Member News

January 13, 2015

SANTA ROSA, Calif., -- Sonescence Inc., a drug delivery company focused on curing serious skin and soft tissue infections and chronic wounds, announced the appointment of Michael J. Weickert, Ph.D. as CEO and President.  Dr. Weickert has also joined Sonescence's board of directors.

"We have been seeking a proven executive to lead the company through this next phase of product development and growth. Dr.Weickert's experience as a Medical Device CEO and executive at several drug delivery companies, including creating and running an anti-infective drug delivery business, was a perfect fit for us," said Sonescence founder Dr. Barry Silberg. Dr. Silberg, who pioneered the drug delivery method currently in Phase 2 clinical studies for serious skin and soft tissue infections, will assume the role of Chief Medical Officer for the Company.

"The work done by Dr. Silberg has pioneered a new drug delivery method that solves one of the most important long-standing problems: getting enough drug to be effective exactly where it is needed without poisoning the patient," said Dr. Weickert. "I am honored and delighted to help bring what I believe is the biggest breakthrough in wound care and infections in decades to patients and healthcare providers."

Dr. Weickert will present an overview of the company at OneMedForum in San Francisco, CA on Monday, January 12, 2015. "OneMedForum offers us a timely opportunity to introduce the company to prospective investors and partners as we commence our first campaign to raise outside capital," said Dr. Weickert.

About Michael Weickert, Ph.D.

Dr. Michael Weickert was co-founder, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer for S.E.A. Medical Systems for over 6 years. He was Chief Business Officer at Corium International, Inc. an established transdermal drug delivery company, and StrataGent Life Sciences, Inc., a drug delivery startup, where he managed marketing, business development, finance and worked on the merger of the two companies. While at Nektar Therapeutics, Dr. Weickert created an anti-infectives business unit that placed four products in development and formed the core of the $115M pulmonary business acquisition by Novartis in 2008. He also led Portfolio Management and New Product Planning where he and his team created a business plan for what became the Pearl Therapeutics spinout and eventually a $1.15B AstraZeneca acquisition in 2013. He personally initiated and negotiated investment rounds (Seed through Series C) and partnerships worth more than $175 Million.

About Sonescence, Inc. (www.sonescence.com)

Sonescence Inc. is a drug delivery company focused on curing serious skin and soft tissue infections and chronic wounds.  Its founders developed a medical breakthrough during 8 years of clinical research at the Santa Rosa Antibiotic Effectiveness Project. The company has a highly effective therapy for serious skin and soft tissue infections, including those caused by antibiotic-resistant organisms such as MRSA, based on a disruptive new drug delivery technology. The lead product is in Phase 2 and another Phase 2 program is expected to launch 1Q2015. Several other drug delivery programs are entering preclinical testing. Clinical data on over 100 patients including IRB studies and an expanded access FDA clinical trial have demonstrated close to complete resolution of serious drug resistant (MRSA) skin and skin structure infections with avoidance of amputations. Furthermore, wound grafts at the time of treatment were successful 95% of the time.  Eighty-five percent of patients treated achieved 100% resolution with one treatment.  The company will be seeking its first outside capital or partnerships in the first quarter of 2015.