Management Team
Anthony DiTonno
President & Chief Executive Officer
Anthony A. DiTonno joined us as Chief Operating Officer in April 2003, and has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer since August 2003. From October 2000 to November 2002, Mr. DiTonno served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Enteric Medical Technologies, Inc., a medical device company. From 1997 to 2000, Mr. DiTonno served as Chief Executive Officer of LifeSleep Systems, Inc., a medical device company. From 1989 to 1997, Mr. DiTonno held various positions at Oclassen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, most recently as its Vice President and General Manager. Mr. DiTonno received a B.S. in business administration from St. Joseph’s University and an M.B.A. from Drexel University.
Stephen Ghiglieri
Chief Financial Officer
Stephen F. Ghiglieri has served as our Chief Financial Officer since October 2003. From December 2002 to October 2003, Mr. Ghiglieri served as Chief Financial Officer of Hansen Medical, Inc., a medical device company. From March 2000 to April 2002, Mr. Ghiglieri served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of Avolent, Inc., a software company. From July 1999 to 2000, Mr. Ghiglieri served as Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of Andromedia, Inc., a software company. From 1994 to 1999, Mr. Ghiglieri served as Vice President, Finance and Administration, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of Oacis Healthcare Systems, Inc., a healthcare technology company. From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Ghiglieri served as Controller of Oclassen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company. From 1984 to 1992, Mr. Ghiglieri served as an audit manager of PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP. Mr. Ghiglieri received a B.A. in business administration from California State University, Hayward. Mr. Ghiglieri is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Jeffrey Tobias, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Jeffrey K. Tobias, M.D. has served as our Chief Medical Officer since November 2005. From September 1996 to November 2005, Dr. Tobias served as principal of the Aquila Consulting Group, a professional consulting firm. From June 1995 to September 1996, Dr. Tobias served as Director, New Product Discovery of Alza Corporation, a drug delivery solutions company. Dr. Tobias received a B.S. in biology and an M.D. from the University of Illinois.
Keith Bley, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Nonclinical Research & Development
Keith R. Bley, Ph.D. has served as our Senior Vice President, Nonclinical Research and Development since August 2001 and prior to that served as our Vice President, Nonclinical Research and Development since June 2000. From 1991 to 2000, Dr. Bley held various positions at Roche Bioscience and Syntex (later acquired by Roche Bioscience), most recently as a Research Manager in the analgesia department. Dr. Bley received an M.A. in philosophy from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in cellular and molecular physiology from Yale University.
Karen J. Harder
Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Technical Operations
Karen J. Harder has served as our Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Technical Operations since November 2000. From February 2000 to August 2000, Ms. Harder served as Vice President, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs of GanTech International, Inc., a biotechnology company. From August 1998 to December 2000, Ms. Harder served as Vice President of Cygnus, Inc., a medical device company. From January 1990 to August 1998, Ms. Harder served as Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs of Scios, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. From December 1983 to January 1990, Ms. Harder served as a Research Associate of Genentech, Inc., a biotechnology company. Ms. Harder received a B.S. in medical technology from Rush Medical University and an M.A. in microbiology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Michael Markels
Vice President, Commercial Operations and Business Development
Michael Markels joined NeurogesX in May 2006 as Vice President, Commercial Operations and Business Development and brings 18 years experience in domestic and international sales, strategic marketing and drug development. Most recently, he served as Senior Director of Marketing and Program Executive for Rituxan® at Biogen Idec. Previous to these activities, Mr. Markels was Senior Director, Infectious Disease Business Unit at InterMune® where he was responsible for sales and marketing. From 1990 to 2001, he held a variety of sales and marketing positions for Glaxo Wellcome Inc. where most recently he served as Director, Global Commercial Strategy for Flovent® and Asthma in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Markels obtained his B.S. in biology from Colorado State University and his M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
Russell Kawahata, Ph.D.
Vice President, Pharmaceutical Science
Russell Kawahata recently joined NeurogesX in October 2007 as Vice President of Pharmaceutical Science. Dr. Kawahata brings over two decades of experience in technical development and manufacturing, having supported late stage product development at major pharmaceutical organizations. He previously served as Vice President, Technical Development/Operations at Intermune Corporation from 2003-2007. There, Dr. Kawahata oversaw the development and manufacturing of clinical and commercial products, in addition to heading the analytical & process development, optimization, validation, and clinical packaging and supply chain management. Earlier in his career, he served as the Senior Director of Product Innovation and Pharmaceutical Science at Connetics Corporation from 1997-2001, General Manager at Soltec Research Ltd. from 2001-2002, and previously served as Director of Process Development for Systemix and XOMA Corporations
Dr. Kawahata earned a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Environmental Toxicology from the University of California, Davis and a Bachelors of Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Susan Rinne
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
Susan Rinne joined NeurogesX in October 2007 as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. Ms. Rinne has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical regulatory affairs arena, with extensive expertise in regulatory operations and product registration for a broad range of therapeutic indications. Prior to joining NeurogesX, Ms. Rinne served as head of Global Labeling, West Coast Regulatory Affairs as part of the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D Global Regulatory Affairs organization. From 1998 to 2006, Ms. Rinne served as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, ALZA Corporation, with responsibilities for development, registration and commercial activities. Ms. Rinne held prior roles at ALZA including: Vice President, Regulatory Affairs from 1998 to 2006; Director, Regulatory Affairs, from 1995 to 1998. Previously, she worked in Regulatory Affairs at Syntex Corporation from 1983-1995.
Ms. Rinne received a Master of Science in Pharmacology and Toxicology and a Bachelors of Science from the University of California, Davis.