BIO Ventures for Global Health Opens San Francisco Office; Hires New Senior Staff

Washington, July 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH) announced today that it is expanding to the West Coast with the opening of a new San Francisco headquarters office. The expansion provides BVGH the opportunity to work even more closely with the world class biotech and investor communities on both coasts.

"We are very excited about our expansion and new location in the Bay area, one of the premier biotech centers," says Don Joseph, JD, Chief Operating Officer of BVGH.  "By establishing a West Coast location in addition to our ongoing presence in Washington, D.C., BVGH will be better able to connect with biotech companies and investors, regardless of their location, as we seek to expand companies' involvement in addressing neglected diseases of the developing world."

BVGH also announced the appointment of two new senior staff.  Jacqueline Papkoff, PhD, was appointed Vice President of Global Health Connect.  Global Health Connect is a new network created to link biopharmaceutical companies with product development partnerships, academics, NGOs, developing country researchers, and other experts involved in product research and development for neglected diseases. Papkoff has worked for more than 20 years in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry and has extensive scientific leadership, management, and business experience, including senior positions at diaDexus, Megabios, SUGEN, and Hoechst. Before joining BVGH, she served as a biotherapeutics R&D consultant as well as Chief Scientific Officer of CFD Therapeutics, a preclinical cancer therapeutic antibody company.

Nadine Weich, PhD, was appointed Senior Director of Scientific Affairs.  Weich most recently served as Project Team Leader for Immunology at Genentech. Before joining Genentech, she was the Director of the Department of Inflammation at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. She has more than 17 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, where she focused on the research and development of antibody/protein and small molecule therapeutics for tissue growth and repair, cardiovascular, inflammation (infectious and autoimmune diseases), and oncology indications. Weich heads a Scientific Affairs department that includes Elizabeth Ponder, PhD, who brings training and experience in infectious diseases and parasitology.

"It is exciting to fill out our team with highly capable individuals who have the skills and experiences to significantly advance our programs," says Melinda Moree, BVGH Chief Executive Officer. "BVGH has doubled in size over the past year and is now staffed up to a critical mass, filled with complementary experience from the biotech, pharma, and global health sectors. This powerful combination will allow BVGH to increase the depth of its work and the creativity of its proposed solutions as we continue to create incentives and solutions to engage the innovation of the biopharmaceutical industry in addressing the crucial work of global health."

About BIO Ventures for Global Health

BIO Ventures for Global Health is a non-profit organization whose mission is to save lives by accelerating the development of novel biotechnology-based drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics to address the unmet medical needs of the developing world. The organization spurs biotech industry involvement in global health product development by increasing biotech and global health partnerships, designing and advocating for compelling market-based incentives, and synthesizing and disseminating critical information and quantitative analysis. For more information, please visit www.bvgh.org.

SOURCE BIO Ventures for Global Health