PharmacoFore, Inc. Announces Appointment of Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Intellectual Property

SAN CARLOS, Calif., June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PharmacoFore, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation abuse-resistant prescription drugs, today announced the appointment of Dr. Joseph Stauffer as Chief Medical Officer & VP, Corporate Strategy and Dr. Narinder Banait as VP, Intellectual Property.

Dr. Joseph Stauffer - Chief Medical Officer & VP, Corporate Strategy

Prior to joining PharmacoFore, Dr. Stauffer was Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy at DURECT Corporation, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of pharmaceutical systems to treat chronic debilitating diseases. Prior to joining DURECT, Dr. Stauffer was at Alpharma, Inc. from 2004 to 2009, where his latest position prior to the acquisition of Alpharma by King Pharmaceuticals was as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Clinical Research & Medical Affairs.  His responsibilities at Alpharma included oversight of all clinical pharmacology, clinical development, pharmacovigilance, medical affairs, risk management and health outcomes/pharmacoeconomics.  Dr. Stauffer led the development and regulatory efforts that resulted in the approval of EMBEDA^®, an abuse-resistant formulation of morphine.  Prior to joining Alpharma, Dr. Stauffer was employed at Abbott Laboratories from 2002 to 2004 as Global Medical Director for Pain Therapeutics.  In that role, he was responsible for Phase I-III trials for Vicodin, Vicoprofen, Dilaudid, as well as novel compounds targeting neuropathic pain.  Prior to Abbott, he worked at the FDA from 2000 to 2002 as a Medical Review Officer in the Analgesic Division of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.  While there, he reviewed Investigational New Drug (IND) Applications and New Drug Applications (NDAs) for opiate, non-opiate, anti-inflammatory and novel pain compounds.  Dr. Stauffer graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed residency training in Anesthesiology at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital where he is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine.  Dr. Stauffer is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, honorably discharged as a Lieutenant Commander after serving eight years as a Naval Medical Officer.  He completed his MBA in 2009 as part of the TRIUM Global Executive MBA Program, a joint degree granted by NYU Stern School of Business, HEC School of Management (Paris) and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Narinder S. Banait, Ph.D., J.D. - Vice President, Intellectual Property

Dr. Banait joined PharmacoFore with more than 20 years experience as an intellectual property attorney and as a research scientist in the pharmaceutical industry.  Most recently he was a partner at Fenwick & West LLP.  His practice focused on patent preparation and prosecution, developing comprehensive patent portfolio strategies for companies, supporting IP litigation, merger and acquisition, and working with the venture capital community to fund and build over two dozen life sciences start-up companies.  Prior to entering the legal profession, Dr. Banait was a research scientist at Roche and Syntex where he developed drugs for emesis, pain and anxiety disorders.  Dr. Banait has published numerous scientific papers as well as articles on patent law and portfolio strategy.  He obtained his B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. at the University of Toronto, post-doctoral fellowships at Brandeis University and University of California at Santa Barbara, and J.D. at Santa Clara University School of Law.

"The addition of Dr. Stauffer and Dr. Banait to PharmacoFore reinforces the company's commitment to enhancing patient care and preventing the misuse, abuse and overdose of prescription medications," said Wesley D. Sterman, M.D., president and CEO of PharmacoFore, Inc. "Our experienced management team will lead the company in advancing its robust pipeline of novel medicines, including those to deter all routes of prescription drug abuse including injection, inhalation and oral ingestion."

About PharmacoFore, Inc.

PharmacoFore, Inc., is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on creating novel medicines to improve upon the therapeutic utility of existing drugs, enhance patient care, and prevent the misuse, abuse, and overdose of prescription medications.  The Company's novel Bio-Activated Molecular Delivery™ system (Bio-MDs™), in contrast to current approaches, effectively addresses abuse via injection and inhalation, as well as abuse via the more common oral route (e.g., chewing pills prior to ingestion).  PharmacoFore announced the results of its Bio-MDs human proof-of-concept study in 2Q'11.

PharmacoFore has also created a complementary technology, MPAR^™, which is uniquely applicable to drugs with its Bio-MDs' mechanism of activation.  MPAR provides protection against oral overdose.  When several doses of  MPAR-protected drugs are co-ingested, the systemic exposure of the opioid drug is dramatically limited.  Ultimately, PharmacoFore's technology will (1) provide patients with the best treatment option for moderate-to-severe pain; (2) address the worldwide under-treatment of pain; (3) offer a comprehensive solution to the rapidly growing global issue of prescription drug abuse, and; (4) for the first time, provide protection against oral routes of abuse.  For more information, visit www.pharmacofore.com.

PharmacoFore, Inc. Contact:
A. Gregory Sturmer
VP, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
650-331-4010
[email protected]

Media Contact:
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
212-827-0020
Tamara Bright
[email protected]

SOURCE PharmacoFore, Inc.