Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> February 23, 2009
CHARLES E. STRATTAN, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of CTD
Holdings, Inc., obtained a BS with majors in Math and Chemistry, an MS in
Pharmacology and, finally, an MBA in 1982 from the University of Florida, with a
brief interruption from 1968 to 1970, when he worked at DuPont in Wilmington,
Delaware, and Dallas, Texas, as a Sales Technical Representative. With his
advanced degrees he did much better in corporate America, moving from Product
Manager to Chief Technical Officer in a startup biotech offshoot of Boots of
England. The biotech bubble burst and in 1987 Mr. Strattan, who prefers to be
called Rick, moved back to Gainesville, Florida, where he was fortunate enough
to be introduced to Cyclodextrins while working at another biotech firm that was
burning investors' money faster than they would raise it. In 1990 CTD, Inc., was
incorporated as a Florida corporation. In 1994 CTD, Inc., became a wholly owned
subsidiary of the public company CTD Holdings, Inc. Over the next 15 years, CTD,
Inc., has become the go-to place for coming up with commercial cyclodextrin
products Garlessence, Clarity, Bite-Patch, Appromote, and building a faithful
following of thousands of satisfied customers who haven't quite been able to
pull the trigger on thousands of other CD-based products. Finally, Mr. Strattan
has focused on developing a research park that will find ways to use CDs to
solve the problems created by dysfunctional cholesterol distribution and thereby
improve the quality of life for millions of people. Profile
products, your activities and your customers?
Mr. Strattan: CTD started up as an operating company in 1990. We
