MEDFORD, Mass., Feb. 18, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hepregen Corporation, leader in the development of next generation HepatoPacTM and HepatoMuneTM cell-based in vitro assay products, announced today that Ms. Elizabeth E. Tallett has recently joined the Company's board of directors.
Ms. Tallett joins Hepregen's board with more than thirty-five years of international experience in the biopharmaceutical and consumer products industries. Her senior management experience includes being President and Chief Executive Officer of Transcell Technologies Inc., President of Centocor Pharmaceuticals, member of the Parke-Davis Executive Committee, and Director of Worldwide Strategic Planning for Warner-Lambert Company.
Ms. Tallett is also is a current member of the boards of directors of the Principal Financial Group, Inc., WellPoint, Inc., Meredith Corporation, and Qiagen, Inc. She is currently Lead Director for Principal. In the past five years, she has also been a Board member of Coventry Health Care, Inc., IntegraMed America, Inc., Varian, Inc., and Varian Semiconductor Associates, Inc. Ms. Tallett was also a founding board member of the Biotechnology Council of New Jersey. Born and educated in England, she graduated from Nottingham University with dual first class honors degrees in mathematics and economics.
Dr. Morton Collins, Hepregen's Chairman of the Board, stated, "We are privileged to have Ms. Tallett join our board of directors. She brings a distinguished reputation and a wealth of strategic know how to the company. We all look forward to working with her as we advance Hepregen to the next level."
Dr. Vincent Zurawski, Hepregen's chief executive officer added, "Ms. Tallett's strong sales and marketing experience provides our management team with an outstanding resource that we expect will add immeasurably to Hepregen's commercial success."
About Hepregen Corporation
Hepregen Corporation is the undisputed leader in innovating unique and proprietary bioengineered micro-liver platforms for use in environmental testing, preventive care, and product development in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical, diagnostic, cosmetics, and chemical industries. The Company's micro-liver HepatoPacTM and HepatoMuneTM cell-based assays are driving a paradigm shift in drug development. The utility of Hepregen's human, rat, monkey, dog, and multi-species/multi-donor HepatoPacTM and HepatoMuneTM application-directed products has been validated in collaboration with investigators at several well-known pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, new applications for these products are being tested by Hepregen, its pharmaceutical company customers, and its academic and business partners. Hepregen was founded and capitalized by Battelle Ventures and Innovation Valley Partners with technology licensed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The technology was developed by Professor Sangeeta Bhatia, who is a world renowned expert and leader in liver bioengineering for life science and therapeutic applications.