Oncologic, Inc. today announced that Stephen Isaacs has joined the company as President and CEO. Mr. Isaacs, 58, is also a director of the company, a position he has held for the past 9 months. Mr. Isaacs succeeds Roy K. Skogstrom, 51, who will become a consultant to the company and will remain as a director.
Prior to joining Oncologic, Mr. Isaacs founded Cerus Corporation (NASD:CERS), and then served over 14 years as its President and CEO. Cerus is a biotechnology company focused on the development of products for the decontamination of blood components, and oncology applications. During this period, Cerus grew from approximately 10 employees to over 200. While at Cerus, Mr. Isaacs was responsible for running the company, managing the company’s growth, and raising money to keep the project development programs on track. He led the company’s IPO in 1997 and managed a number of secondary financings. Mr. Isaacs also drove numerous licensing and partnership deals, including successfully negotiating agreements with Baxter Corporation (Intercept Blood Systems), the Consortium for Plasma Science, Kirin Brewery (cancer therapy), and MedImmune Corporation (cancer vaccines). Cerus now has two licensed products in Europe. Under Mr. Isaacs, Cerus raised approximately $250 million from public and private placements, including contributions from various partnerships.
At Oncologic, Mr. Isaacs will be responsible for daily management, strategic planning, fundraising, and investor relations. In addition, he will coordinate technology and product development, and strategic technology placement. Mr. Isaacs joins a very experienced scientific team lead by Dr. Paul Chinn (Chief Scientific Officer) and Dr. Gary Braslawsky (Senior Vice-President and Director of Pre-clinical Development), both formerly of Biogen Idec (NASD:BIIB), where they were part of the senior scientific team responsible for the successful development and clinical approval of the anti-cancer drug Zevalin®.
“Mr. Isaacs is a tremendous addition to the company,” said Oncologic Chairman Winston Salser, Ph.D., founding President of Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology company (NASD:AMGN). “Steve’s strong experience in managing growth, public and private fundraising, and commercializing a successful product give Oncologic a management team capable of maximizing the potential of the company’s opportunity.”
Salser continued, “Outgoing president and CEO Roy Skogstrom will report to Mr. Isaacs and will be in charge of special assignments as a consultant. Roy has led the company since its inception and has done an outstanding job. We are thrilled to have both Steve and Roy as part of Oncologic.”
Mr. Isaacs stated, “I look forward to working with my new colleagues and establishing collaborative partnerships to enable Oncologic to achieve its full potential in both its core cancer technology and other strategic areas. My 14 years at Cerus will be valuable in guiding the company forward, and I’m pleased to be working at a company co-founded by Professor Henry Rapoport, who was also a member of the founding team of Cerus. I’m looking forward to the challenge of making Oncologic a successful biotechnology company.”
Mr. Isaacs holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from U.C. Berkeley, and has authored 20 scientific publications and 42 U.S. patents.
About Oncologic, Inc.
Oncologic, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company headquartered in Berkeley, California. The company was founded by the late Drs. Sam Rose and Henry Rapoport to pioneer their highly innovative technology platform for the treatment of cancer.
