NEWBERRY, Fla. and BOSTON, Aug. 26, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enterade USA, LLC, an innovative health sciences company, announced today the appointment of Stephen J. Gatto as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Gatto, a serial entrepreneur with more than three decades of expertise incubating, financing and fast-tracking the successful growth of industrial biotechnology companies, will direct and accelerate the Company's commercialization efforts for its lead product, Enterade®. Enterade is a first-in-class medical food that reduces dehydration and helps manage the toxic side effects of cancer therapies and gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances, including diarrhea. Mr. Gatto will also focus on advancing the Company's broad, proprietary HydroActive Technology™ platform that is currently in development as a potential therapeutic treatment for cystic fibrosis, as well as a point-of-care diagnostic marker to predict radiation-induced toxicity in individuals being treated for cancer.
"Steve brings the right combination of strategic leadership and commercial execution expertise to ensure Enterade's successful launch as a medical food, and to position the Company and our emerging pipeline for definitive growth," said Stephen Shey, Director for Enterade USA. "Steve's track-record for raising growth capital in support of innovation-focused organizations will accelerate our efforts as we bring to market the first medical food to support rehydration and overall GI health for individuals with cancer."
Mr. Gatto, prior to joining Enterade USA as its Chief Executive Officer, was the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Myriant Corporation, the first renewable chemicals company in North America to manufacture and commercialize bio-succinic acid, a high-value, green chemical intermediate. During his tenure at Myriant, Mr. Gatto raised more than $250 million in equity and debt capital to support the Company's biochemicals commercialization efforts. Under Mr. Gatto's leadership, Myriant secured two precedent-setting government financings by securing a $50M cost sharing grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), as well as a $25M Business and Industry (B&I) loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Prior to Myriant, Mr. Gatto founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer of BC International Corp. (later known as Verenium Corp), a successful biofuels company, that was recently acquired by BASF.
Mr. Gatto has served on numerous presidential, congressional and US DOE/DOA committees and he also assisted in the drafting of key aspects of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. In 2000 and 2002, Mr. Gatto was appointed by the Clinton and Bush administrations, respectively, to the Biomass Research & Development Technical Advisory Committee. He was also appointed to a Biofuels Ad-hoc Committee chaired by Senator Dianne Feinstein and assisted in the drafting of key aspects of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Mr. Gatto holds an A.S. in information services and a B.S. in marketing, both from New Hampshire College.
"Cancer touches all of us and unfortunately, many of us know all too well the devastating impact that cancer therapies can have on an individual's quality of life," said Stephen J. Gatto, Chief Executive Officer at Enterade USA. "Today, there is no oral product available that effectively addresses the enteric distress and gastrointestinal toxicity caused by cancer treatments. We believe that Enterade's proprietary amino acid-based, glucose-free formulation is uniquely positioned to address a clear unmet medical need and to become part of the standard-of-care regimen for cancer."
About Enterade®
Enterade is an innovative medical food that improves uptake of fluids and electrolytes in individuals undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for cancer. By helping to restore normal GI function, Enterade can help manage the side effects of cancer treatment such as diarrhea and dehydration. Enterade may help individuals maintain normal body weight and therefore, may assist individuals better tolerate their full course of cancer therapy. Enterade is an amino acid-based, glucose-free medical food with no carbohydrates. All ingredients contained in Enterade are GRAS (Generally Accepted as Safe), a designation used by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to classify components of food that are safe and suitable for extensive use in the US population. Enterade is available at www.enterade.com.
About Enterade USA, LLC
Enterade USA, LLC is an innovative health sciences company that is advancing patient care and wellness through pharmaceutical and nutritional sciences. Our research and seminal discoveries led to the development of Enterade®, a first-in-class medical food that reduces dehydration to help manage the side effects of cancer therapy. These discoveries also serve as the foundation for our pioneering HydroActive Technology™ platform which we are advancing for use as a therapeutic for cystic fibrosis, as well as a point-of-care diagnostic to measure radiation toxicity for people being treated for cancer. For more information, please visit us at www.enterade.com or on FaceBook at EnteradeR.