COR THERAPEUTICS' PLATELET AGGREGATION INHIBITOR

Executive Summary

COR THERAPEUTICS' PLATELET AGGREGATION INHIBITOR is being developed as a stand-alone therapy for acute thrombosis and for use with thrombolytics in acute care settings. The glycoprotein IIb-IIIa antagonist is the lead compound of COR Therapeutics, a two-year-old, privately-held cardiovascular R&D firm based in South San Francisco. COR expects to initiate human clinicals by 1992 for acute thrombosis associated with heart attacks, unstable angina, and stroke. The company's follow-on compound is a vascular growth inhibitor in development to prevent restenosis following arterial unblocking procedures such as coronary angioplasty. The product, "an antagonist to the platelet-derived growth factor receptor," may work by turning off the mechanisms responsible for the over-production of smooth muscle cells, the company explained. Merrell Dow vet Vaughn Kailian joined COR as president and CEO on March 1. Kailian, 45, succeeded co-founder and ex-Robertson Stephens general partner Lee Douglas, who has been named VP-business development. Kailian rose through the ranks at Merrell Dow to president and general manager for Merrell Dow USA prior to the company's merger with Marion Labs in 1989. He has extensive marketing and sales experience at Merrel Dow, both in the U.S. and overseas. Prior to joining COR, Kailian served as Marion Merrell Dow corporate VP of global commercial development. Other top COR management include VP-Operations and Development Robert Swift, PhD, and Nancy Montgomery, who is the acting chief financial officer. Swift spent five years as Genentech's first director of clinical affairs and before that was with Pfizer for eight years. Prior to joining COR, Montgomery was VP of finance and chief financial officer at Applied Biosystems.