Prolifagen Therapeutics Appoints M. Alexander Shaw, PhD, as Chief Executive Officer

Prolifagen Therapeutics, a biotech startup developing medicines for cardiac regeneration, has appointed M. Alexander Shaw, PhD, as Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Dr. Shaw will lead Prolifagen’s efforts in bringing new medicines to market to prevent development of heart failure in patients with large myocardial infarcts.

Dr. Shaw succeeds Claudine Bruck, PhD, who co-founded Prolifagen and successfully led it through initial pre-clinical studies of its microRNA therapeutic, miR-302. Dr. Bruck will remain with the company as Chairperson of the Board. “Dr. Shaw’s combination of drug development expertise along with his experience in running and growing a business makes him a perfect fit for leading Prolifagen as it begins to bring it’s therapeutics through pre-clinical studies and into the clinic” said Dr. Bruck.

Bringing 15-years of drug development experience, Dr. Shaw was formerly the Chief Operating Officer at Nuventra Pharma Sciences, where he co-led the company from inception into a stable, revenue generating business prior to its sale in May, 2021. Regarding Prolifagen, Dr. Shaw notes that its patented therapeutic and delivery technology “provide a real chance for heart attack victims to recover and live normal lives largely free of the fear of subsequent heart failure.”

Dr. Shaw earned his bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry and Biology from Duke University, followed by his PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Washington State University. He went on to an American Heart Association post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. He has spent the last 12 years co-developing Nuventra Pharma Sciences from a two-person boutique clinical pharmacology consulting shop into a 125-person full-service drug development consulting group with $22M in annual revenue, successfully exiting from Nuventra via a sale of the company.