Founder Profile

BioDev Consulting LLC

Russ Blacher nearly 40 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry with a proven track record of transforming novel academic research discoveries into viable drug candidates leading to first-in-human and advanced clinical trials in the U.S., Canada and Europe.  He has participated in programs that have led to five currently marketed biological pharmaceuticals.  Mr. Blacher most recently served as Senior Director of Biopharmaceutical Development for MDS Pharma Services and has held R & D positions at research institutes, large pharmaceutical, virtual, start-up and established biotechnology companies including Hoffmann-La Roche, Chiron, Abgenix, Acologix and others.  He is current in Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) and has published more than 50 peer reviewed scientific papers, book chapters and patents.

Publications

Microsequence Analysis of Peptides and Proteins IV.  Structural Studies on Human Leukocyte Interferons.
Shively, J., Del Valle, U., Blacher, R., Hawke, D., Levy, W., Rubinstein, M., Stein, S., McGregor, C., Tarnowski, J., Bartlett, R., Lee, D., Pestka, S.
Analytical Biochemistry 126, 318-326 (1982).

Characterization of Rimorphin, A New (Leu)Enkephalin-Containing Peptide from Bovine Posterior Pituitary Glands.
Kilpatrick, D., Wahlstrom, A., Lahm, H., Blacher, R., Ezra, E., Fleminger, G., Udenfriend, S.
Life Sciences 31, 1849-1852 (1982).

Rimorphin, A Unique, Naturally Occurring (Leu)Enkephalin-Containing Peptide Found in Association with Dynorphin
anda-Neo-Endorphin.
Kilpatrick, D., Wahlstrom, A., Lahm, H., Blacher, R., Udenfriend, S.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 6480-6483 (1982).

Isolation and Sequence of a Non-Opioid Peptide Derived from Proenkephalin.
Lewis, R., Ray, P., Blacher, R., Stern, A.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 113, 229-234 (1983).

Pig Brain Contains Cholecystokinin Octapeptide and Several Cholecystokinin Desoctapeptides.
Eng, J., Yoshiharu, S., Pan, Y.-C., Blacher, R., Chang, M., Stein, S., Yalow, R.
Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80, 6381-6385 (1983).

Rabbit Pulmonary Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme: The NH2-Terminal Fragment with Enzymatic Activity and Its
Formation from the Native Enzyme by NH4OH Treatment.
Iwata, K., Blacher, R., Soffer, R., Lai, C.-Y.
Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 227, 188-201 (1983).

Purification and Partial Sequencing of Human Placental Alkaline Phosphatase.
Ezra, E., Blacher, R., Udenfriend, S.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 116, 1076-1083 (1983).

Purification and Properties of a Type ß Transforming Growth Factor from Bovine Kidney.
Roberts, A., Anzano, M., Meyers, C., Wideman, J., Blacher, R., Pan, Y.-C., Stein, S., Lehrman, S., Smith, J.,
Lamb, L., Sporn, M.
Biochemistry 22, 5692-5698 (1983).

Purification to Homogeneity and Partial Characterization of Interleukin 2 from a Human T-Cell Leukemia.
Stern, A., Pan, Y.-C., Urdal, D., Mochizuki, D., DeChiara, S., Blacher, R., Wideman, J., Gillis, S.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 81, 871-875 (1984).

Adrenal Medullary Chromaffin Granule Peptides: Two Ovine Peptides and Their Precursor.
Lewis, R., Micanovic, R., Ray, P., Blacher, R., Stern, A.
Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 230, 154-157 (1984).

Use of High Performance Liquid Chromatography for Preparing Samples for Microsequencing.
Pan, Y.-C., Wideman, J., Blacher, R., Chang, M., Stein, S.
Journal of Chromatography 297, 13-19 (1984).

The Primary Structure of the COOH-Terminal Half of Cholera Toxin Subunit A1 Containing the ADP-Ribosylation Site.
Xia, Q., Chang, D., Blacher, R., Lai, C.
Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 234, 363-370 (1984).

Isolation and Sequencing of Two Cerebellum-Specific Peptides.
Slemmon, J., Blacher, R., Danho, W., Hempstead, J., Morgan, J.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 81, 6866-6870 (1984).

Primary Structure of Rat Thymus Prothymosin a.
Haritos, A., Blacher, R., Stein, S., Caldarella, J., Horecker, B.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 82, 343-346 (1985).

Processing of Bacillus cereus 569/H ß-Lactamase I in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.
Mézes, P., Blacher, R., Lampen, J.
The Journal of Biological Chemistry 260, 1218-1223 (1985).

Parathymosin a: A Peptide from Rat Tissues with Structural Homology to Prothymosin a.
Haritos, A., Salvin, S., Blacher, R., Stein, S., Horecker, B.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 82, 1050-1053 (1985).

Molecular Biological Approaches to the Olfactory System: Olfactory Marker Protein as a Model.
Margolis, F., Sydor, W., Teitelbaum, Z., Blacher, R., Grillo, Rogers, K., Sun, R., Gubler, U.
Chemical Senses 10, 163-174 (1985).

