Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> October 17, 2003
STEVEN C. QUAY is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc. He is a physician, scientist and
pharmaceutical Entrepreneur who has received 41 US patents while
founding three medical companies during a 15-year period. In 1984, while
on the faculty of Stanford University School of Medicine, Dr. Quay
founded Salutar, Inc., in Sunnyvale, California to develop contrast
agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Dr. Quay was awarded 24
patents covering MRI technology. Two pharmaceuticals, OmniScan' and
TeslaScan', were invented by Dr. Quay at Salutar and are now FDA-
approved for sale in the United States and other countries. In the first
half of 1999, sales of these products increased 15% year-to-year and
were generating $90 million per annum in sales for Nycomed Amersham Plc.
In 1989 Salutar was acquired for $55 million by Hafslund Nycomed, a
Norwegian pharmaceutical company, world leader in contrast agents and
the prior company to Nycomed Amersham. In 1991, Dr. Quay founded SONUS
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Quay's development of novel ultrasound agents
has led to 10 patents directed to High-Q Factor' and PhaseShift'
technologies. From 1991 until June 1999, he served as Chief Executive
Officer, President and a Director of SONUS. EchoGen', an ultrasound
contrast agent was approved for sale in Europe. In 1997, he was awarded
the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Northwest. In
1996, Dr. Quay filed patents for the nasal oxytocin-evoked mammary
aspirate specimen (NOE-MASTM) test that formed the basis for founding
Atossa HealthCare, Inc. (Atossa). The first US patent on this technology
was awarded in 1998. Atossa is a private healthcare company specializing
in pharmaceutical and medical devices with a special focus on breast
cancer. In August 2000, Dr. Quay merged Atossa with Nastech
Pharmaceuticals Company Inc., a public company in Hauppauge, New York,
and became its major shareholder as well as Chairman, CEO and President.
Under Dr. Quay, Nastech has refocused its business to use its
formulation science expertise to address major product opportunities,
including peptides and protein therapeutics. In 1977, Dr. Quay was
awarded the Dean's Research Award upon graduation from the University of
Michigan Medical School, where he also received an MA and PhD in
Biological Chemistry (in 1974 and 1975, respectively). He did post-
graduate research in the chemistry department at Massachusetts Institute
of Technology under H. Gobind Khorana, a Nobel Laureate, and received
his residency training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard
Medical School, from 1977 to 1980. From 1980 to 1986 he was a faculty
member at Stanford University School of Medicine, where in addition to
his research and clinical duties he served on the medical school
admission's committee and the Faculty Senate. From 1988 to 1991 he was
appointed as Associate Professor, School of Pharmacy, The University of
Kentucky. Dr. Quay has authored more than 100 papers in diagnostic
imaging, oncology and biochemistry. He is a member of numerous
professional societies, including the American Society for Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology, the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine,
the American Society for Echocardiology, and the American Institute for
Ultrasound in Medicine. From 1995 to 1998, he was the industrial
representative to the FDA Advisory Panel for Radiological Products, the
committee that oversees radiological machines, such as ultrasound
machines, MRI machines and mammography equipment. Profile
products?
Dr. Quay: Nastech's mission is to be the 'preferred provider' of drug
delivery solutions for pharmaceutical and
