management

He brings more than 20 years of know-how from diverse leadership roles and industry experience, during which he received numerous biotech achievement awards, delivered multiple first-in-class agents, negotiated various business relationships, executed a series of corporate financings, and was a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Dr. Rice joined Cylene from Achillion Pharmaceuticals, where he was founder, President, CEO and Director. Prior to Achillion, Dr. Rice was Senior Scientist and Head of the Drug Mechanism Laboratory at the National Cancer Institute-Frederick Research Center, where he received the Scientific Achievement Award and Outstanding Performance Award, and he identified novel agents and published in Science, Nature and other prestigious journals. Dr. Rice was an academic professor of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine, he served as a Post-doctoral Trainee in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center, and he holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Emory University.

Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Co-founder and Senior VP, Medical Affairs

Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., F.A.C.P. is a co-founder of Cylene and provides leadership in the clinical development arena for the Company. He holds an appointment as Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and he has an interest is in the development of new anticancer agents, both in the clinic and in the laboratory. He has been involved with the development of over 200 anticancer agents now in clinical use, including: mitoxantrone, fludarabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, irinotecan, nelarabine, capecitabine, lapatinib and many others. Dr. Von Hoff has published more than 569 papers, 135 book chapters and over 1000 abstracts, and he was the recipient of the 2010 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. Dr. Von Hoff was appointed to President Bush’s National Cancer Advisory Board in 2004-2010. Dr. Von Hoff is the past President of the American Association for Cancer Research, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a past board member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Von Hoff is founder and the Editor Emeritus of Investigational New Drugs – The Journal of New Anticancer Agents; and, Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. He is also a co-founder of the AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop.

John K.C. Lim, Pharm.D.
Senior VP, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs

Dr. Lim brings more than 20 years of experience in clinical research and new drug development, principally in the oncology and biotechnology areas. He joined Cylene from US Oncology Research, where he was Vice President for Research Operations. US Oncology is the country’s premier cancer care services company, and its network of research sites has contributed to the development and approval of more than 20 new cancer agents over the past decade. Prior to joining US Oncology, Dr. Lim held senior operations positions at Covance, Quintiles, Affiliated Research Centers (now called America’s Doctors), and Theradex. Originally from New Zealand, Dr. Lim graduated from the University of Otago with a Pharmacy degree. After completing his Doctoral degree at the University of Kentucky, he joined the faculty at the University of Otago Medical School, where he developed the University’s Clinical Pharmacy teaching program.

David M. Ryckman, Ph.D.
Senior VP, Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Operations

Dr. Ryckman brings more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing and operations to the management team. Before joining Cylene, Dr. Ryckman was responsible for working with Myogen Inc., where he also oversaw the selection of vendors, the implementation of production strategies and the management of developmental milestones. Previously, Dr. Ryckman was a site director and senior director of chemical operations for Novartis/Chiron in Seattle; he has also worked in technology and chemistry with AlliedSignal (now Honeywell), Gensia Pharmaceuticals and SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Ryckman earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles, and he also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in chemistry at Harvard University.

Sean E. O'Brien, Ph.D.
VP, Research and Business Development

Dr. O'Brien joined Cylene Pharmaceuticals in 2005 and has been critical to the establishment and advancement of the Company's Research and Development programs.While maintaining an active role in the science, he has held positions of increasing importance within Cylene's R&D and Business Development units, coordinating and directing multidisciplinary teams internally and fostering relations with the biopharmaceutical industry externally. Dr. O'Brien is currently focused on partnering discussions surrounding Cylene's anticancer agents that target the CK2 protein kinase, the RNA Polymerase I (Pol I) enzyme or the Pim kinases. He has more than 15 years of broad expererience in the drug discovery and development arena. Indeed, his background includes a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Cancer Research Laboratories in Nottingham, U.K., under Professor Malcolm Stevens, the inventor of the blockbuster anticancer agent temozolomide, as well as experience in the discovery unit of Pfizer and a long-standing association with Accelrys, a San Diego-based computational life sciences company. Originally from the United Kingdom, Dr. O'Brien completed his Ph.D. in applied quantum chemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) from where he also earned a First Class honours degree in Chemistry.

Denis Drygin, Ph.D.
VP, Biology

Dr. Drygin joined Cylene Pharmaceuticals in 2005 and has earned increasing responsibility for the company’s Drug Mechanism, Screening and Biology efforts across all R&D programs. His pioneering concepts, as well as his discovery and research efforts, led to the creation of the first therapeutic agent to directly target RNA Polymerase I transcription for the treatment of cancer. In addition to Dr. Drygin’s leadership in the discovery and preclinical development of Cylene’s CX-5461 RNA Polymerase I inhibitor, he also played key roles in the discovery and development of Cylene’s first-in-class Phase II stage oral CK2 inhibitor, CX-4945 and the second generation CK2 inhibitor program. Similarly, his expertise contributed to the creation of Cylene’s small molecule pan-Pim kinase inhibitors. Prior to joining Cylene, Dr. Drygin received his post-doctoral training from Isis Pharmaceuticals, where he worked under Dr. Frank Bennett studying the off-target toxicology of antisense oligonucleotide drugs. For his innovative research, he has received a number of scientific achievement awards, including the RNA Society Fellowship Award. Dr. Drygin received his BS and MS degrees in Chemistry from Moscow State University and MS and Ph.D. degrees in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Irene Alicea
Executive Director, Resource Management

Ms. Alicea brings with her over 20 years of Office Management and Senior Office Administration experience within biotechnology and medical organizations. Since 2003 she has been responsible for managing and overseeing all administrative functions at Cylene, including Facilities, Purchasing, Payroll, Safety/Security, Telecommunications and Human Resources. Prior to joining Cylene, Ms. Alicea acted in a similar capacity with Advanced Tissue Sciences, a tissue-engineering company, where she was also involved in the commercial launch of two novel products, Dermagraft and TranCyte. She has considerable experience coordinating and guiding external interactions and has managed relationships with diverse groups such as government agencies (FDA, HHSD, DOC), medical center executives and institutional investors on Wall Street. Ms. Alicea currently serves as a member of Cylene’s executive management team.

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