Management Team
An industry-leading drug development and regulatory affairs team.
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Dr. Larry D. Sutton, M.D., Ph.D., is a respected physician-scientist and a prolific entrepreneur whose career spans the realms of medicine, academia, and biopharmaceutical innovation. Dr. Sutton earned both his M.D. and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Iowa, where he also served on the faculty. His academic roles extended to Miami University and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where he notably served as Director of Clinical Microbiology at the McClellan Memorial Veterans Administration Medical Center.
Dr. Sutton's extensive medical training includes completing residencies in pathology at the University of Iowa and in family medicine at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. These specialized residencies equipped him to practice in various medical fields, including pathology, primary care, and emergency medicine, where he has applied his extensive clinical expertise.
As a serial entrepreneur, Dr. Sutton has a remarkable track record of founding and advancing companies through to acquisition. He founded Joel Health Industries, which was successfully exited to a Fortune 100 company, and Sopharmia, Inc., alongside Dr. Porter W. Anderson, Jr., which was acquired by venture-backed Gladius Pharmaceuticals. Continuing this successful partnership, he co-founded LPOXY Therapeutics with Dr. Anderson, focusing on innovative therapeutic solutions.
Dr. Sutton's inventive spirit is evidenced by his holding of 19 patents, showcasing his contributions to medical and chemical research. His scholarly output is impressive, with over 100 publications to his credit, underscoring his commitment to advancing medical science and healthcare. Through his entrepreneurial ventures and scientific achievements, Dr. Sutton has significantly impacted the fields of medicine and biotechnology, demonstrating leadership and innovation that continue to influence these industries profoundly.
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Dr. Gurwith is an infectious disease specialist with extensive clinical stage drug development experience. He has served as CMO at PaxVax, Inc (acquired by Emergent BioSolutions). Before that he served as VP of Medical Affairs and CMO at VaxGen where he supervised vaccine clinical trials targeting viral and bacterial pathogens. He also served as CMO of Genelabs, VP at Sequus Pharmaceuticals, VP of Medical and Scientific Affairs at Boeheringer-Mannheim, and Sr. Director of Clinical Research at Wyeth-Ayerst Research.
Dr. Gurwith earned his Bachelors degree in Philosophy from Yale, MD from Harvard and JD from Temple.
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Ms. Yu has led a distinguished career in the life-sciences field from bench to entrepreneurial management. She began her career analyzing EPA Superfund samples via high resolution GC/MS at IT Corp. She then transitioned into biochemistry at Iowa State University. Subsequently, she served as Manager QA/QC Laboratory at Dr Pepper Snapple Group where she oversaw their GLP analytical laboratory ensuring proper documentation of cGMP compliance.
A cofounder of Joel Health Industries, she was also COO, responsible for all aspects of daily operations and led formulation efforts of corporate products, contract research for outside firms and logistics. Ms. Yu then served as COO of Sopharmia Inc. where, in addition to running day-to-day operations, she led in-house and external medicinal chemistry discovery campaign and biological testing of novel cephalosporins targeting multi-drug-resistant Gram-negative infections. When Sopharmia was acquired by Gladius Pharmaceuticals she continued leading in-house and external biological testing of compounds from Gladius' lead optimization program.
Ms. Yu earned her MS degree in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln under the mentorship of the world-renowned mass spectrometrist, Michael Gross. She holds certificates in Clinical Trials Management & Regulatory Compliance from the University of Chicago, Clinical Trial Design & Interpretation from Johns Hopkins University, and Data Management for Clinical Research from Vanderbilt University.
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Ms. Betancourt-Riche has over 40 years of developmental experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. She brings a broad range of regulatory expertise in drug development across multiple therapeutic areas including anti-infectives, metabolic, oncology, cardiovascular and pulmonary, as well as product type including genetically engineered and naturally derived biologicals, small molecules, vaccines and drug-device combination products. She has advised pharmaceutical industry clients in regulatory strategy and implementation of development programs from pre-IND through Phase 3, as well as preparation and submission of U.S. and international investigational and marketing applications.
Beginning her career at Bayer AG (Cutter Biologicals), Ms. Betancourt-Riche focused primarily on international regulatory affairs with responsibility of maintaining registrations for Bayer's commers plasma product portfolio. Moving to Genentech in 1992, she was responsible for managing the international regulatory programs for PULMOZYME, HERCEPTIN and RITUXAN. She joined Coulter Pharmaceutical in 1997 to lead the regulatory strategy for development and BLA filing for BEXXAR, and went on to serve as VP of Regulatory Affairs at Titan Pharmaceuticals, KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Cerexa Inc., and Sangart.
Ms. Betancourt-Riche earned her MBA in International Corporate Management from Golden Gate University and her BS. in Biological Sciences from the University of California at Davis.
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Dr. Sullivan is a product development leader who brings 20+ years of leadership success identifying strategic opportunities, leading development programs, developing commercialization roadmaps, and managing global manufacturing.