Science.Lab

Mr. Zimmermann has worked in the life science industry for over a quarter century. Following a 23 year career at The Upjohn Company, Pharmacia and Upjohn, and Pharmacia he co-founded Kalexsyn, Inc. where he has served as Chief Executive Officer. Under his leadership, Kalexsyn has maintained a steady and rapid growth in a challenging economic environment. Revenue growth for Kalexsyn has far outpaced expectations with the successful partnering of Kalexsyn with companies both in the US and in Europe. Kalexsyn provides early drug discovery lead optimization services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners. While at Pharmacia, Zimmermann was responsible for negotiations and management of outsourcing contracts, managing an operating and capital budget of $16.4 million annually as well as maintaining leadership roles on therapeutic program teams in both the infectious disease and CNS areas.

In 2003, Dr. Gadwood conceived of Kalexsyn in response to the closure of Pharmacia human health research in Kalamazoo. He co-founded Kalexsyn with Mr. David Zimmermann and serves as its President and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Gadwood oversees all scientific, financial, and organizational aspects of Kalexsyn. Under his leadership Kalexsyn has enjoyed steady growth over the last ten years. In 2010 Dr. Gadwood was named Entrepreneur of the year by Ernst and Young for the state of Michigan. Dr. Gadwood received a BS in chemistry from Marquette University in 1974 and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin in 1978. After postdoctoral research at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Gadwood joined the faculty of Northwestern University as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in 1980. In 1986, Dr. Gadwood joined the Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan. During his distinguished career Bob worked in several therapeutic areas. He led the chemistry effort on the oxazolidinone program team that identified potential second generation anti-bacterial compounds (follow-up to Zyvox). He also led the Hair Growth program team that identified second generation hair growth stimulants (follow-up to Rogaine).

Dr. Eklov joined Kalexsyn in 2007 as a research scientist. In 2012 he was promoted to Associate Director of Chemistry, and in 2016 he was promoted to his current position as Director of Chemistry. Dr. Eklov received his BS in chemistry from the University of Michigan in 1998. He went on to receive his Ph.D. in 2005 with Prof. Tom Hoye at the University of Minnesota. His studies focused on natural product structural assignment and synthesis, and the development of No-D NMR spectroscopy. Dr. Eklov’s post-doc work with Prof. Scott Denmark at the University of Illinois centered around elucidating the mechanism of the Lewis base catalyzed tetrachlorosilane mediated aldol reaction by Rapid-Injection NMR kinetic analysis. Dr. Eklov has served as chairman of the Kalamazoo local section of the ACS from 2014-2016, as program co-chair of the Joint Great Lakes/Central Regional ACS Meeting in 2015, and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Western Michigan University. 

Mr. Simons joined Kalexsyn in 2007 as a research scientist. In 2017 he was promoted to his current position as Associate Director of Chemistry. He attended Hope College and performed undergraduate research under the direction of Stephen Taylor. The focus of the work was a mild, enzymatic hydrolysis of hydroxynitriles to form lactones. After receiving his BS in Chemistry in 1998, Mr. Simons pursued graduate studies at the University of Michigan. He joined the research group of William Roush and studied the enantioselective allylation of aldehydes with allyl silanes. Upon completion of his MS, Mr. Simons joined the CNS chemistry team at Pfizer-Ann Arbor in 2001. When Pfizer decided to close the Ann Arbor site in 2007, he joined the team at Kalexsyn. Mr. Simons has worked on several projects in his time at Kalexsyn including antibacterials, carbohydrates, early process development and process impurity synthesis.

Ms. Gross joined Kalexsyn as a scientist in 2004. In 2007 she was promoted to Operations Manager where she assumed responsibility for all day to day operations at Kalexsyn, including Human Resources, employee benefits, and overseeing Kalexsyn’s environmental, health and safety program. In 2016 she was promoted to Director of Operations. Under her leadership Kalexsyn has developed and maintained an outstanding record of safety, keeping foremost the safety of Kalexsyn’s employees and protection of the environment. Prior to Kalexsyn, Ms. Gross was a research chemist at Pharmacia. In 1998, she earned a BS with a dual major in Chemistry and Biology from Alma College and is currently a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM).