AspenBio Pharma, Inc. (AspenBio) has appointed Robert F. Caspari as chief operating officer and chief medical officer (CMO) of the company. Caspari brings to AspenBio over 25 years of experience in drug and diagnostic product development and commercialization. His initial primary responsibilities will include managing the development, FDA clinical trial and submission activities for AppyScore, the company's breakthrough diagnostic test for human appendicitis.
In his most recent endeavor, he served as chief executive officer (CEO) of Living Cell Technologies. He was earlier president and CEO of Aurogen, a privately held biotech company involved in drug development for neurological disorders. Caspari has also served as senior vice president of commercial operations and medical affairs at Myogen and as vice president and general manager of biopharmaceuticals at Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in his career he held management positions at Schering-Plough, Boehringer Mannheim, Somatogen, and Baxter International. Caspari entered the pharmaceutical industry in 1982 after practicing internal medicine for four years. He received a B.A. in psychology from UCLA and his medical degree from Georgetown University.
“Robert’s extensive medical, product development and business background will be invaluable to AspenBio,” stated Daryl J. Faulkner, executive chairman of AspenBio Pharma. “His experience in advancing diagnostic products through to commercialization, especially those being used today in hospital emergency rooms, will play an important role as we advance our AppyScore product to market.”
Caspari commented: “When I first learned about AppyScore, I was struck by the similarities to another molecular diagnostic product, ‘Troponin-T,’ used for emergency room cardiac diagnosis. When I was with Boehringer Mannheim, I was extensively involved in developing this product and bringing it to market, including clinical trials and obtaining FDA approval. Troponin has become the current standard of care diagnostic product used in ERs today to determine whether chest pain is due to a myocardial infarction.”