McDaniel College Elects Sam Hopkins of Raleigh, N.C., to its Board of Trustees

10/31/16

Sam Hopkins

McDaniel College has named Sam Hopkins of Raleigh, N.C., to its board of trustees.

Hopkins, a 1980 alumnus of McDaniel with a bachelor’s degree in biology, also earned the college’s alumni professional achievement award. Presented at McDaniel’s Homecoming on Oct. 21, the award is given to a graduate who has gained distinction in his chosen field or profession and whose accomplishments reflect admirably on McDaniel College.

He earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and biophysics from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Va., and completed his post-doctoral training at the Wellcome Research Laboratories in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

With more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Hopkins has held managerial, scientific and executive leadership positions at the Wellcome Research Laboratories, Trimeris Inc., Parion Sciences and Scynexis Inc. He is currently the acting president of Valanbio Therapeutics, where he directs the clinical research program for autoimmune technologies. He also provides independent consulting services in drug discovery and development through IOTEC Pharma Consulting LLC.

Throughout his career, he has participated in multiple aspects of anti-viral drug research. He was responsible for designing and implementing the clinical and regulatory strategy that led to the global approval of Fuzeon® (enfuvirtide) for the treatment of HIV-1 infection, which was recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2003 as a major milestone in HIV-1 drug development.

A regular presenter at major national and international scientific conferences, he has co-authored over 100 abstracts, patents and peer-reviewed journal articles, including a landmark 1998 publication in Nature Medicine, which has been referenced in peer-reviewed scientific literature over 1,000 times. It established the HIV-1 gp41 transmembrane protein as a valid target for antiviral chemotherapeutic drug discovery and development. 

He has participated in private, as well as public financings, and has raised more than $400 million for start-up companies from venture capital sources, National Institutes of Health grants and contracts, private equity, corporate partnerships and public equity markets.

Hopkins and his wife, Pamela, have three children. Their oldest daughter, Rachel, is a freshman at McDaniel.

For more information about McDaniel College, visit www.mcdaniel.edu.

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