– UK, London – OKYO Pharma Limited (LON: OKYO) today announced the appointments of Gabriele Cerrone as the non-executive chairman and Dr. Gary Jacob as CEO and member of the Board of Directors, both effective immediately.
About Gabriele Cerrone
Mr. Cerrone has a successful track record and extensive experience in the financing and restructuring of micro-cap biotechnology companies. He has founded ten biotechnology companies in oncology, infectious diseases, and molecular diagnostics, and has taken seven of these companies to the NASDAQ Market and two to the Main Market and AIM Market in London. Mr. Cerrone is Executive Chairman of dual listed Tiziana Life Sciences plc. Mr. Cerrone co-founded Cardiff Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDF), an oncology company and served as its Co-Chairman; he was a co-founder and served as Chairman of both Synergy Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGYP) and Callisto Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCMKTS: CLSP), and was a Director of and led the restructuring of Siga Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIGA). Mr. Cerrone also co-founded FermaVir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and served as Chairman of the Board until its merger in September 2007 with Inhibitex, Inc. Mr. Cerrone served as a director of Inhibitex, Inc. until its US$2.5bn sales to Bristol Myers Squibb Co in 2012.
Mr. Cerrone is the Chairman and Founder of Tiziana Life Sciences plc (NASDAQ: TLSA | AIM: TILS) an oncology-focused therapeutics company; Chairman and Co-Founder of Rasna Therapeutics Limited (OTCMKTS: RASP), a company focused on the development of therapeutics for leukemias; Co-Founder of Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: HEPA); Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Gensignia Life Sciences, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company focused on oncology using microRNA technology; and Executive Chairman and founder of Accustem Sciences plc; and founder of BioVitas Capital Ltd.
Mr. Cerrone will also chair the Nomination Committee of the Board.
About Dr. Gary Jacob, Ph.D.
Dr. Jacob has over 35 years of extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries across multiple disciplines, including research and development, operations, business development, capital financing activities, and senior management expertise. He has developed broad and influential contacts throughout the biopharmaceutical, financial, banking, and investor communities. Dr. Jacob is the Co-Founder and former CEO and Chairman of Synergy Pharmaceuticals. During his time at Synergy, he served as Chairman, CEO, and Executive Chairman, and is the co-inventor of Synergy’s FDA-approved drug Trulance which is currently marketed in the U.S. by Bausch Health, Inc. to treat functional GI disorders. Dr. Jacob is also the former CEO and Managing Director of Immuron Inc., an Australian biotechnology company dual-listed on the Australian ASX exchange and NASDAQ. Dr. Jacob currently is Chairman of the Board of Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a public NASDAQ listed company with a drug in clinical development to treat nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and is also on the Board of Directors of Cardiff Oncology, Inc., a NASDAQ listed public oncology company. He served as CEO and Director of Callisto Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from May 2003 until January 2013.
Before his involvement with Callisto and Synergy, Dr. Jacob was at Monsanto/G.D. Searle, where he was Director of Glycobiology and a Monsanto Science Fellow, specializing in the field of Glycobiology and drug discovery. Dr. Jacob holds over 30 patents and is the co-inventor of two pharmaceutical drugs which are FDA approved.
Dr. Jacob earned a B.S. cum laude in Chemistry from the University of Missouri – St. Louis and holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
About OKYO
OKYO Pharma Limited is a life sciences and biotechnology company admitted to listing on the standard segment of the Official List of the UK Financial Conduct Authority and to trading on the Main Market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange plc. OKYO is focusing on the discovery and development of novel molecules to treat inflammatory dry eye diseases and chronic pain.
For more information: https://www.okyopharma.com/
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