Management
Board of Directors
Investors
Scientific Advisory Board

Executive Management

Thomas M. Estok
President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Estok brings 25 years of experience in the development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals to his leadership role at Tragara where the team has advanced CAPOXIGEM (apricoxib) from IND to phase III planning in <4 years and TG02 from development candidate to phase I in 16 months. Previously, he was the founding President/CEO of Cabrellis Pharmaceuticals where he led the organization’s development of amrubicin prior to its acquisition by Pharmion; and, served as Chief Commercial Officer of Conforma Therapeutics whose HSP90 franchise was acquired by Biogen-Idec. A 19-year veteran of Schering-Plough, Mr. Estok held a number of positions with progressing responsibility in R&D (biochemistry and oncology operations management), in both US and Global Marketing, European Operations (2 assignments), sales, and commercial development. His most recent position was Vice President, US Marketing and Commercial Development, Oncology. As Head of Business Units (US and EU) and CEO of companies, Mr. Estok has led multidisciplinary R&D, business development, and commercial teams and is a recognized leader in the commercialization of oncology therapeutics and the formation/growth of new divisions and companies.

During his tenure at Schering-Plough, Mr. Estok successfully led the oncology and anti-infective commercialization efforts behind TEMODAR (> $1 billion), EULEXIN ($300M), CAELYX ($250M), INTRON A (>$500M), PEGINTRON (>$1 billion), REBETOL (>$500M), NOXAFIL, LEUCOMAX, and ETHYOL. Mr. Estok was instrumental in establishing the Medical Affairs function within Oncology at Schering-Plough through which 4 supplemental regulatory approvals were achieved. Mr. Estok graduated from Virginia Tech with a BS degree in Biochemistry and was awarded an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is currently a Board member of Aarden Pharmaceuticals where he is Co-Founder and Chairman.

Mr. Estok adopts an open communication leadership style similar to that described in The Oz Principle, whereby individual team members execute their responsibilities with associated accountability. This style affords teams the ability to identify roadblocks early, develop solutions to such roadblocks, and make decisions with a sense of ownership at all levels throughout the organization, resulting in a high performance company culture. This culture has allowed companies such as Cabrellis and Tragara to execute high quality drug development plans at an accelerated pace.

Tracy L. Parrott, J.D.
Chief Pharmaceutical Development Officer

Ms. Parrott was a co-founder of Tragara Pharmaceuticals in 2007. With 23 years in the pharmaceutical industry, she has contributed to the development, registration and commercialization of key products including Gemzar, Tasigna, LBH589, Temodar, Caelyx, Evista, Zyprexa and Humalog. Ms. Parrott has held significant leadership roles in her previous positions: Sr. Manager Regulatory Affairs and Assoc. Dir. Project Management at Schering Plough, Executive Director Project Management at Novartis and Vice President Regulatory Affairs and Development Operations at Cabrellis. She has also held positions at Warner Lambert, Eli Lilly and Company, and Abbott Laboratories.

Ms. Parrott has utilized her strong leadership and matrix management skills to lead development teams by inspiring team accountability. While at Novartis, Ms. Parrott led the development, registration and commercialization strategy for Tasigna® (ranked Novartis’ 2nd priority program) from first-in-man/ Phase I through global regulatory submission. Under her leadership, the development from FIM to submission was completed in 29 months. This was a new milestone for development of a new chemical entity and was used as a benchmark for future accelerated programs within Novartis. Additionally, she led the team in developing and championing a strategy for head-to-head comparison with Glivec for the first-line indication. At Schering-Plough Ms. Parrott led oncology development programs as well as a consent decree initiative redeveloping analytical methodology for marketed products across global manufacturing sites and a quality program establishing compliance with 21 CFR Part 11. She also contributed to oncology licensing programs. Ms. Parrott has a B.S. in microbiology from Indiana University and a Jurisprudence Doctorate from the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis. She is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association. She is currently on the Board of Directors for Athena San Diego.

During her tenure at Tragara, Ms. Parrott has spearheaded the CMC, preclinical and bioassay development efforts, led all project teams for development products and managed regulatory affairs. Ms. Parrott is also the Alliance Manager for the Tragara collaboration with S*BIO on TG02 development.

