Heron Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on improving the lives of patients by developing best-in-class medicines that address major unmet medical needs, has announced the appointment of Neil J. Clendeninn, M.D., Ph.D. as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Clendeninn joins the Company today and will report to Barry D. Quart, Pharm.D., Chief Executive Officer of Heron.
“Neil has been instrumental as an advisor to the Company, specifically in his guidance during our recently completed MAGIC study for SUSTOL® (granisetron) Injection, extended release, and we are delighted that he will be joining us as a permanent member of our team,” commented Barry D. Quart, Pharm.D., Chief Executive Officer of Heron. “Neil brings over 30 years of experience in drug development and clinical practice to his role at Heron, and we look forward to his leadership in all areas of our business as we move forward in our goals of developing best-in-class medicines with the potential to improve the lives of patients suffering from cancer or pain.”
Since 2001, Dr. Clendeninn has been the president of CANAID, Inc. his own consultancy firm, and prior to joining Heron, he was an advisor to the Company in that capacity. Additionally, Dr. Clendeninn is currently a practicing physician and serves as Program Director for Palliative Medicine Partners: Complex Illness Coordination, a program of Kauai Hospice in Kauai, Hawaii. From 1993 until 2001, Dr. Clendeninn served as Senior Vice President and Head of Clinical Affairs at Agouron Inc. Prior to this, beginning in 1985, he was Director of the Clinical Oncology Department at Burroughs-Welcome Company. Simultaneous to these roles, Dr. Clendeninn served as a practicing physician and held academic faculty roles at various institutions, among them, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Rockville, MD. In addition, Dr. Clendeninn currently sits on several Boards, including the Board of Directors at OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals in Bothell, WA, and is a Scientific Medical Advisor at the Cancer Prevention & Research Initiative of Texas. Previously, he served on the Board of Scientific Advisors at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, from 2001 through 2005. He received an M.D. and Ph.D. degree in microbiology and pharmacology from New York University in New York, NY.