Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, today announced that Dennis Podlesak has joined Peninsula as Chief Executive Officer and President. Mr. Podlesak comes to Peninsula from Novartis where he was the Senior Vice President of a North American Business Unit and a member of the Executive Committee and Global Leadership Team. Paul Truex, the company\'s former Chief Executive Officer, will continue at Peninsula as Executive Vice President of Business Development.
Mr. Podlesak brings to Peninsula over twenty years of strategic, operational, and commercial experience within the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to Peninsula, Mr. Podlesak had been recruited to Novartis to strategically reposition and reengineer the North American Business Unit. Before Novartis, Mr. Podlesak was Vice President of the CEC division of Allergan and a member of the North American and Global Management Team. In this role, he drove the revitalization and dramatic growth in revenue and profitability of the division,and several of Allergan\'s leading brands. Mr. Podlesak was also Vice President and Corporate Officer of PCG, a leveraged buyout company that was formed after the acquisition of assets from a former division of the Sterling Drug Company. Prior to this role, he spent the first ten years of his career with SmithKline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithKline plc) where he was promoted eight times to positions of increasing responsibility during his tenure.
\"We are very pleased to have a person of Dennis\' caliber joining Peninsula in this leadership role,\" commented Eckard Weber, M.D., Chairman of the Board of Directors. \"Dennis is a highly accomplished pharmaceutical executive with precisely the industry experience and leadership skills that we believe will transform Peninsula into a commercially successful pharmaceutical company.\"
\"Peninsula represents a tremendous opportunity for me to leverage my experience and build a leading biopharmaceutical company around a core team of exceptional people and a portfolio of promising products,\" stated Mr. Podlesak. \"I am eager to lead Peninsula in its quest to become a leading developer and commercializer of innovative antibiotics that treat life-threatening infections. I am confident this company will have a dramatic impact on the quality of life for a significantly large patient population whose medical needs are currently not being met.\"
Commenting on this change in leadership, Paul Truex stated, \"Peninsula is fortunate to have a leader on board with operational experience stemming from many years of accomplishment within the pharmaceutical industry and I am more excited than ever about Peninsula\'s future growth and success.\"
Mr. Podlesak has been active on a number of industry boards and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Prevent Blindness, a non-profit organization that focuses on preventable blindness with a particular emphasis on children. Dennis earned an MBA from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration.
About Peninsula Peninsula Pharmaceuticals Inc., located in Alameda, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing antibiotics to treat life-threatening infections. For additional company information, please visit our website at mark.vincent@eurorscg.com