Our Team — Co-Founders
Scott Rollins, Ph.D.
President and CEO
Scott Rollins joined Selexys as President and CEO on March 1, 2008. Dr. Rollins brings over 16 years of experience in the discovery, development and commercialization of antibody-based drugs. Dr. Rollins was a co-founder of Alexion in 1992 and served as Sr. Vice President of Drug Development at Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Alexion raised over $800M in the private and public markets between 1992 and 2007 and currently has a market cap of $2.6B. He was responsible for the discovery, preclinical and clinical development of eculizumab (Soliris), a humanized monoclonal antibody that was approved by the FDA and the EMEA in 2007. Dr. Rollins has extensive experience with the FDA and led the drug development team that generated the regulatory approval filings (BLA, MAA). In addition, Dr. Rollins has managed more that 24 clinical trials and generated and filed 11 IND's.
David Falconer, MS, MBA
Vice President of Business and Drug Development
David Falconer joined Selexys on February 18, 2008. Mr. Falconer brings over 20 years of experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry. He previously held positions at Glaxo, RPR, Boehringer Ingelheim and most recently Alexion Pharmaceuticals as Executive Director of Drug Development and Project Management. At Alexion, David headed to project management/drug development group for 5 years and played a key role in the approval of the humanized monoclonal antibody Soliris in PNH. His expertise includes chemical safety evaluation, pharmaceutical development and program management relevant to management of Phase I/II/III NCE (small molecules and biologics), device and line extension projects and collaborative projects with other pharmaceutical partners and CROs. Mr. Falconer has extensive experience interacting with regulatory agencies including the FDA, and the EMEA.
Richard Alvarez, M.B.A.
VP Operations and Research
Mr. Alvarez is a co-founder of Selexys. He is the principal business architect of the company and is responsible for day-to-day operations and research of the Company. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Prior to joining Selexys, he was Director of the Protein-Carbohydrate Interaction Core H for the Consortium for Functional Glycomics, a large scale initiative funded by NIH to understand the role of sugars in biology and disease. Mr. Alvarez was also co-founder of HCA Marketing, a software development company that commercialized products for the print and promotional products industry.
Ziad Kawar, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
Dr. Kawar is in charge of our antibody development programs. He is the principal investigator on our SBIR award from NIH/NHLBI and on our Oklahoma Applied Research Support grants from the State of Oklahoma. Dr. Kawar is an expert in molecular biology, protein expression and Glycobiology. He manages our contract manufacturing programs for preclinical process development and antibody production.
Rodger P. McEver, M.D.
Vice President, Chief Medical Officer
Dr. McEver is a co-founder of Selexys, Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and serves on the Board. Dr. McEver is a Member and Program Chair of the Cardiovascular Biology Research Program at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. Dr. McEver is a hematologist and distinguished expert in the field of vascular biology. He discovered P-selectin and developed the antibodies being advanced by the company. He is an inventor on the patents licensed by Selexys. As CMO he is responsible for overseeing the development of our disease target strategy and clinical trial plans.
Richard D. Cummings, Ph.D.
President, Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Cummings is a co-founder of Selexys, President, Chief Scientific Officer and serves on the Board. He is the William Patterson Timmie Professor and Chair in the Department of Biochemistry at the Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Cummings is a Biochemist and a leader in the emerging field of Glycobiology. Drs. Cummings and McEver discovered the ligand for P-selectin, PSGL-1, and defined the key determinants necessary for binding P-selectin. Dr. Cummings is an inventor on the patents licensed by Selexys. As CSO he is responsible for overseeing the development of our technologies and evaluating enabling technologies to support our programs.