Florham Park, N.J., USA - May 7, 2014, Florham Park, N.J., USA - Protalex, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announces the appointment of a vice president and two directors.
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Joining Protalex's leadership team are John B.L. McClain, M.D. as Medical Director, Richard J. Francovitch, Ph.D. as Vice President of ITP Programs, and Michelle Catalina, Ph.D. as Director of Preclinical Studies. Each will also join the Company's Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).
Mr. McClain joins Protalex with 18 years of broad international industry experience in clinical development, product safety and as a chief medical officer. Prior to entering industry, he spent more than 20 years in clinical and academic positions and has extensive in-depth experience in research, product development, product safety, manufacturing, commercial relations and international regulatory affairs.
Most recently, Mr. McClain was an independent pharmaceutical consultant focused primarily in infectious disease research programs. Prior to entering consulting, he was Chief Medical Officer at Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation for eight years, and for nine years prior to that, he was an executive with MedImmune, first as Director, Clinical Development Transplantation and later as Medical Director, Pharmacovigilance.
Mr. McClain holds a B.S. in Biology from Spring Hill College and an M.D. from the University of Alabama. He completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Mr. Francovitch joins Protalex with 27 years of experience developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products, and having a significant focus in oncology and hematology. For the past 15 years he was an executive with GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK) where he rose to Vice President and Hed of the Hematology Franchise and Global Commercial Leader for Promacta/Revoladeâ„¢ in the Global Oncology Commercial Center of Excellence.
Among his accomplishments at GSK, Mr. Francovitch managed the successful global launches of new products and indications across different therapeutic areas and led cross-functional matrix teams from Phase 1 through Phase 4 product development. At GSK he also was a major force in establishing the hematology franchise in oncology, launching four separate products and accelerating the franchise's growth through business development and discovery activities.
In leading the global commercialization for Promacta/Revolade, he was responsible for launching indications in ITP and hepatitis C associated thrombocytopenia. Prior to the formation of GSK, he spent 12 years at SmithKline Beecham/French in management positions in a variety of therapeutic areas including oncology, hematology, cardiology and infectious diseases.
Mr. Francovitch holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Tulane University and also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in pharmacology at Duke University.
Ms. Catalina has been an Immunology Consultant to Protalex for the past year. In this role she designed and implemented in vitro and in vivo preclinical studies for the Company's proprietary drugs and developed key preclinical and clinical immunologic assays. She also managed technical transfer and provided oversight for assays being developed externally or outsourced.
Ms. Catalina will continue to provide direction with design, data analyses and interpretation for ongoing and future clinical trials. Prior to joining Protalex, she was an instructor at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester (UMass). ■