Coferon, Inc. is a privately owned company that was founded in 2009 to reduce to practice the concept of self-assembling
“coferons” pioneered by the Company’s three academic founders — Dr. Francis Barany and Dr. Maneesh Pingle at Weill-Cornell Medical College, and Dr. Don Bergstrom at Purdue University. The Coferon approach utilizes proprietary bioorthogonal linker chemistry to deliver small molecules in
component parts that are designed to self assemble on the target inside the cell — creating therapeutic molecules with enhanced size, potency and selectivity. The Company is currently conducting research and development programs in the areas of epigenetic regulation (with an initial focus on the
BRD family) and anti-infectives. The Company is based at the Long Island High Tech Incubator on the campus of Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York.
?Colin Goddard joined Coferon as part-time Executive Chairman in 2011 and assumed the Chairman and CEO roles following the Series B financing in July 2012.
From October 1998, until its $4 billion acquisition by Astellas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in June of 2010, Dr. Goddard was CEO of OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company he joined as a scientist in 1989. During his tenure as CEO, Dr. Goddard presided over the transition of OSI from a technology platform based drug discovery company into a premier, highly profitable and fully integrated biopharmaceutical organization – completing multiple major acquisitions and divestitures and raising over $1.5 billion in capital.
He is also Chairman of the start-up Biotech company Mergenser, a Director of the Biotechnology companies Human Genome Sciences, Inc, Agendia and PanOptica, Inc., and sits on the Oncology advisory board for Glaxo Smith Kline.
Dr.
Lee Arnold joined Coferon as Chief Scientific Officer in mid-2009. Dr. Arnold has a broad research background including synthetic and medicinal chemistry, structure-based drug design, biochemistry and biophysics, drug metabolism, safety & toxicology, Process R&D, and IND-enabling studies.
He has over 25 years of pharma experience at Syntex, Pfizer, BASF/Abbott Bioresearch, OSI Pharmaceuticals, and in external project management/outsourcing. His career focus has been in molecularly-targeted small-molecule drug discovery in oncology, immunology, and infectious diseases. Dr Arnold has played an integral role in advancing multiple innovative drug candidates into development and is an inventor in over sixty patent filings including Tarceva (erlotinib), the first orally-active kinase inhibitor to improve survival in lung and pancreatic cancer patients.
As Vice President of US Research at OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2003 to 2007, Dr.
Douglas Reed is a General Partner at Hatteras Venture Partners based in the Research Triangle in NC. Hatteras invests in early-stage biotechnology and medical technology companies with a particular emphasis on new company formation in the southeastern United States.
Prior to Hatteras, he had been with two other healthcare-focused venture firms, serving as Managing Director at Vector Fund Management and also as a partner at SR One.
He has held senior management positions in two biotechnology companies, serving as Vice President of Business Development at GelTex Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Genzyme) and NPS Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Reed trained in interventional radiology and neuroradiology and held appointments as Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Washington and at Yale University.
He earned B.A. and M.D. degrees at the University of Missouri Kansas City and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Geoffrey W. Smith is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ascent Biomedical Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on early-stage life sciences investments. He has been an active founder, manager, and investor in healthcare and technology companies since 1995.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Azevan Pharmaceuticals, Anterios, BackBeat Medical, Biomerix, Caliber Therapeutics, Coferon, TargAnox, and Vivasure Medical. Mr. Smith is a Visiting Scholar at Rockefeller University where he founded and directs the Universitys Science & Economics Program and is an adjunct faculty member at the RU Center for Clinical and Translational Science. He is active in a number of other groups at Rockefeller including being a member of the Rockefeller University Council.
At the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Mr. Smith is a member of the External Advisory Committee for the Institutes for Translational Sciences. Mr.
Michael Gargano joined the Coferon board in 2009 as a founder of the Company was founded and continues to serve as the representative of the Series A investors.
Michael is a Managing ?Director at Argent Ventures LLC, where he is responsible for structuring and financing new ?acquisitions and for overseeing development, leasing and management of the firm’s properties.
?Prior to joining Argent, Mr. Gargano was a real estate attorney with the law firm of Shearman & ?Sterling, where he represented institutional and government clients on major real estate ?development and financing transactions.
At Argent, he has acted as advisor to the NYS Empire ?State Development Corp. in connection with the 42nd Street Development Project and the ?Shubert Organization in connection with Broadway theatre air rights.
He is a member of the ?Board of Directors of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Hollywood Property Owners ?Alliance (BID).
Mr. Gargano earned a B.A.
Mike joined MedImmune Ventures in September 2011 from H.I.G. BioVentures, a life-science focused investment fund.
Previously, he was with Lilly Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Eli Lilly & Company. While at Eli Lilly, Mike was also a member of the Corporate Finance and Investment Banking group, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions and licensing transactions.