Cloning and Sequencing of the ß-Lactamase I Gene of Bacillus cereus 5/B and Its Expression in Bacillus subtilis.
Wang, W., Mézes, P., Yang, Y., Blacher, R., Lampen, J.
Journal of Bacteriology 163, 487-492 (1985).

Sequence of Protein Disulphide Isomerase and Implications of its Relationship to Thioredoxin.
Edman, J., Ellis, L., Blacher, R., Roth, R., Rutter, W.
Nature 317,  267-270 (1985).

Characterization of the Polypeptide Composition of Human Factor VIII:C and the Nucleotide Sequence and Expression
of the Human Kidney cDNA.
Truett, M., Blacher, R., Burke, R., Caput, D., Chu, C., Dina, D., Hartog, K., Kuo, C., Masiarz, F., Merryweather, J., Najarian, R., Pachl, C., Potter, S., Puma, J., Quiroga, M., Rall, L., Randolph, A., Urdea, M., Valenzuela, P., Dahl, H., Favalaro, J., Hansen, J., Nordfang, O., Ezban, D.
DNA 4, 333-349 (1985).

Chemical Synthesis and Expression in Yeast of a Gene Encoding Connective Tissue Activating Peptide-III.
Mullenbach, G., Tabrizi, A., Blacher, R., Steimer, K.
The Journal of Biological Chemistry 261, 719-722 (1986).

Amino Acid Sequence of a Unique Neuronal Protein: Rat Olfactory Marker Protein.
Sydor, W., Teitelbaum, Z., Blacher, R., Sun, S., Benz, W., Margolis, F.
Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 249, 351-362 (1986).

Comparison of human Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase derived from erythrocytes, recombinant E. coli and
recombinant yeast.
Flohe, L., Kim, S.-M. A., S., Oetting, F., Saunders, D., Schwertner, E., Steffens, G.J.,  Blacher, R., F. Masiarz,
Scandella, C., Hallewell, R. 
in Superoxide and Superoxide Dismutase in Chemistry, Biology and Medicine
ed. G. Rotillo.  Elsevier, Amsterdam (1986) pp. 266-269.

Amino Acid Sequence of the Serine Active-Site Region of the Medium-Chain S-Acyl Fatty Acid Synthetase Thioester Hydrolase from Rat Mammary Gland.
Randhawa, Z., Naggert, J., Blacher, R., Smith, S.
European Journal of Biochemistry 162, 577-581 (1987).

Amino Terminal Acetylation of Authentic Human Cu, Zn Superoxide Dismutase Produced in Yeast.
Hallewell, R.A., Mills, R., Tekamp-Olsen, P., Blacher, R., Rosenberg, S., Oetting, F., Masiarz, F.R., Scandella, C.J.
Biotechnology, 5, 363-366 (1987)

cDNA Clones Coding for the Structural Subunit of a Chicken Brain Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor.
Schoepfer, R., Whiting, P., Esch, F., Blacher, R., Shimasaki, S., Lindstrom, J.
Neuron  1, 241-248 (1988).

Evidence for the Transneuronal Regulation of Cerebellin Biosynthesis in Developing Purkinje Cells.
Slemmon, J., Goldowitz, D., Blacher, R., Morgan J.
J Neurosci. Dec;8(12):4603-4611 (1988)

Identification of a Neuropeptide Hormone That Regulates Sex Pheromone Production in Female Moths.
Raina, A., Jaffe, H., Kempe, T., Keim, P., Blacher, R., Fales, H., Riley, C., Klune, J., Ridgway, R., Hayes, D.
Science 244, 796-798 (1989).

The Secreted Form of the Alzheimer's Amyloid Precursor Protein With the Kunitz Domain is Protease Nexin II.
Oltersdorf, T., Fritz, L., Schenk, D., Lieberburg, I., Johnson-Wood, K., Beattie, E., Ward, P., Blacher, R., Dovey, H.,
Sinha, S.
Nature 341, 144-147 (1989).

Elastin Structure as Determined by Solid Phase, Liquid and Gas Microsequencing.
Sandberg, L., Blacher, R., Leach, C., Smith, D., Rucker, R.
Chapter in "Elastin and Elastases", Vol. 1, Robert and Hornebeck Eds. CRC Press, Inc., (1990).

Design, Characterization and Results of ABRF-89SEQ: A Test Sample for Evaluating Protein Sequencer Performance
in Protein Microchemistry Core Facilities.
Speicher, D., Grant, G., Niece, R., Blacher, R., Fowler, A., Williams, K.
in "Current Research in Protein Chemistry: Techniques, Structure, and Function"
J. Villafranca Editor, Academic Press,  159-166, (1990).

Detection of Methylated Asparagine and Glutamine Residues in Polypeptides.
Klotz, A., Thomas, B., Glazer, A., Blacher, R.
Analytical Biochemistry 186, 95-100 (1990).

A Heparin-Binding Erythroid Cell Stimulating Factor from Fetal Bovine Serum has the N-Terminal Sequence of
Insulin-Like Growth Factor.
Li, Q., Blacher, R., Esch, F., Congote, L.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 166, 557-561 (1990).

