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Tragara has assembled an expert team of entrepreneurs to carry out its mission. These individuals have extensive experience in essential areas of the Tragara mission: market-driven cancer product development, marketing, business development, biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical management, and finance.
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.
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