Charles B. Hensley

Charles B. Hensley
Born	Charles Benjamin Hensley October 12, 1953 McAlester, Oklahoma, US
Residence	Los Angeles
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Southern California (PhD, 1988)
Occupation	Entrepreneur - Venture Capitalist

Charles B. Hensley is the inventor of Zicam cold remedy. He is Chairman of The Hensley Group, Inc., a collection of corporate entities created primarily though his idea incubator “The Next Big Thing Factory” spanning the pharmaceutical, technology, biotechnology and entertainment sectors.

He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in Physiology and Biophysics. Hensley completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Southern California School of Medicine where he specialized in the regulation of gene expression, molecular cardiology and drug development.

In the early 1990s invented and developed Zicam cold remedy. Hensley then created his first corporate venture in order to market and sell the product and Zicam went on to become a successful over-the-counter product in the decades that followed.^[1]

Business ventures

Pharmaceuticals

Zicam, LLC.

In 1997, Hensley and his business partners formed BioDelivery Technologies in order to develop and market new pharmaceutical delivery systems. While at BioDelivery Technologies, Hensley invented Zicam cold remedy, one of the most successful OTC remedies for the common cold on the market. As a means to fast track Zicam to the marketplace, Hensley co-founded Gel Tech, LLC. (now Zicam, LLC.),^[2] a joint venture between BioDelivery Technologies, Inc., and Gum Tech International (now Matrixx Initiatives, Inc.).^[3] In 2001, Hensley sold his stake in Gel Tech, LLC. to Matrixx Initiatives for an undisclosed amount of cash, stock and ongoing royalties on the sales of Zicam.

PRB Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

During the Taiwan SARS epidemic of 2003, the government of Taiwan requested PRB Pharmaceuticals to assist in the SARS crisis by providing antiviral technologies to front line health care professionals. PRB Pharmaceuticals and its CEO (Hensley) worked at the epicenter of SARS in Taipei for the duration of the SARS epidemic before moving the company's operations to Hong Kong. During this time, the company produced the anti-viral VIRA 38 and it quickly became a popular alternative to the influenza drug Tamiflu. Roche Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Tamiflu, was touting the drug for the use against avian influenza and had garnered support from various government agencies to achieve their marketing objectives. In 2005, a clinical trial comparing the effects of VIRA 38 and Tamiflu conducted at the Prince of Wales Hospital was halted by a lobby effort by Roche Pharmaceuticals. In 2005, the United States government sent a warning to PRB Pharmaceuticals to curtail the marketing of VIRA 38. As the CEO of PRB Pharmaceuticals, Hensley was singled out and over the next six years, the FDA/US Attorney tried to compel Hensley to agree to a plea of wrongdoing or face an indictment. Hensley refused to enter into a plea agreement and in 2011, just when the statute of limitations was running out, Hensley was indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on 12 counts and arrested at his home in Redondo Beach, CA .^[4] Subsequently Hensley agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor and received a fine and probation.^[5]

References

1. , Researchers Strike Gold With Zinc Cold Remedy.
2. http://www.zicam.com/
3. http://www.matrixxinc.com/
4. Pfeifer, Stuart (June 2, 2011). "Zicam inventor arrested, accused of illegal marketing of flu drug". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
5. "Inventor Of Zicam Gets 3 Years Probation For Unapproved Bird Flu Remedy". http://losangeles.cbslocal.com. CBS Local Media. April 26, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2013. External link in |website= (help)