Key People: Management
Krzysztof Appelt, Ph.D. – President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Appelt is a seasoned bio-technology scientist and executive with over 25 years of management experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He has had extensive experience in the discovery and development of antiviral, antibacterial and anticancer chemotherapeutic agents.
Dr. Appelt lead a multidisciplinary team at Agouron Pharmaceuticals which discovered and developed ViraceptTM - an innovative AIDS therapy, and several other compounds discovered using structure-based approached pioneered by Agouron. After Agouron’s acquisition by Warner-Lambert and subsequent merger with Pfizer, Dr. Appelt served as Global Head of Ophthalmology in both organizations.
From 2001 to 2005 Dr. Appelt served as Executive VicePresident and Chief Technology Officer at Quorex Therapeutics, a company focused on the discovery of antibacterial and antibiofim agents. Dr. Appelt founded Great Lakes Pharmaceuticals in 2006.
Dr. Appelt received his undergraduate degree in Physiology from Poznan University in Poland and his Ph.D. in Biophysics from the Max Planck Institute in West Berlin. Before joining Agouron Pharmaceuticals in 1987 he was Assistant Professor in Chemistry Department in University of California in San Diego. Dr. Appelt is a co-author of 57 peer reviewed publications and co-inventor of several patents.
Mahmoud Ghannoum, Ph.D. EMBA, Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Ghannoum is the Director of the Center for Medical Mycology, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, and a tenured Professor in the Department of Dermatology, Case School of Medicine. He received his M. S. in Medicinal chemistry, and Ph. D. in Microbial Physiology from Loughborough University of Technology in England.
Recently, Dr. Ghannoum completed his EMBA at the Weatherhead School of Business at Case. Dr. Ghannoum has participated in over 200 pre-clinical in vitro and in vivostudies evaluating the efficacy of a broad range of antimicrobials.
Dr. Ghannoum was the recipient of Freedom to Discover Award from Bristol-Myers Squibb for his expertise in the field of fungal biofilms. In 2009 he was awarded the Billy Cooper Award from the Mycological Societies of the Americas for his contribution to the field of clinical mycology. He has published over 200 peer reviewed articles in the field of biofilms, microbial pathogenesis and preclinical in vitro and in vivo evaluations of antimicrobials.
Dr. Ghannoum is a co-editor of the book entitled “Microbial Biofilm” published by the American Society for Microbiology, as well as the Uniscience volume entitled “Candida Adherence to Epithelial Cells” published by CRC Press. His book “Antifungal Therapy” was recently published by Informa Health.
Michael Lanzilotti, M.S. Vice President, Product Development & Manufacturing
Mr. Lanzilotti is an accomplished pharmaceutical executive with 20 years experience leading teams to conceptualize, design, develop and commercialize drug and medical device products. He is expert in delivery systems and author of numerous commercialized drug and device patents.
Mr. Lanzilotti is well-versed in VC funded new company formation and success. He is former Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Oakwood Laboratories.
Mr. Lanzilotti’s inventorship enabled the creation of J&J’s OraPharma, Inc. and FDA approval of Arestin®, the “Best of Breed” Rx drug delivery product selling to the U.S. dental market. Mr. Lanzilotti was selected to develop Great Lakes Pharmaceuticals B-Lock Catheter Lock Solution.
John Cheronis, MD Ph.D. Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Cheronis is a seasoned clinical and basic research executive with over 25 years of management experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He has had extensive experience with both the discovery and development of therapeutics for inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases, critical care medicine, infectious diseases, biodefense and in vitro diagnostics involving high precision gene expression analysis and highly multiplexed proteomics.
More recently, Dr. Cheronis has used this experience to integrate these disciplines with the development of companion products that are designed to address the increasing emphasis of the FDA on patient selection and safety. Dr. Cheronis is a recognized expert in the areas of proteinase biochemistry; proteinase inhibitor design, inflammation and immune system pathophysiology and acute/critical care medicine within an emphasis on acute lung injury.
Dr. Cheronis received his undergraduate degree in Human Biology from Stanford University and his M.D. and Ph.D. (Pharmacology and Physiology) from the University of Chicago. He is board certified in Internal Medicine. Prior to joining Great Lakes Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Cheronis was the CEO of Accuthera, Inc. He has also served as the Chief Scientific Officer of Cortech, Inc., Chief Medical Officer of Source Precision Medicine, Inc. and Senior Medical Director of SomaLogic, Inc.