The myelin sheath protects and insulates the nerves in the brain and spinal cord. Myelin production is not a single target event. Multiple genes are known to be up regulated to induce oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) to differentiate into mature oligodendrocytes that produce and maintain the myelin sheath in healthy individuals. This is a process called oligodendrogenesis.
James Hoyes provides strategic direction to the ENDECE leadership team as the firm moves its pipeline through the clinical development process and works to optimally position the pipeline products for commercialization. ENDECE products are built on a very strong foundation of exciting science and will be well positioned for both launch success and life cycle management across appropriate indications in order to meet unmet medical needs in the neuroscience arena. Jim brings senior executive experience to the ENDECE team having spent 30 years in the biopharma industry at EMD Serono, where he was President and Head of US Operations; and at Elan, Sanofi and Sterling Winthrop, where he held various senior management positions across various commercial and therapeutic area functions. In his career, Jim has gained deep experience in the CNS therapeutic area including extensive work in multiple sclerosis market. Jim also brings several years of strategic consulting experience as an Executive Partner at RxC International to ENDECE as well as insights gained as a past Board Member at PhRMA, BIO and MassBIO. Jim holds a B.S. in Biology from the Pennsylvania State University and has completed numerous executive management programs at leading business management schools such as MIT-Sloan School of Management, Thunderbird-The Garvin School of Management, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and INSEAD.
Dr. James Yarger is an accomplished scientist and executive with extensive scientific, management, and operational experience. His expertise is in molecular biology, regulatory affairs, API manufacturing, and business. He has more than 30 years of research experience in metabolic engineering and drug discovery and development. In 2006 Dr. Yarger founded ENDECE, invented the company’s proprietary compound library, and made the initial discovery of specific compounds within the library that induce remyelination. Dr. Yarger is responsible for ENDECE’s scientific and business strategies and corporate development, including fundraising and building the respected ENDECE network.
Prior to ENDECE, Dr. Yarger co-founded Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals. As President and CEO he was responsible for the scientific strategy, business development, and FDA and DEA compliance and audits (including FDA inspections) that led to the company’s growth. He raised equity capital (over $15 million) and designed and built the Cedarburg Pharmaceutical laboratories and manufacturing facility.
Dr. Yarger holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from Brandeis University and was a Post-doctoral Fellow at Harvard. He is author of 13 scientific publications and 24 published scientific abstracts, and holds 120 issued patents.
Jim is a skilled physician and highly accomplished senior pharmaceutical executive. Following a successful academic career, Jim has spent 25 years in the pharma and biotech industry, rising to the role of Chief Medical Officer. In recent years, Jim has served as a consultant and acting CMO for multiple pharma companies. Jim is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology and by the American Board of Sleep Medicine. He has been the recipient of multiple NIH grants and has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
The focus of Jim’s experience in big pharma and biotech/specialty pharma has been in the CNS area, including clinical development programs for spinal cord injury/spasticity, pain, Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, anxiety, ADHD, insomnia, narcolepsy, Parkinson’s, epilepsy and stuttering. Additionally, Jim has experience in more than a dozen other indications, including oncology and urology.
Jim has been a valued resource in support of investor relations, business development, alliance management and KOL cultivation. Jim has demonstrated a strong skill set in managing acquisitions, facilitating mergers, and assimilating firms being acquired in the pharmaceutical and biopharma fields.
Linda M. Pullan, Ph.D. offers biotech and pharmaceutical companies consulting in all aspects of partnering.
Linda has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and a B.S. in Chemistry.
Linda has over 20 years of drug industry experience, beginning in drug discovery at Monsanto/Searle/now Pfizer and ICI/Zeneca/now AstraZeneca. She contributed to and led teams that put the multi-billion dollar antipsychotic Seroquel and other molecules into development.
Her business development experiences began with in-licensing technology and early drug candidates in all therapeutic areas at what is now AstraZeneca, and continued as head of oncology and hematology licensing for Amgen, and Kosan Biosciences as VP of Business Development.
For several years, she has been providing companies help in strategy, presentations and messaging, identification, evaluation, valuation, negotiation for partnering in or out. She has an extensive deal sheet ranging from company acquisitions to Phase III compounds to preclinical candidates to technologies.
She writes a free monthly newsletter Pullan’s Pieces (see back issues on www.PullanConsulting.com ), with tidbits of science and business for thousands of readers.
Jean Yarger co-founded and serves as Administrative Officer for ENDECE. Her multidisciplinary background and experience includes finance, human resources, document management, project management and establishing corporate structures that facilitate and support scientific research and development. Jean is a serial entrepreneur. She began her career as business owner and consultant providing decorating and design services for private homes and businesses. She went on to co-found Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals where she established administrative procedures and protocols for finance, shipping and receiving, and human resources, where she initiated hiring and performance assessment practices contributing to the growth of Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals.
Jean is responsible for defining and executing corporate structure and strategy including, finance, public relations, human resources, project management and document control.
