Opthea to Appoint Dr Jeremy Levin as Chairman of the Board
October 05 2020 - 5:30AM
Opthea Limited (ASX:OPT), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical
company developing a novel therapy to treat highly prevalent and
progressive retinal diseases, is pleased to announce that Jeremy
Levin, DPhil, MB BChir (Dr Levin) will be appointed to the
Company’s Board of Directors, effective October 12, 2020.
Dr Levin is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of Ovid Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:OVID), and is concurrently
the Chairman of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO),
the largest trade organization in the world that represents the
biotechnology industry. Prior to founding Ovid, Dr Levin was
President and CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and before
Teva, was a member of the executive committee of Bristol-Myers
Squibb Company. Dr Levin joined BMY from Novartis where he was
Global Head of Strategic Alliances. He has served on the board of
directors of various public and private biopharmaceutical
companies, including Biocon Ltd (NSE: BIOCON), and is currently on
the board of directors of Lundbeck (OMX: LUN).
Dr Levin was voted as one of the 25 most
influential biotechnology leaders by Fierce Biotech in 2018 and one
of the top 3 biotechnology CEOs in 2020 by The Healthcare
Technology Report. In August 2020 he was named to the PharmaVoice
100, an annual list of the most innovative, influential and
inspirational people in the life sciences industry. He is the
recipient of the Albert Einstein Award for Leadership in Life
Sciences and the B’nai B’rith Award for Distinguished
Achievement.
Dr Levin has practiced medicine at university
hospitals in England, South Africa and Switzerland. He earned a
First-Class Bachelor’s degree and a Masters’ degree and Doctorate
at the University of Oxford. He subsequently received his Bachelor
of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees from the University of
Cambridge.
Mr Geoffrey Kempler, current Chairman of Opthea has decided to
retire from Opthea and not stand for re-election as a director of
Opthea at its general meeting on 12 October 2020. Mr Kempler said,
“On behalf of Opthea and my fellow Directors, we welcome Dr Levin
to the Board. I am delighted that in a planned succession, Dr Levin
will assume the role of Chairman of the Board upon my retirement as
Chairman at the conclusion of Opthea’s Annual General Meeting on
October 12th. Dr Levin’s track record and experience in the
biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, together with his
knowledge and support will be instrumental as the company advances
its Phase 3-ready product candidate, OPT-302, for the treatment of
wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and
diabetic macular edema (DME), conditions which affect over 5
million people worldwide.”
About Opthea
Limited
Opthea (ASX:OPT) is a biopharmaceutical company
developing a novel therapy to address the unmet need in the
treatment of highly prevalent and progressive retinal diseases,
including wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and
diabetic macular edema (DME). Opthea’s technology is based on two
members of the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) family of
proteins, VEGF-C and VEGF-D, and their activation of VEGF
receptors. VEGF-C and VEGF-D promote blood vessel development
(angiogenesis) and vascular permeability and leakage by binding and
activating VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3, VEGF-C and VEGF-D can also be
upregulated to compensate for VEGF-A inhibition, which may
represent an important mechanism of clinical resistance to
anti-VEGF-A monotherapy. Opthea’s lead product candidate OPT-302,
is a soluble form of VEGFR-3 or ‘trap’, designed to address a
deficiency in the treatment paradigm for wet AMD and other retinal
diseases by targeting VEGF-C and VEGF-D, which are not targeted by
current standard of care therapies. OPT-302 is being developed for
use in combination with anti-VEGF-A monotherapies to achieve
broader inhibition of the VEGF family, with the goal of improving
overall efficacy and demonstrating superior vision gains over that
which can be achieved by inhibiting VEGF-A alone.
Inherent risks of Investment in
Biotechnology Companies
There are a number of inherent risks associated
with the development of pharmaceutical products to a marketable
stage. The lengthy clinical trial process is designed to assess the
safety and efficacy of a drug prior to commercialization and a
significant proportion of drugs fail one or both of these criteria.
Other risks include uncertainty of patent protection and
proprietary rights, whether patent applications and issued patents
will offer adequate protection to enable product development, the
obtaining of necessary drug regulatory authority approvals and
difficulties caused by the rapid advancements in technology.
Companies such as Opthea are dependent on the success of their
research and development projects and on the ability to attract
funding to support these activities. Investment in research and
development projects cannot be assessed on the same fundamentals as
trading and manufacturing enterprises. Therefore, investment in
companies specializing in drug development must be regarded as
highly speculative. Opthea strongly recommends that professional
investment advice be sought prior to such investments.
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements in this ASX announcement may
contain forward-looking statements regarding Company business and
the therapeutic and commercial potential of its technologies and
products in development. Any statement describing Company goals,
expectations, intentions or beliefs is a forward-looking statement
and should be considered an at-risk statement. Such statements are
subject to certain risks and uncertainties, particularly those
risks or uncertainties inherent in the process of developing
technology and in the process of discovering, developing and
commercializing drugs that can be proven to be safe and effective
for use as human therapeutics, and in the endeavor of building a
business around such products and services. Opthea undertakes no
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement,
whether as a result of new information, future events, or
otherwise. Actual results could differ materially from those
discussed in this ASX announcement.
Company & Media Enquiries: |
Join our email database to receive program
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Megan Baldwin, PhDCEO & Managing DirectorOpthea LimitedTel: +61
(0) 447 788 674megan.baldwin@opthea.com |
Tel: +61 (0) 3 9826 0399info@opthea.comwww.opthea.com |
Australia:Rudi MichelsonMonsoon CommunicationsTel:
+61 (0) 3 9620 3333 |
U.S.A. & International: Jason WongBlueprint
Life Science GroupTel: +1 415 375 3340, Ext
4Jwong@bplifescience.com |
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