Cocrystal Pharma Announces Appointment of Douglas Mayers, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer
BOTHELL, WA and ATLANTA, GA -- (Marketwired) -- 09/24/15 -- Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. (OTCQB: COCP), a bio-pharmaceutical company dedicated to creating novel small molecules for viral infections and liver diseases, today announced the appointment of Douglas Mayers, M.D., to the position of chief medical officer (CMO). This appointment reflects Cocrystal's continued growth as the Company prepares to advance its HCV, influenza and norovirus programs.
"We are pleased to welcome Dr. Mayers to our executive management team. Dr. Mayers brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in small molecule therapeutics to Cocrystal, including very relevant expertise in antiviral therapeutics," said Jeffery Meckler, Chief Executive Officer of Cocrystal. "His experience will prove extraordinarily useful as we advance and expand our various virology and liver disease programs."
Dr. Mayers is a specialist in infectious diseases and has nearly 27 years of medical and clinical development experience spanning all phases of global clinical research & development and commercialization. Most recently, Dr. Mayers spent the past year at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases working with colleagues to discover and develop drugs against the Ebola virus. Prior to that he was the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President at Idenix Pharmaceuticals, where he led the Infectious Disease programs since 2007 until the acquisition by Merck in 2014 for $3.85 billion. He led numerous regulatory filings globally, including successful advancement of several anti-HCV candidates to the clinical phase. Prior to Idenix, he was the International Head/Vice President of the Virology Therapeutic Area at Boehringer Ingelheim for six years where he led Phase 1 through 4 clinical studies for HIV and hepatitis programs.
Prior to joining the industry, Dr. Mayers held numerous academic and research positions including Head of Viral and Rickettsial Disease Program; Deputy Director of Infectious Diseases Department; Head of HIV Clinical Studies Program and Department of HIV Disease Prevention at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and Naval Medical Research Institute. He also served as the Head of Division of Infectious Diseases at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI. During his 17 years in the Navy and 3 years at Henry Ford, he conducted numerous clinical studies in HIV and other infectious diseases. Additionally, he has previously served on several NIH study sections and on FDA advisory committees. He is the author of over 95 peer-reviewed publications/book chapters. Dr. Mayers received his M.D. from University of Pennsylvania.
About Cocrystal Pharma
Cocrystal is a pharmaceutical company seeking to discover novel antiviral therapeutics as treatments for serious and/or chronic viral diseases. Cocrystal employs unique technologies and Nobel Prize winning expertise to create first- and best-in-class antiviral drugs. These technologies, including our nucleoside chemistry expertise and market-focused approach to drug discovery are designed to efficiently deliver small molecule therapeutics that are safe, effective and convenient to administer. The company has identified promising, preclinical stage compounds for hepatitis infections, and analogs that are effective against noroviruses. Cocrystal has previously received strategic investments from Teva Pharmaceuticals, OPKO Health (NYSE: OPK), Dr. Raymond Schinazi, Brace Pharmaceutical, LLC, and The Frost Group. For further information about Cocrystal, please refer to www.cocrystalpharma.com, or connect with the Company on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+.
Contact:
MDM Worldwide
David Zazoff
212-643-0417
Source: Cocrystal Pharma, Inc.
Released September 24, 2015