Vestaron Corporation Hires New President and CEO

Written by Administrator
Tuesday, 06 September 2011 18:48

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nancy Newman, Chief Financial Officer
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: (269) 372-3108

Vestaron Corporation Hires New President and CEO

Kalamazoo, MI (September 7, 2011) -- Vestaron Corporation, a venture-backed agricultural biotechnology firm, is pleased to announce the hiring of Steven Hartmeier as its new President and CEO. Hartmeier brings 30 years of agricultural experience to Vestaron with large companies and small start-up companies.

“Steve’s experience with taking start-up companies through the product commercialization process is just what Vestaron needs at this stage of its development” says John Sorenson, Vestaron’s Chairman. “In particular, his experience with biorational pest control products will be critical as we launch our CleanTech pest control products. His track record in successfully taking small companies and turning them into large ones is exceptional.”

Prior to joining Vestaron, Hartmeier was CEO and Director of NGB Markets, an agricultural technology company providing real time data to agricultural producers. Prior to NGB, Hartmeier was President of Suterra LLC, one of the largest and fastest growing biorational pest control providers in the world. Suterra was formed with the sale of the Consep business to Roll International. Key was the successful financing and sale of Consep out of Verdant Brands (Consep’s parent) in 2001. Hartmeier served as Vice President, Commercial Products and a Corporate Officer, for Verdant Brands, Inc. and President of Consep. Hartmeier began his career in various Sales and Marketing positions with Monsanto Company. Hartmeier received his B.S. in Plant Science, Vegetable Crops emphasis, from the University of California, Davis.

“The future opportunity with Vestaron’ s technology is phenomenal,” added Hartmeier. “The novel mode of action combined with its Green Product profile makes this technology a potential game changer in modern agriculture.”

Vestaron is developing a new generation of insecticides using natural peptides from spiders. Products under development have a unique mode of action, are highly effective against insects and related pests and are harmless to non-target species, including humans. Target markets include agriculture, animal health and specialty non-crop uses such as household insects. Vestaron CleanTech products will be ideally suited for the environmentally conscious twenty-first century. For more information visit www.vestaron.com.

Vestaron Corporation Receives FNIH Grant for Malaria Control Research

Written by Administrator
Thursday, 25 August 2011 18:42

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nancy Newman, Chief Financial Officer
Phone: (269) 372-3108
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

FNIH Awards Nearly $6 Million in Grants for Malaria Control Research

Written by Administrator
Thursday, 25 August 2011 16:03

FNIH Awards Nearly $6 Million in Grants for Malaria Control Research

Bethesda, MD (August 18, 2011) – The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) is pleased to announce four new grant awards through the New Insecticides for Malaria Control: Discovery Research for the Identification of New Chemical Entities for Vector Control of Malaria program. The awards, totaling nearly $6 million, are in support of innovative research projects to find new solutions to limit transmission of malaria by mosquitoes.

Malaria is a widespread disease that afflicts hundreds of millions of people globally and kills approximately one million children each year. Controlling malaria is an ongoing global challenge, as parasites and mosquitoes are continually acquiring genetic changes to overcome and resist drugs and insecticides. No new public health insecticides have been developed for malaria control for decades. There is now an urgent need for new insecticides as the existing anti-malarial approaches are losing efficacy.

"Global eradication of malaria cannot be attained without development of more effective tools," said Professor Frank Collins, George and Winifred Clark Professor of Biological Sciences and a member of the VCTR external advisory board. "Development of new insecticides with novel modes of action is an urgent need."

As a part of the Vector-based Control of Transmission Discovery Research (VCTR) program, a component of the Grand Challenges in Global Health (GCGH) initiative, the New Insecticides for Malaria Control grant program was established to stimulate and support innovative research projects to address this critical need.

After a very competitive review process, four projects were selected to support the identification of novel active ingredients intended to fuel the development of insecticides to control the mosquito vectors of malaria:

1. Barry Beaty, of the Colorado State University: Molecular Mosquitocides: Development of an innovative and robust, platform-based approach for sustainable insecticidal control of Anopheline mosquitoes.
2. Jeffrey R. Bloomquist, of the University of Florida: Voltage-sensitive potassium channel as a new target for mosquitocides.
3. Robert M. Kennedy, of the Vestaron Corporation (Kalamazoo, MI): Development of synthetic chemical mimics of selectively insecticidal natural peptides.
4. Peter M. Piermarini, of the Ohio State University: High throughput discovery of chemicals that induce "kidney" failure in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.

"The insecticide armamentarium for malaria vector control is limited," said Colorado State’s Barry Beaty. "This exciting new research program will help in the development of new insecticides needed to overcome the increasing resistance of malaria transmitting mosquitoes to pyrethroids, the principal insecticides in bednets and other vector control measures."

Since 2003, the FNIH has worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners on the Grand Challenges in Global Health (GCGH) Initiative. In 2009, FNIH received a 5-year, $24 million grant to extend certain aspects of research initiated under the original GCGH initiative. The "Vector-based Control of Transmission: Discovery Research (VCTR)" program will continue to support the development of novel strategies to deplete or incapacitate disease-transmitting mosquito populations. For more information about the FNIH Global Health portfolio please visit www.fnih.org

About the Foundation for the NIH
Established by the United States Congress to support the mission of the NIH—improving health through scientific discovery in the search for cures—the Foundation for the NIH is a leader in identifying and addressing complex scientific and health issues. The Foundation is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) charitable organization that raises private-sector funds for a broad portfolio of unique programs that complement and enhance NIH priorities and activities. For additional information about the Foundation for the NIH, please visit www.fnih.org

Vestaron Corporation Announces New Leadership

Written by Administrator
Thursday, 28 April 2011 13:37

Contact: Nancy Newman, Chief Financial Officer
Phone: (269) 372-3108

Vestaron Corporation Announces New Leadership

Kalamazoo, Mich – Vestaron Corporation, a Kalamazoo-based company developing the next-generation of environmentally conscious insecticide products, announced today that John Sorenson, Ph.D., will serve as interim President and Chief Executive Officer. The Board of Directors thanks John McIntyre for his years of service leading to the development of breakthrough insecticides for agriculture.

“John’s scientific leadership has been just what Vestaron needed to get us to where we are today,” said Jim Schultz of Open Prairie Ventures, a major investor and board director. “We wish John well in his next endeavor.”

John Sorenson, Ph.D., will serve as interim President and CEO and continue his current role as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Elin Miller will continue her role as Vice Chairman while the company searches for a new CEO. Vestaron has engaged Kincannon & Reed for the search, which has already begun.

“This is a critical and exciting time for our company with upcoming field trials this summer, which will set the stage for our registration submission. I am thrilled to take the helm,” said Dr. Sorenson. Dr. Sorenson has a broad background in plant biotechnology, both in academe and in the private sector. In addition to serving as President of Biotechnology for Syngenta, he also served as President of Syngenta Seed, Inc. and held several positions in the Asgrow Seed Company. Sorenson began his career as Assistant and Associate Professor of Genetics at North Carolina State University.

Vestaron Corporation is a Kalamazoo, Mich.-based company that has been working for the past few years to develop insecticide products that are harmless to humans and other mammals and are environmentally conscious. Using the polypeptides found in spider venom, Vestaron which was formerly known as Venomix, Inc., has reported that its tests are seeing positive results against mosquitoes, caterpillars, flies and cockroaches.

Vestaron Corporation is a portfolio company of Open Prairie Ventures, an Effingham, Illinois-based venture capital firm with offices in Kalamazoo and Southwest Michigan First Life Science Fund.