NEW YORK, Oct. 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BeyondSpring Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative cancer therapies, today announced the appointments of Ramon Mohanlal, M.D., Ph.D. as its Chief Medical Officer and Robert Dickey IV, MBA as its Chief Financial Officer.
"We are pleased to welcome Ramon and Rob to our executive leadership team," commented Dr. Lan Huang, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of BeyondSpring Pharmaceuticals. "Ramon's breadth of drug development, drug approval, product-launch and -regulatory maintenance experience, in particular in the Immuno-Oncology area makes him an invaluable addition to BeyondSpring, helping us achieve our research and development goals. Rob is an accomplished executive with significant financial and operational expertise, and will be an exceptional addition to our team as we continue to expand our business. We look forward to both their contributions as we continue to build upon the success of our Company."
Dr. Mohanlal will oversee BeyondSpring's global clinical development programs, with particular focus on the ongoing global Phase 3 clinical trial of Plinabulin, as well as development of the company's immuno-oncology portfolio and other related functions. Dr. Mohanlal has more than 20 years of global experience in strategic drug development and was previously Clinical Head of Established Products Oncology for Novartis representing a $2 billion portfolio. Prior to this, Dr. Mohanlal held positions with Interleukin Genetics, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoWellcome (GSK). Dr. Mohanlal has more recently served as a consultant to AstraZeneca on its immuno-oncology programs.
Dr. Mohanlal earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in Experimental CV Pharmacology both from the University of Leiden, The Netherlands, as well as his MBA from the American Intercontinental University in Illinois, U.S.A.
"I am pleased to join the team at BeyondSpring and look forward to leading the advancement of the Company's product portfolio," said Dr. Mohanlal, newly-appointed CMO of BeyondSpring. "I'm particularly intrigued by the immuno-oncology mechanism of Plinabulin and its potential broad applicability across a variety of cancer indications. I look forward to further developing Plinabulin's therapeutic potential and to build a strong and innovative immuno-oncology portfolio at BeyondSpring."
Mr. Dickey will serve as BeyondSpring's principal financial and accounting officer, currently as a part-time position. Mr. Dickey has more than 20 years demonstrated experience in public, private, revenue-stage and development stage life science and medical device companies and has played a leading role in two start-ups to date. Mr. Dickey has expertise in public and private financings, M&A, partnering and licensing transactions, project management and building organizations. Mr. Dickey served as Chief Financial Officer of NeoStem, Inc., which has since become Caladrius Biosciences, Inc. During his tenure there, NeoStem completed the acquisition of California Stem Cell, Inc. for total potential consideration of over $100 million and equity and debt financings of over $65 million. Prior to this, Mr. Dickey held leadership positions at Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc., StemCyte, Inc., Locus Pharmaceuticals, and Protarga, Inc. and was previously an investment banker at Lehman Brothers and Legg Mason.
Mr. Dickey earned his A.B. in economics from Princeton University and his MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
"I am very excited to be joining BeyondSpring to help the Company achieve its commercial and financial goals," said Mr. Dickey.
About BeyondSpring Pharmaceuticals
BeyondSpring Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative cancer therapies. BeyondSpring is focused on the advancement and commercialization of Plinabulin, a novel, Phase 3-ready cancer therapeutic initially targeting non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Led by an expert management team consisting of pharmaceutical industry veterans from the U.S. and China, the Company is well positioned to further advance lead product candidate, Plinabulin. For more information, visit www.beyondspringpharma.com.