Opthea Limited announces key executive leadership changes and senior hires

(Image Credit: AdobeStock/SK)

Opthea Limited has made changes to the company’s executive leadership in its finance and commercial areas and has made notable hires in its biometrics, clinical operations, and market access departments.

In the press release¹ announcing these personnel changes and additions, Opthea’s CEO, Frederic Guerard, PharmD, noted that the decision for the roles was related to next year’s anticipated clinical trial data. “Opthea is at a key inflection point with the sozinibercept Phase 3 topline data readouts for COAST anticipated in early Q2 calendar year 2025 and ShORe in mid calendar year 2025.” He continued, “We made several senior hires and executive changes to further deepen our team’s expertise in retina, expand our clinical capabilities, while advancing Opthea’s commercial readiness.”

Guerard also noted that several people played important roles in Opthea reaching its current stage of clinical research and thanked them for their time with the company. He is quoted¹ as saying, “On behalf of the Board of Directors and the entire Opthea team, I would like to thank Judy Robertson, Peter Lang, and Bruno Gagnon for their leadership and significant contributions in Opthea’s journey from a development-stage biopharmaceutical company to a commercial-ready organization. “We wish them continued success in their professional and personal lives.”

Daniel Geffken, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Danforth Advisors, assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer on an ad interim basis. Geffken has been a leader of finance organizations in life science companies with more than 30 years of experience and served as CFO, strategic consultant, and board member to dozens of life science companies.

Geffken succeeds Peter Lang who will step down from his role effective September 9, 2024.

Mike Campbell was appointed to the role of Chief Commercial Officer. Campbell brings 30 years of biotech and pharmaceutical commercial leadership experience across sales, marketing, market access, patient services, and operations to Opthea. He previous held roles with Genetech, Novartis, and Shire. Campbell most recently served as Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial at Viatris Eye Care who acquired Oyster Point Pharma.

Mike Campbell succeeds Judith Robertson who, as planned, can now step aside from her role on September 9, 2024, enabling her to pursue other board opportunities for the company.

Dayong Li, PhD, now serves as the Senior Vice President, Biometrics, for Opthea. Li brings more than 25 years’ experience as a biometrics leader in the biopharmaceutical industry. He most recently served as Senior Vice President, Biometrics, at Marinus Pharmaceuticals. Li held global biometrics roles at Forest Laboratories (now AbbVie), Astra Zeneca, and other medium and small sized pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and was involved in over 10 NDA/sNDA submissions with high approval rates.¹

Jen Watts is now Vice President Global Clinical Operations. Watts has an impressive track record as a leader in global clinical operations for over 2 decades. During recent years, she has held the position of Vice President, Clinical Operations at several clinical-stage biopharmaceutical companies, including Complement Therapeutics, Oculis, and Graybug Vision. Her leadership also extended to global clinical programs at Genentech, Actelion, and Gilead Sciences.¹

Anthony Bonifazio has been appointed Vice President, Market Access. His resume includes more than 25 years of commercial experience in market access, advocacy, reimbursement, and sales across retina, cardiovascular, and oncology. Mr. Bonifazio joins Opthea from Astellas (former IVERIC BIO). Bonifazio also previously held positions at Novartis, Santen, and Genentech.¹

With the announcement of these roles, Guerard took a moment to welcome new members to the company and note the collective work toward the goals of the company’s lead candidate. He said, “I would like to extend a warm welcome to Dan Geffken, Mike Campbell, Dayong Li, Jen Watts, and Anthony Bonifazio to the Opthea team. They are joining our company at a critical time ahead of the sozinibercept Phase 3 topline data readout and potential product launch. They will play a key role in realizing our ambitious goal of bringing sozinibercept to wet AMD patients, helping them achieve superior vision for greater independence in their lives.”¹

For more reporting on sozinibercept, watch our interview with Nathan Steinle, MD.

Reference:

1. Opthea Announces Executive Leadership Changes and Senior Hires. Opthea Limited. September 5, 2024. Accessed September 17, 2024. https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2024/09/05/2941142/0/en/Opthea-Announces-Executive-Leadership-Changes-and-Senior-Hires.html