People

Praetego’s team led the discovery and development of the Amadorins and offer extensive technical and operational experience in developmental stage drug companies. Our disease experts provide context and guidance to accelerate the development of our candidates. Our business advisors are fund raising veterans and expert strategists in the life sciences industry.

 


Management

Pepper Landson

Co-founder / Chief Executive Officer

Pepper Landson has been a driving force in novel therapeutics for critical healthcare needs for three decades. Her efforts have impacted programs in Neurology (Rebif®), Oncology (Provenge®), Nephrology, and Infectious Disease. She has a proven record of creating value in early stage companies. Combining her skills in business development and operations with an extensive drug development background, she is championing disease modifying treatments for the critical diseases of aging. She has worked exclusively on the Amadorin technology for neurodegenerative diseases and serious diabetic complications for the last decade. Pepper has raised dilutive and non-dilutive funding and supported a successful IPO. 

 

Raja G. Khalifah, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

Raja G. Khalifah, PhD, is a broadly trained chemist and biochemist who transitioned from academia to directing research at three startups (BioStratum, NephroGenex, Praetego) founded on discoveries from his research. He leverages his extensive experience in medicinal chemistry and drug design, pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism, and preclinical and clinical studies. Dr. Khalifah is the primary co-inventor on fifteen (15) issued US patents in Amadorins and related fields.

 

Rachel Schindler, MD

Advising Medical Director – Alzheimer’s disease

Dr. Schindler is a neurologist, drug developer and medical strategist with over 20 years of pharmaceutical experience advising senior management, built upon extensive academic and patient care experience, across neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases. She is known for her unique blend of global experience in Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, Commercial Development, Business Development, Public Affairs and Policy, and Patient Advocacy. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, she was Pfizer’s medical lead for late-stage Neuroscience and Pfizer’s “Face of Alzheimer’s disease.” She was Chair of the Technical Review Committee, reviewing all protocols and advancement decisions and Co-Chair of the Neuroscience Strategy Team. She was a founding member and Chair of the Alzheimer’s Association Research Roundtable and has a track record of building high impact public-private consortia, consensus groups and collaborations; and speaking at high impact venues such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA), EU Parliament and the House of Lords, to enable drug development, effect changes in regulatory guidance, and improve patient care.

 

Christopher J. Wohlberg, MD

Advising Medical Director – Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

Dr. Wohlberg is a clinician and product development specialist with 30 years of experience in clinical neurology and the pharmaceutical / biotechnology industry. Board certified in Psychiatry and Neurology, he was involved in multiple areas of CNS and cardiovascular drug development over 20 years at Pfizer. He served as the Medical Director for Zoloft, Macugen, and later, Lyrica. In those roles, Dr. Wohlberg oversaw the medical team, developed the portfolio strategy for the therapeutics, provided medical support for the country medical and regulatory issues, and supported marketing support for the indication as well as support for the key opinion leaders.

 

Paul Boyer

Strategic Business Advisor

Paul has spent his career as a CFO and/or COO in Venture, Private Equity, and public company environments, from early stage through ~$1B in revenue. He has a passion for building great teams and companies and understands the challenges of scaling. Paul has taken a company through a successful IPO, raised ~$1B in equity/debt, and has completed over 17 M&A transactions.

 


Scientific / Clinical Advisors

 

Our Advisors include world renowned experts providing guidance in neurodegenerative diseases, biomarkers of aging, drug development and regulatory pathways.

Rayaz Malik, BSc. (Hons), MSc., MB ChB, PhD, FRCP

Weill Cornell School of Medicine

Rayaz Malik graduated in Medicine from the University of Aberdeen, obtained his MRCP (London), PhD from the University of Manchester, and was elected to become a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. His research focuses on the pathogenesis, assessment and treatment of diabetic and other peripheral neuropathies and central neurodegenerative disorders. The research is funded by the NIH, JDRF, QF, ECTRIMS and MJFF. Over ~20 years he has pioneered the use of corneal confocal microscopy, a non-invasive ophthalmic instrument, to quantify diabetic and other peripheral neuropathies and more recently used CCM to assess neuronal damage in patients with Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Stroke, Dementia and Autism.

 

Douglas Galasko, MD

University of California, San Diego

Dr. Galasko is associate director of the UC San Diego Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and has conducted research on Alzheimer’s and related disorders for over 25 years. He has published over 400 research articles on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, and has received research funding from the NIH, Michael J. Fox Foundation and Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, as well as funding as a clinical trials site.

 

Alexander ‘Zan’ Fleming, MD

Kinexum LLC. Former head of the Division of Metabolic and Endocrinology Products, U.S. FDA

Dr. Alexander Fleming is Founder and Executive Chairman of Kinexum. At the US Food and Drug Administration from 1986-98, Dr. Fleming was responsible for the therapeutic areas of diabetes, other metabolic and endocrine disorders, growth and development, nutrition, lipid-lowering compounds, and reproductive indications. He led reviews of landmark approvals, including metformin and the first-in-class for multiple classes of drugs, including: statins, insulin analogs, PPAR-agonists, and growth hormone for non-GH deficiency indications. He also helped to shape FDA policies and practices related to therapeutic review and regulatory communication and represented FDA on 3 expert working groups of the International Conference on Harmonisation. Dr. Fleming has frequently published scientific articles and book chapters. He has been a member of many corporate and advisory boards to academic and commercial institutions and professional societies. He serves on the joint technology working groups of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes and American Diabetes Association.