Arcturus Therapeutics Announces New Appointments to its Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SAN DIEGO, Calif., May 8, 2013 – Arcturus Therapeutics, Inc., a company on the forefront of research and development of RNAi technologies, today announced new appointments to its board of directors and scientific advisory board.
Craig Willett joins as director of the board. Throughout his career, Willett has focused on helping businesses become successful. Craig is the President and CEO of Voice of the Entrepreneur, Inc. providing start up coaching services to the next generation of entrepreneurs. He is the past president and CEO of UTAZ Development Corporation – the establishment that pioneered the small professional office market with a unique “Professional Village” office building concept of “Own For Less Than Rent” to help businesses thrive. Craig has demonstrated his ability to assemble capital and lead development teams to extraordinary success as reflected in the realization of nearly $700 million of projects to which he has offered his vision and leadership.
Before founding UTAZ in 1994, Willett has owned an accounting firm specializing in small business and real estate tax issues. In these areas he is a recognized authority, having testified several times before both houses of Congress including the House Ways and Means Committee, the House Senate Banking Committee, and the Senate Finance Committee and has been quoted in publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.
Willett has served as chairman of numerous local community and charitable organizations, and is a founding director of Capital Community Bank, and founder of the Brigham Young University Center for Entrepreneurship. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and real estate agent, and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Brigham Young University.
Joining as a member of Arcturus’ Scientific Advisory Board, Nicholas M. Dean, Ph.D., founded Excaliard Pharmaceuticals in 2006 – an RNAi company focused on developing antisense-based drugs to treat skin scarring, and which was later acquired by Pfizer in 2011. Prior to this, Dean was vice president of Functional Genomics and Oncology at Isis Pharmaceuticals, where he also served as managing director of Isis Singapore. Dean originally joined Isis Pharmaceuticals in 1991 and served in various roles in the molecular pharmacology department until 2000, at which time he became executive director and vice president, Functional Genomics for Isis Pharmaceuticals.
At Isis, Dean managed a substantial budget for their Eli Lilly collaboration in oncology and metabolic disease and managed a research group of 25 scientists. A leader in the field of oligonucleotide therapeutics, with an emphasis on pharmacology, Dean serves as a director of Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and is a member of the editorial board of Antisense & Nucleic Acid Research and Drug Discovery Today: Technologies. He has also served as member of the Scientific Advisory Board of RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp.
He has authored 38 issued patents and is the author of more than 120 papers in the fields of genomics, antisense and oligonucleotide technology, and oncology. Dean is in an inventor on more than 100 patents and patent applications and author of more than 100 research publications. Dean received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wales, and his doctorate in Pharmacology from the Welsh National School of Medicine.
“We’re fortunate to have both Craig and Nick join Arcturus,” said Joseph E. Payne, president and CEO, Arcturus. “Craig possesses a wealth of experience in corporate strategy and sound business acumen, whereas Nick is a pioneer in developing and monetizing nucleic acid therapeutics. Both gentlemen bring extraordinary business experience and substantial capabilities to guide the company’s efforts in building exceptional value for our partners, shareholders, and especially patients suffering from disease.”
About Arcturus Therapeutics, Inc.
Founded in 2013 and based in San Diego, Calif., Arcturus Therapeutics is poised to become an industry leader in the application of RNAi technologies for the treatment of disease and improved quality of life. The company’s aim is to develop breakthrough technology and novel therapeutics for rare diseases for which there is no adequate treatment. Backed by a management team with extensive experience in the discovery and development of therapeutic modalities, Arcturus is on the forefront of research and development of nanoparticle siRNA drug delivery systems. For more information, visit us at www.ArcturusRx.com.
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