| Wendy S. Johnson President and Chief Executive Officer |
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Ms. Johnson has been a Venture Partner at ProQuest Investments since November 2005. Prior to joining ProQuest, she served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, at Salmedix Inc., where she led the effort to license their lead cancer therapeutic; the company was successfully sold to Cephalon in June 2005. Ms. Johnson has additional experience with device, diagnostic and drug discovery and development and regulatory affairs. She held senior business and corporate development positions at Women First, Prizm Pharmaceuticals, Cytel Corp., Symbiotics Corp., and Murex Corp. (Cambridge U.K.). Additionally, Ms. Johnson served as Assistant Director with the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the Food and Drug Administration. Ms. Johnson holds an M.B.A. from Loyola University, an M.S. in Clinical Microbiology from the Hahnemann Medical School and a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Maryland. |
| Edwin (Ed) L. Parsley, D.O. Chief Medical Officer |
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Dr. Parsley joined Aires from Pfizer, Inc. where he was the Clinical Lead for ongoing clinical trials for Revatio® (Sildenafil), Pfizer’s approved drug to treat PAH, as well as the additional compounds in Pfizer’s pulmonary vascular disease portfolio. Previously he worked at CSL Biotherapies and Encysive Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he was the Executive Director for Global Medical Affairs and Drug Safety developing endothelin receptor antagonists for pulmonary hypertension, heart failure, renal failure, and resistant hypertension. Dr. Parsley is a practicing physician and Board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine. Prior to joining industry, he was an assistant professor and medical director at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He earned a D.O. from Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. |
| Hiroko Masamune, Ph.D. Head, Product Development |
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Before joining Aires, Dr. Masamune was Vice President, Product Development at Palkion Inc., a company focused on the discovery and development of oral drugs to treat anemia. At Palkion she was responsible for all aspects of preclinical development and served as the company’s alliance manager. From 2005 to 2008, Dr. Masamune was Senior Director, Pharmaceutical Sciences at Neurogen Corp., where she oversaw two Phase 2 candidates for the treatment of insomnia and Parkinson’s disease/restless leg syndrome, one Phase 1 candidate for the treatment of obesity, and a range of early development and late discovery candidates. Previously she spent 15 years in drug development at Pfizer. She earned a B.S. in organic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Masamune completed her post-doctoral fellowship in organic chemistry at M.I.T. under Professor K. Barry Sharpless, contributing to the work for which he was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. |
| Marianne Mancini Sr. Director, Clinical Operations |
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Ms. Mancini has over 20 years of global clinical operations experience with a proven track record in building highly effective teams, and is skilled in all aspects of clinical trial management, monitoring and quality assessments. She has worked in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries working on small molecules and biologics across multiple therapeutic areas. She began her career at Phoenix International Life Sciences, Inc., and assumed roles of increasing responsibility at Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Genentech, Inc. and Baxter Healthcare Corporation, BioScience Division where she served as Global Director, Clinical Operations. Most recently, she served as the Sr. Director, Project Management and Clinical Operations at Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Ms. Mancini received her M.A. in Bioethics from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, and her M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix, Woodland Hills, CA. She also earned a B.S. in Nutrition from McGill University, Montreal. |
| Julie A. Crawford Sr. Director, Finance and Administration |
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Ms. Crawford has served in this capacity since the Company’s operations began in January 2007, when she established and managed essential administrative systems and the finance and accounting role for Aires. She filled the same role, as an independent contractor, for Palkion Inc. from February 2008 through 2010 and for Cabrellis Pharmaceuticals Inc. during 2006. Ms. Crawford was Director, Finance and Administration at Salmedix, Inc. from October 2001 until its acquisition by Cephalon, Inc. in June 2005, and continued her responsibilities through the transition and close of operations in San Diego in December 2005. From 1987 through 2000, Ms. Crawford served as an independent contractor in a similar role for Corvas International, Inc. and several other early-stage technology companies. She holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. |
Scientific Advisory BoardLewis J. Rubin |
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Dr. Rubin has been involved in basic and clinical investigation of pulmonary vascular diseases for 30 years, and has served as the Principal Investigator/Steering Committee Chair for most of the pivotal therapeutic trials in PAH. He is Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Dr. Rubin has authored over 200 peer-review articles, more than 70 book chapters, and edited five books on the pulmonary circulation. He serves as Senior Consulting Editor for the Journal of American College of Cardiology, and has served on the Editorial Boards of Annals of Internal Medicine and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, as well as review boards for over 20 additional scientific journals. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the College of Chest Physicians and the American Heart Association. Among his numerous honors and awards, he is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and received the Dickinson Richards Memorial Award from the American Heart Association. Dr. Rubin received his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY, and completed a residency and fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. |
Partners
In November 2010 Aires entered into an agreement with Novartis Pharmaceuticals whereby Novartis was granted an exclusive option to acquire Aires following the successful completion of a Phase 2 clinical study of Aironite™ to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension. The agreement also includes a right to an exclusive worldwide license under pre-agreed conditions. Including the initial acquisition payment plus potential additional regulatory and sales milestone payments, the deal with Novartis could reach $250 million.