Dr. Gupta Joins Biocodex USA as Director of Medical & Scientific Affairs
Niche pharmaceutical manufacturer enhances clinical staff to address continued growth opportunities and long term strategic plans
SAN BRUNO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 8, 2010 - Biocodex USA, a pharmaceutical company with a strong focus on marketing niche products that target unmet medical needs, today announced that Dr. Rajesh Gupta has joined the company in the newly-created position of Director of Medical & Scientific Affairs.
In this position, Dr. Gupta will have primary responsibility for advancing the strong scientific basis for Biocodex's flagship products, Florastor® and Florastor® Kids, both yeast-based probiotics that aid in maintaining or restoring optimal intestinal health. Dr Gupta will also serve as the public face of Biocodex at industry conferences and events, and cultivate relationships with the medical community, including researchers and thought leaders.
In addition, Dr. Gupta will take a leadership role in efforts to expand the Biocodex USA portfolio of products. As the U.S. subsidiary of Biocodex, the French pharmaceutical manufacturer, Biocodex USA has extensive financial resources and sales and management infrastructure to expand in the United States. With the Biocodex corporate development team, Dr. Gupta will investigate opportunities for acquisitions and partnerships that will accelerate the company's continued growth.
"Throughout his career, Raj Gupta has been at the forefront of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria," says Marc H. Rohman, U.S. vice president and general manager of Biocodex, Inc. "We are grateful to have someone of his caliber join our executive team to help us spread the word that probiotics have a significant role in promoting overall good health and well-being. We also look forward to incorporating Dr. Gupta's global view of healthcare into our corporate development efforts."
"After spending my entire medical career in the public health arena, I wanted to join a niche pharmaceutical company that was moving in different directions and would grow and innovate," stated Dr. Rajesh Gupta. "Biocodex was the perfect choice for me; with an established product like Florastor at the core of our business, we have the cash flow to invest and with the Biocodex international footprint, we have the world view to see new opportunities."
"I believe that a world-class pharmaceutical company builds its foundation with good science and extends it with solid policy advocacy," he continued. With my experience in global health policy and my extensive research background, leading Biocodex's medical and scientific affairs team was an opportunity for me to take part in the growth of a great company."
Dr. Gupta's educational background includes a Doctor of Medicine and a Master of Science from Stanford University, a Master of Public Health from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Science in Cellular Biology as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Tulane University. His work experience includes five years as a science and policy advisor for the World Health Organization, where he developed approaches for global treatment of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases. He has also worked at Harvard Medical School, the Uganda Virus Research Institute, Yale Medical School, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Immediately prior to joining Biocodex, Dr. Gupta worked at Google.org's Predict and Prevent Initiative, where he focused on building the genomics strategy for emerging infectious disease initiatives.
Biocodex created the position to address its significant growth opportunity in the United States. While Florastor has been sold worldwide for more than 50 years, it was introduced to the U.S. market in 2003. Since that time, consumers and their physicians have come to better understand the role that probiotics play in digestive health as well as the benefits of Florastor's active ingredient, Saccharomyces boulardii lyo (or S. boulardii).
To download a photo of Dr. Gupta, please click here: http://tinyurl.com/2dam8wd
ABOUT BIOCODEX:
Biocodex is a privately held pharmaceutical company in Gentilly, France, and maker of Florastor® and Florastor® Kids probiotic supplements. Founded in 1953 by Michel Hublot and Francois Vallet, Biocodex specializes in three therapeutic areas - gastroenterology, neurology and psychiatry and pain treatment. Biocodex products are present, in various forms and names, in some 100 countries.
ABOUT FLORASTOR
Florastor has been shown in more than five decades of extensive international use and multiple published studies of its ingredient - Saccharomyces boulardii lyo - to be safe and effective, with an estimated 1.7 billion daily doses sold to date. It is mentioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) for use in the management of C. diff-associated disease1 which is a potential deadly intestinal disease that has been making headline news nationally as concerns about its prevalence and severity are raised.
After undergoing voluntary testing, both Florastor® and Florastor® Kids are included on the list of Approved Quality products on ConsumerLab.com, the leading provider of independent test results and information to help consumers and healthcare professionals evaluate health, wellness and nutrition products. For more information, visit www.florastor.com or www.sboulardii.com.
1 Saccharomyces Boulardii Lyo: a valuable adjunct in recurrent Clostridium difficile disease? (1995) WHO Drug Information; 9;(1); 15-16.
Contact: Joseph Crivelli
Gregory FCA Communications
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