Management Team
Frank McCaney
President & CEO
Mr. McCaney is the
founder of Nitric BioTherapeutics Inc. Mr.
McCaney has over 20 years experience in the medical industry, principally in diagnostics and
medical devices. Prior to Nitric Bio, he was the Sr. VP of Business
Development at Viasys Healthcare (VAS:NYSE) where he 
was responsible for M&A
and technology assessment and played a significant role in Investor
Relations. Mr. McCaney had a key role in spinning Viasys Healthcare out of
Thermo Electron, where he was VP of Global Marketing for Thermo Biomedical,
a loosely affiliated group of health care companies with revenues close to
$1Billion. Before that he held positions in management, sales and R&D at a
number of health care companies including Baxter and Boehringer Mannheim.
McCaney serves on the Board of Directors of Corpak MedSystems, Inc. and
Omnipacs, LLC.
James A. Ratigan
Vice President and CFO
Mr. Ratigan has over 35 years of experience. He previously served as the CFO of two publicly held companies, one of which was a specialty pharmaceutical company. Mr. Ratigan also has over 10 years experience with a venture capital fund. He began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co., where he managed a portfolio of entrepreneurial clients. Mr. Ratigan is a CPA, and has significant experience in raising private capital, initial public offerings, acquisitions and divestitures, and business development.
Kenneth J. Tack. MD
Medical Director
Dr. Tack has 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry in the area of infectious disease clinical trials. A graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School, he is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases.
Ken’s pharmaceutical career began at Johnson & Johnson, and has involved several other companies, primarily Warner-Lambert (later becoming Pfizer). He has supervised global clinical development programs in North America, the EU, and Asia, resulting in NDA and MAA approvals in the US, Europe, and Japan. His work has involved conducting clinical studies ranging from Phase 1through Phase 4. Ken has worked closely with marketing colleagues throughout his career, and also been active in evaluating potential in-licensing/acquisition anti-infective compounds. He is the author of more than 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has been an invited speaker at international meetings.
Dave Pfeiffer
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Pfeiffer has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to Nitric Bio, he was the Sr. VP of Sales and Marketing at CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for all commercial activities. CollaGenex was sold to Galderma Laboratories Inc. in April, 2008. Mr. Pfeiffer joined CollaGenex in June 1997 as Vice President, Marketing and was promoted to Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing in December 2000. From September 1995 until June 1997, Mr. Pfeiffer served as Director of Marketing, Health Management Services for SmithKline Beecham. Before that he held a number of marketing and sales positions at Zeneca and Lederle Laboratories.
Tanya Rhodes, PhD
Chief Technology Officer
Tanya Rhodes has over 20 years of experience in the wound and skin care industry, spanning drug, device and biologics. She has held President and General Management positions for both the Professional and Retail wound care market sectors bringing forward new innovations and drug device combinations from concept to commercialization.
Tanya’s entrepreneurial spirit started in 1992 heading
up R&D for Smith & Nephew. Under her guidance the group expanded to include
Strategic Marketing; Business Development; Medical / Science Liaison; Legal;
Clinical Research and Technical Service. As VP of Innovation, she helped
grow the US business from $50M to $160M before
joining the Viasys Group as President of the New Technologies Division
working with NO.
Tanya has a Masters Degree with a major in New Technology Management from
the University of Miami and holds a BSc with honors in Chemistry from Hull
University, England. Tanya also completed the full research for her PhD in
Computational Stereochemistry before relocating to the US.
Clare Barrett
Market Manager
Clare Barret has over 11 years of experience within the consumer and medical skin & wound care industry. With qualifications in Formulation Chemistry Clare started her career as a formulation scientist developing skin care products, from concept to full scale manufacture, for a global healthcare company. Clare then transitioned into the medical division and expanded her experience to include clinical testing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, strategic & product marketing, project management and business development.
Tara Townsend
Office Manager
Tara graduated in 2005 from Gwynedd Mercy College with
a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Post graduation Tara
worked for 3 years as an Accounts Payable Manager at a local steel company.
With her academic qualifications and her prior work experience Tara brings a
wealth of computer skills, accounts payable acumen and general office
management knowledge to her position at Nitric Bio. Tara has been a
fulltime employee of Nitric Bio since August 2006.
Sean McLean
Project Coordinator
Sean graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology. After graduation, he attended the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ for an additional year of post-graduate education in Cellular & Molecular Biology. In addition to his academic qualifications he has acquired research experience both at the academic and pharmaceutical levels, as well as several certifications from the National Institutes of Health. Sean has been a fulltime employee of Nitric Bio since September 2008.
