Octapharma Chairman Wolfgang Marguerre has announced that Dennis D. Curtin has been selected to lead Octapharma’s plasma operations in the United States. Curtin had been Octapharma’s U.S. legal counsel since 2002 and will now serve as President of Life Therapeutics, Inc. The largest private plasma products company in the world, Octapharma recently acquired Life Therapeutics, the Atlanta company that operates 12 plasma centers in the U.S. with approximately 300 employees. Octapharma’s business plan is to own and operate approximately 50 plasma centers in the U.S. with a projected 1,500 employees. Curtin will also be responsible for Octapharma’s recovered plasma program operated in conjunction with Group Services for America’s Blood Centers and Octapharma’s source plasma contracts with independent plasma suppliers in the United States. “We are very pleased to officially welcome Dennis Curtin to Octapharma’s leadership team,” said Octapharma Chairman Wolfgang Marguerre. “Dennis has been a vital asset as our external U.S. legal counsel and his extensive knowledge of the plasma industry will be invaluable as we move forward with plans to grow our recovered and source plasma network, and product portfolio, in the U.S.” With more than 25 years of legal experience, Curtin had been in private practice with the Plattsburgh, N.Y. law firm of Stafford, Owens, Curtin & Trombley, PLLC. He graduated from Union College (B.S., 1978), New England School of Law (J.D., 1982) and Georgetown University (LLM, 1986). “I am looking forward to my new role at Octapharma and helping the company achieve its goal of fulfilling patient needs around the globe,” Curtin said. “Octapharma’s therapies for the treatment of coagulation disorders and immune diseases, and its intensive care and emergency care products, are in very high demand in the U.S. and internationally. Our goal is to source approximately 50 percent of the plasma needed for our products from Octapharma-owned plasma centers in the U.S. and Europe by the next decade to ensure patient needs are met.” In August, Octapharma announced plans to acquire 33 plasma collection centers from International BioResources. The plasma centers will be located predominantly in the East and Midwest. Plasma is the source of numerous proteins used for drug development and therapeutic purposes. These proteins include albumin, clotting factors, and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Source plasma is collected by plasmapheresis and intended for further manufacturing; recovered plasma is separated from whole blood donations.
