Tetra Discovery Partners has announced the appointment of Richard M. Erwin as vice president, Clinical Operations. He joins the company from Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, where he was executive director, Clinical Project Management.

"Richard joins Tetra Discovery Partners with over 25 years of experience in global clinical research planning and execution, and has supported a string of successful growth-stage clinical operation build-outs and development partnerships," said Mark E. Gurney, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Tetra Discovery Partners. "We welcome him to the senior management team and look forward to working with him to advance BPN14770 into clinical trials in patients with Alzheimer's disease later this year."

Prior to his recent work with Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Erwin oversaw the global phase III development program of VaxChora, a single dose cholera vaccine developed by Silicon Valley's PaxVax, which received FDA approval under Priority Review in June of 2016. Other past experience includes product development team leadership for a global phase III Alzheimer's program at Neurocrine Biosciences; a clinical innovation joint venture with Eli Lilly & Co and Quintiles; work across Africa enhancing clinical capacity infrastructure; and clinical operations leadership at early biotech startups including Cytheris, British Biotech, and Neurocrine Biosciences. Erwin started his career with Amgen, where he was a Clinical Research Associate (CRA) for the oncology blockbuster, Neupogen. Erwin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.