Jeffrey Kraws to chair Synthetic Biologics

Synthetic Biologics has split the roles of chair and CEO, and appointed Jeffrey Kraws to serve as its independent, non-executive chair of the board.

Previously, the position had been assumed by current CEO and president Jeffrey Riley, but the US biotech has decided to make the change in order to allow Riley and the management team to focus on the operations of the company.

“This important step strengthens Synthetic Biologics' corporate governance practices," said Riley. "Jeff's [Kraws] life science experience will be instrumental in guiding our business and strategic development initiatives."

Kraws has served on the board of directors at Synthetic since January 2006, and is also currently CEO and co-founder of Crystal Research Associates.

Prior to founding Crystal Research Associates in 2003, Kraws served as co-president of The Investor Relations Group and was managing director of healthcare research for Ryan Beck & Co.

He has also held the positions of director of research/senior pharmaceutical analyst and managing director at Gruntal & Co, as well as several other senior analyst positions.

In addition to Kraws' new position, Synthetic also announced the appointment of Dr Carol Reed as senior VP of clinical and regulatory affairs.

She will be responsible for the design and implementation of all aspects of clinical development, including clinical trials, and will lead the company's regulatory initiatives.

Her previous experience includes 6 years as chief medical officer at Clinical Data, which was acquired by Forest Laboratories.

At Clinical Data, she oversaw the approval of the antidepressant Viibryd in January 2011 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Dr Reed has also spent time at Bayer Pharmaceuticals as associate medical director in pulmonary medical research having moved into industry from a clinical position.