Chairman
Gordon P. Polley was the Founder and Chairman of The Institutes for Pharmaceutical Discovery, L.L.C. (IPD). IPD is the parent company to the Institute for Drug Discovery, L.L.C. (IDD) and the Institute for Bioanalytics, L.L.C. (IBA). More than half of Mr. Polley’s 40-year professional career had been dedicated to venture initiation, financing and the management of cutting-edge biomedical organizations.
Prior to this venture, Mr. Polley was a founder and Chief Executive Officer of Molecular Diagnostics, Inc. and Molecular Therapeutics, Inc., both majority-owned affiliates of Bayer AG and Miles, Inc. During his tenure, he led these biotechnology research groups to become the nucleus of the Bayer Research Center in West Haven, Connecticut. Principal research was centered on molecular biology and related disciplines directed toward diagnosis and treatment of cancer, diabetes, infectious diseased and human genetic disorders.
Mr. Polley held a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and a graduate business degree from Harvard University.
President and CEO
James M. Nolan is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer for The Institutes for Pharmaceutical Discovery, L.L.C. (IPD). IPD is the parent company to the Institute for Drug Discovery, L.L.C. (IDD) and the Institute for Bioanalytics, L.L.C. (IBA).
With broad career experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Nolan started The Institutes for Pharmaceutical Discovery in 1995. Mr. Nolan has over 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry with expertise in global and corporate marketing, new product discovery and positioning, and international strategic planning. He has extensive expertise in developing therapeutics in the areas of diabetes, AIDS, anti-infectives, allergy, cardiovascular, metabolic and gastroenterologic disease. His experience as a leader in the development of therapies for metabolic diseases during his tenure at Wyeth-Ayerst International lead to IPD. At IDD, Mr. Nolan and his science team filed an Investigational New Drug application (IND) for lidorestat, a promising drug for diabetic neuropathy, within 18 months of identifying the compound.
Mr. Nolan is a graduate of Villanova University and resides in Branford, CT.
COO, EVP
As Chief Operating Officer at The Institutes for Pharmaceutical Discovery, L.L.C. (IPD), Michael Fare has managerial responsibility for several functions in the corporation: accounting/finance, facilities management, information technology, commercial and regulatory affairs and business analysis and development. Mr. Fare is a founding member of IPD.
He has extensive experience in the areas of international marketing, new product development, and market research for pharmaceutical compounds. His responsibilities have included international contract negotiations, financial analysis, long-range global strategic planning and marketing positions.
Prior to his responsibilities at IPD, Mr. Fare was the Director of Strategic Planning and New Product Marketing for Wyeth-Ayerst International, a subsidiary of American Home Products Company. He contributed to the development and marketing of new therapies in transplantation, asthma, diabetes, and oncology.
As Manager of International Product Planning at Wyeth-Ayerst, Mr. Fare was responsible for developing and marketing new anti-arthritic compounds and female health care products.
Mr. Fare holds a Bachelor of Arts from St. Joseph’s University and Master of Science degree from Drexel University.
Senior Director, Chemistry
Paul is an experienced medicinal chemist and drug discovery project leader with over 20 years experience in emerging biotech/pharmaceutical companies. He has a successful track record of advancing compounds through to clinical development in multiple therapeutic areas ranging from oncology to inflammation, pain and infectious disease. Most recently, he was Director of Chemistry at Cara Therapeutics, where he built the medicinal chemistry department from inception. He initiated the discovery of a novel series of orally bioavailable, peripherally restricted, cannabinoid receptor agonists for the treatment of pain, as well as overseeing several other early stage projects. Paul played a prominent role in the establishment of British Biotech Pharmaceuticals, the UK’s first publicly trader biotech company, where he contributed extensively to the discovery of the matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor BB-2516 (Marimastat, reached Phase III clinical trials in cancer) and the polypeptide deformylase inhibitor BB-83698 (antibacterial agent, first- in-class to enter human clinical trials). Paul is named as inventor on over 40 issued US patents and is an author on 30 scientific publications.
Senior Director, In Vitro Biology and Pharmacology
Experienced drug discovery scientist with a proven record of advancing new molecular entities into early development and the clinic. Bruce has broad experience in pharmacology (in vitro and in vivo), enzymology and molecular biology. He has been the project leader for numerous drug discovery programs focusing on the identification of small molecule inhibitors for GPCRs, renal transporters, lipid-dependent enzymes, and protein kinases/phosphatases. As project leader, he has coordinated the advancement of several NCEs into early development and three candidates into the clinic (Phases I and II) for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. In addition to his laboratory responsibilities, he supervises 2-4 scientists (Ph.D. and MS/BS-level) and has served on numerous cross-functional early development teams. He has a broad understanding of the steps necessary for the discovery of novel therapeutic agents and their successful transition into early development.
Director, Analytical Services
Experienced drug discovery scientist, specializing in assay development. Trained as a protein chemist, Wallace “Bart” Haigh has over 25 years in pharmaceutical research, specializing in all aspects of protein characterization, antibody production, and assay formatting and optimization. Bart has developed assays to detect the downstream effects of growth hormone abuse, to measure the nonenzymatic glycation of hemoglobin and albumin, to identify the cell signaling events related to the receptor for advanced glycated endproducts, and to determine the transporter number and intracellular trafficking of GLUT-4.
Vice President, Immunology, Institute for Bioanalytics, L.L.C.
Experienced in all phases of diagnostic assay research, development, performance validation, clinical trial design and implementation, and regulatory approval, Don established and heads the Institute for Bioanalytics, which provides customized bioanalytical methods for clients in the pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and biotech industries. An immunologist by training, Don has over twenty five years of assay development experience in government, public, and private laboratories in such diverse clinical areas as oncology, infectious disease, and metabolic disease. During his career, he has developed over a dozen antibody-based bioanalytical methods that have been used in clinical diagnosis of disease or the assessment of treatment efficacy, including five automated tumor biomarker assays that have received FDA approval. Don is a frequently invited speaker at national and international scientific symposia discussing topics including the clinical utility of serum biomarkers in the diagnosis and management of disease, the development and performance qualification of multiplexed immunoassays, and the future of the in vitro diagnostic industry.