Spherix Incorporated Appoints Dr. Ram Nimmagudda As Director of New Business Development
11 September 2009 - 3:34AM
PR Newswire (US)
BETHESDA, Md., Sept 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Spherix
Incorporated (NASDAQ:SPEX), an innovator in biotechnology for
diabetes therapy, and a provider of technical and regulatory
consulting services to food, supplement, biotechnology, and
pharmaceutical companies, today announced that, effective August
31, 2009, Ram R. Nimmagudda, Ph.D., has joined the company as
Director of New Business Development. Dr. Nimmagudda brings to
Spherix more than 15 years of years of experience in business
development, nutrition and nutraceutical industries, with
particular expertise in novel food ingredients. At Spherix, Dr.
Nimmagudda will be responsible for developing new business
opportunities for both of Spherix's wholly-owned subsidiaries -
Spherix Consulting and Biospherics. Dr. Nimmagudda has extensive
experience in research, regulatory processes, operations, supply
chain management, and business development. Most recently, Dr.
Nimmagudda held the position of Director of New Business
Development, South Asia for DSM Functional Foods where he oversaw
the strategic development and execution of the company's functional
foods business plan for the region. In this role, he focused on
initiating market development activities that supported the
regional growth of DSM's functional food product business in South
Asia, and participating in the due diligence activities of local
acquisitions and subsequent integration teams. "Ram's expertise in
taking technologies from discovery to commercialization in global
settings, coordinating international project teams, and directing
the identification, acquisition, and development of health oriented
and bioactive ingredients will be a valuable resource for all of us
at Spherix," said Dr. Claire Kruger, Chief Executive Officer of
Spherix. "Ram is an ideal fit for Spherix, as he has overseen
regulatory programs, patent processes, technology scouting, and
clinical research; and has vast knowledge in implementing consumer
insights, testing concepts, and conducting market analyses. Ram's
extensive experience in directing growth activities will be a
tremendous asset as D-tagatose makes its way through the FDA
approval process toward commercialization and as Spherix Consulting
continues to grow in its scope and product offerings." Prior to his
time at DSM, Dr. Nimmagudda held the position of Director and Sr.
Principal Technologist, External Technologies at Wm. Wrigley Jr.
Co., where he led the Company's technology scouting and innovation
programs and initiated joint development agreements with CALTECH,
MIT, and other strategic industrial research companies. Before
joining Wrigley, Dr. Nimmagudda served as Vice President of
Technology Growth at Chr. Hansen, Inc. where he successfully
initiated a growth program focused on capturing new technologies
and developing novel commercialization processes to bring products
to market. He also directed technology and market analysis on
potential developments in the fields of medical nutrition, infant
nutrition, nutraceuticals, probiotics, and bioactive proteins and
peptide compounds, primarily relating to cardiovascular,
gastrointestinal, oral health, and women's health. Additionally, he
has developed partnerships with universities and companies to
research and obtain compounds with commercial promise. Dr.
Nimmagudda received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Mangalore
University, India; his M.S. in Biochemistry from Mysore University,
India; and his B.S. in Chemistry and Biology from Osmania
University, India. About Spherix Spherix Incorporated was launched
in 1967 as a scientific research company, under the name
Biospherics Research. The company now leverages its scientific and
technical expertise and experience through its two
subsidiaries--Biospherics Incorporated and Spherix Consulting, Inc.
Biospherics is currently running a Phase 3 clinical trial to study
the use of Naturlose as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes. Its
Spherix Consulting subsidiary provides scientific and strategic
support for suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers of
conventional foods, biotechnology-derived foods, medical foods,
infant formulas, food ingredients, dietary supplements, food
contact substances, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, consumer
products, and industrial chemicals and pesticides. For more
information, please visit http://www.spherix.com/. Forward-Looking
Statements This release contains forward-looking statements which
are made pursuant to provisions of Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. Investors are cautioned that such statements
in this release, including statements relating to planned clinical
study design, regulatory and business strategies, plans and
objectives of management and growth opportunities for existing or
proposed products, constitute forward-looking statements which
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking
statements. The risks and uncertainties include, without
limitation, risks that product candidates may fail in the clinic or
may not be successfully marketed or manufactured, we may lack
financial resources to complete development of Naturlose, the FDA
may interpret the results of studies differently than us, competing
products may be more successful, demand for new pharmaceutical
products may decrease, the biopharmaceutical industry may
experience negative market trends, our continuing efforts to
develop Naturlose may be unsuccessful, our common stock could be
delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market, and other risks and
challenges detailed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, including our current report on Form 8-K filed
on October 10, 2007. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on any forward-looking statements which speak only as of
the date of this release. We undertake no obligation to publicly
release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking
statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances that
occur after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence
of unanticipated events. DATASOURCE: Spherix Incorporated CONTACT:
Investor Relations, Spherix Incorporated, +1-301-897-2564, Web
Site: http://www.spherix.com/
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