Management Team
Colin J. Foster, President and CEO
Mr. Foster has two decades of experience in pharmaceutical and diagnostics businesses. Before joining Optherion, he was CEO and President of Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Region Head for the North American Pharmaceuticals business of Bayer AG. Mr. Foster joined Bayer in 1994 as the Vice President, Marketing for the Healthcare Division in Toronto, Canada. In this role, he led the marketing team for the Canadian Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics businesses. He was promoted to Vice President, Marketing, Sales, and Service in the Diagnostics Division, with profit & loss responsibility for the U.S. Diabetes Division. Following this, and just before heading the North American pharmaceutical business, he was appointed Region Head for the Diagnostics Division, UK/Ireland Region, stationed in Newbury, England. Before joining Bayer, Mr. Foster was head of pharmaceutical marketing for Sandoz Canada, Inc. in Montreal. He began his career at A.H. Robins in Canada as a Medical Sales Representative in 1985. Mr. Foster holds his B.Sc.in Zoology and Microbiology from the University of Toronto (1985) and his M.B.A. from the University of Western Ontario (1988) in Canada. He is a board member of Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven.
Dr. Marlene Modi, Vice President, Preclinical Development
Dr. Modi has 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Before joining Optherion Inc., she served as Senior Director of Clinical Pharmacology at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. For the previous 15 years, Dr. Modi worked at Hoffmann-La Roche in key management positions, including Site Head and Director of Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Modi has extensive expertise in the areas of preclinical and clinical development of large molecules (e.g., proteins, monoclonal antibodies, aptamers and pegylated compounds). Her work has included the therapeutic areas of ophthalmology, virology, infectious disease, neurology, oncology, diabetes and asthma. Her areas of expertise include drug-drug interactions, pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationships, and dose- and exposure-response relationships in special populations. She received a B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Houston and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Aileen Ryan, Vice President, Regulatory
Aileen Ryan has over twenty years of regulatory experience in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry and has been responsible for the development and implementation of regulatory strategies for a wide variety of products. Before joining Optherion, she was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Vion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. From 2004to 2006, she was head of Global Regulatory Strategy, Oncology for Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation. At Bayer, she was responsible for the global regulatory strategy for a portfolio of oncology compounds, including Nexavar (sorafenib)Tablets, Bayer’s multi-kinase inhibitor for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma, which was approved by the FDA in December 2005 and EMEA in 2006. Previously, Ms. Ryan was Vice President Regulatory Affairs for Coley Pharmaceutical Group, an early development biotech company acquired by Pfizer and Vice President of Regulatory Affiars and Compliance at the US subsidiary of a European company, ASTA Medica, Inc. She also spent six years as a regulatory consultant working with US biotech companies as well as non-US companies to expedite the development and registration of drug and biological products in the US. She began her career at Revlon Health Care Group (now Sanofi-Aventis) in the research laboratories. Ms. Ryan holds a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts and an MS in Basic Medical Sciences from New York Medical College.
Dr. Haren Vasavada, Vice President, Process Sciences
Dr. Vasavada joined Optherion Inc. after 14 years at Bayer, where he focused on drug discovery in both small molecular weight and protein therapeutics, giving him extensive experience in several areas key to the success of Optherion Inc. Most recently, Dr. Vasavada spent 6 years as Director of Research in Bayer's Department of Research Technologies, where he played a central role in helping advance ten small molecule drug candidates and three biotherapeutic candidates into product development. He served as an Associate Director in the same department at Bayer for three years before that, and earlier was a Senior Research Scientist in the areas of inflammation, autoimmunity and osteoporosis. Dr. Vasavada studied at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, India, where he earned his Masters Degree in Microbiology in 1977. He received his Ph.D in Biochemistry in 1983 from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. He then pursued postdoctoral training at Yale in the Department of Human Genetics, with a focus on tissue-specific gene expression and protein-to-protein interaction.
Dr. Dana Wirak, Director, Process Science
Dr. Wirak has more than 20 years of drug discovery experience in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry. Prior to joining Optherion, he served as a Principle Research Scientist-II at Bayer Pharmaceutical Corporation. Over a period of 20 years at Bayer, he participated in a wide variety of drug discovery programs for both small molecule and protein therapeutics. His work has included the therapeutic areas of Alzheimer’s, atherosclerosis, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. His areas of expertise include cell line development, protein expression, assay development, and target ID/validation. At Bayer, he also served as a lead investigator in the development of animal disease models using transgenic and gene targeting technologies. Dr. Wirak holds a BS in Biochemistry from Washington State University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan. He then pursued postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School.