Oligomerix Appoints William Erhardt, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer

-- Erhardt was previously Senior Vice President, Head of Clinical Development & Operations at Pfizer --

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oligomerix, Inc., a privately held company pioneering the development of small molecule therapeutics targeting tau for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related neurodegenerative disorders, today announced that William Erhardt, M.D., has been appointed Chief Medical Officer. With over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Erhardt brings extensive experience in clinical drug development.

“Oligomerix is extremely fortunate to have someone of Bill’s stature with extensive clinical and medical background join our company. He is well respected in the industry and brings great value to Oligomerix as we transition through IND filing and Phase 1 development,” said James Moe, Ph.D., President & CEO of Oligomerix.

Dr. Erhardt is a seasoned pharmaceutical executive with broad global experience in medical, clinical operations and development. Bill is a board certified, sub-specialty physician (Pediatric Infectious Diseases) with experience within the pharmaceutical industry across numerous therapeutic areas encompassing all phases of drug development as well as all aspects of medical product support. His background is complimented by significant organizational design and leadership experience.

Dr. Erhardt received his B.A. in Electrical Engineering from Brown University and his M.D. from the State University of New York Health Science Center at Syracuse. He completed his Pediatric Residency and Chief Residency at North Shore University Hospital/Cornell University Medical College and his Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the Children’s National Medical Center. In addition, Dr. Erhardt has served as a Staff Fellow at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Erhardt is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Most recently, Dr. Erhardt was Senior Vice President, Head of Clinical Development & Operations at Pfizer, Inc. responsible for design, conduct and reporting of Pfizer’s global Clinical Development portfolio. He oversaw Pfizer’s Clinical, Clinical Sciences, Clinical Project Management and Study Management functions as well as Pfizer's Internal Phase I Clinical Research units in New Haven and Brussels, Belgium. In this role, Dr. Erhardt was responsible for all Clinical Development functions for a portfolio of 350 clinical studies across the Cardiovascular, Metabolic Neuroscience, Vaccines, Immunology & Inflammation and Rare Disease therapeutic areas.

“Oligomerix has demonstrated that its small molecule inhibitor against tau self-association is safe and effective in multiple models of tau pathology representing AD and frontotemporal dementia. I look forward to working with this dynamic team and helping the company move into clinical testing to bring a new treatment option to patients suffering from devasting neurological disorders,” said Dr. Erhardt.

About Oligomerix, Inc.

Oligomerix is an emerging biotechnology company focused on developing disease-modifying therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias by targeting tau self-association. The company’s drug discovery platform has identified a pipeline of novel small molecule inhibitors, with preclinical IND-enabling studies in progress for the lead program. Oligomerix’s small molecule approach blocks the formation of all tau aggregates by targeting tau self-association, known as the beginning of the aggregation cascade, whereas other companies have focused on targeting large tau aggregates formed downstream. The NYC-based company is located at the Ullmann Research Center for Health Sciences within the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Oligomerix is seeking strategic partners to support the acceleration and advancement of these important programs. For more information about Oligomerix, please visit http://www.oligomerix.com.