CAMBRIDGE, Mass.– Shorla Oncology (‘Shorla’), an Irish specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced the appointment of Dennis Purcell as Board Chairman. As a preeminent leader in the biotech industry, Purcell brings significant experience that will help guide Shorla in bringing their novel oncology products to the U.S. market.
Purcell is the original Founder of Aisling Capital LLC, a leading life sciences investment firm based in New York City with $1.8 billion in committed capital and a track record of investing and returning capital since 2000. Prior to Aisling Capital, Purcell served as Managing Director of the Life Sciences Investment Banking Group at Chase H&Q (formerly Hambrecht & Quist, “H&Q”). Purcell has also served as Director on a number of biotechnology company boards including Aton Pharma (acquired by Merck), Bridge Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pharmaron), Cengent Therapeutics, Dynova Laboratories, Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Valentis and Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dennis to Shorla,” said Sharon Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer of Shorla Oncology. “During his time in the industry, he has invested in, raised capital for, and advised hundreds of life sciences companies. He is among the most distinguished leaders in biotech and his counsel and expertise will be invaluable to us as we scale our regulatory and commercial efforts in the U.S. and beyond.”
In addition to his new role as Chairman of the Board at Shorla, Purcell currently sits on the Boards of Real Endpoints, Ichnos Pharmaceuticals, Summus Global, and Embera Pharma. He is also an advisor to Better Health, Cellevolve and xCellerate. Purcell serves as an Executive-in-Residence at Columbia University and as an Endowment Committee member at the University of Delaware, where he also serves on the Pharmaceutical Innovation Board. Purcell is also involved with industry organizations serving on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of New York Bio as well as the Investor Advisory Board of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), where he serves as Co-Chairman.
“It is an honor to be appointed as Chairman on the Board at Shorla Oncology,” said Purcell. “In just a few short years, the team has evolved to a pre-commercial entity with a promising pipeline and an established presence in both the U.S. and Europe. I look forward to partnering with the team as they continue to grow and scale.”
