Marizyme, Inc. (OTCQB: MRZM), a publicly traded global biotechnology company developing products to reduce the burden of ischemia-reperfusion injury in tissue grafting, organ transplant, and other surgical indications, announced today that it has expanded the company's executive team and board of directors with three new appointments.
Steven Brooks, M.D., MBA, FACC, has been named EVP of Medical and Regulatory Affairs, Chief Medical Officer for Marizyme. Dr. Brooks brings more than 20 years of experience supporting the commercialization of medical innovation, including medical devices, mHealth, drugs, biologics and combination products, to this role.
Donald Very, Ph.D., has also joined the executive management team as EVP, Research & Development. Dr. Very has more than 30 years of experience in all phases of pharmaceutical and diagnostic assay research and device development, including performance validation, clinical trial design and implementation, and regulatory approvals.
William Hearl, Ph.D., an experienced and successful life science entrepreneur who is adept at brokering mutually beneficial partnerships and identifying non-traditional collaborations and investment opportunities, has been named an Independent Member of Marizyme's Board of Directors.
"Drs. Brooks and Very will provide Marizyme with a wealth of scientific, regulatory and capital markets expertise, all of which is critical as the company seeks to grow its life science assets and elevate its financial position," said Dr. Neil J. Campbell, Marizyme's CEO and President and a Member of its Board of Directors. "Dr. Brooks and Dr. Very will provide experience and leadership in building Marizyme's pipeline of therapies that address urgent needs related to higher mortality and costs in the acute care space."
Mr. James Sapirstein, Marizyme's Executive Chairman, said, "Dr. Hearl's track record of brokering mutually beneficial partnerships and identifying non-traditional collaborations and investment opportunities will be invaluable in bolstering Marizyme's shareholder value."
Dr. Hearl, Independent Member of Marizyme's Board of Directors, commented, "I am excited to join Marizyme's board and work to support the company as it builds the promising suite of acute care therapies."
Executive Appointments
Steven Brooks, M.D., MBA, FACC – EVP of Medical and Regulatory Affairs, Chief Medical Officer
Steven Brooks, M.D., MBA, FACC, has more than 20 years of experience supporting the commercialization of medical innovation, including medical devices, mHealth, drugs, biologics and combination products. He was the Principle of Brooks Medtech, LLC, a medical technology consulting firm. Dr. Brooks' interests include evidence development, clinical trial design and execution, regulatory and reimbursement strategy and healthcare market strategy.
Dr. Brooks was previously an interventional cardiologist at University of Maryland Medical Center and private practice. He also served as a medical officer within FDA's CDRH in the Division of Cardiovascular Devices.
Dr. Brooks has held positions with the life science consulting firms NDA Partners, Popper & Company, and Sage Growth Partners. He is CMO for Global Interconnect and previously held the positions of CMO for Cardiocube, LLC and VP of Regulatory Affairs and Health Economics for Ablative Solutions.
Dr. Brooks earned his M.D. at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and his Residency in Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology Fellowships at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He received his MBA from the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business in the Business of Medicine Program, and his B.A. at Duke University.
Donald Very, Ph.D. – EVP, Research & Development
Donald Very, Ph.D., has more than 30 years of device, diagnostic and, pharmaceutical compound/assay development and performance qualification experience in such diverse clinical areas as oncology, infectious disease, cardiovascular and, metabolic disease. Dr. Very has extensive experience in all phases of pharmaceutical and diagnostic assay research and device development, performance validation, clinical trial design and implementation, and regulatory approval.
Dr. Very previously served as Senior Vice President of Mosaigen, a global science & technology development corporation; and President, CEO, and Founder of Naviter Bioanalytics, LLC, a private consulting firm specializing in technological due diligence, bioanalytical method development, performance qualification, and regulatory approval.
Dr. Very also previously served in senior executive and scientific positions at Helomics Corporation, Ancera, Inc., the Institute for Bioanalytics, LLC (IBA), and the Bayer Corporation. Dr. Very began his career as a researcher and supervisor of laboratories affiliated with the U.S. Army Medical Research Unit in the Republic of Korea.
Dr. Very is a frequently invited speaker at national and international scientific symposia. He received his B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Notre Dame, his M.S. degree in Biology from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his Ph.D. in Microbiology/Immunology from Boston University.
Board of Directors Appointment
William Hearl, Ph.D. – Independent Member of Board of Directors
William Hearl, Ph.D., the founder of Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI), is an experienced and successful life science entrepreneur who is adept at brokering mutually beneficial partnerships and identifying non-traditional collaborations and investment opportunities.
Dr. Hearl founded ITI in 2006 to commercially develop LAMP technology, which was sub-licensed to Geron Corporation and later led to license agreements valued at $300+ million with Japan-based Astellas for next generation allergy vaccines based on the LAMP platform.
Dr. Hearl is also a founder of Capital Genomix, Inc., a Maryland-based biomarker and drug discovery company, and served as its CEO and Chief Scientific Officer. He was instrumental in CGI's acquisition of the Dynex Technologies division of Thermo Scientific, which was subsequently divested and yielded a remarkable tenfold return to the company.
Dr. Hearl is also responsible for the acquisition and development of the core technologies of Capital Genomix, the GeneSystem320™ and the ImmunoMouse™.
Dr. Hearl began his career as a bench scientist at Electro-Nucleonics, Inc., where he developed blood-based diagnostics for HIV, HTLV-I and Hepatitis C. He later directed the immunodetection group at Life Technologies and became the director of research and development at Kirkegaard & Perry Laboratories, Inc.
Dr. Hearl earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Tennessee and B.S. from East Tennessee State University.
About Marizyme, Inc.
Marizyme is an integrated life sciences company dedicated to the acquisition, development and commercialization of therapies that minimize mortality and costs in the acute care space. The Company's flagship product, DuraGraft®, is an intra-operative vascular graft storage solution that inhibits endothelial damage, leading to improved clinical outcomes by reducing the incidence of complications associated with vein graft failure in bypass surgery. DuraGraft enhances coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgical outcomes by significantly reducing major adverse cardiac events such as repeat revascularization and myocardial infarction. DuraGraft is approved for use in the EU and several Asian countries but is not yet approved for use in the U.S. Marizyme is also focused on the development and marketing of products based on its clinically tested and previously patented protease-based therapeutic Krillase® platform. Krillase is not approved for use in the U.S. For more information about Marizyme, visit www.marizyme.com.
