Genzada Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.

As the founder and principal of Pearson Consulting Group, Mr. Pearson advises pharmaceutical companies, start-up biotech companies and healthcare consulting companies. A distinguished group of companies including Janssen Biotech, Bayer, Merck, Sanofi, Genzyme, Celgene, Dendreon, Eisai, Takeda, Astellas, ImClone, Centocor, McNeil Specialty Pharmaceuticals, and Kite have relied on his expertise. His strategic acumen is gleaned from 30 years of distinguished service with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and its companies from 1975 to 2005.

During his tenure with J&J, Pearson served in various executive sales and marketing positions.  In April 1989, he joined Ortho Biotech with dual responsibilities as vice president of the oncology franchise and vice president of the strategic customer group with primary oversight of Procrit. He had profit-and-loss responsibility for over $2 billion in sales, and personnel responsibility for more than 600 people. As vice president of the oncology franchise, Pearson was responsible for all sales, marketing and sales training.  As vice president of the strategic customer group, he was responsible for all pricing, contracting strategy, reimbursement, policy, managed markets, trade relations, and patient advocacy. Orto Biotech is now Janssen Oncology.

Pearson earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wofford College. Afterward, he entered the U.S. Army and served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam where he was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal for Valor, and numerous Air Medals.

With expertise in signal transduction, Dr. Dent is dedicated to the developmental of cancer therapeutics at Virginia Commonwealth University. His work includes projects funded by the National Institute of Health and Department of Defense, and focuses on the rational combination of drugs and other molecules designed to kill tumor cells. Dent has conducted studies exploring the underlying molecular mechanisms and synergy of specific drug combinations—including modulation of apoptosis, autophagy, colony formation, and changes in cell signaling pathways found in breast, brain, liver and pancreatic cancers. Studies investigating the combination of pemetrexed and sorfenib for the treatment of breast cancer have advanced to phase I trial. He has also been instrumental in phase I trials related to brain cancer. Dent earned his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and a doctorate in biochemistry from University of Dundee, Scotland. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship with Professor T. W. Sturgill at the University of Virginia.

Dr. Bailes is a medical oncologist with wide-ranging expertise in clinical practice, legislation, public policy and advocacy. For nearly two decades, he served in various executive leadership roles for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), including terms as president, interim executive vice president and chief executive officer, and chair of the ASCO Government Relations Council.

Over the course of his career, he has also practiced in the private sector as a former partner in Texas Oncology, the largest oncology practice group in the country, and as a founding member of Physician Reliance Network (PRN), one of the corporate predecessors to US Oncology. During his tenure as president of PRN Research, Bailes oversaw clinical trials and drug development activities. Later, he was executive vice president for clinical affairs with US Oncology. He has also served on the board of directors of Ilex Oncology.

Dr. Bailes received his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas. He completed his internship and residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas and fellowship in medical oncology/hematology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. In addition to his private practice experience, Bailes has served as clinical assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center.

The founder and principal at Zukiwski Pharmaceutical Services, Dr. Zukiwski serves as an independent consultant to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, venture capital, investment and health care industries.

With more than 20 years of experience in global oncology drug development, he has supported the clinical evaluation and registration of many successful therapeutic agents—including Taxotere, Xeloda, Procrit/Eprex, Velcade, Yondelis and Doxil.

Over the course of his career, he has served as the executive vice president of clinical research and chief medical officer at MedImmune, where he was responsible for developing and implementing the company’s clinical research, medical affairs and safety strategies. Prior to joining MedImmune, Zukiwski held medical affairs and clinical development positions at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, Centocor and Ortho Biotech—including tenures as therapeutic area head for oncology and acting head of oncology research and development. He has also held clinical oncology positions at Hoffmann-LaRoche, Glaxo Wellcome and Rhone-Poulenc Rorer.

Zukiwski earned his undergraduate degree in pharmacy from the University of Alberta and doctorate in medicine from the University of Calgary. He conducted his post-graduate training at St. Thomas Hospital Medical Center in Akron, Ohio and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

A world-renowned medical oncologist and drug developer, Dr. Von Hoff has extensive expertise advancing new anticancer agents, and has played an integral role in the development of more than a dozen approved drugs used to treat many types of cancer. He has a special interest in pancreatic cancer, and his clinical trial work has led to three of the four drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. As a scientific advisor to Genzada, Von Hoff is helping shepherd the company’s first anticancer molecule, GZ17-6.02, through rigorous laboratory testing and FDA clinical trials.

Von Hoff is currently physician-in-chief and distinguished professor at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona. He holds the Virginia G. Piper Distinguished Chair for Innovative Cancer Research at HonorHealth Clinical Research Institute and the Margaret Givan Larkin Endowed Chair in Developmental Cancer Therapeutics at Hoag Hospital. He also serves as the medical director of research at McKesson Specialty Health, senior consultant of clinical investigation at the City of Hope, and chief scientific officer for US Oncology Research. In addition, Von Hoff is a professor of medicine at the University of Arizona and the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Von Hoff was one of the founders of ILEX Oncology, and has served on the boards of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He is a past president of the AACR and a fellow of the American College of Physicians. In 2004, Dr. Von Hoff was appointed to President Bush’s National Cancer Advisory Board and remained on the board until 2010.

He has been honored with the David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology for his outstanding contributions to cancer research leading to significant improvement in patient care, along with the AACR Distinguished Public Service Award in recognition of his extraordinary career in clinical research and leadership in educating young clinical investigators. Dr. Von Hoff is the founder and the editor emeritus of Investigational New Drugs: The Journal of New Anticancer Agents, and past editor-in-chief of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.