Tolera Therapeutics announces new board members
Monday, June 16, 2008- Tolera Therapeutics
Inc., a newly formed biotechnology company focusing on the development of
immunotherapeutics directed at the transplantation, oncology and autoimmune
disease markets, announced today that it has added two new board members
following the closing its Series A financing. The company's board will add two
new members, Suzette Dutch of Triathlon Medical Ventures and Douglas R. Morton,
Jr. PhD of the Southwest Michigan First Life Sciences Fund.
"This is an
exciting time for the company," commented CEO John Puisis, "and as a young
company we are fortunate to tap into the depth of pharmaceutical and clinical
development experience that Suzette and Doug bring to the table as we approach
the FDA, and clinicians, with our next generation therapeutics".
Suzette Dutch
of Triathlon Medical Ventures added: "We are delighted to lead this first
institutional funding round for Tolera, a company with a promising technology
platform and a near term product with human data evidencing key advantages in
transplantation. We look forward to working with our fellow investors to support
the management team in realizing the value of the company's most promising
opportunities".
"The Southwest
Michigan First Life Science Fund is very pleased to participate in the Series A
financing of Tolera Therapeutics," commented Doug Morton, "and we are excited to
work with the Tolera leadership team on the translation of its lead candidate
and technology platform to meet important medical needs."
Dutch and
Morton join current board members Donald R. Parfet, Managing Director of Apjohn
Group, LLC, who joined the board last year, CEO Puisis, and Sam Kiderman of
Cleveland Clinic Innovations.
About
Suzette Dutch and Triathlon Medical Ventures: Suzette Dutch, Managing Partner of Triathlon
Medical Ventures, has 20 years venture investing and 10 years operating
experience in pharmaceuticals, surgical devices and diagnostics. At Senmed she
served on the investment committee and led the strategic planning,
clinical/regulatory, market and business development due diligence efforts for
start-ups through later stage investments. She has held various positions in
clinical studies design, market research, and corporate planning at SmithKline,
integrating the acquisitions of Allergan, Beckman, and Clinical Laboratories.
She has an MBA from Wharton in Finance and Decision Science, and a BA in
economics from Case Western Reserve University. She is currently on the Board of
Directors of Biovex and an observer on Akebia, and was on the Board of Directors
of Renal Solutions prior to its acquisition by Fresenius. Triathlon Medical
Ventures is a Midwest-based venture capital firm that invests exclusively in the
life sciences. To learn more about Triathlon Medical Ventures, go to
www.tmvp.com.
About
Doug Morton and Southwest Michigan First: Doug is a consultant to the pharmaceutical
industry, specializing in discovery, early development and strategic alliances.
He was previously CEO, Ssouthwest Michigan Innovation Center located in
Kalamazoo, Michigan. He spent the majority of his career in the pharmaceutical
industry, joining the Upjohn Company as a research scientist in 1973. He
remained with the surviving entity through Upjohn's merger with Pharmacia AB (in
1996), the consolidation of Pharmacia & Upjohn with Monsanto (in 2000), and
Pharmacia's merger with Pfizer (2003), serving in a series of increasingly
significant discovery research management positions. At the time of the Pfizer
merger, he was Group Vice President, Technology Acquisitions & Operations for
Discovery Research in Pharmacia Corporation.. Doug holds an A.B. in from Kenyon
College and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Columbia University. He
subsequently completed postdoctoral studies in organic chemistry at Stanford
University. Doug has served and continues to serve on the Boards of Directors
and Scientific Advisory Boards (SAB) of several life science start up companies.
He also serves on the SAB and Management Committee of the Southwest Michigan
Life Science Fund, the SAB of Hopen Therapeutics and also serves on the
Industrial Advisory Board of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation Innovations. The
Southwest Michigan First Life Science Fund is a limited partnership venture fund
interested in early stage life science opportunities that have demonstrably
viable technologies. More information about the Southwest Michigan First Life
Science Fund can be found at
www.southwestmichiganfirst.com/wmlifesciencecompanies.cfm.
About
Tolera Therapeutics: Building upon
research done at the University of Kentucky and the Cleveland Clinic, Tolera
Therapeutics is developing and commercializing therapies for the immune
suppression / modulation market with the goal of addressing unmet medical needs
with safer, more targeted solutions to reduce the risk of serious and toxic side
effects. The company is focusing first on commercializing a therapeutic
monoclonal antibody for the transplantation and oncology markets, while
researching and developing related therapies for those suffering from autoimmune
diseases such as diabetes (Type 1). The company owns an exclusive, worldwide
license to its antibody technology, including chimeric and humanized clones,
which has already undergone extensive research, development and human studies.
Additional information concerning the company and its technology can be found on
its website
www.tolera.com.
Company
contact:
John Puisis
Chief Executive Officer
800-695-1554
jpuisis@tolera.com
