Healthcare Industry News: Millennium Pharmaceuticals
News Release - January 23, 2008
EyeGate Pharma Appoints Michael A. Patane to Chief Scientific Officer
WALTHAM, MA--(Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network)--Jan 23, 2008 -- EyeGate Pharma, a privately held, specialty pharmaceutical company using iontophoresis technology to safely and non-invasively deliver therapeutics into the front and back of the eye for serious ocular indications, today announced that Michael A. Patane, Ph.D., has been promoted to Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Patane joined EyeGate in 2007 as Vice President, Research and Development, and has actively overseen all aspects of research and development for the company.Stephen From, President and Chief Executive Officer of EyeGate Pharma, commented on the appointment, "Since joining EyeGate in 2007, Mike has played an important role in leading our research and development efforts, including selection and formulation of key clinical candidates, which will utilize the EyeGate® II Delivery System. He will continue to lead these development efforts as EyeGate builds its internal therapeutic pipeline and becomes the ocular drug delivery partner of choice for drug development companies."
Michael A. Patane, Ph.D., has more than ten years of drug discovery and development experience with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations. Prior to joining EyeGate, he was Executive Director, Global Discovery Chemistry, at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, where he was responsible for infectious diseases and ophthalmology drug discovery programs. Previously, Dr. Patane was Director, Medicinal Chemistry at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he led drug discovery efforts for multiple oncology and metabolic disease research programs.
Dr. Patane commented, "In a short period of time, EyeGate has brought together a talented team of ocular drug development, formulation and medical device experts. Coupled with our strong intellectual property position, the company is quickly becoming the leader in ocular drug delivery and I am honored to lead the scientific efforts for this important technology."
Earlier in his career, Dr. Patane was a Research Fellow in Medicinal Chemistry at Merck & Co. He earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Fordham University, a Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the University of Southern California, and completed his post-doctoral studies in Synthetic, Natural Products, and Medicinal Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute.
About EyeGate Pharma
EyeGate Pharma was founded in 1998 with technology licensed from Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami. EyeGate's transscleral (across the sclera, or white protective outer membrane of the eye) iontophoresis delivery platform, the EyeGate® II Delivery System, was designed by ophthalmologists for ophthalmologists. This non-invasive system can be employed to safely deliver a wide range of therapeutics to both the anterior and posterior chambers of the eye. An 89-patient clinical study, using the Company's first-generation delivery device, demonstrated exceptional patient tolerance with significant decreases in inflammatory markers and concurrent increases in visual acuity. A typical application takes less than five minutes and has been shown to be extremely well tolerated in patients suffering from severe uveitis and other inflammatory ocular diseases. Clinical studies utilizing the EyeGate® II Delivery System are scheduled to begin in the first half of 2008. For more information please visit www.eyegatepharma.com.
Source: EyeGate Pharma
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