Purification and Characterization of a Trophic Factor for Embryonic Peripheral Neurons:  Comparison with
Fibroblast Growth Factors.
Eckenstein, F., Esch, F., Holbert, T., Blacher, R., Nishi, R.
Neuron 4, 623-631, (1990).
 
Cleavage of Amyloid ß Peptide During Constitutive Processing of Its Precursor.
Esch, F., Keim, P., Beattie, E., Blacher, R., Culwell, A., Oltersdorf, T., McClure, D., Ward, P.
Science 248, 1122-1124, (1990).

The Protease Inhibitory Properties of the Alzheimer's ß Amyloid Precursor Protein.
Sinha, S., Dovey, H., Seubert, P., Ward, P., Blacher, R., Blaber, M., Bradshaw, R., Arici, M., Mobley, W.,
Lieberburg, I.
The Journal of Biological Chemistry 265, 8983-8985, (1990).

a1ß1 Integrin Heterodimer Functions as a Dual Laminin/Collagen Receptor in Neural Cells.
Tawil, N., Houde, M., Blacher, R., Esch, F., Reichardt, L., Turner, D., Carbonetto, S.
Biochemistry 29, 6540-6544, (1990).

Isolation of a Phospholipase A2-Like Protein from Human Fetal Intestine.  Lysis of Erythroid Cells from
Bovine Liver by this Protein and Porcine Phospholipase A2.
Congote, L., Blacher, R., Esch, F.
Biochem. Cell Biol. 68, 1174-1180, (1990).

Isolation from Fetal Bovine Serum of an Apoliproprotein-H-Like Protein Which Inhibits Thymidine Incorporation
in Fetal Calf Erythroid Cells.
Li, Q., Blacher, R., Esch, F., Congote, L.
Biochem J. 267, 261-264, (1990)

The Alzheimer's ß-Amyloid Peptide is Cleaved During Constitutive Processing of the Amyloid Precursor Protein.
Esch, F., Keim, P., Beattie, E., Blacher, R., Culwell, A., Oltersdorf, T., McClure, D., Ward, P.
in "Alzheimer's Disease: Basic Mechanisms, Diagnosis and Therapeutic Strategies", Iqbal, K., McLachlan, D., Winblad, B., and Wisniewski, H., Editors, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 269-273, (1991)

Cloning, Expression During Development, and Evidence for Release of a Trophic Factor for Ciliary Ganglion Neurons
Leung, D., Parent, A., Cachianes, G., Lee, A., Nikolics, K., Esch, F., Coulombe, J., Blacher, R., Eckenstein, F., Nishi, R.
Neuron 8, 1045-1053, (1992).

On-Line Microbore HPLC Detection of Femtomole Quantities of PTH-Amino Acids.
Blacher, R., Wieser, J.
in "Techniques in Protein Chemistry IV", R. Angeletti Editor, Academic Press, 427-433 (1993).

Laminin-Binding Protein 120 from Brain is Closely Related to the Dystrophin-Associated Glycoprotein, Dystroglycan
and Binds with High Affinity to the Major Heparin Binding Domain of Laminin.
Gee, S., Blacher, R., Douville, P., Provost, P., Yurchenco, P., Carbonetto, S.
The Journal of Biological Chemistry 268, 14972-14980, (1993).

Molecular Cloning, Expression and Chromosomal Localization of the Earliest Human Lymphocyte Activation Antigen AIM/CD69, a New Member of the C-Type Animal Lectin Superfamily of Signal Transmitting Receptors.
López-Cabrera, M., Santis, A., Blacher, R., Esch, F., Sánchez-Mateos, P., Sánchez-Madrid, F.
Journal of Experimental Medicine 178, 537-547, (1993).

Determination of the Primary Structures of Human Skin Chymase and Cathepsin G using RNA Extracted from
Urticaria Pigmentosa Skin Lesions.
Schechter, N., Wang, Z., Blacher, R., Lessing, S., Lazarus, G., Rubin, H.
Journal of Immunology, 4062-4069, (1994)

Analysis of Hamster Protamines: Primary Sequence and Species Distribution.
Corzett, M., Kramer, C., Blacher, R., Mazrimas, J., Balhorn, R.
Mol. Reprod. Dev. 54, 273-82 (1999)

MEPE has the Properties of and Osteoblastic Phosphatonin and Minhibin.
Rowe, P., Kumagai, Y., Gutierrez, G, Garrett, I., Blacher, R., Rosen, D., Cundy, J., Navvab, S., Chen, D., Drezner, M., Quarels, L., Mundy, G.
Bone 34, 303-319 (2004)

Dentonin, a Fragment of MEPE, Enhanced Dental Pulp Stem Cell Proliferation in vitro.
Liu, H., Li, W., Gao, Y., Kumagai, Y., Blacher, R., DenBesten, P.
J Dent Res 83 (6): 496-499, (2004)

Dentonin, a MEPE Fragment, Initiates Pulp Healing Response to Injury.
Six, S., Septier, D., Chaussain-Miller, C., Blacher, R., DenBesten, P., Goldberg, M.
J Dent Res 86 (8):780-785, (2007)