News & Events

Nuon Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage, privately-held biopharmaceutical company focused on novel therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, today announced the appointments of Paulette Dillon to the position of chief business officer and Tito Serafini, Ph.D., to the position of chief scientific officer, both reporting to president and CEO Rodney Pearlman, Ph.D.

"Nuon has advanced its therapeutic programs to a stage at which commercialization and potential partnerships are expected to provide value growth of the company," said Dr. Pearlman. "Paulette's background and experience in commercializing products and establishing collaborations and partnerships makes her an excellent fit with the team and our corporate plan.

"Similarly, Tito's scientific leadership and his experience growing an early-stage biopharma company align very well with both our near-and long-term plans," added Dr. Pearlman.  Ms. Dillon joins Nuon Therapeutics from Anacor Pharmaceuticals, where she served as the chief business officer. In that position, she was responsible for commercial development, as well as business development activities, including licensing and the formation of new collaborations. She has more than 20 years of diverse business experience gained through a variety of management positions at mid-size to large pharmaceutical and small to mid-size biotech companies. Her experience includes strategic planning, portfolio management, early commercial development, corporate/business development, new product planning and U.S./international marketing and sales.

Over the course of her career, Ms. Dillon served as the chief business officer for Avidia (acquired by Amgen) and for Celera Genomics. She also served as vice president, market and business development, at Exelixis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., vice president of strategic marketing and business development at Roche for the Inflammatory Diseases Drug Discovery and Development Unit, and held various marketing and sales management positions at Syntex Labs, Inc. She earned a B.S. degree from UCLA.

Dr. Serafini joins Nuon Therapeutics from Renovis, where he was a co-founder and served from the company's inception as a vice president and executive officer in several R&D and G&A roles, including head of research and head of the M&A team. He helped lead Renovis from its founding through its IPO and beyond, and he has experience in company R&D broadly as well as in key M&A efforts. Prior to co-founding Renovis, Dr. Serafini was a professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and he has won multiple major awards for his basic research achievements. Dr. Serafini received a B.S. with highest honors from Case Western Reserve University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Stanford University. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco.