Fariba Ghodsian: ZICAM™ Cold Remedy MEDICAL TESTIMONIALS:
"The nasal mucosa is an excellent route for drug delivery without systemic side effects, especially when treating conditions that originate in the nasal cavity, such as the common cold."
Fariba Ghodsian, Ph.D.
Drug Delivery Systems Expert
Los Angeles, CA
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Zengen, Inc - Zengen shareholders elect board of directors; ...
... He led the marketing team that took Zicam™ from an unknown entity to one of the ... Fariba
Ghodsian Dr. Ghodsian joined the Company's Board of Directors in 2000. ...
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"Fariba Ghodsian
Dr. Ghodsian joined the Company's Board of Directors in 2000. Dr. Ghodsian is currently Managing Director and Director of Healthcare Research at Roth Capital Partners. <?b>She has been a scientist, director of business development, acting chief financial officer and board member in privately and publicly held biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, such as Allergan, MedClone and Trega Biosciences. She was Vice President and Senior Biotechnology Analyst for several investment-banking firms, including Lehman Brothers, Hancock Institutional (Sutro and Tucker Anthony) and Wedbush Morgan Securities. Dr. Ghodsian received an MBA from UCLA, a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Oxford University, an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from MIT and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology."
>b>Zengen shareholders elect board of directors; approve equity compensation plan
WOODLAND HILLS, CALIF. (July 11, 2002) — Zengen, Inc. held its Annual Shareholders Meeting today at which shareholders re-elected a Board of Directors and approved the Company's 2002 Equity Compensation Plan.
The Shareholders elected the following directors at the Annual Meeting
K. Bobby Chao
Mr. Chao began his career as one of the five original founders of Cadence Design Systems. A year after Cadence's successful initial public offering, Mr. Chao founded Ocron, a leader in optical character recognition technology and document management software. Mr. Chao was chairman and chief executive officer of Ocron until Umax Technologies, Inc. acquired it. He then became part of the Umax team serving as senior vice president of marketing in charge of corporate marketing and investment. Mr. Chao was previously general partner for Technology Associates Management Company and has served as chairman and chief executive officer of VA Linux Systems. Mr. Chao is currently on the board of several companies and professional organizations as well. Mr. Chao holds an MS in Physics from Georgia State University and an MS in Aeronautics Engineering from Stanford University.
R. Steven Davidson
Dr. Davidson has been the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2002 and a director since April 2002. Dr. Davidson has over eight years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. From September 1998 to December 2001, Dr. Davidson was the chief executive officer and a director of Gel Tech, LLC. At Gel Tech, Dr. Davidson raised capital for the market launch and distribution of the Zicam™ cold remedy. He led the marketing team that took Zicam™ from an unknown entity to one of the top medications in its class. He also implemented and launched line extensions to strengthen brand name and increase company value. During this period, Dr. Davidson was also the managing director of Biodelivery Technologies, Inc. From October 1994 to August 1998, Dr. Davidson was the chief executive officer of Biotem Cytotechnologies, Inc., a biopharmaceutical research and development company. Dr. Davidson received his MBA in International Finance and Ph.D. in Biopharmaceutical Project Management from the American University of Asturias.
Errol De Souza
Dr. De Souza was appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board in 2000. In 2001, he joined the Company's Board of Directors. Dr. De Souza is currently Senior Vice President and Site Head of U.S. Drug Innovation & Approval, a Division of Aventis. Previously he was: Director of Central Nervous System Diseases Research at the Du Pont Merck Pharmaceuticals; Founder, Director and Executive Vice President of Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. and President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Neuroscience Pharma, Inc. Dr. De Souza has edited 5 books and is an author or co-author of approximately 250 original articles, chapters or reviews. He is the recipient of numerous national and international awards. Dr. De Souza has served on several Editorial Boards and National Institutes of Health Committees. He has a Ph.D. in Neuroendocrinology from the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada.
Fariba Ghodsian
Dr. Ghodsian joined the Company's Board of Directors in 2000. Dr. Ghodsian is currently Managing Director and Director of Healthcare Research at Roth Capital Partners. She has been a scientist, director of business development, acting chief financial officer and board member in privately and publicly held biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, such as Allergan, MedClone and Trega Biosciences. She was Vice President and Senior Biotechnology Analyst for several investment-banking firms, including Lehman Brothers, Hancock Institutional (Sutro and Tucker Anthony) and Wedbush Morgan Securities. Dr. Ghodsian received an MBA from UCLA, a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Oxford University, an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from MIT and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.
