PsyBio Therapeutics Corp. (CVE:PSYB), a biotechnology company pioneering the next generation of targeted psychoactive medications, has announced the appointment of Bob Oliver to the company's board of directors, effective immediately.
The company, which is developing a platform technology that produces tryptamines, such as psilocybin and its intermediates, for intended therapeutic use, noted that Oliver has extensive experience in launching pharmaceutical products into global markets offering invaluable depth to its team.
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"PsyBio is at the forefront of clinical innovation and research for the potential treatment of mental illness and neurological disorders," said Evan Levine, chief executive officer of PsyBio in a statement.
"As we progress our robust pipeline through process and clinical development, it is imperative that we continue to add talent and expertise to our management team and Board. Bob brings decades of leadership and extensive expertise having held senior-level positions at Wyeth and Johnson & Johnson and President and Chief Executive Officer of Otsuka America Pharmaceutical. Bob has been recently added to the Power List 100 of the World's Most Inspiring African Americans alongside John Legend, Beyoncé, Michael Jordan, Neil deGrasse Tyson and The Obama family.
"We are extremely fortunate to have Bob join our team and are confident that he will add tremendous value in helping PsyBio research the safety and efficacy of potential treatment options for those who unfortunately suffer from mental health challenges globally," Levine added.
Oliver commented: "I am very pleased to join the Board of such a distinguished organization doing important research of targeted psychoactive medications. I look forward to leveraging my extensive experience in guiding therapies through clinic protocols to commercialization and am excited to participate in PsyBio's future growth and development of its pipeline. PsyBio's vision is completely aligned with my mission, values and aspirations for offering better potential treatment options for patients with unmet medical needs."
As president and chief executive officer of Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Oliver delivered a US$6 billion P&L while managing a diverse and growing product portfolio across the cardio-renal, neuroscience, oncology, and medical device markets.
Having compiled more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, across commercial and general management roles for premium companies within industry he was instrumental in building ABILIFY Abilify Maintena, SAMSCA, SPRYCEL and Rexulti. As vice president and global business manager for Oncology at Wyeth, he led the global launch of Torisel for RCC and later assumed responsibility for US Commercial Operations. Oliver began his career in pharmaceuticals with Johnson & Johnson where he held positions of increasing responsibility.
He is currently an executive advisor and a board member for Hyalo Technologies; as well as executive advisor for Cellix Bio Sciences, Inc., which recently merged with V ClinBio; additionally, he is a board member of Neurotez a Biotech start-up focused on Alzheimer's Disease. Previously Oliver served on the board of Immunomedics, a publicly-traded company focused on Oncology.
In connection with his appointment, PsyBio's board has approved the granting of options to Oliver to purchase up to 500,000 subordinate voting shares in the capital of the company, under its stock option plan. The options are exercisable at a price of $0.35 per share for a period of three years from the date of grant.
Oliver replaces Gerald Goldberg, who has resigned from PsyBio's board.
PsyBio is a biotechnology company developing novel formulations of psychoactive medications produced by genetically modified bacteria for the treatment of mental health and other disorders. The team has experience in drug discovery based on synthetic biology as well as clinical and regulatory experience progressing drugs through human studies and regulatory protocols.
Research and development is currently ongoing for naturally occurring psychoactive tryptamines originally discovered in different varieties of hallucinogenic mushrooms, other tryptamines and phenethylamines and combinations thereof. The company is also researching and developing new non-naturally occurring molecular structures which may have unique therapeutics properties.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com