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FREE ROAD MAP TO FDA WHITE-PAPER
The ITC Transporter White Paper provides detailed guidance for transporter mediated DDI studies for the seven transporters recommended in the March 17, 2010 FDA Advisory Committee vote. Get the White Paper and a Road Map Summary to help navigate it.
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Optivia Management Team
Yong Huang, Ph.D. Founder, President and CEO
Dr. Huang is an entrepreneur and innovator in the life science space. He has over 10 years of experience in moving novel ideas to the market place. Besides Optivia, he founded or contributed to four life science companies. Dr. Huang is the principal investigator for nearly $6 million in NIH grants. He is the co-inventor and co-author of more than 30 patents and scientific articles. His scientific contributions were cited by numerous reports and conferred him several prestigious awards, including the “R&D 100 award” (R&D Magazine) and the “R&D Stars of the Year” (Industry Week).
Dr. Huang received a BS from Tsinghua University, China and his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from University of California, Berkeley. He also completed a scholarship at the BioExec Institute, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley.
Pascal Druzgala, Ph.D. Co-Founder, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Druzgala is a co-founder and has been serving on our board since July 2007. He is an experienced entrepreneur and drug design expert. Before joining Optivia’s management team in January 2011, he co-founded ARYx Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ARYX) where he has been serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer since 1997, responsible for all research related activities. Prior to ARYx, he also co-founded Advanced Therapies, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Druzgala is an expert in drug design and discovery and he has brought numerous drugs to clinical phase, including drugs that are presently marketed. He authored or co-authored numerous issued patents and scientific articles.
Dr. Druzgala received a Pharm.D degree from the University of Montpellier, France, and then earned his diplôme d’études approfondies degree at the European Institute of Industrial Pharmaceutical Sciences in Montpellier, France. Dr. Druzgala later graduated from the University of Florida with a doctorate in medicinal chemistry. He completed his post doctorate work at the Center for Drug Design and Discovery at the University of Florida.
Peter G. Milner, MD, FACC Co-Founder, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development
Dr. Milner co-founded Optivia in 2007 and later joined the company as the Executive Vice President of Corporate Development in 2011. In 1997 Peter co-founded ARYx Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARYX) where he served as CEO until 2005, and President from 2005 to 2010 with overall responsibility for R&D. In 1990 he co-founded CV Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CVTX), where as a member of senior management from 1992-1996 he in-licensed and co-invented several successful pharmaceuticals. CV Therapeutics was acquired by Gilead for $1.5B in cash in 2009. In 2005, Peter was instrumental in restructuring his family pharmaceutical company ML Laboratories (MLB.LSE) and its subsequent merger to form Vectura (VEC.LSE), a profitable company and one of the worlds leading makers of inhaled products.
Prior to 1992, Peter was as an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. His research led to the discovery of pleiotrophin (PTN), a novel growth factor that regulates stem cell differentiation, organ development, and the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). He was educated at the University of Liverpool receiving his medical degree in 1980, before completing his postgraduate training at Johns Hopkins Hospital, The University of Virginia, and Washington University in St. Louis. Peter is co-inventor on 48 issued patents, and an author of 28 original scientific articles in Science, Biochemistry, Circulation, Cancer, JCI, and JBC. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC), and a board certified physician and cardiologist. He serves as adjunct clinical faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine, and as a board member of the California Healthcare Institute (CHI).
Dominique Bridon, Ph.D. Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Bridon holds a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Paris XI and completed post-doctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley. He has an engineering degree in polymer chemistry from École Nationale Supérieure d’Ingénieur of Clermont-Ferrand.
Before joining Optivia, Dr. Bridon held the position of Senior Vice President of Research and Innovation at Ipsen, based in the Boston area. Dr. Bridon was responsible for the drug discovery, translational research and formulation teams in the US and in Europe, as well as all external research partnerships and collaborations.
Prior to Ipsen, from 1997 to 2006, Dr. Bridon served as Vice President of Research and Chief Technical Officer of ConjuChem, a company he co-founded in Montreal, Canada. He previously served as Director of Biological Chemistry for Redcell, Inc. in South San Francisco. From 1989 through 1996, Dr. Bridon held various scientific positions at Abbott Laboratories in the diagnostic and pharmaceutical research areas.
During his career, Dr. Bridon has served as a member on the Board of Directors and the Scientific Board of Directors for several start-up companies and as an advisor to several biotech companies and venture capital funds
David Lustig, Ph.D. Vice President, Business Development
Dr. Lustig is an experienced life science professional with more than 18 years of industry experience. He has held roles in research and development, business development, sales and marketing at companies including Roche, CV Therapeutics and Optivia. As a scientist, Dr. Lustig has led discovery pharmacokinetics, served as the DMPK representative on discovery and development teams, has held positions on R&D steering committees and has contributed to many INDs and NDAs. Prior to joining Optivia, he was responsible for in and out licensing of early stage drug programs and technologies at CV Therapeutics. Dr. Lustig has over 20 technical papers, has given invited talks, participated in panel discussions and taught sections for both science and business topics.
Dr. Lustig received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has also completed Stanford University's Emerging Entrepreneurs in Biomedical Technology Workshop and Guy Kawasaki's Bootcamp for Startups.
Alan C. Mendelson, J.D. General Counsel and Secretary
Mr. Mendelson is a partner in the Silicon Valley office of Latham & Watkins LLP, a major global law firm, and is the Co-Chair of the firm's Emerging Companies Group. He joined Latham in May 2000. Mr. Mendelson received his B.A. degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1969 and his J.D. degree from Harvard University in 1973. His practice has been primarily targeted toward the representation of emerging and public growth companies, with strong emphasis on companies in the life sciences industries. He served as Amgen’s Secretary and Acting General Counsel and as counsel to its board of directors from 1980 to 2006. Mr. Mendelson currently serves as principal outside or general counsel to numerous emerging and public companies, including Geron, Intuitive Surgical, OncoMed Pharmaceuticals and QLT. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the UC Berkeley Foundation, as President of the Cal Alumni Association Board and as a member of the Board of Overseers Visiting Committee of Harvard Law School.