Winston-Salem, NC Jul 30, 2001
Targacept, Inc., a privately held research and development pharmaceutical company focused on neuronal nicotinic receptor-based therapeutics, today announced the addition of Tamar Howson and Mark Skaletsky to its board of directors.
"We are delighted that Tamar Howson and Mark Skaletsky have agreed to join our board," said J. Donald deBethizy, Ph.D., president and CEO of Targacept, which was established by RJ Reynolds Tobacco (NYSE: RJR) in 1997 and spun out in 2000. "Both are nationally recognized business leaders with substantial expertise in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Their guidance will be a great asset to Targacept as we continue to develop a whole new class of drugs for serious unmet medical needs such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, depression and ulcerative colitis."
Tamar Howson is a consultant in business development and strategic planning to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and a special limited partner in Care Capital LLC, a venture capital firm. Between April 1993 and April 2000, Ms. Howson served as the Senior Vice President and Director, Worldwide Business Development, for SmithKline Beecham. She managed S.R. One, a $100MM venture fund, and was a member of the Corporate Management Team between 1998 and 2000. Between 1991 and 1993, she served as Vice President and Director, Worldwide Business Development for SmithKline.
Before joining SmithKline, Ms. Howson was Vice President, Venture Investments at Johnston Associates, a venture capital firm. She also served as director of Worldwide Business Development and Licensing for Squibb Corporation. Ms. Howson received an M.B.A. from Columbia University. She holds a M.Sc. from City College of New York. Ms. Howson serves on the Board of Directors for Ariad Pharmaceuticals, NPS Pharmaceuticals and SkyePharma, plc.
Mark Skaletsky, Chairman and CEO of Althexis, based in Waltham, Mass., has enjoyed a long and impressive career as a senior executive in the biopharmaceutical industry. From 1993 to 2000, he served as President, CEO and Director of GelTex Pharmaceuticals, and led the successful development and introduction of two promising pharmaceutical products. GelTex was acquired by Genzyme Corporation in December 2000.
Prior to joining GelTex, Mr. Skaletsky served as Chairman and CEO of Enzytech, Inc., a drug delivery company that merged with Alkermes in 1993, and as President and Chief Operating Officer of Biogen, Inc., a leading biopharmaceutical company. Mr. Skaletsky is former chairman of the board of directors of the Biotechnology Industry Organization and former president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. He is a director of Isis Pharmaceuticals and ImmunoGen, and is a Trustee of Bentley College in Waltham. Mr. Skaletsky received his bachelor’s degree in finance from Bentley.
About Targacept, Inc.
Targacept, a world leader in neuronal nicotinic receptor-based pharmaceutical research and development, was established in 1997 as a wholly owned subsidiary of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. It was spun out in August 2000, in one of the largest ($30.4 million) first-round venture capital financings in U.S. biotech history and the largest in North Carolina biotech history.
Targacept is developing a whole new class of drugs that targets neuronal nicotinic receptors. The company has products in research and development for treating Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ulcerative colitis, depression, pain and attention deficit disorder, among others. Targacept has strategic alliances with Aventis Pharmaceuticals of Strasbourg, France and Dr. Falk Pharma of Freiburg, Germany to develop and commercialize Targacept compounds.