentration in entrepreneurship from Lehigh University (2007), an MS in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois (1989) and a B.S. in Chemistry and Psychology from the College of William and Mary (1978).
The company also announced the appointments of Dr. Jason LePree as Vice President of Scientific Affairs and Dr. Sophy Abraham as Head of Regulatory Affairs.
Dr. LePree joins Elite with a wealth of experience in formulations and analytical research and development having most recently served as the Principal Scientist, Formulations Research and Development for Capsugel. Dr. LePree also held previous positions in research and development with Abon Pharmaceuticals, Penwest Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, and Hoffman-LaRoche. Dr. LePree has a B.S. in Pharmacy from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in Pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Pharmacy at Long Island University.
Dr. Abraham brings to Elite extensive regulatory and analytical experience having worked for over 20 years at Teva Pharmaceuticals. Her most recent position at Teva was Senior Regulatory Associate. Dr. Abraham has B.S. in Zoology, Botany, and Chemistry from the University of Kerala, India and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Baroda, India.
A copy of the press release is being finished with this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.
