PRESS RELEASE:
Company Announces Executive Management, Board and Scientific Advisory Board Updates
AURORA, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–June 15, 2015–
Ocugen, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for sight-threatening diseases, today announced leadership updates and that company Chairman and CEO Dr. Shankar Musunuri will present a company overview at the BIO International Convention this week in Philadelphia.
Dr. Musunuri presents Tuesday, June 16, at 4 p.m. in Theater 4 of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The presentation will include an overview of the company’s pipeline in developing OCU100 and OCU200 for a wide spectrum of degenerative diseases and uncontrolled blood vessel growth. OCU100, the company’s lead asset which is in development for retinitis pigmentosa, received orphan drug status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2014.
In advance of BIO International, the company also announced its new Scientific Advisory Board and updates to its management team and Board of Directors. “We are excited to be able to draw upon the expertise and insights of the leading industry veterans, clinicians and scientists on our Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board as we advance OCU100 into clinical trials in the next year,” Dr. Musunuri said.
Recently, the Board of Directors appointed Dr. Musunuri to serve as CEO and welcomed Ravi Achar as a Director. Mr. Achar is the Founder and Managing Director of Semler Research Center, a leading pharmaceutical research and development and clinical trials company. Mr. Achar also served on the Board of Directors at Innopharma, which was acquired by Pfizer in 2014, and he is currently on the Board of Genzum Life Sciences, a specialty generic company.
On the Board, Mr. Achar joins Dr. Musunuri, Dr. John Zhang, CEO of Biopeptek, Ocugen Co-Founder/CSO Dr. Uday Kompella, and Ocugen President Charlie Kang.
The company’s new Scientific Advisory Board is comprised of leading physician-scientists who specialize in ophthalmologic indications.
Ocugen’s Scientific Advisory Board includes:
- David Boyer, MD, Retina-Vitreous Associates and Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Southern California.
- Jacque Duncan, MD, Director at Retinal Degeneration Clinic and Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California – San Francisco.
- Geeta Lalwani, MD, Founder of Rocky Mountain Retina and former Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
- Vijay Tammara, PhD, Regulatory Advisor to biopharmaceutical companies and formerly affiliated with the FDA, Merck, Sanofi and Wyeth.
About Ocugen, Inc.
Ocugen is advancing two novel biologicals to treat sight threatening ocular disorders. OCU100 is a recombinant form of lens epithelium derived growth factor. It received orphan-drug status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a rare eye disease. Its second asset, OCU200, is an anti-angiogenic tumstatin fusion protein being developed for treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
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