Chris LeMasters
Chief Business Officer

Mr. LeMasters joins Tragara after serving as Chief Business Officer and co-founder of Cabrellis Pharmaceuticals. At Tragara, he completed the negotiation with Daiichi-Sankyo for the company’s founding license to CS-706 (TG01, apricoxib). He also negotiated the world-wide license to SB1317 (TG02) from S*BIO Pte Ltd of Singapore. At Tragara, Mr. LeMasters oversees the administrative and operational functions of the company, including finance and accounting, intellectual property, and corporate development. While at Cabrellis, Mr. LeMasters was responsible for negotiating the acquisition by Pharmion Corporation. Previously, he served as Vice President, Business Development of Conforma Therapeutics where he was responsible for the in-licensing of Amrubicin from Dainippon Sumitomo and for negotiating the acquisition by Biogen IDEC. Mr. LeMasters earlier worked in Corporate Business Development at Eli Lilly & Company in Indianapolis. In that role, he was responsible for the successful negotiation of numerous partnerships and licenses across diverse therapeutic areas. Mr. LeMasters was also a management consultant with Coopers & Lybrand Consulting in Chicago for four years, where he led strategy consulting projects for Fortune 500 clients. He specialized in turn-around and profit improvement strategy and implementation. Mr. LeMasters began his business career as an operational auditor with Owens Corning Fiberglas in Toledo, Ohio, where he led assessments of internal organizations and manufacturing/distribution operations. Mr. LeMasters has a B.A. in Finance from Indiana University and an M.B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago. He is a co-founder and board member of Aarden Pharmaceuticals, and a board member of the Hoosier Oncology Group.

While at Eli Lilly, Mr. LeMasters led the redesign of Lilly's licensing processes and organization in 1998, which led to several industry-firsts in organization design, including a dedicated alliance management function. He was instrumental in the creation of the industry’s first dedicated out-partnering organization and was a founding member of that group, which has since generated more than $2 billion in revenue. He was subsequently a driver in the re-formation of a dedicated discovery and technology licensing group, where he led several large-scale multi-deal efforts to expand the company’s technology capabilities.

Sara Zaknoen, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Zaknoen joined Tragara in 2007 from Cabrellis Pharmaceuticals where she served as Chief Medical Officer until the acquisition of Cabrellis by Pharmion Corporation in November 2006. Prior to joining Cabrellis, she was employed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation in Florham Park, New Jersey, where she was executive director of Clinical Oncology Research since 2002. From 1998 to 2002, she was with Schering-Plough Research Institute in Kenilworth, New Jersey, where she was director, Clinical Oncology Research. In addition to her work in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Zaknoen has led a distinguished academic and clinical career. Previously, she was assistant professor of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine in Ohio, medical director at the Barrett Cancer Center at the University of Cincinnati Hospital, and director of Experimental Therapeutics at the Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Pennsylvania. Dr. Zaknoen has a B.S. with distinction from Valparaiso University and an M.D. from the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, where she graduated summa cum laude. She completed her residency in internal medicine and her fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at the University of Minnesota. She continued her research work at the National Cancer Institute where she served as a Medical Staff Fellow.

Dr. Zaknoen has made significant contributions in the development, regulatory process, and commercialization efforts for several key oncology therapeutics. At Schering-Plough, Dr. Zaknoen was responsible for the clinical development of TEMODAR (temozolomide); defended the first NDA at the Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC); and, guided the drug through the European approval process. In addition, Sara worked with Mr. Estok in designing the lifecycle strategy for TEMODAR including designing the pivotal glioma study, the melanoma program, the pediatric approval, and the brain metastases program. Dr. Zaknoen also designed and executed the clinical strategy for development of a farnesyl transferase inhibitor (Sarasar) during her SGP tenure. While at Novartis, Dr. Zaknoen provided clinical development leadership for the GLEEVEC sNDA program, the submission of TASIGNA, and global development of 5 oncology drugs and managed a team of 85 professionals.