Pascal Biosciences Expands Leadership Team to Support Strategic Advancement of Its Cannabinoid Based Programs
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, and SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, November 28, 2018 – Pascal Biosciences Inc. (TSX.V:PAS) (“Pascal” or the “Company”), a drug discovery and development company, today announced the strengthening of its leadership team with the appointments of seasoned executives in therapeutic and business development. These include Kevin M. Egan, MBA, Vice President Business Development, Thomas Deckwerth, PhD, Vice President Therapeutic Development, and Larry W. Tjoelker, PhD, Vice President Research.
“We are pleased to have Kevin, Tom, and Larry as members of the senior leadership team at Pascal. Their extensive experience is invaluable as we advance our leading cannabinoid-based programs and explore strategic opportunities,” said Dr. Patrick Gray, CEO of Pascal. “This great team has been responsible for the discovery and development of numerous drugs, both through clinical development and partnering.”
Mr. Egan brings over 30 years of experience in the biotechnology industry with a proven track record of negotiating partnering, licensing, and outsourcing agreements. Beginning his career at Amgen, he helped develop and launch Epogen and Neupogen. Mr. Egan also worked for ICOS Corporation where he helped in the discovery and development of Cialis. He was responsible for building and managing the profitable ICOS biologics contract manufacturing business which was later acquired by CMC Biologics. He served as Vice President, Business Development for CMC Biologics where he led US Business Development efforts, and President of Borealis Biotechnology an international business development consulting firm. Mr. Egan received an MBA from the University of Washington, and a Masters in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UC Santa Barbara.
Dr. Thomas Deckwerth has 20 years of industrial experience in the research and development of therapeutics and medical devices. Prior to Pascal, Dr. Deckwerth was Vice President of Cancer Drug Development and Vice President of Product Development at Presage Biosciences where he led optimization and clinical drug product manufacturing projects. He was one of the first employees at Ikaria, Inc., later acquired by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. As Senior Director of Biological Chemistry, he led and managed therapeutics and diagnostics projects in the critical care space. Previously he was Section Head of Cellular Pharmacology at Idun Pharmaceuticals where he worked in collaborations with Novartis on caspase inhibitors for stroke and with Abbott Laboratories in the development of bcl2/bclxL and IAP antagonists for cancer indications until the acquisition of the company by Pfizer. He received his PhD in neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine.
Dr. Tjoelker has over 25 years of research experience in the biotechnology industry, particularly in drug discovery for immunology and oncology. Prior to joining Pascal, Dr. Tjoelker was at public clinical-stage biotechs including ICOS, MacroGenics, and Omeros. During his 11-year tenure at ICOS Corporation, he cloned genes for inflammatory mediators which entered late stage clinical trials. As Director of Cancer Discovery at MacroGenics, Dr. Tjoelker and his team discovered 50 new cancer targets for monoclonal antibody therapy. He has also served as Director of Science at Omeros Corp. where his team discovered the first functional monoclonal antibodies against a proinflammatory complement cascade protease. Dr. Tjoelker received his PhD at the University of Michigan.
