MENLO PARK, Calif., June 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 180 Life Sciences, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel drugs that fulfill unmet needs in inflammatory diseases, fibrosis and pain, today announced that it has appointed Pamela Marrone, PhD, and Frank Knuettel II, MBA, to its Board of Directors effective upon the earlier of the business day following the filing of the 2020 Form 10-K Annual Report; and June 28, 2021. The Board also changed the effective dates of the appointments of Russell T. Ray, MBA and Teresa DeLuca MD, MBA as members of the Board, as previously announced on May 27, 2021, to the same effective date as the appointments of Dr. Marrone and Mr. Knuettel.
Pam Marrone brings to 180 Life Sciences over 30 years’ experience innovating, commercializing and building organizations. She is an experienced chief executive and corporate officer having started and run companies with the most recent, until August 2020, a fast-growing agbiotech company and since then, as Executive Chair of a pair of firms assisting agbio innovators with their go to market strategy and taking selected products to market. Dr. Marrone has traveled extensively globally, launching products and setting up distribution deals in more than 40 countries.
From founding in 2006 to August 2020, Dr. Marrone was CEO and board member of Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (NASDAQ:MBII) and remains a board member and advisor. Marrone Bio has reported a 5-year revenue compound annual growth rate of ~30% (well above industry averages) and increased gross margins from zero to close to 55% in that same time. She led teams that broke new ground on regulatory approvals to build a line of award winning, patented products that are growing quickly across the globe and acquired a Finnish company in 2019.
Dr. Marrone previously started and led AgraQuest, leaving in 2006 to start Marrone Bio. In 2012, AgraQuest was acquired by Bayer for almost $500 million. Under her leadership, the company discovered and commercialized products in 38 countries . In 2000, she formed a trade group to streamline the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration process and bring quality and credibility to the biopesticide category.
Dr. Marrone is an industry thought leader, appearing in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and many local media outlets and industry trade publications. She is in high demand as a public speaker, doing many keynote speeches, podcasts and videos for the industry and entrepreneurial venues. She has received numerous awards including Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.’s Growing Green Award, EcoFarm’s Sustie Award, California Governor’s Economic & Environmental Leadership Award, American Chemical Society Innovation Award and Sacramento Business Journal Most Admired CEO. She received her PhD from North Carolina State University. She served four years as an alumni-elected trustee of Cornell University, her undergraduate alma mater.
Frank Knuettel II comes to 180 Life Sciences with over 25 years of management experience in venture and PE-backed and public companies and with extensive experience in growing businesses, debt and equity financings, offerings and restructurings, M&A and leadership in and management of highly dynamic, swiftly growing companies. Mr. Knuettel is currently the CEO and serves on the board of directors of Terra Tech Corp. (OTCQX:TRTC) and serves on the board of directors of two private companies, one developing an anti-viral platform and the other focused on smart intubation devices. Mr. Knuettel was formerly Director of Capital and Advisory at Viridian Capital Advisors. He joined Viridian from One Cannabis Group (“OCG”), a leading cannabis dispensary franchisor. At OCG, Mr. Knuettel was the Chief Financial Officer where he was responsible for all finance and accounting management and integral to the successful sale of the company to Item 9 Labs Corp.
Prior to OCG, Mr. Knuettel was CFO at MJardin, a Denver-based cannabis cultivation and dispensary management company, where he led the company’s IPO on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Following the IPO, Mr. Knuettel managed the merger with GrowForce, a Toronto-based cannabis cultivator, after which he moved over to the Chief Strategy Role (CSO). In his role as CSO, he managed the acquisition of several private companies before recommending and executing the consolidation of management and other operations to Toronto and the closure of the executive office in Denver.
Prior to MJardin, Mr. Knuettel held numerous CFO and CEO positions at early-stage companies where he had significant experience both building and restructuring businesses. Mr. Knuettel graduated cum laude from Tufts University with a B.A. degree in Economics and from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management.
Dr. James Woody, 180 Life Sciences Chief Executive Officer commented, “We are pleased to welcome both Pam and Frank to our board. I expect that their unique skill sets will be highly complementary to our other two recent additions to our board. I look forward to working with both Pam and Frank, along with our entire board of directors, focusing on building sustainable shareholder value.”
About 180 Life Sciences Corp.
180 Life Sciences Corp. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel drugs that fulfill unmet needs in inflammatory diseases, fibrosis and pain by leveraging the combined expertise of luminaries in therapeutics from Oxford University, the Hebrew University and Stanford University. 180 Life Sciences is leading the research into solving one of the world’s biggest drivers of disease – inflammation. The Company is driving groundbreaking studies into clinical programs, which are seeking to develop novel drugs addressing separate areas of inflammation for which there are no effective therapies. The Company’s primary platform is a novel program to treat fibrosis using anti-TNF (tumor necrosis factor).
Investors:
Jason Assad
Director of IR
180 Life Sciences Corp
(678) 570-6791
Jassad@180lifesciences.com
Media Relations:
David Schull
David.Schull@russopartnersllc.com
(212) 845-4271
