Promising biotech firm names new president, CEO

TAMPA — E. Russell McAllister is the new president and CEO of Intezyne, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered at the USF Tampa Bay Technology Incubator.

McAllister, who had been serving as CFO, succeeds Kevin Sill as the head of the company, which is working on advanced new ways to fight a wide range of cancer types. In October 2017, Intezyne closed a $10 million Series A Preferred financing round led by Gaston Capital Healthcare Fund.

"Since we recruited Russell to join Intezyne as chief financial officer in late 2016, he has had a profoundly positive impact on Intezyne's development and corporate strategy," states Glenn Walthall, chairman of the board of directors and chief investment officer at Gaston Capital, in a press release.

"Russell's 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including senior roles in equity research and healthcare investment banking, and the resulting breadth and depth of his experience, made him the ideal candidate to become Intezyne's next CEO. The board has great confidence in his ability to successfully lead the company through the next phase of its evolution."

In the release, McAllister praises Intezyne’s anti-cancer therapies as among the most compelling technologies he has ever vetted.

"I expect 2018 to be a transformative year for Intezyne as we actively evaluate a variety of strategic options,” he states, “including a pre-IPO Series B round and potential collaborations and licensing transactions with established biopharmaceutical and diagnostics companies worldwide.”