About Cytochroma

Mission

Business Strategy

Scientific Advisory Board

Career Opportunities

 

Management Team:

Charles W. Bishop, PhD President and Chief Executive Officer
Joel Z. Melnick, MD Vice President, Clinical & Regulatory Affairs
Eric J. Messner, MBA Vice President, Commercial Operations
P. Martin Petkovich, PhD Chief Scientific Officer
Jay White, PhD Vice President, Product Development (Nephrology)

Charles W. Bishop, PhD
President and Chief Executive Officer
E-mail: charles.bishop@cytochroma.com

Dr. Bishop has served as President and CEO since June 2006. Dr. Bishop has over 24 years of management experience in the pharmaceutical industry across multiple disciplines including Research & Development, Regulatory Affairs, Operations, and Business Development. Dr. Bishop co-founded Proventiv Therapeutics, LLC in September 2005 where he served as President. Proventiv Therapeutics, LLC was acquired by Cytochroma Holdings ULC in June 2006. During the period of September 1987 to June 2005, Dr. Bishop held various senior management positions at Bone Care International, Inc., a public specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing Vitamin D hormone therapies. Dr. Bishop’s positions with Bone Care included President, CEO, Director, Executive Vice President of Research and Development, and Chief Scientific Officer. Under Dr. Bishop's direction, Bone Care advanced a portfolio of proprietary Vitamin D hormones and analogs to varying stages of development for SHPT, metabolic bone disease, psoriasis and cancers of the prostate, breast and colon. Dr. Bishop was responsible for the successful preparation and prosecution of three New Drug Applications (NDAs) that ultimately led to FDA approval of a novel Vitamin D drug, named doxercalciferol, for SHPT in dialysis patients (Hectorol® 2.5 mcg Capsules and Hectorol® Injection) and pre-dialysis patients (Hectorol® 0.5 mcg Capsules). Prior to joining Bone Care, Dr. Bishop held various management positions in the Health Care Division of the Procter & Gamble Company. Dr. Bishop completed a four-year National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship in Vitamin D Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received his Ph.D. degree in Nutritional Biochemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, after earning an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Virginia.

Joel Z. Melnick, MD
Vice President, Clinical & Regulatory Affairs
E-mail: joel.melnick@cytochroma.com

Dr. Melnick joined Cytochroma in August 2007 as Vice President, Clinical & Regulatory Affairs. Prior to joining Cytochroma, he was Senior Medical Director in the Global Pharmaceutical Research and Development Group at Abbott Laboratories (North Chicago, IL). While at Abbott, Dr. Melnick managed clinical trials, regulatory submissions, marketing approvals and post-launch support for Zemplar® (paricalcitol) Capsules and Injection, currently one of the world’s leading Vitamin D hormone replacement therapies for secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Prior to Abbot, Dr. Melnick served as Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University, where he conducted research in metabolism and cardio-renal disease. Dr. Melnick completed his medical degree, internship, and residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Creighton University, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric and adult nephrology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

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Eric J. Messner, MBA
Vice President, Commercial Operations
E-mail: eric.messner@cytochroma.com

Mr. Messner has served as Vice President of Commercial Operations since June 2006. Mr. Messner has over 18 years experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, in both large and small companies. In his current role, Mr. Messner is responsible for managing the commercial functions of business development, marketing, sales and finance. Previously, Mr. Messner co-founded Proventiv Therapeutics in September 2005. While at Proventiv, Mr. Messner was the Vice President of Commercial Operations, focusing on business development and marketing. In this role, he negotiated terms with licensing partners and fundraising institutions and created commercial marketing strategies and associated financial forecasts. Prior to Proventiv, Mr. Messner held senior positions at Bone Care International and Abbott Laboratories. Mr. Messner earned his MBA from the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in Management from Miami University.

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Martin Petkovich, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
E-mail: martin.petkovich@cytochroma.com

Martin is a co-founder of Cytochroma and has provided scientific guidance as a consultant until 2006 when he joined the Company as a full-time Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). Dr. Petkovich served as a Director of the Company until his appointment as CSO. Dr. Petkovich has been involved in all of the Company’s efforts to raise capital and played a pivotal role in completing Cytochroma’s first license agreement (with Allergan, Inc.) and served as Chair of the Joint Research Management Committee established under this agreement. Dr. Petkovich received his B.Sc. from McMaster University in 1981 and Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1986 from the University of Toronto. He was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Pierre Chambon in Strasbourg, France from 1986 to 1989. He moved to Queen's University in 1990 to join the Departments of Biochemistry and Pathology and was appointed Full Professor in 1998. Dr. Petkovich is an expert in small molecule signaling, nuclear receptors and metabolism. Dr. Petkovich discovered the fundamental mechanism of action of vitamin A by cloning the first receptor for the vitamin A metabolite, retinoic acid. This discovery is cited as a major breakthrough in the vitamin A field.

Jay White, Ph.D.
Vice President, Product Development (Nephrology)
E-mail: jay.white@cytochroma.com

Mr. White has over 10 years experience in the biotechnology industry. He has served in his current role of Vice President, Product Development, since June 2006 and is responsible for project management, analytical methods development and quality control, manufacturing of drug substances and products, formulation development and toxicology testing. Dr. White previously held the position of Vice President, Operations at Cytochroma from September 2003 to June 2006. In this capacity, he was responsible for corporate finance, project management, drug manufacturing, information technology, facilities and infrastructure planning. Since 1997, he has played a key role as a member of the research and development team at Cytochroma and is named as co-inventor on 18 patent applications and 32 issued patents. Dr. White received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Pathology and Molecular Medicine from Queen's University.