Elusys Therapeutics, Inc. a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing antibody-based therapies for the treatment of life-threatening infectious diseases, has announced the appointment of Robert Gundel, Ph.D., M.B.A., as Vice President of Research. Elizabeth G. Posillico, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the appointment, “On behalf of Elusys’ Board of Directors and management, I am very pleased to welcome Bob to our executive management team. As Vice President of Research, he will play a key role in helping to further develop and advance our corporate and scientific strategies. With more than twenty-five years of experience in developing monoclonal antibody-based products from both the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors, Dr. Gundel will lead our existing R&D team to further the development of our antibody based products for the treatment of infectious disease. He will also use his expertise to evaluate new product opportunities and will play a key leadership role in managing our existing and future R&D collaborations.” Prior to joining Elusys, Dr. Gundel held executive management positions at a number of leading biopharmaceutical companies including, Bayer, Chiron, XOMA and ARIUS. Most recently, Dr. Gundel served as Chief Scientific Officer at ARIUS Research, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. At ARIUS, he managed the drug discovery and development programs and worked to broaden the company’s targeted therapeutic areas by identifying and developing new programs outside of oncology. He also identified new technologies to keep the company ahead of the curve for therapeutic drug discovery, development and manufacturing.Previously, Dr. Gundel was Vice President, Preclinical Research and Scientific Corporate Development at XOMA (US), LLC, a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development and manufacturing of therapeutic antibodies. At XOMA, he directed preclinical research and coordinated discovery and development activities in a number of therapeutic areas, including infectious diseases, inflammatory disorders and cancer. Dr. Gundel also served as Vice President, Pharmacology and Preclinical Research at Chiron Corporation, where he supervised efforts to identify and characterize novel therapeutics for inflammatory diseases. Earlier, Dr. Gundel worked at Bayer Corporation where he held various positions within the Biotechnology Unit including Director of Pharmacology. He began his career in pharmaceutical R&D at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he supervised efforts to identify and characterize novel therapeutics for inflammatory diseases. Dr. Gundel earned his M.B.A. from Saint Mary’s College, and his Ph.D. in physiology from New York Medical College. He has participated in over 45 national and international scientific meetings as an invited speaker and/or session chairperson. He has published more than 60 articles in peer reviewed journals and book chapters, served on the editorial board of several journals and is a co-inventor on several issued U.S. patents.