James Lipton
Dr. Lipton has been the Company's Chief Scientific Officer and a Director since April 2000, after the Company's merger with Abitis, LLC, a biotechnology research and development company that he co-founded with Matthew C. Lipton, our Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Lipton is the named inventor on multiple patents related to a-MSH peptides. From 1966 to 2000, Dr. Lipton held positions, including professor of Physiology and Anesthesiology and Pain Management at the University of Texas - Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Texas. Dr. Lipton currently serves as Visiting Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Milan Medical School in Milan, Italy. Dr. Lipton received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. He was awarded post-doctoral grants at the University of Michigan Medical School and a Special Research Fellowship at the Institute of Animal Physiology in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Dr. Lipton has more than 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has participated in numerous research projects funded by the National Institute of Health, the Department of Defense, health foundations and state governments.
Simon Lorne
Mr. Lorne has been a Director and member of the Company's Business Advisory Board since October 1999. In 2001, Mr. Lorne agreed to chair the Company's Board of Directors. Mr. Lorne is a Partner in the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP. From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Lorne was Managing Director with Salomon Brothers, Inc., and its successor firm Salomon Smith Barney, Inc. From 1993 to 1996, Mr. Lorne was General Counsel of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Lorne received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Michigan and his undergraduate degree from Occidental College. Mr. Lorne is also currently co-director of the Stanford Law School's Directors' College.
Johnson Liu
Mr. Liu has served on the Board of Directors since October 1999. Mr. Liu has served as Chairman of BevGlen Medical Systems Corporation since 1999, a healthcare technology company specializing in heart rate variability study and QT prolongative tests for pharmaceutical companies. In 1987, Mr. Liu founded Solidex Medical Systems, LLC, a cardiac monitoring healthcare service company, which was acquired by BevGlen Medical Systems Corporation in 1998. Between 1984 and 1995, Mr. Liu founded and has been Chairman and CEO of Solidex, Inc., an international manufacturer of video, computer and cellular telecommunication equipment. Mr. Liu received his MBA from California State University, Los Angeles and his bachelor's degree from the Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan.
Zengen, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative products to treat and prevent infection and inflammation through application of its patented peptide technologies. These technologies are based on an extensive background of over 25 years of academic research on peptide molecules derived from a-Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormone (a-MSH), an endogenous molecule that modulates inflammatory and immune responses.
Zengen Forward Looking Statement Disclaimer:
This announcement may contain, in addition to historical information, certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain assumptions. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated as a result of a number of factors. The company is developing several products for potential future marketing. There can be no assurance that such development efforts will succeed, that such products will receive required regulatory clearance or that, even if such regulatory clearance were received, such products would ultimately achieve commercial success.
To:Dan Zimmermann who wrote (4943)
From: TheTruthseeker Wednesday, Nov 26, 2003 5:13 PM
Respond to of 5078
Critical stories While consumers are buying Zicam, Gel Tech has been subjected to some criticism. Time magazine ran a story after the study was pulled from the Journal of Infection Control, suggesting that washing your hands could be just as beneficial.
One of its biggest competitors, Quigley Corp., a Pennsylvania company that makes zinc lozenges marketed as Cold-EEZE, was among the first to raise questions about the early release of the Gel Tech study. Quigley issued a statement cautioning the public and media to wait until the Zicam study is published before "blindly accepting the alleged results."
Even Gel Tech officials believe more trials are needed to prove to the scientific community that Zicam works.
"There's still the question of whether it will play out the same in the real world," said Fariba Ghobsian, senior vice president and biotech analyst at Cruttendon Roth. "They have done the clinical experiments, but when you go to the real world, things can change."
Ghobsian served as an early advisor to Gel Tech.
Meanwhile, Gel Tech's founders are already talking about the possibility of an initial public offering in another year and more homeopathic products down the line.
"There's a lot of pressure to expand," Davidson said. "We had a successful launch and we're growing fast, so there's a lot of catch-up to do."
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findarticles.com
Team Strikes Gold With a Zinc-Based Cold Remedy.(Brief Article)
Los Angeles Business Journal, Dec 6, 1999, by Jennifer Netherby
Two L.A. researchers were tossing around ideas back in 1994 about how natural remedies could slow the common cold when they hit upon an idea: Why not turn the remedies into a nose spray? After all, they reasoned, colds are located in the nose.
