SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Toragen, Inc., a San Diego-based biotechnology company focused on developing, repurposing and commercializing uniquely selective drugs targeting cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (“HPV”), announced today the appointment of Mr. Paul Engler, of Amarillo, Texas, to the Board of Directors of the Company. Additionally, Toragen announced the appointment of Cheryl Collett as CFO, effective June 20, 2022, and Dr. Richard Lumpkin as Director, Research & Development, effective July 1, 2022.
Mr. Engler is the founder of Cactus Feeders. In 1960, he started the first cattle-feeding operation in Texas and grew the company to become the largest cattle-feeding company in the world. At age 93, Paul is extremely active and healthy. He remains actively involved in investments and philanthropic activities of his private foundation, the Paul F. and Virginia J. Engler Foundation.
Mr. Engler stated that, “I invest in people. I was immediately impressed with the team at Toragen. In fact, I have known Dr. Sandra Coufal, Toragen’s CEO, to be an extremely competent medical practitioner and have made investments in other ventures that were successfully directed by Dr. Coufal. We are all aware that HPV can induce a number of cancers and I found Toragen’s platform solution to be unique. I was eager to be a lead investor and welcomed a seat on the board.”
Ms. Collett brings over 20 years’ progressive finance and accounting experience to Toragen. Most recently, Ms. Collett served as CFO of Anivive Lifesciences, an animal-health pharmaceutical company commercializing the first-ever oral lymphoma treatment for dogs. Prior to Anivive, Ms. Collett served as VP, Finance and Accounting for Puma Biotechnology (NASDAQ: PBYI) where she spent nearly a decade growing the company from four employees to over 300, from privately held to public, and from clinical-stage to commercial. Additionally, Ms. Collett has worked in finance and accounting roles at Sierra Scientific Instruments, Cougar Biotechnology, Hythiam and 20th Century Fox after beginning her career in public accounting. She received her degree from California State University, Los Angeles and is a California-licensed CPA.
Richard Lumpkin, PhD, has over 30 years’ experience in early-stage research in biotechnology companies. Dr. Lumpkin previously served as Senior Director at Global Blood Therapeutics becoming the first employee of this Third Rock Ventures founded company. Dr. Lumpkin was also instrumental in spinning off Portola Pharmaceuticals from Millennium Pharmaceuticals and held positions in early-stage research for Cor Therapeutics, Ribogene, Amylin and Corvas International, Inc. Dr. Lumpkin received his undergraduate in Geology and graduate degree in Biochemistry from the University of Missouri, Columbia.
About Toragen
Toragen, founded by Andrew Sharabi, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences at UC San Diego, is targeting the root cause of virally induced cancers. https://toragen.com.
