Biotech Values

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Simonetti news (ex-DNDN CFO)

Friday, January 6, 2006

Ex-Dendreon exec joins VLST Corp.
Biotech picks Simonetti as new CEO, president

By BRAD WONG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

When Martin Simonetti left Seattle's Dendreon Corp. in July, the biotech was focusing on bringing its lead product, a widely watched prostate cancer treatment, to market. It still is.

But instead of continuing there, as its chief financial officer, Simonetti has opted to work for a smaller Seattle biotech, a company years away from introducing any product to market.

VLST Corp. is announcing today that the 48-year-old has joined the biotech as its president and chief executive. It is developing therapeutics for autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.

In addition to hiring Simonetti, VLST is announcing that biotech pioneer Steven Gillis is joining its board as executive chairman. Gillis, co-founder of Immunex and Corixa, is a partner in the Seattle office of ARCH Venture Partners.

Simonetti's hiring comes as VLST is close to securing a second round of financing, said co-founder Craig Smith. Its first round brought in about $4 million.

Once the second round closes, the nine-person company will move into its own office and research space. That move would make VLST the first biotech to leave -- or "graduate" from -- the Accelerator Corp., the Seattle incubator that backs promising companies.

For Simonetti, working for a smaller company suits him fine. "I like to build things. This is an opportunity to be creative."

Launched in May 2004 by Smith and Steve Wiley, VLST studies how viruses survive in order to eventually identify targets to treat various diseases.

Simonetti said an autoimmune disorder could be something such as lupus. An inflammatory disorder, he added, could be something such as bowel disease.



So far, VLST has identified more than 70 targets. Eight of those are "novel," meaning that no other company has identified them, Simonetti said.

Smith and Wiley said Simonetti's business and research background impressed them. Simonetti has served in various scientific, research, operations and financial positions at Dendreon, Amgen Inc. and Genentech Inc.

"He knows the biotech world very well," Smith said. "We need someone like that at this stage."

Simonetti earned an MBA degree from the University of Santa Clara in California and a master's degree in nutritional sciences from the University of California-Davis.

One reason he wanted to lead a biotechnology company is personal, he said. In late 2004, his father and brother-in-law died, prompting him to examine his life and career. "I did some thinking about what I wanted to do," he said.

With 25 years of biotech experience, he also knows there is work to be done in his new positions.

"The challenge is to simultaneously build a business and march research forward," he said. "It's not simple. You need to keep focused."

And in his six years at Dendreon, Simonetti often worked up to 70 hours a week. Those long hours are likely to return for him at VLST.

But as many entrepreneurs, doctors and scientists in the region's biotech field know, the rewards -- whether medical, personal or financial -- can be huge.


More headlines and info from Eastlake.

P-I reporter Brad Wong can be reached at 206-448-8137 or [e-mail].

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/254691_vlst06.html