Leadership changes strengthen Ocular Therapeutix’s focus on retina care
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Key takeaways:
- Pravin U. Dugel, MD, is executive chairman of the board.
- The moves are expected to advance the development of Axpaxli for wet age-related macular degeneration.
Ocular Therapeutix announced changes to its leadership and board of directors to strengthen its focus on retina care.
Pravin U. Dugel, MD, was named as executive chairman of the board, Jeffrey S. Heier, MD, as chief scientific officer, Peter K. Kaiser, MD, as medical director, and Sanjay Nayak, MBBS, PhD, as chief strategy officer.
Image: Adobe Stock
“We are bringing together the ‘Retina Dream Team’ to position Ocular at the forefront of retina care, further energizing the momentum behind the Axpaxli phase 3 wet AMD program,” Antony Mattessich, CEO of Ocular Therapeutix, said in a press release. “We believe our expanded leadership team will enable us to potentially accelerate the pace of our clinical program for Axpaxli.”
Charles Warden has transitioned from chairman of the board to lead independent director. In addition, Peter Jarrett, PhD, has taken on the new role of chief technical officer, while Rabia Gurses Ozden, MD, will continue as chief medical officer.
“I am honored to join Ocular’s accomplished and talented board as we advance the development of Axpaxli and redefine the company as the leader in retina care,” Dugel said in the release. “I have dedicated my life to the development of novel therapies for retina diseases, and I believe that Axpaxli has the opportunity to substantially transform the care of patients with wet AMD and hopefully other retinal diseases.”
Axpaxli (axitinib intravitreal implant, OTX-TKI) is in the first of two pivotal phase 3 trials for wet age-related macular degeneration and a phase 1 clinical trial for diabetic retinopathy.
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