Executive Management Team
Douglas Kawahara, PhD, MBA. President and Chief Executive Officer, Board of Directors. Doug has over 25 years of biotechnology industry experience. Prior to joining Elex Biotech, he was Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, at Oligos Etc., an FDA-certified manufacturer of custom GMP oligonucleotides. Previously, he was Vice President, Business Development, for Receptor BioLogix, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel biotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, Senior Director, Business Development, for Corgentech, a developer of transcription factor decoys for preventing coronary artery and venous by-pass graft failure, and treating cancer and inflammation, and Director, Corporate Development, for GeneTrol Biotherapeutics, a developer of therapeutic proteins for the treatment of cancer, viral infections and autoimmune diseases. He was a member of the founding management team and Corporate Director, Planning and Business Development, for Xenogen Corporation, and held positions of increasing responsibility at Becton Dickinson and Company including Director, Reagents and Applications Development for the Cellular Imaging Systems Division. Doug was Director of Research, Children’s Hospital Orange County, and a post-doctoral fellow at the UCLA. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from UC San Diego, an MBA in finance from CSU Long Beach, and a Ph.D. in microbiology (immunology) from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Peter Korytko, PhD, MBA, Preclinical Toxicology (consultant). Over 18 years of pharmaceutical industry experience (Pfizer, Amgen, and Preclinical GPS) in discovery and development of novel therapeutics including small molecules, monoclonal antibodies, proteins, peptides, oligonucleotides and gene therapeutics. As an industry toxicologist, Peter supported over 30 clinical trials and regulatory filings including 25 phase 1 programs, 13 Phase 2 starts, 1 bioequivalence trial and 1 supplemental NDA. His experience includes authoring regulatory documents including BLA, IND, IB, and briefing packages; designing ICH compliant toxicology programs and implementing approximately 200 GLP toxicology studies; conducting numerous PK/PD/ADME and pharmacology assessments; outsourcing and monitoring external studies; supporting clinical development and regulatory affairs; leading teams; strategic publications; and communicating recommendations to management. Peter supported therapeutic areas including CNS disorders, inflammation, oncology, bone growth, pain and metabolic and muscle wasting diseases.
William Guilford, PhD, Medicinal Chemistry/CMC (consultant). Over 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience (Sogetal, ImmuLogic, Berlex/Schering AG, Gemmus Pharma, Estrellita Pharmaceuticals, Shepherd Pharma) in design and development of preclinical drug candidates, medicinal chemistry, CMC (transition from bench scale to pilot plant), IND applications, operations and corporate/R&D management. Bill was team leader of 4 projects which advanced from lead candidate to preclinical studies; 3 of the 4 candidates entered clinical studies. In each project, he was involved in managing activities at multiple sites, both foreign and domestic. Dr. Guilford in an author on over 35 peer-reviewed journal articles including reviews and is an inventor on over 35 issued patents and patent applications. Dr. Guilford was a National Institutes of Health (NIH) postdoctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH-Z) and a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. Dr. Guilford earned his BS in chemistry at University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. in Chemistry at University of Illinois at Urbana / Champaign.