Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
Prior to founding Summit in late 2008, Mr. Cohen founded Intranasal Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI) in 1998, building upon a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry. He led ITI (now, Ikano Therapeutics, Inc.) in various roles including CEO and Chairman until 2008. ITI is currently preparing to enter Phase 3 clinical studies with their lead product, midazolam for epileptic seizure. He is founder and former Chairman and CEO of Barr Laboratories, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical, NYSE-listed company with over $3 billion in annual sales. In December 2008, Barr was acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, LTD for $7.46 billion. Before founding Barr in 1970, Mr. Cohen co-founded Davis Edwards Pharmacal Corporation in 1959, one of the first companies to manufacture and promote multisource drugs. He served as Executive Vice President until 1970. Mr. Cohen is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Generic Pharmaceutical Industry Association and a founding member and Executive Board member of the National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers. In 1997, Mr. Cohen received an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from Fordham University and in 1999, was appointed to the Fordham Board of Trustees.
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Plucinski has over 21 years of experience in pharmaceutical research, development and manufacturing operations. Mr. Plucinski previously served as Vice President of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Operations at ITI where he led the design, construction, start-up, validation and the day-to-day operations of the manufacturing plant. While at ITI he also led the product development team to the successful development and manufacturing of ITI’s lead product, midazolam nasal spray for epileptic seizure. This work and other led to patent filings which are currently pending with the USPTO. Prior to joining ITI in 2002, Mr. Plucinski has held various senior operational management positions in both start-up and high growth-organizations such as Dey, LP (Merck, KGaA subsidiary) where he led teams to develop and manufacture a diverse array of pharmaceutical and biological products, including generic nasal spray and inhalation products. Mr. Plucinski holds a BS in Biology from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater and an MBA from the University of Kentucky.
Chief Accounting Officer
Ms. Egbert has over 20 years experience in the field of accounting and finance, which includes working with start-up pharmaceutical companies. Ms. Egbert previously served as the Controller at ITI where she was responsible for Board of Director and investor reporting; cash management; banking, insurance and investor relations; accounting controls; budgeting and forecasting. Prior to ITI, Ms. Egbert was Treasurer and Controller at a successful start-up web-based transportation company. Ms. Egbert also held various director level positions at a fortune 200 transportation company (BNSF) in the finance, accounting and forecasting and planning departments where she was involved with merger transactions, SEC reporting, managing revenue and capital budgets. Ms. Egbert worked for Deloitte & Touché at various levels in their audit group in both the Minneapolis and Dallas offices. Ms. Egbert holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire and is a CPA.