Management

Peter Van Vlasselaer, PhD.
President and CEO

Peter joined Arresto BioSciences in March of 2007 as President and Chief Executive Officer.   Before that, he was Chief Executive Officer of Avidia, Inc.  Under his leadership, Avidia, Inc., brought a new class of biotherapeutic molecules into clinical development.  Peter stayed with Avidia until it was acquired by AMGEN for $450 million at the end of 2006.  Between 1999 and 2004, Peter was Senior Vice President of Technical Operations at InterMune, Inc. (ITMN), a company that develops products for the treatment of lung and liver diseases.   Between 1993 and 1999, Peter was at Dendreon (DNDN) where he served as Vice President of Development.  Dendreon develops cell based therapies for the treatment of cancer.  Prior to that, Peter was a Staff Scientist at the Center for Nuclear Energy in Mol, Belgium where he conducted research in the areas of hematology and bone formation. 

Peter obtained both a BS in Zoology and a PhD in Immunology magna cum laude from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.  He was a Post Doctoral Fellow at Stanford University and DNAX Research Institute (Schering Plough).  Peter authored several peer reviewed publications and book chapters in the fields of immunology, hematology, bone formation and engineering and was inventor on more than 30 national and international patents.

Dung "Zung" Thai, M.D., Ph.D.
VP Clinical Development

Zung has been VP of Clinical Development at Arresto Biosciences since August 2009. His professional career has focused on translational medicine, pharmacology and early clinical development. Prior to Arresto, he was chief medical officer at Anza Therapeutics where he was responsible for leading the clinical development of a novel Listeria-based immunotherapy in the areas of oncology and infectious diseases. Prior to Anza, he was medical director of clinical pharmacology and early development at Amgen where he worked since 2005. Before Amgen, Zung was a fellow and clinical instructor in the department of clinical pharmacology at University of California, San Francisco where he focused on the clinical evaluation of drugs of abuse.

During his time at Anza, Amgen, and UCSF, he provided strategic guidance for early phase development of novel therapeutics and was responsible for a number of first-in-man and early phase proof-of-concept clinical trials. Prior to UCSF, Zung was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon University. Zung earned an A.B. from Cornell University and his medical degree and Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine.

Victoria Smith, PhD.
Senior Director of Research and Development

Victoria Smith joined Arresto Biosciences in May 2007 to lead the Research and Development Department.  She has more than 10 years of experience in the biotechnology industry and her experience covers discovery and oncology research. Most recently, Victoria held the position of Senior Scientist at Genentech (DNA).  Her research has focused in the recent years on epithelial mesenchymal transfer biology and its relationship to the development and progression of cancer.

Victoria received a BSc with Honors from the University of Western Australia with majors in Physical and Inorganic Chemistry and Biochemistry and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, in Biology. She completed her postdoctoral studies at Stanford University, in the Departments of Genetics and Biochemistry.  Victoria authored several peer reviewed scientific publications and she contributed to the filing of more than 1400 national and international patent filings covering novel gene discovery, oncology therapeutics, diagnostics, and novel methodologies.

Scott Ogg, PhD.
Director Project and Alliance Management

Scott Ogg joined Arresto Biosciences in May 2007 to lead the Project and Alliance Management Department.  He has more than 11 years of biomedical experience in research and early development of small- and large-molecule therapeutics.   Most recently, Scott held the position of Associate Director Program Management at Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR).  Previously, he was Associate Director of  Research at Exelixis (EXEL). 

Scott received a B.A. in Biology from Albion College and a Ph.D. in Cellular & Molecular Physiology from Tufts University Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences.  He completed post-doctoral studies at Harvard University Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital.  He is author and inventor on several publications and patents.

Board of Directors

Beth Seidenberg
Chairperson
Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers

Beth joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in May 2005 to work in the life sciences area.

For the past 20 years, she has focused her career on introducing new innovative treatments for AIDS, arthritis, asthma, cancer, psoriasis, cardiovascular, metabolic, neurological and renal disorders. She introduced 10 innovative products to market and achieved over 40 regulatory approvals (including new indications and formulations) on a worldwide basis.
Prior to joining KPCB, Beth was Senior Vice President, Global Development, and Chief Medical Officer at Amgen, Inc.,

Beth received her BS from Barnard College magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa; and her medical degree from the University Of Miami School Of Medicine, alpha omega alpha. Her post-graduate training was completed at Johns Hopkins, George Washington School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

Joseph Lacob
Director
Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers

Joe Lacob has been a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers since 1987. He has been closely involved with KPCB's investments in over fifty life science companies, including the start-up or incubation of a dozen ventures and with KPCB's medical technology practice, which includes over thirty therapeutic and diagnostic medical device companies. Joe is also active in KPCB's new media and Internet company initiatives. He led the firm's investment in Sportsline.com, eHealthInsurance and AutoTrader.com.

Joe currently serves on the Board of Directors of two public companies, Align Technology and Orexigen, as well as several other privately-held companies including Ophthonix, NeuroPace, TherOx, BAS Medical and Codon Devices.

Joe is actively involved in industry organizations including the American Heart Association and the AHA Roundtable. He is also very involved at Stanford University, serving on advisory boards at the Medical Center, Business School and Athletic Department.

Joe received his Bachelor's in Biological Sciences from the University of California at Irvine, his Master's in Public Health from UCLA and his M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Augustine Lawlor
Director
General Partner, HealthCare Ventures LLC

Mr. Lawlor has 16 years operating experience in biotechnology industry in finance, business development, mergers and acquisitions and general management. Before joining HealthCare Ventures he was chief operating officer of LeukoSite, Inc. Before joining LeukoSite, Mr. Lawlor was chief financial officer and vice president of corporate development for Alpha-Beta Technology. He was previously chief financial officer and vice president of business development of BioSurface Technology.
Mr. Lawlor is a member of the board of directors of the Slater Center in Providence, Rhode Island. He received a master’s degree in management from Yale University.

Frank McCormick, PhD.
Director

Frank McCormick, Ph.D., is Director of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Comprehensive Cancer Center and has been the David A. Wood Professor of Tumor Biology and Cancer Research since 1998. From 1992 to 1998, Dr. McCormick was the founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company. From 1991 to 1992, he served as Vice President of Therapeutic Research at Chiron Corporation, a pharmaceutical company, and from 1981 to 1990, he served as Vice President of Discovery Research with Cetus Corporation. Dr. McCormick is on the editorial board of some of the most prestigious international cancer publications and serves as a board member or advisor to multiple cancer research organizations. Dr. McCormick was a Post-Doctoral Fellow with Dr. Alan Smith at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, England, and with Professor Seymour S. Cohen at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Dr. McCormick holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham, England and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, England, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society. His research focuses on differences between normal cells and cancer cells that can be exploited for development of new therapeutic approaches.

Howard Pien
Director

Howard Pien joined the Board in 2010. Howard served as CEO and Chairman of Medarex, a biotechnology company, from 2007 until the company was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2009. Previously, Howard was the CEO and Chairman of Chiron, a biotechnology company, from 2003 until the company was acquired by Novartis in 2006. From 1991 to 2003, Howard worked for GlaxoSmithKline, a multi-national pharmaceutical company, where he served as President, International; and its predecessor company, SmithKline Beecham, where he served as President, Pharmaceutical Operations. Howard worked for Abbott Laboratories and Merck, where he served in a range of sales and marketing positions between 1981 and 1991. Howard is currently a director on the boards of ImmunoGen, Vanda Pharmaceuticals, and ViroPharma, all of which are public companies in life sciences. Howard received an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS from MIT.