Accomplished Industry Executive Brings Extensive Business Development Experience and Deep Knowledge of Drug Delivery Technology to Enteris
Boonton, NJ – May 4, 2020 – Enteris BioPharma, Inc., a biotechnology company developing innovative drug products built around its proprietary delivery technologies and a wholly-owned subsidiary of SWK Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq: SWKH), today announced the hiring of Rajiv Khosla, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Khosla replaces Joel Tune, Enteris’ CEO since 2016.
With more than 30 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience as both a consultant and senior corporate executive, Dr. Khosla will lead Enteris as the company targets multiple growth opportunities built around Peptelligence®, the company’s proprietary oral peptide and small molecule drug delivery platform. Importantly, as CEO, Dr. Khosla will spearhead the advancement of Enteris’ external and internal programs, as well as the development of new external licensing and partnership opportunities that leverage the company’s Peptelligence® platform.
“Following a comprehensive search, the management teams of SWK Holdings and Enteris BioPharma are confident that Rajiv is the ideal executive to lead Enteris as it advances its mission to be the industry leader in developing oral tablet formulations of peptides and other molecules with low oral bioavailability or permeability,” said Winston Black, Chairman and CEO of SWK Holdings. “Rajiv brings a wealth of experience and expertise from a distinguished career as an industry executive and more recently as a consultant advising small biopharmaceutical companies, specifically regarding optimizing the monetization of intellectual property. His business development experience and proven track record, not to mention a deep knowledge of drug delivery systems, including oral delivery technologies, will be critical to Enteris as the company seeks to capture more value-creating opportunities and maximize the potential of its Peptelligence® platform.”
“I greatly look forward to working with the Enteris and SWK management teams to build on the momentum that began with the acquisition and continued support by SWK, which extended into 2020 with the expansion of our executive team,” said Dr. Khosla. “From its founding in 2013, Enteris has established itself as a leader in the oral peptide market, yet I believe the company has only begun to realize its vast potential. Peptelligence® is a potential game changer for drug makers offering an opportunity to reshape therapeutic categories and treatment paradigms. I am humbled and excited to be afforded the opportunity to lead Enteris. I would like to thank Joel Tune for his vision and leadership, which was instrumental in enabling the company to achieve the successes it has to date.”
During Dr. Khosla’s three-decade career in the biopharmaceutical industry, he has demonstrated an ability to successfully apply his expertise at multiple companies, spanning early-stage to established industry leaders. In 2011, Dr. Khosla founded CEUTEC LLC, a strategy and business development consultancy serving biopharmaceutical companies and venture capital firms. In that capacity, Dr. Khosla consulted with companies such as NPS Pharma (which was acquired by Shire in 2016) to evaluate potential out-licensing deals with large pharmaceutical companies and served as CEO at Orasi Medical, a neurodiagnostic medical technology company. Dr. Khosla also worked with IntelGenx Corp., an oral drug delivery company, to implement a drug delivery 505(b)(2) product pipeline, and business development strategies, leading to successful FDA filings.
Prior to CEUTEC, Dr. Khosla held several senior roles in large and small biopharmaceutical companies, including five years at the former Biovail Corp. as Vice President of Business Development where he led the transaction process for more than 75 business development opportunities in various therapeutic areas. Dr. Khosla served as Vice President and General Manager, Healthcare, at Sensient Technology, where he led the company’s global P&L business and manufacturing operations. And at ICI Group, Dr. Khosla established and managed a new global healthcare business that launched six new drug delivery technologies and secured strategic alliances that helped grow revenue 40 percent to $25 million.
Dr. Khosla was previously on the boards of Orasi Medical, IntelGenx, and BioNJ, a biotechnology industry organization. He also serves as an Assistant Professor of International Entrepreneurship at the Norm Brodsky College of Business at Rider University in New Jersey. A licensed pharmacist in the U.K., Dr. Khosla is a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
Dr. Khosla received a Bachelor of Pharmacy with honors and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Drug Delivery from the University of Nottingham in England. He earned an Executive M.B.A. from the Henley Business School at the University of Reading.
About Enteris BioPharma
Enteris BioPharma, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SWK Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq: SWKH) offering innovative formulation solutions utilizing its proprietary drug delivery technology, Peptelligence®. The technology has been the subject of numerous feasibility studies and active development programs, several of which are in late stage clinical development. Additionally, Enteris BioPharma is advancing an internal product pipeline of oral tablet reformulations of drug products that address significant treatment opportunities for which there is no oral delivery option. Enteris BioPharma’s most advanced internal product candidate, Ovarest® (oral leuprolide tablet), is an oral peptide being developed for the treatment of endometriosis. TobrateTM (oral tobramycin tablet) is also being developed by Enteris BioPharma for the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infection (uUTI). A third internal compound, octreotide, is currently in preclinical development. For more information on Enteris BioPharma and its proprietary oral delivery technology, please visit http://www.EnterisBioPharma.com.
For Enteris BioPharma:
Brian Zietsman, President & CFO
+1.973.453.3527
Enteris Media Relations:
Jason Rando
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
+1.212.375.2665
jrando@tiberend.com