Veralox Therapeutics Appoints Michael Hanna as Chief Medical Officer

Veralox Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing first-in-class small molecule therapeutics that treat the underlying pathologies of diseases with significant unmet medical needs, today announced the appointment of Michael S. Hanna, MD, FACC, as chief medical officer.

“We are very pleased that Michael Hanna is joining the Veralox team at an important time in our growth as we continue progression of our first clinical trial with VLX-1005, a first-in-class small molecule inhibitor of 12-lipoxygenase in development for the treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT),” said Jeffrey W. Strovel, PhD, chief executive officer of Veralox Therapeutics.  “He brings outstanding experience in global clinical research and will play a central role in our goal to advance therapeutics based on understanding of the role of 12-lipoxygenase (12-LOX) in the onset and development of many serious diseases and conditions.”

Dr. Hanna trained as a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist and was on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania for a decade where he led multiple international clinical trials. From 2004-2016 he was with Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he held leadership positions in global clinical research including serving as executive director and clinical lead on the Eliquis (apixaban) development program that resulted in regulatory approvals in more than 95 countries.  Dr. Hanna also previously served as a consultant with Critical Thinking Consulting, where he provided senior level strategic counsel on global research programs in thrombosis, heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, stroke, and other diseases.  He is author on more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and has been guest lecturer at many leading medical meetings and conferences around the world.  He earned his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College and his MD at University of Connecticut.

“I am very pleased to be joining the team at Veralox as the company prepares for even higher levels of momentum in the development of VLX-1005 for the treatment of HIT and plans to advance many new and innovative programs based on their leadership in the ability to target 12-lipoxygenase,” said Dr. Hanna.  “This is an exciting area of research that shows strong potential to deliver a new generation of therapies able to address major areas of unmet need in human health.  I look forward to applying my experience in global drug development to support these efforts.”