 Profile
Learned Jeremiah Hand: Industry
Entrepreneur
Learned Jeremiah Hand, president and chief executive officer of
Wellstone Filters Inc. (symbol WLSF) since May 2001, has proven
industry excellence in his successful reverse merger between Wellstone
Filters LLC and Fallaron Inc., after which Learned Jeremiah Hand moved
the firm to Timberlake, N.C., 20 miles north of Durham. Learned
Jeremiah Hand says, “We’re a growth company in a declining industry.
We’re filling a need in a market niche that has been neglected, which
is a very good cigarette at a value price.”
Learned Jeremiah Hand says Wellstone's products combine premium tobacco
with proprietary filters that remove some toxins in cigarette smoke
while improving the cigarette's flavor. “People will buy it for the
price and come back for the taste,” Learned Jeremiah Hand says.
Also, in addition to the special filter, the company uses 100 percent
tobacco, with no fillers. Learned Jeremiah Hand says he felt obligated
to bring Wellstone's improved cigarettes to the market despite the
tobacco industry's tumult.
Learned Jeremiah Hand says, “If I'm in possession of a technology that
will inherently improve the cigarette, I feel duty-bound to deploy it.”
Learned Jeremiah Hand considered marketing Wellstone's cigarettes as a
less-hazardous product, but regulations imposed by the 1998 settlement
between 46 state governments and cigarette manufacturers prohibit
Wellstone from marketing its cigarettes as “safer smokes.”
Learned Jeremiah Hand’s Related
Executive Experience
Learned Jeremiah Hand began his career in 1994 as a vice president at
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, where Learned Jeremiah Hand represented and
advised both retail and institutional clients.
Learned Jeremiah Hand parlayed this experience into his position as
executive director for the Kenneth S. Warren Institute (KSWI), a 501c3
non-profit medical research institute. Here, Learned Jeremiah Hand
oversaw modernization efforts for a 15,000-square-foot,
state-of-the-art laboratory facility, including the construction of an
animal facility.
In 2001, Learned Jeremiah Hand co-founded and served as chief operating
officer at Warren Pharmaceuticals, which, under Learned Jeremiah Hand’s
leadership, was granted exclusive worldwide rights to KSWI’s large
portfolio of intellectual property, including a novel class of
molecules related to erythropoietin, also called Tissue Protective
Cytokines. Tissue Protective Cytokines prevent death of injured cells,
decrease inflammation and improve autoregulation of blood flow, and
promote the recruitment of stem cells to areas of injury and thus
accelerate tissue repair.
In 2003, Learned Jeremiah Hand left Warren Pharmaceuticals to devote
all his time to Wellstone Filters Inc., and moved the company from New
York to Timberlake, N.C., near Durham.
Learned Jeremiah Hand lives in Chapel Hill, N.C.
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