LAUSANNE, Switzerland, September
19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
Oculis, a clinical-stage biotechnology
company developing next-generation topical treatments for acute and
chronic back- and front-of-the-eye diseases, announces the
appointments of Anthony Rosenberg as
Non-Executive Chairman and David A.
Weber, Ph.D. as Non-Executive Director. Together, they bring
more than 60 years' experience from the global pharmaceutical and
eye-care industries to the Company's Board of Directors.
"This is an exciting period for Oculis, as we look to advance
and expand the clinical development of our lead candidate OC-118, a
potential transformative topical treatment for Diabetic Macular
Edema (DME). The addition of Anthony and David strengthens Oculis'
Board with extensive experience in innovative pharmaceuticals and
eye-care product development. We are confident that they will both
provide valuable strategic and operational guidance to assist us in
the development both of OC-118 and of a broader pipeline of topical
treatments for sight-threatening eye diseases," said Dr.
Riad Sherif, CEO of Oculis.
Anthony Rosenberg, Chairman of
the Board of Directors, added: "I'm delighted to be
joining the Board of Oculis at this stage of the Company's
development. Oculis has an exciting lead candidate in OC-118, which
has shown promising early clinical data indicating its potential to
improve the sight of DME patients; and an innovative platform
technology, which presents multiple opportunities to generate
sight-saving topical treatments for a range of ophthalmic diseases.
I look forward to working with the excellent management team and
Board to help the Company deliver on its strategy and capitalize on
OC-118 and its world-leading technology."
Mr. Rosenberg has more than 35 years' experience in the
pharmaceutical sector. He is a Managing Director at MPM Capital and
previously served as Global Head, M&A and Licensing (Corporate)
for Novartis, based in Basel,
Switzerland. In this role, he oversaw the Novartis portfolio
transformation, a comprehensive set of transactions announced in
2014 to focus Novartis on its global businesses in innovative
pharmaceuticals, eye care and generics. Mr. Rosenberg is a Board
member at MPM portfolio companies Radius, Cullinan and TriNetX. In
addition, he is also an independent Board Member at argenx BV.
Dr. Weber has worked in the healthcare industry for more than 25
years, including ten years in ophthalmic drug development. He is
currently President, CEO and Director of Otonomy, Inc. (NASDAQ:
OTIC), a company developing innovative therapeutics to treat
hearing and balance disorders. Prior to Otonomy, he was CEO at
MacuSight, Inc., a developer of a sustained delivery formulation of
sirolimus for the treatment of severe ophthalmic diseases, and
acting CEO at Oculex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty
pharmaceutical company focused on the development of intraocular
pharmaceuticals and drug delivery systems, which was acquired by
Allergan. Dr. Weber also held various management positions at
Oral-B Laboratories and Procter & Gamble.
Dr. Weber commented: "Current treatment of
back-of-the-eye diseases require repeat intravitreal injections or
invasive implants, increasing costs and risks for patients and
clinicians, as well as limiting care to those patients without
access to specialists. Development of topical therapeutics would be
transformative for the treatment of retinal diseases across the
world. Oculis' founders have been working to address this clinical
challenge and they have made exciting progress in this field."
About Oculis
Oculis is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing
next-generation topical treatments for acute and chronic ophthalmic
diseases. These topical treatments represent an unprecedented
technical advance for patients with back-of-the-eye diseases that
are currently managed only by intra-ocular injections or implants;
while topical treatments for front-of-the-eye disease are designed
to improve patient outcomes by increasing drug bioavailability,
reducing dosing frequency and improving patient compliance.
The Company's lead candidate OC-118 is in a Phase IIb study and
is aiming to be the first topical treatment for Diabetic Macular
Edema, the leading cause of blindness in developed countries.
OC-118 has been developed from Oculis' solubilizing nanoparticle
(SNP) technology, a proprietary platform that enables the
formulation of a wide range of drugs as non-invasive topical
treatments and enhances their bioavailability in the relevant eye
tissues. The Company is leveraging this proprietary technology to
generate a pipeline of topical drugs targeting sight-threatening
eye diseases.
Oculis has an experienced management team from leading global
ophthalmic companies and is supported by leading international life
science investors. Oculis is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, with research operations in
Reykjavik, Iceland.
To learn more visit www.oculis.com
Contacts
Oculis:
Dr. Riad Sherif, CEO
riad.sherif@oculis.com
Louie-Anne Gauthier, VP
Communications
louie-anne.gauthier@oculis.com
Media relations:
Marine Perrier, Mark Swallow, Pip Batty
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
oculis@citigatedewerogerson.com
Tel: +44-207-638-9571
SOURCE Oculis