SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Allergen Research Corporation (ARC), a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing desensitization treatments for food allergies, today announced leadership appointments for the company's key financial functions. Warren DeSouza has joined ARC as Chief Financial Officer, and Kathryn "Kate" Falberg has joined the ARC Board of Directors as Chair of the Audit Committee. Mr. DeSouza has 25 years of combined experience in biotechnology finance and audit-assurance consulting. Ms. Falberg serves as a Board Member and Audit Committee Chair for several life sciences companies and was Chief Financial Officer at Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Amgen.
"We are pleased to bring their formidable financial and leadership capabilities on board."
"We are at an important stage of growth in our work to develop desensitization products to help protect people with food allergies, and Warren and Kate's deep biotech experience and rock-solid finance and operations backgrounds will prove critical assets as we move forward," said ARC CEO Stephen Dilly, MBBS, PhD. "We are pleased to bring their formidable financial and leadership capabilities on board."
Mr. DeSouza most recently served as Vice President, Finance, at Onyx Pharmaceuticals. In nine years with Onyx, he led accounting, SEC reporting, purchasing, tax, treasury, and risk management, among other responsibilities. Prior to Onyx, Mr. DeSouza held a senior role in assurance at Deloitte & Touche LLP, and he began his career with more than a decade in assurance at Arthur Andersen LLP. Mr. DeSouza earned a Bachelor's of Business Administration degree from the University of Notre Dame.
"I'm proud to join ARC and help execute on the meaningful mission we have ahead of us," said Mr. DeSouza. "ARC has the potential to give millions of patients and families dealing with food allergies more safety in their daily lives, and it's exciting to work on making that happen. As CFO, I'm delighted to see the company's Audit Committee led by someone of Kate's caliber, and I look forward to working with her."
Ms. Falberg currently serves as a Director and Chair of the Audit committee for publicly traded biotechnology companies Medivation, Inc., and Halozyme Therapeutics, where she is also Chairman of the Board, and privately held aTyr Pharma. She previously served on the boards of Ariosa Diagnostics, QLT, VISX, Fresh Del Monte and Human Genome Sciences. In over four years as Chief Financial Officer of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Ms. Falberg led finance, strategy and corporate development and contributed to the company's rapid growth. Earlier in her career she held several senior financial roles at Amgen, including SVP, Strategy, and CFO. Ms. Falberg received an MBA and BA in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is a CPA.
"ARC stands out as a company that is leading an emerging therapeutic space to respond to a growing and critical unmet medical need," said Ms. Falberg. "It's an inspiring story, and I'm excited to apply my experience to help the company bring a safeguard to people with food allergies."
About Food Allergies
Food allergies represent an urgent and growing global unmet medical need. Approximately 15 million people in the United States and 17 million people in Europe have food allergies. Moreover, the prevalence of food allergies is increasing rapidly—in the United States, 1 in 25 children suffered from a food allergy a decade ago, compared to 1 in 13 today. For people living with food allergies, certain foods can cause severe allergic reactions, including potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis. There is no cure for food allergies. Currently, food-allergic patients manage their condition by strict allergen avoidance and carrying epinephrine auto-injectors for use in case of accidental exposure. Thus, in addition to the unmet medical need, food allergies can impose a significant quality of life burden. For more information, please visit www.foodallergy.org and www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodallergy.
About Allergen Research Corporation
Allergen Research Corporation (ARC), founded in 2011, develops treatments for food allergies using characterized oral desensitization immunotherapy (CODIT™), its proprietary approach to oral immunotherapy (OIT). ARC's CODIT approach combines standardized, pharmaceutical-grade food allergens with controlled up-dosing protocols to desensitize patients and increase the thresholds at which they could experience allergic reactions. ARC recently completed a successful Phase 2 study of its lead product, AR 101, a standardized, pharmaceutical-grade peanut protein formulation for the treatment of peanut allergy, one of the most common food allergies. ARC is also developing CODIT therapies for other common food allergies, including egg and milk. For more information, please visit www.allergenresearch.com.
Contacts
BrewLife
Kelly France, PhD, +1 415-946-1076
[email protected]