Management & Directors

Robert A. Swift, PhD – Founder, Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Swift is a biotechnology entrepreneur.  Prior to founding Cosmid, Dr. Swift’s most recent position was Chief Oversight Officer at Xechem International, a biopharmaceutical company.  Dr. Swift was a Senior Scientist at Eli Lilly, a Biotech Analyst with Hanifen Imhoff, Director of Research for Life Sciences at Unterberg Towbin, and a Co-Portfolio Manager for Origin Capital, a healthcare sector hedge fund. Dr. Swift received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Michigan State University, a M.B.A. in Finance from Indiana University and a B.A. in Chemistry and Biology from Coe College.

Swami Nathan, PhD – Chief Science Officer.  Dr. Nathan is co-inventor of COS-103.  He is responsible for the research and development of botanicals for Cosmid and the manufacturing of COS-103. Dr. Nathan was Head of Microbiology for Xechem International prior to joining Cosmid. He received a Ph.D. in Industrial Microbiology from the University of Madras, India.

Peter Kalinka, PhD – Director Dr.  Kalinka is an expert in international drug development of Biological drugs especially in the field of Biosimilars. His expertise spans early drug development, CMC, pre-clinical and clinical (Multiple Sclerosis, Hepatitis, Oncology) through to regulatory filing (FDA CDER, CEBER, EMEA, Health Canada and Kosheisho). Dr. Kalinka was a pioneer in the evolution of Biosimilars and was responsible for the development and successful filing of the first Biosimilar in History (Omnitrope, Sandoz). Dr. Kalinka is presently the Head of the Biopharmaceuticals Division within Apotex Inc., Canada. He is also CEO of Tiburon Bio Consulting GmbH a German drug development-consulting firm and is in the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University, Advanced Academic Programs. Dr. Kalinka served as CEO of Accelsiors Ltd., an Eastern European CRO; Head of Clinical Development at BioPartners, Switzerland; Head of the Biologics Division at Novartis Generics, Austria; Product Manager Immunology at Ares Serono, Switzerland; Senior New Project Manager and Project Manager at Sandoz, USA; Head of New Business Development and International Project Manager at Sandoz-Biochemie, Austria. Dr. Kalinka received his Ph.D. from the University of Innsbruck, Austria and held a post-doctoral position at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Innsbruck Medical School. He started his career in the Pharmaceutical Industry when joining Sandoz-Biochemie in 1989 where he was directly responsible or involved in the development of more than 30 drugs and biologics of which 7 are presently marketed internationally.

Carolyn C. O’Reilly – Clinical Trial Project Manager.  Ms. O’Reilly is an expert in drug development from pre-IND through NDA.  Prior to joining Cosmid, she was the Director of Clinical Operations for Advanced Biologics, where she implemented Phase I to Phase IV studies for pharmaceutical and biotech companies, e.g. Johnson and Johnson, Biodel, Schering-Plough, Centocor, Daiichi-Sankyo. She has served as CRA Department Manager for Chromedica and worked with numerous biotech and pharmaceutical companies, including Glaxo and Pfizer on Phase I to Phase IV projects and she has worked as a CRA in all major therapeutic classes.  Ms. O’Reilly received his B.A. from Colorado Women’s College.

Larry Gold, PhD – Director.  Dr. Larry Gold is the founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer of SomaLogic. Prior to SomaLogic, he also founded NeXagen, Inc., which later became NeXstar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In 1999, NeXstar merged with Gilead Sciences, Inc. During nearly 10 years at NeXstar, Dr. Gold held numerous executive positions including Chairman of the Board, Executive VP of R&D, and Chief Science Officer. Before forming NeXagen, he also co-founded and served as co-Director of Research at Synergen, Inc., a pioneering biotechnology company later acquired by Amgen, Inc.  Since 1970, Dr. Gold has been a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU). While at the university, he served as the Chairman of the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Department from 1988 to 1992. Dr. Gold is a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1995.  Dr. Gold also serves on the board of directors of BioForce Nanosystems, BT Pharma, CompleGen, MicroPhage, and the scientific advisory board of Archemix.

   Clinical Advisory Board

Peter Gillette, MD  Dr. Gillette is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and is the Director of the Adult Sickle Cell Program, Kings County Hospital State University of New York (SUNY-Brooklyn) Health Science Center at Brooklyn. He received his M.D. from the University of Chicago.

Kathryn Hassell, MD  Dr. Hassell is a Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology at the University of Colorado Health Science Center (UCHSC) and is the Director of the Colorado Sickle Cell Treatment and Research Center at UCHSC. She received a M.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Kwaku Ohene-Frempong, MD  Dr. Ohene-Frempong is a Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Dr. Ohene-Frempong is the Director of the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at CHOP. He received a M.D. from Yale Medical School.