1/6/2012
Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc. announced today that it has named Chris A. Rallis and Anthony A. DiTonno to serve as members of the Board of Directors of the company, effective December 15, 2011. Mr. Rallis is the Executive-in-Residence at Pappas Ventures While Mr. DiTonno is the President and CEO of Neurogesx Inc. With the addition of the two, the number of members of the Board has increased to five.
Mr. Rallis was elected to the Audit Committee of the Board, which brought Oxygen back into compliance with the rules of NASDAQ for the required number of independent directors for the Audit Committee.
On the appointment of the two, Dr. Ronald Blanck, the Chairman of Oxygen Biotherapeutics, said, “We are honored to have two executives of their caliber join us at this critical juncture. Chris and Tony bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to us that will add exceptional value to our strategic planning process and future endeavors.”
Dr. Blanck also said, “The skills and experience that they bring to the Board will be instrumental in shaping the future of our company as we pursue ischemic and topical indications with our perfluorocarbon-based products, both independently and with collaborators.”
Since 2008, Mr. Rallis was an Executive-in-Residence at Pappas Ventures, a Durham-based life science venture capital firm. Prior to that, he was the President and CEO of ImmunoBiosciences, Inc., a Raleigh-based vaccine technology company. He also served as a consultant for Panacos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and was also the former President and CEO of Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which was bought by Gilead Sciences in January of 2003 for $465 million.
Mr. DiTonno, on the other hand, is a senior level executive who has an impressive record of successful experience in big, small and start-up companies in the medical device and pharmaceutical sectors.
