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(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071022/NYM074LOGO )
Christopher M. Starr, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Raptor PharmaceuticalsCorp., stated, "I would like to welcome Drs. Franklin and Blacklow as valuableadditions to our board of directors and scientific advisory board,respectively. Dr. Franklin's background is a unique combination ofconsiderable knowledge in areas of biomedical science, particularly inneurology and cancer, as well as years of experience in corporate leadershipand finance. We expect to leverage his scientific and investment bankingexpertise to help guide Raptor's clinical development programs and ourcorporate strategy towards maximizing stockholder value while addressingcritically compelling and unmet medical needs.
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"Dr. Blacklow is an internationally recognized scientist," continuedStarr. "He has made scientific breakthroughs working with thereceptor-associated protein, also known as RAP which is the backbone ofRaptor's drug discovery and preclinical efforts. He is expected to providevaluable insight regarding our early-stage programs and adds further expertiseto Raptor's already established and distinguished scientific team."
Dr. Franklin has 25 years of experience in the biomedical industry. He iscurrently Chairman of Synthemed, Inc., a publicly traded medical devicecompany; and DMS Data Systems, an Internet-based information services company.He is also Executive Chairman of Tarix, a subsidiary of medical productscompany, Phairson, Ltd, where he sits on the board of directors. During hiscareer, Dr. Franklin has founded a healthcare consulting firm, RichardFranklin & Associates, and led the Healthcare Corporate Finance Team at TuckerAnthony, an investment bank. He received a bachelor's degree from HarvardUniversity, an M.A. in mathematics from the University of Washington, a Ph.D.in mathematics from Brandeis University, and an M.D. from Boston UniversitySchool of Medicine.
Dr. Franklin stated, "As a member of Raptor's board of directors, I lookforward to counseling the Company on maximizing the pipeline's potential anddelivering value to stockholders. Raptor's scientific expertise and drugdiscovery capabilities, coupled with a focus on mid-stage clinical studiesevaluating novel formulations of existing drugs, strikes the right balance.The drug development risks inherent in preclinical programs are nicely offsetby the recently acquired clinical programs focused on reformulating currentlyapproved therapies with known safety profiles and repurposing approvedtherapies for new indications."
Dr. Blacklow contributes scientific exerptise from academia to Raptor'sscientific advisory board. He is an Associate Professor of Pathology and aDirector of the M.D. Ph.D. program, basic sciences track, at Harvard MedicalSchool. He also directs a research laboratory at the Brigham and Women'sHospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Recently, Dr.Blacklow's team determined the structure of the RAP d3 protein complexed withreceptor. Over the last ten years, Dr. Blacklow's research team has achievedinternational recognition for mechanistic and structural studies oflow-density lipoprotein or LDL receptor proteins, and for work on thestructure and function of human Notch proteins. Dr. Blacklow received his M.D.and Ph.D. in bioorganic chemistry from Harvard University in 1991.
About Raptor Pharmaceuticals Corp.
Raptor Pharmaceuticals Corp. ("Raptor") is a development-stagebiopharmaceutical company leveraging novel drug-targeting platforms andenhanced drug formulations to improve treatment outcomes among patients withliver di