It took another two years for Charles Hensley and R. Steven Davidson to quit their jobs at a biotech company and start their own firm to develop the spray.
Earlier this month, their company, Gel Tech Inc., was propelled into the national spotlight after the release of a study indicating its Zicam product could reduce the average duration of a cold from nearly 10 days to less than two.
Stories appeared on television and in USA Today and other publications detailing the study commissioned by Gel Tech. The company also indicated that the results would soon appear in the American Journal of Infection Control - though because scientific publications don't take kindly to having their articles pre-released, the journal decided against publishing the results.
Sales have spiked
That hasn't slowed sales of Zicam, which is available over the counter. Sales have spiked since the media coverage, and the company has had trouble keeping up with demand. Revenue so far this year has surpassed $10 million and Davidson projects $20 million for the current cold season.
"The extent of publicity it got was a surprise," said Gel Tech Chairman Brown Russell. "We've seen a big increase.
The study claims that Zicam, a zinc nose spray, shortened the duration of the common cold when tested on 104 people over two cold seasons. Gel Tech officials said the study underwent a peer-review process and was reviewed by medical experts before being released.
An independent study of Zicam is expected to be released in the coming weeks. While the scientific community is divided over the effectiveness of zinc in fighting colds, Hensley, Gel Tech's chief scientist, and Davidson, its chief executive, are confident that their results will be confirmed.
The theory driving their work is that zinc reduces cold symptoms because zinc ions are roughly the same size and shape as the molecules that cold viruses must pass through in the nasal cavity. A zinc nasal spray coats that cavity, conceivably stopping any movement of the virus.
"To us, it was common sense," Hensley said. "The cold is in the nose, not the mouth."
Gel nose spray
With lofty ambitions to develop a cure for the common cold, the two quit their jobs at another biotech firm in 1996 and joined two other friends to finance BioDelivery Technology, their startup in Woodland Hills.
Hensley has a background in testing cardiac drugs and Davidson has worked in holistic health. The two began work in a lab, testing various zinc compounds and eventually settling on a gel nose spray that adheres to the nasal cavity. Throughout the first year, they say they brought in experts to review their methods and to hold in-house trials.
"We spent many, many months doing different combinations before trials," Hensley said. "We brought in technicians from the field, chemists, biochemists - all to confirm what we'd found."
In February 1997, the two began talks with Gum Tech International Inc., a Phoenix-based company that makes gum products. Initially, the two companies partnered for distribution of Zicam at retail stores. But eventually they formed Gel Tech Inc., with Gum Tech owning a 60 percent stake.
"(Gum Tech) had experience on the regulatory aspect in terms of the FDA and could also help us get into retail," Davidson said. "We recognized that we have limitations."
In November 1998, Zicam began hitting retail shelves on a trial basis. (Zicam is not regulated by the FDA and isn't required to undergo vigorous testing for approval because it is sold as a homeopathic product.) Albertson's and Eckerd's began selling the product for anywhere from $9 to $12.
Last month, the product was launched nationwide in such chains as Rite Aid and 7-Eleven. The big jump in sales came after all the publicity earlier this month.
Critical stories
While consumers are buying Zicam, Gel Tech has been subjected to some criticism. Time magazine ran a story after the study was pulled from the Journal of Infection Control, suggesting that washing your hands could be just as beneficial.
One of its biggest competitors, Quigley Corp., a Pennsylvania company that makes zinc lozenges marketed as Cold-EEZE, was among the first to raise questions about the early release of the Gel Tech study. Quigley issued a statement cautioning the public and media to wait until the Zicam study is published before "blindly accepting the alleged results."
Even Gel Tech officials believe more trials are needed to prove to the scientific community that Zicam works.
"There's still the question of whether it will play out the same in the real world," said Fariba Ghobsian, senior vice president and biotech analyst at Cruttendon Roth. "They have done the clinical experiments, but when you go to the real world, things can change."
Ghobsian served as an early advisor to Gel Tech.</B >
Meanwhile, Gel Tech's founders are already talking about the possibility of an initial public offering in another year and more homeopathic products down the line.
"There's a lot of pressure to expand," Davidson said. "We had a successful launch and we're growing fast, so there's a lot of catch-up to do."
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