Management Team

Founders Allan Cochrane and August Sick are seasoned entrepreneurs. Allan has successfully founded and led three life science companies and is a board member with five different companies. August Sick, also an entrepreneur, was President of Molecular Probes and VP Corporate Development at Invitrogen where he led 18 mergers and acquisitions and over 100 licensing deals. He has 35 issued U.S. patents, experience in the diagnostics FDA-approval process, and sits on the boards of four companies.

Cascade is currently expanding our management team to include seasoned executives and advisors to handle clinical, regulatory, CMC and pharmacology functions as the company positions itself to pursue IND-enabling studies.

August J. Sick

Co-Founder – Prodrug Development

Mr. Sick is co-founder and managing director of Cascade Prodrug, Inc. Previously, Mr. Sick was a senior executive for Invitrogen Corporation, a career that started in 1990 as the 20th employee and covered more than 18 years. From 2003 to 2009, Mr. Sick was the President of Molecular Probes, Inc. after being acquired for $365M by Invitrogen in August 2003 and General Manager of the Cellular Analysis Business Unit managing its growth from $64M to $225M in less than 6 years. Previously, he held positions as Vice President Corporate Development and Strategy and Vice President Business Development. He was instrumental in the acquisition of 18 companies and was responsible for over 100 licensing deals. Mr. Sick began his biotechnology career in 1986 as a research associate for Mycogen Corporation, a San Diego startup where he developed many novel molecular biology methods. He is the key inventor on 35 issued US Patents. Mr. Sick received a B.A. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California San Diego.

Allan Cochrane

Co-Founder – President

Mr. Cochrane has 40 years of experience as a diagnostic, biotechnology and pharmaceutical development professional. The majority of his time has been spent in senior leadership roles as CEO, President and Board of Directors roles in both public and private companies. He has extensive experience in early stage growth companies and in particular has participated directly or advised a number of companies on financing strategies from seed stage rounds to public offerings on NASDAQ. As Co-founder and President of Cascade Prodrug, he is focused on all aspects of the business strategy as it relates to strategic planning, finance, corporate partnering, and administration. In this regard, Al has previous experience in both the research and development of drug candidates and the preclinical and clinical drug development pathway for these candidates. He is well known for fostering entrepreneurship in Oregon and currently sits on four boards and mentors early stage entrepreneurs by providing leadership training, strategic planning and financial strategy for companies.

John Nepute

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Nepute comes to Cascade Prodrug with significant experience in financial and business development roles. Most notably, Mr. Nepute was the President of Monaco Coach Corporation where he led investor relations, M&A, operations, and ultimately grew the company from sales of $17 million and 75 employees to peak of $1.4 billion in sales and 6800 employees.  Most recently, he has been a fractional CFO to companies seeking financial and accounting expertise.  Mr. Nepute sits on the Advisory Board for Bit Cork, an artisan wine distributer, and on the Board of Directors for Oakshire Brewing, a community-inspired, small batch brewing company.

Mr. Nepute received his Bachelors Degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Oregon.

Dr. David Regan

Director of Medical Affairs

Dr. Regan comes to Cascade Prodrug as leading expert in tumor metabolism and cancer micro-environments, including both extracellular acidity and related hypoxia. Upon completion of his residency, he joined a group in private practice and was instrumental in growing that group, merging into the US Oncology Network and becoming Compass Oncology, the largest oncology provider group in Oregon.  Dr Regan has held national leadership roles in the oncology field for over 20 years. He previously served as a National Medical Director for US Oncology for Guidelines and Clinical Pathways Development, as President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC), and as a member of the Committee on Practice of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). He is an active member of the Clinical Practice Committee of the American Society of Medical Oncology (ASCO) and represents ASCO as an Advisor to the AMA Relative Value Update Committee.

Dr Regan received his Bachelors Degree from University of California, Berkeley and his MD from University of Southern California Medical School. He subsequently completed clinical training at Bellevue Hospital of the New York University Medical Center and Oregon Health Sciences University.

Eric Malek

Chief Business Officer

Mr. Malek brings 20 years of biotech corporate development experience to Cascade. Previously Mr. Malek was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at Threshold Pharmaceuticals where he led negotiations for their $550M co-development/co-promotion partnership with Merck KgAa for the hypoxia activated prodrug Evofosfamide. Before Threshold, Mr. Malek held corporate development positions at Allos Therapeutics, BiPar Sciences, Gilead Sciences, NeXstar Pharmaceuticals and Ilex Oncology as well as research positions at Janssen Pharmaceutica, the University of Arizona and University of Michigan.

Board of Directors

Board of Directors  |  Co-Founder & President, Cascade Prodrug
Board of Directors

  • EDM Bio Consulting
  • Former SVP Corporate Development Threshold Pharmaceuticals
  • Previously, BiPar Sciences, Allos Therapeutics and Gilead Sciences
Board of Directors

  • ABShannafelt Advisory, LLC.
  • Formally General Partner Lilly Ventures, Eli Lilly & Company, Roche Diagnostics corporation Bayer Corporation, DNAX Research Institute, Syva Company
Board of Directors  |  Co-Founder & Secretary, Cascade Prodrug

Board of Directors – Observer

  • 2012 Willamette Angel Conference Fund Manager
  • Former Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at University of Washington
  • Previously, Director of Austin Entrepreneurship Program at Oregon State University, and Founder and Managing Partner of Optimus Consulting

Board of Directors – Observer

  • Chief Medical Officer, Centene/Trillium/HealthNet Plans of Oregon
  • Corporation President, Physician CEO, Slocum Orthopedics, P.C.
  • Board President, Trillium Community Health Plans (TCHP)
  • Physician in Residence (PIR) Marshall School of Business, USC

Advisors

  • Collaborative R&D Lead, Liposome Formulation & Pharmacology
  • Associate Prof., College of Pharmacy, Oregon State University
  • Lead Inventor Prodrug Chemistry, Professor Emeritus, University of Oregon; Synthetic Organic Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry
  • Medical Oncologist specializing in the treatment of advanced cancers and conducting early phase clinical trials in oncology.