Executive Team

• Hooshmand Sheshbaradaran, PhD, Chief Executive Officer

  Hooshmand Sheshbaradaran, PhD, is Niiki Pharma's Chief Executive Officer. He has spent his career in development and marketing of several cancer drugs. Prior to founding Niiki Pharma, Dr. Sheshbaradaran was the head of the US subsidiary of Zeneus Pharma Ltd., a venture-backed oncology company acquired by Cephalon, Inc. in 2007 for $360 million. Previously he held senior executive positions including Global Director of Oncology Business Development at Roche and Global Director of Oncology, New Products Marketing, at Pharmacia/Pfizer. Dr. Sheshbaradaran earned his PhD from the Karolinksa Institute and held post-doctoral research positions at Northwestern University. Dr. Sheshbaradaran has been involved in development of several anti-cancer drugs including Camptosar^®, Ellence^®, Emcyt^®, Sutent^® and Vidaza^®.

• Angela K. Ogden, MD, Chief Medical Officer

  Angela Ogden, MD, is Niiki Pharma's Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Ogden has an extensive background in oncology drug development, from early clinical development through approval and post marketing life cycle management in both US and global settings. Prior to Niiki Pharma, she was the Vice President of Medical Affairs at Allos Therapeutics where she was involved in development of Folotyn^® and obtaining its NDA approval in 2009. Before joining Allos she was the Vice President, Global Medical Affairs of Abraxis BioScience (now Celgene) where she was involved with the development of the company's lead product, Abraxane^®. Abraxis was acquired by Celgene for $2.9 B in 2010. Prior to Abraxis, she was the Global Medical Strategy Leader at Johnson & Johnson, where her contributions helped propel Velcade^® to $1.4 B in sales. Previously, Dr. Ogden held Senior Global Clinical Director positions at Bristol Myers Squibb and Pharmacia (now Pfizer). Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Ogden held senior academic positions at Emory University School of Medicine and Baylor College of Medicine. During her pharmaceutical career, Dr. Ogden has been involved in the development, launch and successful reimbursement of many anti-cancer drugs including Aromasin^®, Abraxane^®, Ellence^®, Erbitux^®, Folotyn^®, Velcade^®, Zinecard^®.

• John McBride, MS, MBA, Member of the Board of Directors

  John McBride, MS, MBA, is a member of Niiki Pharma's Board of Directors. He is a 25-year veteran of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry and brings extensive experience in business development strategy, identification and evaluation of licensing and product acquisition opportunities, and transactional support. Mr. McBride was the Chief Operating Officer of Gloucester Pharmaceuticals Inc, a venture-backed oncology company that was acquired by Celgene Corp. in 2009 for $640 million. Prior to Gloucester he was the Global Head of Oncology Licensing at Pfizer, Inc./Pharmacia Corporation, where he was responsible for licensing strategy and oncology-related in-licensing, out-licensing and product divestiture transactions. Before Pfizer/Pharmacia he held Senior Executive business and finance positions at CytoTherapeutics, Phytera, Sparta Pharmaceuticals, US Bioscience, and Eastman Kodak. Mr. McBride holds a MS degree in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He has been involved in development and marketing of several anti-cancer drugs including Camptosar^®, Ellence^®, Emcyt^®, Ethyol^®, Hexalen^®, Istodax^®, Sutent^® and Vidaza^®.

• Ali Ardakani, VP Operations & Corporate Development

  Ali Ardakani is Niiki Pharma's Vice President of Operations and Corporate Development. He has spent his career working with several biotechnology startups. Mr. Ardakani has managed multi-million dollar operations in biotechnology companies from inception to commercialization and product launch in ISO certified, FDA audited manufacturing facilities. Prior to Niiki Pharma he was the Director of Corporate Development at iCell Therapeutics, a cancer biotechnology startup, where he managed the company's budget, financing and licensing. Prior to iCell Therapeutics he held senior positions at Equatec and PulmoNOx and his responsibilities included budget management for product development and manufacturing.

• Edward G. Calamai, PhD, Head CMC & Quality Assurance

  Edward Calamai, PhD, is Niiki Pharma's Head of CMC & Quality Assurance. He was previously Senior Vice President of Operations at Sensus Drug Development (acquired by Pfizer), and Vice President of Operations at Seragen, Inc. Dr. Calamai received a doctorate in Bacteriology and Immunology from the University of North Carolina, and postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School. Throughout his career he has worked on a number of oncology products, including Campath^®, Istodax^®, Ontak^®, and Somavert^®.

• Jay Z. Zhang, MS, JD, Vice President Intellectual Property

  Jay Z. Zhang, MS, JD is Niiki Pharma's Vice President Intellectual Property. Mr. Zhang spent over ten years leading the Intellectual Property Department at Myriad Genetics Inc., most recently as Senior Vice President of Intellectual Property. At Myriad, Mr. Zhang was involved in Intellectual Property policies and strategies, patent prosecution and enforcement, and technology licensing and alliances in the areas of pharmaceuticals, biologics, biomarkers and diagnostic methods. Mr. Zhang's responsibilities included intellectual property matters also in Myriad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (now known as Myrexis Pharmaceuticals), before it was spun off from Myriad Genetics. Prior to Myriad, Mr. Zhang was an attorney with Alston & Bird LLP, and also worked at Merck & Co., Inc. in drug research. Mr. Zhang graduated with a J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law, a M.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Northwestern University.