SEATTLE, June 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Omeros
Corporation (NASDAQ: OMER) today announced that Rajiv Shah, M.D., recent Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has
been appointed to serve on the company's board of directors.
From 2010 to 2015, Dr. Shah served as Administrator of USAID,
the U.S. government agency responsible for administering civilian
foreign aid. During his tenure, Dr. Shah led the efforts of nearly
10,000 staff in more than 70 countries around the world to advance
USAID's mission of ending extreme poverty and promoting resilient,
democratic societies.
"We are pleased to welcome Raj to our board – he brings an
outstanding scientific background together with a proven track
record of innovation in leading the world's premier development
organization," stated Gregory A.
Demopulos, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of
Omeros. "While at USAID, Raj creatively forged strategic
partnerships with corporations and private capital to address some
of the most pressing global problems, and he is a valuable addition
to our team as we continue to expand our development and commercial
activities."
From 2009 to 2010, Dr. Shah served as the Under Secretary for
Research, Education and Economics and Chief Scientist at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. Prior to his service in the Obama
Administration, he worked in senior roles at the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, leading the Foundation's efforts in global
health, agriculture, and financial services. He also played a key
role in the Foundation's efforts to advance domestic health care
reform.
"I am honored to join the Omeros board," said Dr. Shah. "With
its strong leadership, Omeros is executing on its integrated
strategy of commercial success with Omidria® to advance
its deep and exciting pipeline of clinical and preclinical
small-molecule and protein therapeutic programs. The strength of
science and translational capabilities at Omeros are impressive,
and I look forward to contributing to the future growth and
direction of the company."
Dr. Shah is currently a Distinguished Fellow at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service,
where his work focuses on international development and building
out Georgetown's master's program in
Global Human Development. He also sits on the board of directors of
Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. and the board of trustees of the
Rockefeller Foundation. Dr. Shah earned his M.D. from the
University of Pennsylvania Medical
School, his Master of Science in health economics at the Wharton
School of Business and his Bachelor of Science in economics from
the University of Michigan.
About Omeros Corporation
Omeros is a biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering,
developing and commercializing both small-molecule and protein
therapeutics for large-market as well as orphan indications
targeting inflammation, coagulopathies and disorders of the central
nervous system. Derived from its proprietary
PharmacoSurgery® platform, the company's first drug
product, Omidria® (phenylephrine and ketorolac
injection) 1%/0.3%, has been approved by the FDA for use during
cataract surgery or intraocular lens (IOL) replacement to maintain
pupil size by preventing intraoperative miosis (pupil constriction)
and to reduce postoperative ocular pain. The marketing
authorization application (MAA) for Omidria recently received a
unanimous positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency,
which forwarded the MAA to the European Commission for decision
regarding final approval. Omeros has five clinical-stage
development programs focused on: complement-related thrombotic
microangiopathies; Huntington's disease, schizophrenia, and
cognitive impairment; addictive and compulsive disorders; and
preventing problems associated with surgical procedures. In
addition, Omeros has a proprietary GPCR platform, which is making
available an unprecedented number of new GPCR drug targets and
corresponding compounds to the pharmaceutical industry for drug
development.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are
subject to the "safe harbor" created by those sections for such
statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact
are forward-looking statements, which are often indicated by terms
such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect,"
"goal," "intend," "look forward to," "may," "plan," "potential,"
"predict," "project," "should," "will," "would" and similar
expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on management's
beliefs and assumptions and on information available to management
only as of the date of this press release. Omeros' actual results
could differ materially from those anticipated in these
forward-looking statements for many reasons, including, without
limitation, risks associated with Omeros' ability to obtain
regulatory approval for its Marketing Authorization Application in
the EU for the commercialization of Omidria®, Omeros'
unproven preclinical and clinical development activities,
regulatory oversight, product commercialization, intellectual
property claims, competitive developments, litigation, and the
risks, uncertainties and other factors described under the heading
"Risk Factors" in the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 11, 2015. Given these risks, uncertainties
and other factors, you should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, and the company assumes no obligation
to update these forward-looking statements, even if new information
becomes available in the future.
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SOURCE Omeros Corporation