A&G Pharmaceutical is a theranostics company creating and developing monoclonal antibodies to cancer-specific targets as a basis for novel therapeutic and diagnostic products. The company is currently advancing a near-term opportunity to develop and commercialize a line of diagnostic test kits that will improve early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer based on GP88, a patented and proprietary growth factor discovered by A&G researchers. Concurrently, A&Gs therapeutic division is pursuing development of anti-GP88 monoclonal antibody therapeutics for cancer. A&Gs customized antibody service generates revenue to fund the drug development effort by accelerating the generation of novel, functional antibody therapeutics for leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well as federal laboratories. A&G has raised $3.5 million of equity capital and is located in Columbia, Md.
Dr. Serrero is CEO of A&G Pharmaceutical, which she co-founded in 2000 based on her discovery of the GP88/PGRN growth factor protein and her pioneering research demonstrating its importance in the tumorigenesis of many cancers. Under her leadership, A&G has advanced seven new therapeutic and diagnostic product candidates into preclinical and clinical development, including two breast cancer diagnostics nearing FDA approval. With more than 25 years of research and development experience in the fields of cell biology and biochemistry, Dr. Serrero is a recognized leader in the field of cancer biology research and development, with particular expertise in cell differentiation, growth factors, adipocyte differentiation, and breast cancer.
She is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Prior to founding A&G, Dr.
Mr. Keefe is Chief Operating Officer of A&G Pharmaceutical, with responsibility for developing the companys business strategy and overseeing finance, manufacturing, and other operations. He has more than 10 years of experience in building and financing life sciences and other venture-backed technology businesses, including deal-sourcing, negotiating and closing transactions, and developing strategic business development and marketing plans.
Prior to joining A&G, he was president of an internet company in Chicago and managed its acquisition by a market-leading company.
Mr. Keefe is the recipient of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Entrepreneur Award for outstanding leadership for his work with a biotechnology start-up.
He received an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.
Dr. Seung-il Shin joined the board of GSID in August 2008. Dr.
Shin began his career as a Professor of Genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and as a founding member of the Basel Institute of Immunology in Switzerland.
In 1984, Dr. Shin co-founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer of Eugene Tech International (Allendale, NJ), where he led the company’s effort to develop and market a hepatitis B vaccine that was eventually distributed widely in many developing countries. While working as a Senior Health Advisor for the United Nations Development Programme, Dr. Shin conceived, founded, and directed the initiative to establish the International Vaccine Institute (Seoul, Korea), devoted to the promotion of vaccine sciences for developing countries.
Beginning in 1999, Dr. Shin became the Senior Advisor for International Development for VaxGen (Brisbane, CA).
To ensure the potential need for adequate global supply of the AIDSVAX vaccines, Dr.
Dr. Hong is Senior Vice President of of Business Development for Celltrion and an advisor to R&D.
Prior to joining Celltrion, he led research and development at Samyang Genex Corp., with responsibility for plant cell culture and mammalian cell culture programs. Among the many products he has developed, Dr. Hong is credited with using plant cell culture to develop paclitaxel (Taxol), a mitotic inhibitor used in cancer chemotherapy.
Dr. Hong received a PhD in Enzymology and Biochemical Engineering from Seoul National University.
Dr. Sato is a world-renowned cell biologist and entrepreneur whose seminal contributions to modern cell culture and cancer biology are recognized worldwide. A pioneer in the isolation of functional cell lines and the development of serum-free hormone supplemented medium, Dr. Sato is best known for his discovery that the polypeptide factors required for the culture of mammalian cells outside the body are also important regulators of differentiated cell functions with research utility in the culture of new types of cells. He is also the co-inventor of Erbitux (cetuximab), the anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody therapy for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and head and neck cancer.
Dr. Sato has been instrumental in launching a number of successful biotechnology companies, including Collaborative Research, Hana Biological, Upstate Biotechnology, and A&G Pharmaceutical.
He has served as Director of the W.
Dr. Barton is Vice President of Drug Discovery of A&G Pharmaceutical. He has more than 20 years of worldwide pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry management experience in drug discovery, clinical development, and global regulatory approval, particularly in the therapeutic areas of immunological, inflammatory, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases.
A seasoned executive in collaboration alliances, licensing deals, and patent portfolio evaluation and management, prior to joining A&G Dr. Barton was a Director of Drug Discovery with Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, where he led interdisciplinary research teams focused on discovering and validating biological and small-molecule drug candidates for gene and cell therapy applications.
Before that, Dr. Barton was on the faculty of the University of Connecticut.
He is the author of more than 75 peer-reviewed publications and is the inventor on eight issued U.S. patents.
Dr. Hayashi is Vice President of Research and Development of A&G Pharmaceutical. An immunologist with particular expertise in the field of T cell signaling, Dr. Hayashi is the inventor of A&Gs proprietary technology that identifies tumor-derived cell-surface proteins as the basis for discovering and developing these cancer-specific biomarkers into therapeutic and companion diagnostic products. In addition, he has developed a selective culture system for bone marrow lymphoid progenitor cells and several functional thymic epithelial cell lines that are in use by researchers worldwide, and he cloned a novel adaptor molecule, Lnk, that is expressed preferentially by lymphoid cells.
Prior to joining A&G, Dr. Hayashi was an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and adjunct faculty member in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Before that, he was a Senior Scientist at the W.
Lars Hanan is a co-founder and Managing Partner of BroadOak Capital Partners. With 20 years of experience in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, Mr. Hanan has executed more than 100 transactions in a broad range of industries.
Prior to BroadOak, he built and managed the life sciences advisory business at Mercator Capital.
Before that, he headed the M&A Group at ABN AMRO Investment Banking, where he was responsible for the Healthcare M&A practice, with particular sector expertise in medical technology and drug discovery tools.
Mr. Hanan was previously Head of Mergers & Acquisitions for SG Cowens Media Group and held senior mergers and acquisitions positions at Kidder, Peabody and at Lehman Brothers.
He serves on the board of directors of Marligen Biosciences, A&G Pharmaceutical, and Noxilizer.
Mr. Hanan received a BA in Economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Dr. Mather was appointed Senior Vice President for Stem Cell Research by MacroGenics following its acquisition of Raven biotechnologies in 2008. A recognized leader in the application of cell biology to technology and pharmaceutical product development, Dr. Mather founded Ravena company focused on the discovery and development of drug targets and antibody therapeutics using a stem cell-based platformon pioneering research performed in her laboratory at Genentech.
Dr. Mather served as CEO of Raven for six years, growing a strong discovery program and development pipeline with five preclinical candidates and a product in Phase I clinical trials for cancer.
Prior to founding Raven, Dr. Mather was a Staff Scientist at Genentech, where she led or participated in 12 project teams that produced a number of marketed products including Herceptin, Activase, Pulmozyme, and Genentechs anti-IgE antibody currently in late-stage clinical trials for asthma.
Dr.
Thomas E. Hancock Tom has nearly 20 years of venture capital experience and securities analyst experience.
He currently represents Nexus on the Boards of Presidio Pharmaceuticals, SpectraAnalysis, EyeGate Pharmaceuticals, MyoScience and Magellan Biosciences. Over the last several years, Tom has led investments in numerous successful private companies, including Panacos Pharmaceuticals and Atricure.
Prior to joining Nexus, Tom was a Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at U. S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray covering publicly traded biopharmaceutical companies and drug discovery supplier companies. While at Piper, he published research notes, reports, industry overviews and technology updates for the benefit of the investment community on Gilead Sciences, Tularik, Human Genome Sciences, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Applied Biosystems, Charles River Laboratories, Invitrogen and Millipore, among others.